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Make Noise Soundhack Spectraphon Manual

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Soundhack Spectraphon

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Summary of Contents for Make Noise Soundhack Spectraphon

  • Page 1 Soundhack Spectraphon...

  • Page 2: Table Of Contents

    Table of Contents Spectraphon 3 FCC 4 Limited Warranty 5 Installation 6 Introduction 8 A Technical Note on the Hardware 9 Panel Controls and Inputs/Outputs 14 What Are Spectra? 16 The Spectraphon's Outputs 18 Buttons and Display 22 Frequency and Partials Controls 24 Spectral Amplitude Modulation Mode 25 (SAM) Spectral Array Oscillation Mode (SAO) 26 Selecting Arrays...

  • Page 3: Fcc

    This equipment generates, uses, and can radiate radio frequency energy and, if not installed and used in accordance with the instruction manual, may cause harmful interference to radio communications. makenoisemusic.com Make Noise Co., 414 Haywood Road, Asheville, NC 28806...

  • Page 4: Limited Warranty

    Make Noise to be the fault of the user are not covered by this warranty, and normal service rates will apply. During the warranty period, any defective products will be repaired or replaced, at the option of Make Noise, on a return-to-Make Noise basis with the customer paying the transit cost to Make Noise.

  • Page 5: Installation

    Eurorack style bus board, minding the polarity so that the RED stripe on the cable is oriented to the NEGATIVE 12 Volt line on both the module and the bus board. On the Make Noise 6U or 3U Busboard, the NEGATIVE 12 Volt line is indicated by the white stripe.

  • Page 6: Introduction

    “complex” oscillator in the lineage of the Buchla 259 and the Make Noise DPO. The Spectraphon is the first module to be built by Make Noise on our brand new digital hardware platform. This hardware, engineered by Jeff Snyder and Tony Rolando, provides more i/o at higher resolutions, and a lower noise floor than we have ever had access to in a digital module before .
  • Page 7 Introduction (cont.) Also in either mode, the Partials control works as a combined amplitude and timbre control for the Odd and Even harmonic outputs. It increases the relative loudness of the harmonics of the current spectrum as it increases, beginning with silence at counterclockwise, adding lower harmonics at low values, then through middle and high harmonics, and generating all harmonics at their full amplitude according to the current spectrum at maximum.
  • Page 8 A Technical Note on the Hardware The new Make Noise DSP hardware features 2 Inputs and 8 outputs of low noise, high dynamic range, fully DC Coupled Digital Signal Processing power. We used a 5 volt CODEC which helped us achieve excellent SNR and yields an impressive input dynamic range that is around 12 to 30 dB better than possible with low-power 3.3 volt CODECs commonly used in synthesizer modules.
  • Page 9 Panel Controls Spectraphon Panel Controls Side A and B 1. Frequency Panel Control. Sets the Frequency of the Side. Summed with Fine-Tune and 1v/oct. 2. Fine Tune. Fine Tune of the Side's Frequency. 3. Slide. Modulates the current Spectrum, depending on mode. 4.
  • Page 10 Panel Controls (cont.) Spectraphon Panel Controls Side A and B (cont.) 1. Partials Panel Control. Sets number of Partials audible at Odd/Even Harmonic Outputs. 2. Partials Attenuverter. Bipolar input attenuverter for Partials. 3. Partials CV Input. CV Input for Partials. 4.
  • Page 11 Panel Controls (cont.) Spectraphon Panel Controls Side A Inputs and Outputs 1. Sine Wave output. Sine wave that oscillates at A Core Frequency. 2. Sub/CV Output. Sub/CV Output for Side A. 3. Odd Harmonic Output. Odd harmonics for Side A. 4.
  • Page 12 Panel Controls (cont.) Spectraphon Panel Controls Side B Inputs and Outputs 1. SAM/SAO/Array Button. Switches between SAM and SAO for Side B. Creates Array when pressed while holding Shift-B in SAM. 2. B-In CV Input. CV Input for B-In. Use depends on mode. 3.
  • Page 13 Panel Controls (cont.) Spectraphon Panel Controls FM Bus 1. Array Binary. Displays current setting of A and B Slide/Focus controls. Displays current Array during Array Selection. Displays current firmware version during startup. 2. A FM Index Panel Control. Sets depth of internal Frequency Modulation from B to A. 3.

