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Bastl Instruments NEO TRINITY Manual

Automatable modulation hub
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NEO
TRINITY
AUTOMATABLE MODULATION HUB
BASTL INSTRUMENTS

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Summary of Contents for Bastl Instruments NEO TRINITY

  • Page 1 TRINITY AUTOMATABLE MODULATION HUB BASTL INSTRUMENTS...

  • Page 2: Technical Details

    NEO TRINITY 6 CHANNELS OF GESTURAL MUSIC-MAKING Neo Trinity is a 6 channel compact modulation hub with great musical complexity achievable with simple gestures. Each of the 6 channels can be either LFO, envelopes/envelope generator or a CV knob recorder, while their main parameter can be automated with the REC button.
  • Page 3 FEATURES ● Indication per channel ● Unipolar (0–5V) or bipolar (-5V to +5V) mode per channel ● LFO shapes (with smoothing): saw, triangle (sine), ramp, pulse, random (smooth) ● LFO range: 260s–180Hz ● LFO sync (RATE knob sets divider) ● ENV shapes: decay, attack, variable, pulse ●...
  • Page 4 Quick Start 6 CHANNELS – 3 MODES Neo Trinity is a 6-channel modulation source. Each channel can be set to either LFO, ENV or CV mode. LFO primarily serves for repeating simple modulation shapes. ENV mode is for rhythmic triggered modulation.
  • Page 5 The surface level operation is super easy: Use the outputs to modulate your other modules. To select a channel press one of the A/B/C/D/E/F channel buttons. To change a mode of the selected channel press the MODE button. Use the RATE knob to set the main variable of the selected channel.
  • Page 6 SYNC Sync LFO to clock by holding SHIFT and pressing CLK. Each channel is completely independent, but some or all can be influenced together either by the CLK or by the META CV input. That is it for a quick introduction.
  • Page 7 Button Combos Channel Settings MUTE+A/B/C/D/E/F mute/unmute channel chanel shape +A/B/C/D/E/F /mode-specific settings SHIFT +CLK snyc LFO to CLK IN SHIFT +MUTE channel reacts to reset SHIFT +MODE META IN mode (> 2s to disable) SHIFT EF+MODE E/F input mode (> 2s to disable) A/B/C/D/E/F+MUTE set channel bi-/unipolar A/B/C/D/E/F+CLK...

