This week I thought I would take a look at my new ring modulator from Krisp1 Modular Construction. Paul Darlow is the proprietor and he builds very high quality modules. They are Oakley Modular designs by a fellow named Tony Allgood. The Oakley end of things seems to be aimed at the DIY crowd and Paul builds the designs to sell ready made to guys like me that lack the time and/or are allergic to solder. Paul answered my newbie questions via e-mail with patience and grace.

Having spent several hours feeding various things in to this module I have to say that I really love it. Ring modulation is a hallmark of Atomic Shadow and this is by far my favorite one of all time. Lets take a look at what the Krisp website has to say  about this module...

"This is a vintage ring modulator design with bags of character. It is based on the classic 4014 sub-module which was used on the 2500 modular and 2600 semi-modular synthesisers. The design has a fully discrete core but uses two op-amps for input and output amplification.

A ring modulator has two main inputs, usually called X and Y, and one output. The output voltage is the product of the two input voltages. In other words it multiplies the two input signals together to produce a new and different sounding output. If you have two sine wave input signals then the output will have both the sum and difference frequencies. For example, if X is a 440Hz sinewave and Y a 40Hz, you would get a 480Hz and a 400Hz sinewave from the output. However, this is only really true in a perfect ring modulator... And this ring modulator is not that. Each input has its own differing non-linearities or imperfections. This greatly adds to the character of the resultant output.

The Oakley Ring Modulator features three rotary control pots. Each input has its own attenuator, and there's also a offset control for the Y input. In conjunction with the Y attenuator, this third pot effectively acts as a wet-dry control for the X input. But because of the non-linearities inherent in the design it also acts in more subtle ways.

You can also use the Oakley Ring Mod as a standard VCA. Just use the Y input as your CV input and X will be shaped accordingly.

Each input can be either direct coupled (DC) or high pass filtered (AC). The former allows DC and low frequency signals to be processed. While the latter provides a DC block to process only alternating frequencies."


Character, differing non-linearities, and imperfections? Check. All present and accounted for. 
I found that by turning the input levels up can create some interesting moaning and buzzing drones. Part way through the video I brought in the Strymon tape echo pedal. Sine waves, ring modulation and tape echo are the holy trinity as far as I am concerned. These three elements have a synergy.

These modules are made with high quailty Switchcraft 1/4 in sockets and Alpha 16mm pots. I also picked up their LFO/Multi module to add to my second rack space of MU modules. It is a similar high quality to the Ring Mod (shown at right) and is a damned useful little 1 space module. 

They make a nice selection of DotCom compatible modules with some interesting design features. If you own a DotCom system and have been thinking about expanding (let's be honest, you are. you tell your wife something else, but we all know that you are lying) take a look at the video and visit the Krisp1 Modular Construction link.
http://krisp1.com/store/

This is an improvisation featuring the EMW-200 from Electronic Music Works. No external effects or processing was used. The main patch contains three sub-patches. The first is the S/H module controlling VCO2 and then fed to the delay module. The second has the triangle wave on the master oscillator and VCO 1 ring modulating in the wave shaper section. And finally the noise output is being low pass filtered and then being ring modulated by the dedicated LFO (which is also modulating the pitch of VCO 1). Each sub-patch is routed to the left and right channels of the six channel mixer.

I am struck by the warm and organic tones that can be generated by this instrument, as well as the sometimes unexpected sounds that can result from very small changes in the controls. If you have ever thought about getting a modular synthesizer but were afraid of the getting carried away with the expense, this one is for you. Some very complicated signal routing is possible here and it integrates well with external gear. In an upcoming video I will be pairing the EMW-200 with some external effects, as well as the DotCom synth modules. In the next few weeks I should be receiving this synths dedicated controller, the EMW-300.

Last month the lab experienced upheaval in the form of a major remodel. The ergonomics of the space had left much to be desired. As work began on the Twelve Full Moons album in January of 2011, I needed somewhere to mount the two Hewlett Packard sine wave generators that I planned to use on the album. I had a large metal rack that was sitting in a shed and it was pressed in to service and placed to the left of the desk in the room. Things got out of hand from there and over the next year it grew to four 45 U rack units. More is more!

This effectively placed a wall down the middle of the 11ft x 12ft room. The resulting space was cramped and offered limited camera placement options for making videos. So there was only one thing to do. Start over.

Over the course of a week and half in June the room was stripped back to the walls. This became a day in, day out grind of 14 to 16 hours days. All of the gear was piled and stacked in four other rooms. The old carpet was removed, walls patched and painted, wallpaper added to the north wall, a new laminate floor put down and some vintage metal cabinets from an actual lab were installed. The result feels much more spacious.

Behind the racks of gear there are storage shelves and a peg board wall for hanging various tools and cables.

