SergeModular

Chris, thanks... this will all take a while to absorb....

Chris Sawyer wrote:

> FWIW, John, here is my comparison of the Serge and Modcan frequency
> shifters. Sorry for the delay in posting about this, but I have been
> battling illness for almost a week. (Looks like I'm finally kicking
> it.) Hopefully the wait will be worth it for those interested.
> The most significant difference between the Serge and Modcan FS is
> that the Modcan offers "through zero" shift and a linear mode, whereas
> the Serge is unidirectional with exponential shift only. The Modcan's
> linear mode allows you to dial in certain shifts that would be
> difficult to tune in exponential mode, and the modulation effects can
> be much different. My sound clips include an example of the Modcan's
> linear shift with bidirectional modulation.
> The sound of the two in exponential mode is very similar, as you will
> hear in the demos below. One interesting nuance: when the Modcan is in
> exponential mode with the manual shift knob set to zero shift, neither
> the CV input nor the 1v/oct input will modulate its shift i.e changing
> from -0- shift to >0 shift; only after you introduce some manual shift
> will voltages begin to impact the signal, as though the built-in
> quadrature oscillator is completely off at zero and cannot be
> "disturbed" (to use Wiard vocabulary) into action using external CV.
> In contrast, the Serge will allow you to set a base shift of -0- and
> introduce shift using an external voltage--this can be very useful in
> certain patches. I also prefer the Serge's bipolar CV attenuator to
> the Modcan's unipolar control. I seem to get more "creative" results
> using the Serge, but this may be due to its proximity to other great
> audio and CV modules (score one for Rex's "systems" philosophy).
> The Modcan's large manual shift knob makes it very easy to dial in
> precise amounts of shift, and because of its through-zero design, if
> you decide you would rather use down shift than up shift, you don't
> have to change the patch cable--you can simply turn the knob to the
> opposite side of zero and the up shift jack outputs down shift signal.
> The Modcan's jacks are labeled "sum out" (up shift) and "difference
> out" (down shift) and this hints at an alternative use of the
> frequency shifter: combining the sum/up and difference/down outputs
> produces the classic ring mod sound. In the past I have performed an
> A/B test of this technique using the Serge Ring Mod and FS modules,
> with identical results provided that the Ring Mod's "carrier in" knob
> was set below the waveshaping threshold.
> Although both units contain a level control, the Serge includes a CV
> jack for this VCA, giving it additional AM capabilities. You can even
> route the internal sine VCO outputs to the VCA, as I did in one of the
> samples below. While both units also permit you to tap the quadrature
> sine waves for use as control or audio sources, I found that the
> Modcan oscillator would tune to much lower LFO rates.
> Now to the audio clips. Most of the FS demo clips I have heard are
> focused on freq shifting external sound sources such as vocals and
> drums, so I decided to demonstrate the effects of the FS on internal
> synth sources, using a Serge NTO as the signal that was shifted by the
> Serge and Modcan FS. In many of these samples I patched the Serge and
> Modcan outputs to the two inputs of a Serge cross-fader so I could
> contrast the two FS in the same clip.
> 1) Serge Exp Sweep: up shift output exponential sweep through range.
> Note there is no down shift because it is not through-zero.
> 2) Modcan Exp Shift: sum output only (up shift) exponential sweep
> through range. You first hear the up shift and then the down shift as
> I sweep the knob above and then below zero.
> 3) Modcan Linear Shift: sum output only linear sweep through range.
> Again you hear both the up and down shift from the same output.
>
> 4) Modcan Thru0 Quad Mod: sum output set at -0- shift modulated by a
> Serge QUO quadrature oscillator – you hear the through-zero shift as
> the quad osc alternately pushes the shift to either side of zero.
>
> 5) Sequenced Freq Shifts: 8-step sequence routed to the CV input of
> the freq shifter – sequenced Serge FS is followed by an LFO mod during
> the cross-fade to the sequenced Modcan FS.
>
> 6) FS Ring Mod Compare: you hear three ring mod sweeps – Serge first,
> followed by the cross-fade, then the Modcan alone.
> 7) FS Sine Osc Compare: audio sines into cross-fader and two CV
> sources (LFO and sequencer) into an Active Processor – you hear
> progression from Serge raw wave to Modcan raw wave to Modcan LFO mod
> to Serge LFO mod to Serge sequencer mod to Modcan sequencer mod.
> 8) FS LFO Rate Compare: NTO run into Serge Variable Slope filter, with
> frequency modified by the output of an Active Processor, which selects
> between the 90° outputs of the Modcan and Serge FS. The first mod
> source you hear is the Modcan tuned as low as I could get it; the
> second is the Serge with its frequency and fine tune pots at their
> lowest settings AND an external CV of -5 volts from a Scaling Buffer;
> the third is the Serge minimum manual tuning with the cord from the
> external CV removed.
> 9) Serge NTO Freq Shift: non-shifted sawtooth gradually cross-faded to
> blend and then shifted saw, shifted waveshape changed to square and
> cross-faded back to blend and then to non-shifted square.
> 10) Serge FS Use of VCA: the VCA level is set to about 2 o’clock;
> initially no sound gets through, first hit with Cyndustries ADSR then
> mod source is switched to Serge quad osc with frequency increased to
> low audio range for AM.
> 11) Serge FS Pseudo PWM: NTO Variable out set to PW run into one side
> of cross-fader. Same out routed to up shift and run to other side of
> cross-fader, with the FS 90° out controlling FS internal VCA. First
> you hear raw NTO wave followed by blended version, with solo FS heard
> last.
> I hope these prove useful to someone! Note that my e-mail is
> cross-posted to the Modcan list but the sound clips were uploaded to
> the SMOG files section since the question originated on the Serge list.
> Chris
>
>
> Keep on Patchin'!
>
>
>
>
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