  • Page 9: Channel Outputs

    Manual 1 CHANNEL OUTPUTS Use the outputs for modulating CV destinations across your modular system. The outputs have a range of -5V to +5V in bipolar mode and 0V to +5V in unipolar mode. They are updated at a rate of 4kHz (4000 times per second).
  • Page 10 Use the RATE knob to set the speed of the LFO. If SYNCed, the RATE knob sets the divider to the tempo. SYNC Hold SHIFT and press CLK to SYNC the LFO to the clock. While holding SHIFT, the SYNC indicator will light up if the function is on.
  • Page 11 AUTOMATE You can create complex modulations by automating the RATE knob or by inserting LFO reset triggers. Automate the RATE knob by holding REC and turning the RATE knob (press 2x REC to clear the knob automation). Automating synced LFO will result in rhythmical variations. Record LFO reset triggers by holding REC and tapping SHIFT (press 2x SHIFT to clear the trigger automation).
  • Page 12 ENV MODE ENV MODE excels at rhythmic triggered modulation, but it can also be used as a slew limiter or to elongate triggers. RATE AND SHAPE The RATE knob sets the duration of the envelope and it does it differently for the 4 different shapes: A/B/C/D. Hold SHIFT and press A/B/C/D to select the shape of the envelope.
  • Page 13 AUTOMATE Record envelope triggers to the automation by holding REC and tapping the SHIFT button (press 2x SHIFT to clear the trigger automation). Automate the duration of the envelope by holding REC and turning the RATE knob (press 2x REC to clear the knob automation).
  • Page 14 ● F – SLEW/AR mode When the envelope is in the regular triggered mode, it will only detect triggers on the rising edge of the input and then it will render the whole envelope shape. When the SLEW behavior is activated, the envelope will try to match exactly the input voltage, but slowly, with the attack and decay settings applied for the rising and falling times.
  • Page 15 CV MODE CV MODE is designed for recording the knob movements and creating pitch and gate sequences. It can also serve as a powerful voltage processing utility. RATE Use the RATE knob to set the voltage at the output. AUTOMATE Automate the output by holding REC and turning the RATE knob (press 2x REC to clear the knob automation).
  • Page 16 Scale examples are in the key of C: A/B/C SCALE SELECTION DIATONIC MAJOR MINOR MAJOR MINOR MORE LIGHT = MORE NOTES CHROMATIC MINOR BLUES MINOR DIATONIC MAJOR DIATONIC MAJOR PENTATONIC MINOR PENTATONIC MAJOR CHORD MINOR CHORD NOTE: To transpose into a different key, tune your oscillator’s root note to the desired key.
  • Page 17 ● F – toggles between smooth linearly-interpolated automation (ON) and a regular stepped sequence (OFF) REGULAR SMOOTH UNIPOLAR/BIPOLAR Hold the respective channel button A/B/C/D/E/F and press the MUTE button to set the selected channel as BIPOLAR (MUTE light ON) with an amplitude of -5V to +5V or UNIPOLAR (MUTE light OFF) with an amplitude of 0V to +5V.
  • Page 18 4 AUTOMATION There are two components to automation in each of the modes: RATE AUTOMATION: Hold the REC button and turn the RATE knob to start recording the automation for the main parameter. It will influence the channel speed, decay, or value in the various channel modes.
  • Page 19 TIME-QUANTIZED / NON-QUANTIZED TRIG AUTOMATION By default, all recorded triggers (or gates) are quantized to the clock. You can toggle the quantization OFF/ON separately for each channel. Hold the channel button A/B/C/D/E/F and press the CLK button to make the corresponding channel’s triggers QUANTIZED (CLK light ON) or NON-QUANTIZED (CLK light OFF).
  • Page 20 5 ALGORITHMIC TRIG FILL GENERATOR Hold REC, press and hold SHIFT, and don’t release them. Now, press one of the channel buttons A/B/C/D/E/F to select an algorithm that will be used to generate the sequence. Then, when you move the RATE knob, you will generate an algorithmic TRIG FILL sequence based on the position of the knob.
  • Page 21 BASS DRUM PATTERNS SNARE DRUM PATTERNS HI-HAT PATTERNS...
  • Page 22 EUCLIDIAN PATTERNS 16 STEPS EUCLIDIAN PATTERNS 12 STEPS...
  • Page 23 Press CLK to enter clock channel settings. Press CLK again or press any other channel button A/B/C/D/E/F to leave. CLK OUT sends out the clock Neo Trinity is running on and indicates it with the nearby light. The output voltage range is 0V to +5V.
  • Page 24 EXTERNAL CLK MODE The internal clock is ignored when a jack is plugged into CLK IN. Select the external clock multiplier/divider factor by holding SHIFT and pressing one of the channel buttons A/B/C/D/E/F: ● A – 8 divider substep 6 divider ●...
  • Page 25 RESET input (MUTE light ON) or ignore it (MUTE light OFF). INPUTS The straightforward mechanics of Neo Trinity attain vast complexity with the use of its configurable inputs. Channels E and F have their dedicated inputs, while the META IN can affect one or several channels at once in various ways.
  • Page 26 9 IN E AND IN F Channels E and F have their dedicated inputs affecting only their respective channels. Hold the channel button E or F and short-press MODE to cycle through the available INPUT MODES (see below). Hold the channel button E or F and long-press MODE to disable the input for the selected channel.

  • Page 27: Input Modes

    INPUT MODES The same input modes are available for IN E/F and META IN. You will cycle thru these different modes: REGULAR: affects the position of the RATE knob ● (LFO+ENV lights ON) REGULAR ATTENUATED: affects the position of the ●...
  • Page 28 +MODE = META IN MODE SHIFT EF+MODE = E/F INPUT MODE INPUT: REGULAR: TRIG REGULAR ATTENUATED: TRIG INVERSE: S&H INVERSE ATTENUATED: S&H VCA: INPUT: TRIGGER ENV TRIG SAMPLE & HOLD S&H ORIGINAL WAVEFORM FINAL WAVEFORM V/OCT In LFO and CV mode, the regular input mode acts as a V/OCT input.