  • Page 14: What Are Spectra

    What Are Spectra? The Fourier Theorem states that a periodic function which is reasonably continuous may be expressed as the sum of a series of sine or cosine terms (called the Fourier series), each of which has specific amplitude and phase coefficients known as Fourier coefficients. If the above reads like science rather than music, here is a translation: “Any musical tone with a distinct pitch can be expressed as a set of harmonic sine waves of varying frequencies and amplitudes.”...
  • Page 15 What Are Spectra? (cont.) In the Spectraphon, and in this manual, any collection of harmonics at varying amplitudes can be referred to as a spectrum (plural: spectra). The Spectraphon is specially made to generate many varieties of spectra at its Odd and Even harmonic outputs, a large collection of which can be generated by modulating the Spectraphon with external sounds at the input in Spectral Amplitude Modulation (SAM), and further explored in Spectral Array Oscillation (SAO) via collections of spectra called Arrays.

  • Page 16: The Spectraphon's Outputs

    The Spectraphon's Outputs Each Side of the Spectraphon features four outputs. The primary outputs are the Odd and Even outputs. These contain the odd and even harmonics, respectively, of the output of the Spectraphon, as determined by the current spectrum and any FM or Partials modulation. The Even output is normalized such that when it is unpatched, both outputs are summed together in the Odd output.
  • Page 17 The Spectraphon's Outputs (cont.) The Sub/CV output is an Envelope Follower (SAM) or Sub-Oscillator (SAO). The Envelope Follower (SAM) will create modulation in sync with any changes in amplitude in the source material. The Sub-Oscillator (SAO) will provide a strong deeper signal to use alongside the harmonic outputs. Side A’s Sub-Oscillator is a Sawtooth, while Side B’s is a Saturated Sine Wave.

  • Page 18: Buttons And Display

    Buttons and Display There are five buttons on the Spectraphon: each Side has a SAM/SAO and a Shift button, and additionally there is the Follow/Sync button. The SAM/SAO buttons switch the respective sides between the modes as listed. The button lights to indicate SAO mode.
  • Page 19 Buttons and Display (cont.) The Shift button can be used as a manual Clock (same functions as the Clock input), or can be held to access the Shift functions (written in GOLD) on the other buttons: - Shift+ARRAY begins or ends Array Creation in SAM (per side) - Shift+CV selects the Sub/CV mode (per side) - Shift+Shift shifts (per side) the Array to be used for SAO or the spot to be written over when creating an Array in SAM.

  • Page 20: Frequency And Partials Controls

    Frequency and Partials Controls Most of the controls of Spectraphon work identically regardless of whether it is in SAM or SAO. (The main exceptions are the A-In and B-In, and the Slide and Focus controls.) Partials sets the relative emphasis of upper and lower harmonics at the Odd and Even outputs. It increases the relative loudness of the harmonics of the current spectrum as it increases, beginning with silence at full counterclockwise, adding lower harmonics at low values, then through middle and high harmonics, and generating all harmonics at their full amplitude according to the current spectrum at fully...
  • Page 21 Frequency and Partials Controls (cont.) In SAM, incoming audio is interpreted as a set of harmonic amplitudes as they exist in relation to the core frequency set by Slide. This core frequency denotes the frequency of the first harmonic, while all other harmonics appear as multiples of this core frequency, in amounts determined by Focus.
  • Page 22 Frequency and Partials Controls (cont.) The Follow/Sync button engages either of two alternate behaviors for Side B: Follow (button lit) allows Side B to be sequenced in Pitch using Side A. Specifically, it turns Side B’s Pitch knob and 1v/oct input into an offset (with zero at ~12:00) that is added to the Pitch as set by the Pitch controls of Side A.
  • Page 23 Frequency and Partials Controls (cont.) The Tuning Beacon displays information about the tuning relationship between the core frequencies of the two Sides of the Spectraphon. It lights Green for the simplest tuning ratios (octaves (2:1), fifths (3:2), and fourths (4:3)) and Red for the next simplest (major thirds (5:4) and sixths (6:5)). This indicator can be especially useful for “dual VCO”...

