4ms Triwave Picogenerator

Overview and synthesis

OVERVIEW The Triwave is a dual tone generator with three LFO’s and potential for many options and modifications (mods). Primarily an instrument in either mono or stereo (optional) configurations, the Triwave can also accept various audio, trigger, and control inputs

SYNTHESIS The two tone generators are named Linnet and Gale. Each has the following controls:
-Pitch Controls the Center Frequency, which ranges approximately from 20Hz to over 20kHz (full range of human hearing).
-Tone Selects either a Square Wave (harsh) or Triangle Wave (soft). At low frequencies the Triangle Wave may resemble a Sine Wave.
-Range (optional) Toggles between the Full Range and High Range of the Center Frequency. When set to the High Range the Pitch knob will go from a middle pitch (with respect to the Full Range) to extremely high pitches.
-Cross Mod Each channel gets a Cross knob, which controls how much of the other channel's audio is passed through to modulate the channel’s knob you’re adjusting. To best hear its effect try the following: turn down all the Depth knobs, turn up one channel's Cross knob and Pitch knob to a medium-high pitch (Ex. Gale), and then sweep the Pitch knob on the opposite channel (Ex. Linnet)

LFO and mod ring

LFO Each of the three LFO's can independently modulate the pitch of each of the two tone generators. The flashing LED lights indicate the rate of each LFO. Each LFO has the following controls:
-Speed Sets the rate at which the LFO rises and falls. The range is approxiamately from 0.1Hz to 125Hz (or from 10 cylces/second to a low audio pitch).
-Depth These six knobs allow you to control the LFO’s effect level. They are split into to two groups of three—one for Linnet and one for Gale giving you six combinations of modulation.
-Wave (optional) Chooses the LFO’s waveshape. At CCW, the LFO produces a Square Wave (sharp chopping). At CW, it produces a Triangle Wave (smooth fading). In between these two extremes it produces various Square/Triangle hybrid waveshapes.
-Symmetry (optional) Adjusts the LFO waveshape Symmetry (duty cycle). In conjunction with the Wave control Symmetry can produce alternate waveshapes. With Wave set to Triangle Wave and Symmetry at CCW the LFO produces a Ramp-Up Sawtooth Wave; set to center is the normal Triangle Wave; and at CW a Ramp-Down Sawtooth Wave. With Wave set to Square Wave and Symmetry at CCW the LFO produces a Blip-Down Wave; set to center is the normal Square Wave; and at CW a Blip-Up Wave.

RING MODULATION is produced by combining two frequencies (often an input signal and an internal oscillator) to generate their sum and difference frequencies. In the triwave, the input jack signal is boosted or cut by a Sensitivity control knob and then fed into both Linnet and Gale for complex Ring Modulation effects. To best hear this effect insert an input signal (Ex. guitar, keyboard, iPod, etc.) into the input jack. Turn down all the Depth and Cross knobs (fully CCW) and adjust the Sensitivity knob to fully CW.

4ms Triwave Picogenerator (2005)

Overview and synthesis

LFO and mod ring