  • Page 29: Copy And Paste

    11 BANKS Neo Trinity offers 6 banks (A/B/C/D/E/F) that can hold all settings of all channels, including the RATE and TRIG automation. The currently selected bank is signalized when holding down the BANK button. Hold BANK and press a channel button A/B/C/D/E/F to load a bank.

  • Page 30: Firmware Update

    USB-C cable connected to your computer. The REC light should glow red, and the CLK OUT light pulse slowly. Neo Trinity will show up as a mass storage device on your computer. Copy the firmware update *.uf2 file to the Neo Trinity virtual disk drive.

  • Page 31: Output Calibration

    OUTPUT CALIBRATION The goal of the user calibration is to pair the V/OCT inputs of your oscillator with one of the Neo Trinity channels. This way allows the quantizer to achieve a much higher level of precision. Hold MODE at power-up to enter User calibration mode.

  • Page 32: Input Calibration

    Now, you need to calibrate the unit to use the module again. Channel A is being calibrated automatically. Wait for the blinking. When the blinking starts, Neo Trinity is waiting for you to: Connect Channel A to META IN Unplug the cable from META IN and plug it into IN E...

  • Page 33: Factory Test Mode

    FACTORY TEST MODE Hold SHIFT on power-up to enter the Factory test Mode, where you can test the user interface. Most inputs and outputs are already tested during the Factory calibration. When you press a button, the light close to the button should temporarily turn ON;...
  • Page 34 ! POWER ! Before connecting the ribbon cable to this module, disconnect your system from power! Double-check the polarity of the ribbon cable and that it is not misaligned in any direction. The red wire should match the -12V rail both on the module and the bus board.
  • Page 35 Patch Tips STEPPED LFO ● Set Channel F to TRIANGLE LFO (SHIFT+B) ● Set IN F to S&H mode (F+MODE) ● Patch CLK OUT to IN F The triangle signal at the output F makes a new step each time the clock is dispatched, creating a staircase-shaped modulation.
  • Page 36 INTERFERENCE STEPPED LFO ● Set Channel F to TRIANGLE LFO ● Set IN F to S&H mode (F+MODE) ● Patch Channel E output to IN F ● Set channel E as PULSE LFO Use the output F to modulate filter cutoff or anything else. Play with the two frequencies of LFO E and LFO F (synced or unsynced) to create various interference stepped patterns at the output F.
  • Page 37 QUANTIZED LFO/RANDOM ● Set channel F to CV mode, with quantization activated (SHIFT+ D and SHIFT+A/B/C to set the scale, F+MUTE to set unipolar mode) ● Set IN F to regular (+) mode (F+MODE) ● Set channel E to LFO mode (any shape or random: SHIFT+A/B/C/D/E) ●...
  • Page 38 MODULATED ATTENUVERSION ● Set channel F to LFO mode (triangle or any shape: SHIFT+A/B/C/D/E) ● Set IN F to VCA mode (F+MODE) ● Set channel E to CV mode ● Patch E to IN F ● Set IN E to + mode (E+MODE) If output F is modulating a filter, then the RATE knob on channel E would function as an input attenuverter for that filter.
  • Page 39 DETUNED LFOS ● Set channels A, B, C and D in LFO mode (triangle or any shape: SHIFT+A/B/C/D/E) ● Set A, B, C, and D RATE to a similar frequency (select channel+move RATE) ● Set META IN for A to regular, for B to regular attenuated, for C to inverted attenuated, and for D to inverted mode (select channel and press SHIFT+MODE) ●...
  • Page 40 TRIGGERED MULTI-RANDOM ● Set channels A, B, C, and D to LFO mode (random shape: SHIFT+E) ● Set A, B, C, and D RATE to high frequency (select channel+move RATE) ● Set META IN for A, B, C, and D to S&H mode (select channel and press SHIFT+MODE) ●...
  • Page 41 MULTI-AMPLITUDE LFO CONTROL ● Set channels A, B, C, and D to LFO mode (triangle or any shape: SHIFT+A/B/C/D/E) ● Set META IN for A, B, C, and D to VCA mode (select channel and press SHIFT+MODE) ● Turn off META IN for channels E and F (select channel and long-press SHIFT+MODE) ●...
