Saturday 13 August 2016

Serge DSG - Dual Universal Slope Generator as an oscillator

Sounds like a spaceship taking off.

I'm revisiting the serge after a very long break.
That DSG (DUSG) is wonderful. Here I'm using it as a VCO but it can be
so many things: clock, pulse divider, envelope follower, Filter, AR Envelope Generator, VCA, LFO, CV & slew limiting processor.


To use as a oscillator you need to patch the "gate out" into the "input" or into the "trigger in".


There are two outputs : Bipolar & classic.
I've patched one into a triple waveshaper (TWS) and the second into a wave multiplier.

It's great esp when used in series as each waveshaper adds a fold to the waveform.
See Ken Stones site:
http://www.cgs.synth.net/modules/cgs85_tws.html
The TWS will transform a sawtooth wave into a sine wave.

There are 3 sections to this wavemultiplier. Each is different.
The top section has two settings. "Lo" ... behaves like a linear VCA.
or "Hi"... clips or squares up incoming waves....good for distortion.

Middle: It gives odd harmonics which sound like wind instruments.
These odd harmonics are often described as "rough" or "dissonant".
I still like the sound ... filter like & full of resonance. The waveforms appear to be clipped using a series of diodes.

Bottom: "performs non-linear wavehaping known as full-wave rectification". (Ken Stone). It gives even harmonics.
Even harmonics generally sound more 'musical' because the original note is reproduced, although 1 or more octaves higher.

The wave multiplier is really powerful timbre modifier. ... and in such a small package.
It's ability to produce odd & even harmonics makes it very musical.
Kind of like the Buchla 296. Though this is more of a filter.


In the late 1960's Buchla made the 148 Harmonic Generator. It used waveshapers to create 9 harmonics above the fundamental. The even harmonics are created with full wave rectifiers just like in the bottom section of the Serge Wave Multiplier.
And the odd harmonics also use diodes as in the middle section of the Serge WM. 
I don't own a 148 (it's extremely rare), but the closest I have is Verbos' Harmonic Oscillator, the 262v.

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