Dotcomformat

Those of you here who are also members of the synthesizersdotcomgroup may remember that I got hold of Guido's dotcomformat Zeroscillator.  I have lurked on this group because I have not had any dotcomformat modules that weren't Dot Com, until now.  I also wanted to work with it a while before I posted any opinions or cried for help.  And so...

It is definitely a box o' noodles.  It's pretty easy to create some really wild sounds with the ZO, but everything I've managed to do with it has been 'accidental'.  I find it difficult to be able to predict what I'm going to get.  I figure this is largely in part to the fact that it is a very complex module.

The function of the module feels very Buchla-like, or at least what I envision a Buchla to function like since I've never actually used a Buchla.  One reason that causes me to feel it's Buchla-like is it took me more than a day of working with it before I could get any kind of sound that would track accurately with the keyboard.  Once I would arrive at a tonality, I would have to adjust multiple parameters to get the keyboard to track correctly.  The beast does not like to be tamed.  Because of this, I have used the sequencer with the ZO as a tone source more than the keyboard.

I have yet to figure out how to make the module react to an envelope.  I have yet to figure out what functions on the module can be voltage-controlled beyond the inputs at bottom-left and -right.  Most of the tonal changes I've managed were accomplished by knob-twiddling.  The signal flow seems to be from bottom to top.  Is that universally true, or are there exceptions?

I have searched the Internet far and wide to see how others have used this module.  I found some block diagrams on the Cyndustries web site, but only one or two of those were for single ZO's, and I only have one ZO.  (The 'basic patch' was the only one I really found useful.)  I found one mention of someone elsewhere on the 'Net using a ZO in a patch, but it was a 'Buchla-like' aleatoric patch, and I got the impression that he 'tripped over' the sound he was getting.  There seems to be a lot of people out there with ZO's, but I can't find where anyone actually discusses using it, not like I find with Dot Com modules (or any others, for that matter).  There used to be a discussion group for people who have ZO's, but when I tried going there, I couldn't find it.  I either had the wrong URL or it has been dissolved.

I do understand the concept of Chowning FM synthesis, even getting down to the math aspect.  I've used a software synth that uses nothing but combinations of multiple sine waves to create tones.  So it's not FM synthesis that is causing me problems.  It's just knowing what each knob and jack actually does and how they interact with each other.  I also understand the concept of 'negative frequencies' and how they move in a complex waveform.  The theory doesn't bother me; it's where on the panel do those concepts come into play?

For example, there are technically seven different functions on a ZO according to the Cyndustries web page; yet, I don't know where on the panel one gets each of those functions.  Can you combine these functions with a patch that is totally internal on the ZO, and if so, how?  And how can you apply external voltages to change various parameters on the ZO?  I have not been able to find a single input that will cause it to respond to an envelope generator.

If anyone here has any basic patch ideas that would get me started, I would greatly appreciate any assistance.  I don't need any specific patches for this tone or that, just something that leads me in the right direction so I get a better understanding of how the module works.  Even without patches, if anyone can give me some information on what each knob and jack does on it, I would appreciate it.

Overall, I do like the ZO; I'd just like it a lot better if I actually knew things like what the jack under the Vari Sync knob did.  It is, as I said, a box o' noodles in that you can get really cool and bizarre sounds out of it.  I have figured out how to get ring modulation-type 'klang tones' out of it.  But right now, I'm questioning whether it's appropriate for a 44-space system and may be more appropriate when I expand to 66.  I had to remove a 4-channel mixer (as I still have the 8-channel), a ring modulator (since the ZO is capable of ring modulation), and a clipper/rectifier.  The latter is the one I miss the most, but something had to go, so...

Is the ZO just a box o' noodles for random tonalities, or can it be predictably controlled?  If I can't figure out how to do more than just achieve random tones on the ZO, I may end up taking it out, putting the three modules mentioned back, and waiting until I get a third portable cabinet before it goes back into service.  I don't mind random tones, but I prefer knowing what I'm doing with a module such that if I get an idea for a tone, I know pretty much what to do to get it.  So far, I can't do that with the ZO.  It just screams wildly as I twiddle the knobs.

Am I the first emperor to ackowledge that I have no clothes? ;-)

Savage