March Hare Makes a Fantastic Oscillator!

Let's look at: Example 08 Audio Rate Noise

This patch is what is says on the tin, but there are a few things to note. The pitch of the noise is controlled by the pitch of the oscillator. The random output is also shifted down 5V to be in the normal oscillator range of -5V to 5V. you can check out how the other random outputs sound by simply moving the patch lead from output to output. Be sure to sweep the pitch of the oscillator to hear how that influences the timbre of the random.

Here is a short description of how each sounds. Sharp is typical C64 type pitched noise. Smooth is the most like standard white noise. Gate is the kind of noise you would hear from an old Atari console. Slope is a blend of C64 and white noise; it becomes dark very rapidly as pitch is lowered.

Westcoast Wavetable Oscillator

Here it is, the patch we have been building up to: Example 09 Westcoast Wavetables

This is a patch that is meant to be explored and experimented with, but here is a small bit of guidance to get you stated.

For starters, just simply sweep the shape knob of the synced LFO from start to finish and back again. As you will hear, there is a lot of diversity in the wavetable. Now bring up the level of the shape CV attenuator. The shape will now be swept by the LFO that is controlling the VCA. Once you are done experimenting, set this to around 7 to 8 O'clock and then move the shape knob manually. There is a lot of potential with just a little bit of a wavetable sweep thanks to the way the bank is constructed. Now set the shape back to 0V and the shape CV attenuator back to 0V

I have saved my best trick for last. Make sure that March Hare is outputting a steady sine wave for this. Once you have the sine wave set up, just raise the level of the lower half of the VCA. You will now hear and see what is essentially PWM on a sine wave. This is accomplished by routing the LFO on Carrot Patch to the probability CV input on Carrot Patch. The probability is changing the harmonic content by shifting the average of the voltages. Now sweep the shape knob on March Hare to see how this method of filtering affects a wide variety of waveforms.

Wrapping Up

As I am sure you have noticed by now, these modules are capable of tricks far more impressive than simple random modulation. As with all of my other modules, you are only limited by your willingness to experiment. I leave you with one final challenge. Carrot Patch can be a bit crusher, wave shaper, and low pass gate all at once to build a full voice. Build a patch that connects the quantizer, probability shifter, and slew in such a manner. If you can do that, you are one step closer to mastering the Westcoast modular mindset. Nothing is as it appears when you can shape it however you want.

• There is one small gotcha with that...
  • It takes time to learn.

Thank you for reading the full manual! I can't wait to see what creative patches you build!

-Matthew Friedrichs