One thing that I sorely lacked before was storage space for all of those little odds and ends that you acquire over time. Microphones, noise makers, and effects that are used as needed. The minty green cabinets solved that problem and only required a new countertop from Ikea. At 37 inches tall they are designed to be used in a standing position. The plan was to create a standing workspace from the start. The exact placement of gear on the counter and in the racks is undergoing almost daily modification while the layout is fine tuned. The recent addition of two rack units for mounting DotCom synth modules requires some rethinking about what goes where. There is also the problem of several other pieces of old test gear that are still being repaired and made rack ready. Things may be in a state of flux for some time.

The west wall of the lab is where I am working on a design for a Mobile Command Center. The idea is to bundle the least amount of gear to make the maximum amount of sound in a portable system. When the layout is finalized a custom cabinet will be made to house it all. This is where the new EMW-200 will be at the center of things along with the Eico generator and SP-404 sampler.

On the other side of the lab I now have room for my Eames chairs. This is where I will do editing on the only computer allowed in the space. It is a very inspiring place to relax with a cup of coffee and a bad tempered chihuahua. The view of the MPS 9000 Command Center constantly spinning off new ideas... "what if I plugged that in to that!?" I expect many of those questions will be answered as work begins on a new album in the month ahead.

I have spent several evenings getting to know a powerful little synth called the EMW-200 and I am very pleased to own the first unit off of the assembly line. Serial number 1001. Beta testing is on!

The EMW-200 is a recreation of the venerable ElectroComp EML-200, a rare synth to say the least. Only 150-200 of them were ever made, depending on your source, so let me say at the outset that I cannot speak to how much this little guy sounds like it's big brother. I have never laid eyes on on an EML-200. However the designer of the EMW-200 owns one and I think that he went to some pains to get them as close as possible, while making it an instrument that someone can afford to actually purchase.

The designer, and owner of Electronic Music Works is Paulo Sergio dos Santos. He and his company hail from Brazil and both are dedicated to building great sounding, affordable instruments.

The demo I recorded is intended to display some of the range of the instrument and is well over the top into alien world soundscape territory. You can listen to the demo track or download it here...http://atomicshadow.bandcamp.com/releases

The EML-200 was designed primarily for electronic music courses at Universities. It had no keyboard and leaned in a more abstract direction from the start. The EMW-200 also has no keyboard and will not do 1 volt per octave. The only controls are knobs and one button that can trigger a simple envelope. Where the new version differs from the original is in size. The original was quite large, close to the size of an Arp 2600. The EMW-200 is 16 inches wide, a little over 8 inches tall and 6 inches deep. Nice and compact. The other two places where it differs is a delay unit where the original had a spring reverb, and an a dedicated LFO where once there was a microphone amp. It uses 3.5mm patch cables so if you own Euro Rack gear this will assimilate easily. With the right adaptors it was more than happy to take some modulation from various DotCom modules. This is an analog synth. It is sturdy, steel cased and the knobs do not wobble at all. Nice.

All module sections have two outputs. This is a very flexible arrangement as it opens up a lot of signal routing possibilities.

From the top left there is a master oscillator with a five position range knob and frequency knob for fine tuning. It outputs simultaneous noise, sine, triangle and square waves.  Next we have two saw oscillators with frequency and swing control inputs for modulating pitch. The next module is a delay unit, the only DSP used on the EMW-200, modeled after an analog delay. The Switch module can alternate an A and B signal at it's two outputs. The final modules on the top row are high pass and low pass filters.

The first module on the bottom row is the wave shape section. It consists of sampler (sample/hold), envelope generator and modulator sections. The modulator section has a mode switch to select between  amplitude mod, ring mod, and two other variations of amplitude modulation.

The mixer section is very flexible with six inputs in two groups of three with pan control on the groups. Two mono outputs per side or two stereo summed outputs are available.

The final two modules are a dedicated ring modulator and the previously mentioned LFO.

To learn more about these modules I suggest downloading the original EMl manual here...
http://archive.org/details/synthmanual-electronic-music-laboratories-eml-200-owners-manual

So how does it sound? Well... fabulous! In no time at all you have soundscapes from alien worlds (kind of my thing I guess), squiggly beeps and tweets, atonal ring modulated moaning, hissing and banging. I think that Universities still might be a good potentail customer for this unit. It has all of the fundamental building blocks of electronic sound in one nicely designed package. This is not some cheap toy. It is well built, solid, with wooden end panels. There are no menus or memories, just knobs and patch cords, the way God intended. Last night as I recorded the demo I thought that this thing is sort of the VCS3 that I will never be able to afford. How affordable is it? Paulo said the MSRP is $1,299.00US. At the present time there is no US distributor for this product so you will have to contact Electronic Music Works directly (for now) at this link...
http://www.electronicmusicworks.com/

Well here it is. The first Atomic Shadow blog entry. Never thought I would do a blog because I do not believe that I am fascinating. If you expect people to read your drivel you should be required to be fascinating. Since there is no such requirement i will just go ahead anyway.