DIRTY DRONE [anarchy edition] - a stochastic drone/noise synth

from GRM / TOTES FORMAT

While building the DDvers.2.0, i accidentally developed a mutation of the original circuit, that resulted in quite a chaotic / unruly / stochastic sound. And i decided to make some of them, thinking that maybe we need a bit more of the un-governability in the devices that usually simulate us, that we are in control, when we ourselves are rarely even in control of ‘how we are living’. The face plate depicts some of anarchist theory’s grandparents Emma Goldmann, Mikhail Bakunin + Peter Kropotkin. That said the DIRTY DRONE [anarchy edition] is hard to control, there are a lot of unexpected behaviors and sounds. All in all it is versatile in it’s waveform output, with patience you will get everything from drone, hum + buzz to pulses, clicks + squeals.

Here’s an cryptic (sorry) attempt to describe what it does:

The 3 triangle wave oscillators (OSC), that are highly interactive with each other in a stochastic manner create a wide array of wave forms by a number of different modulations, from subtle to harsh. 3 FREQUENCY control pots control the pitch of OSC1,2+3. Toggle switches select a high or a low RANGE setting for OSC2+3. OSC1 has a DEPTH toggle switch and OSC2 has an additional toggle switch to disable the DISTORT2 pot. OSC2+3 have a dedicated DISTORT control pot, that depending on the other settings, add a bit ‘edge’ to their wave forms. The 12 BODYCONTACTS let you become part of the circuit. When you touch them the conductivity of your skin (if not too dry) becomes a further way of modulating the sounds, (be careful with the top row, they can ‘boost’ the volume quite a bit). from here the signal goes to the FILTER, which is depending on the status of the rest of the settings is also highly reactive to internal modulations. OVERLOAD is a pot that determines how hard the filter is driven (and works in reverse, from high to low). CUTOFF is the cutoff frequency of the RESONANT LOW PASS FILTER and RESONANCE controls, what it says. VOLUME controls the global volume of OUTPUT comes from a 3.5mm stereo socket (the signal is MONO, meaning both channels carry the same signal). By the way, the circuit board is ‘hackable’ on both sides are solder points for the OSCs individual outputs and a prefilter sum as well as connections for external switches (for the ones already on the board). With you could use for example tilt switches or integrate gates for sequencing.

Handmade by GRM for METSÄÄN.

Visit metsn.tumblr.com for more images and info.
Demovideo - under construction.

Size: 10x10x4cm
PSU: 9-12VDC (euro plug version included)
Output: 3.5mm stereo (with a mono signal)