  • Page 42 TRIGGERED ENVELOPE ● Set channel E to ENV mode ● Set IN E to TRIG mode (E+MODE) ● Send a trigger to IN E Use an external trigger to trigger the channel E envelope. The envelope will function as an AD envelope. Activate the SLEW mode (SHIFT+F) and use gates instead, and the envelope will behave as an AR envelope (best used as the variable shape envelope).
  • Page 43 SLEW GENERATOR ● Set channel F to ENV mode ● Set IN F to TRIG mode (F+MODE) ● Set ENV shape to variable (SHIFT+B) ● Activate SLEW mode for channel F (SHIFT+F) ● Send a CV to IN F Use channel F as a slew limiter for the external CV. Automate the RATE knob of channel F to have a variable slew in time.
  • Page 44 TRIG TO GATE RHYTHM VARIATOR ● Set channel F to ENV mode ● Set IN F to TRIG mode (F+MODE) ● Set ENV shape to PULSE (SHIFT+D) ● Set ENV to NON-RETRIG mode (SHIFT+E) ● Send a trigger to IN F Use an external trigger to trigger the channel F envelope.
  • Page 45 RANDOM AMPLITUDE ENVELOPE ● Set channel F to ENV mode ● Set IN F to TRIG mode (F+MODE) ● Set ENV shape to variable (SHIFT+B) ● Set META IN for channel F to VCA (SHIFT+MODE) ● Deactivate META IN for all other channels (select channel and long-press SHIFT+MODE) ●...
  • Page 46 CV AND GATE SEQUENCER ● Set channels E and F to CV mode ● Use channel F with quantizer (SHIFT+ D) and automate its RATE ● Send output E to the V/OCT pitch input of your oscillator Use channel E as a gate recorder (REC+SHIFT) for rhythm information for your envelopes.
  • Page 47 VOLTAGE PROCESSOR ● Set channel F to CV mode ● Set IN F to regular or inverted mode (F+MODE) ● Send a signal to IN F Use the channel F output to create a processed CV. This is useful if you want to offset a CV with the RATE knob. If you want to attenuate and offset (convert a bipolar signal to unipolar), then select regular attenuated mode for IN F.
  • Page 48 ATTENUVERTER ● Set channel F to CV mode ● Set channel F to bipolar mode (F+MUTE) ● Set IN F to VCA mode (F+MODE) ● Send a signal to IN F Use the F output to create an attenuated version of the input signal by turning the RATE knob.
  • Page 49 TRIGGERED QUANTIZER ● Set channel F to CV mode ● Set IN F to regular (+) mode (F+MODE) ● Set META IN to S&H mode for channel F and turn it OFF for all other channels (SHIFT+MODE) ● Send a signal to IN F The idea of this patch is to change pitch only when a new trigger is detected.
  • Page 50 LO-FI VCO VOICE ● Set channel F to LFO mode (any shape except random: SHIFT+A/B/C/D) ● Set IN F to regular (+) mode (F+MODE) ● Set META IN for channel F to VCA mode and turn it OFF for all other channels (SHIFT+MODE) ●...
  • Page 51 ENVELOPE WITH LINEAR/SUPER-EXP. CURVE ● Set channel F to ENV mode ● Set IN F to regular or inverted mode (F+MODE) or their attenuated variants Self-patching the envelope into its RATE input will alter the curve of the envelope. The regular (+) mode will make the envelope linear. Regular attenuated (+) mode will make it something between linear and exponential.
  • Page 52 SLEWED SMOOTH RANDOM ● Set channel E to LFO mode (random, no smoothing: SHIFT+E) ● Set channel F to ENV mode with the SLEW behavior ON (SHIFT+F) ● Set variable shape envelope for channel F (SHIFT+B) ● Set IN F to TRIG mode (F+MODE) ●...
  • Page 53 CREDITS DEVELOPMENT TEAM: Václav Mach, Václav Peloušek, Martin Klecl MAIN TESTERS: John Hornak, Juha Kivekäs BETA TESTERS: Peter Edwards, Leoš Hort, Arbis Krabs, Stefano Manconi, Wes Langill, Jakob Holm, Antonín Gazda, Matěj Mžourek, Martin Vondřejc, Pavlo Shelemba, František Hruška, Bogdan Raczynski, Martin Klecl, Russell Butler, Sergiu Juravle, Oliver Torr, Niels Doucet, Leo Hivert, Florian Helling, David Žáček, Milan Říha, Jiří...
  • Page 54 more info and video tutorials www.bastl-instruments.com...

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