  • Page 24: Spectral Amplitude Modulation Mode

    Spectral Amplitude Modulation Mode (SAM) When a Side of the Spectraphon is in SAM mode (SAM/SAO button is OFF), the incoming signal modulates the amplitude of individual harmonics of the Odd and Even outputs. The modulation depth is set by the A and B input attenuators, with visual tickmarks for typical “modular” and “line” level signals. In this mode, Slide selects the fundamental frequency (first harmonic).
  • Page 25 Spectral Amplitude Modulation Mode (SAM) (cont.) The Focus control sets the size of the ranges of harmonics that will be activated by the Spectraphon. At low values, smaller ranges of frequencies will be heard and the individual harmonics will tend to be more pronounced and change in amplitude more quickly as the input sound changes or Slide is modulated.
  • Page 26 Spectral Array Oscillation Mode (SAO) When a Side of the Spectraphon is in SAO (SAM/SAO button is On), instead of being spectrally amplitude modulated by the incoming signal, it reads from the currently selected Array and oscillates at the Odd and Even harmonic outputs based on the current spectrum within the Array. In this mode, the Slide and Focus controls dynamically select which spectrum is currently being output at the Odd and Even outputs.

  • Page 27: Selecting Arrays

    Selecting Arrays The Spectraphon can hold up to 16 Arrays per Side. To select, hold Shift on the side you are selecting for, and press the opposing Shift. The Array Binary shows the currently selected Array using the four colored LEDs to show a 4 bit binary number.

  • Page 28: Creating Arrays

    Creating Arrays In SAM, at any given time the output at the Even/Odd harmonic outputs as determined by the signal at the input and the Slide and Focus controls can be considered a spectrum. It is possible to use this spectrum (or better yet, a whole series of these spectra) to create an Array to be used in SAO mode.
  • Page 29 Creating Arrays (cont.) Tips for Array Creation There is no prescribed “best practice” for creating Arrays. It is by nature a somewhat open-ended and experimental process that can lead to wildly varying results. That said, below is some information that could be useful in deciding when and how to create Arrays of spectra.

  • Page 30: Modulation And Clocking

    Modulation and Clocking The Slide and Focus parameters are the primary spectrum modulators: in SAM they select which harmonics are emphasized based on the input signal to create the spectrum, and in SAO they select the spectrum that is sent to the output. By default, in SAO the Clock input provides a way to switch from one spectrum to another immediately to create a linear “scan”...
  • Page 31 Modulation and Clocking (cont.) The CV output selection is per-side (Side A and Side B can be set independently with their respective Shift buttons). If option 2, 3, or 4 is selected, the Clock input and Shift button become clock inputs for the selected CV type (they will no longer be used to step through the Array).

  • Page 32: Tips And Tricks

    Tips and Tricks - The two Sides of the Spectraphon can switch modes independently. This means there are many ways to let them interact. For example, when using one side in SAO, you can FM it with the other side even though the other Side is in SAM.
  • Page 33 Tips and Tricks (cont.) - The Partials parameter can double as a timbral VCA in a pinch, but don’t overlook the power of setting it to a mid-value and modulating it subtly up or down. - High Partials and Pitch settings can lead to extremely high pitches in the output - sometimes a filter or low pass gate will do wonders for these sounds.

  • Page 34: Patch Corner

    Patch Corner Coming soon!

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