SERGE MODULAR ANALOG SYNTHESIZER

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"Each of the two panels was designed as a complete system or voice in and of itself but combined together there is an exponential increase in sonic power. The other important thing to remember is that with the Serge many of the modules can perform a number of different functions and the concept of "patch programmable" is inherent in the design. Based on how you patch the modules this system could have over 10 oscillators, 10 LFO's, 4 Envelopes, 6 Filters, 2 Sample and Holds, 5 VCA's, all sorts of cv and audio modifiers, mixers, sequencer and a whole lot more. The power is unmatched in any other system and would require a much larger system from other manufacturers to provide this level of functionality.

TOP PANEL:

* 8x2 Sequencer: This is an eight by two manual and clocked sequencer with some unique functions. The main CV outputs are "A" for the first set of 8 knobs in Row A and "B" for the second set of 8 voltage knobs for Row B plus a third output that is the difference of A and B. There is a main Clock Input that can be manually toggled on/of with the toggle switch. The sequencer can be clocked buy any red jack output as well as some of the blue outputs that have sharp positive going signals. The other inputs are for "Hold" which will stop the sequencer at what ever stage it is at when a trigger or gate is input. The Up/Down Input reverses that direction of the sequencer whenever it receives a pulse and the Reset input resets the Sequencer to the first stage when a pulse is applied. Each stage has a manual select button which can be used to select that stage when used as a manual CV programmer and when being clocked the buttons can be used to set the length of the sequence dynamically from between 1 to 8 steps. This allows for some amazing rhythmic patterns and dynamic changes. Really powerful and great for TB-303 type use.

* Active Processor: This module is basically a dynamic voltage controlled mixer and cross fader an can be used with either control voltages or audio signals. A cross fade mod input allows you to dynamically mix and or fade between the signals coming in the two inputs. You can also use this as a VC switch by allying a gate to the input. The bottom section is a cv inverter with the addition of a knob to further bias the output + or -.
* Dual Transient Generator: This module is one of the most powerful in the Serge system and uses the same circuit as the Dual Universal Slope Generator but is only 2" wide. Each side of this module can perform the following functions: Attack Decay Envelope, Attack Sustain, Decay Envelope, Low Frequency Oscillator, Audio Oscillator, Positive/Negative CV Slew, Audio Filter, Envelope Follower. Each side has a modulation input with a knob to determine if the incoming mod signal will modulate in a positive or negative direction. The left side has a black Input Jack the provides for filtering, slewing and envelope following. The right side has a 3 position switch that allows you to define if the incoming modulation signal at the bottom will modulate the Attack Time only, Decay Time Only or both Attack and Decay. You can get voltage controlled wave shape modulation as well....all amazingly cool!Note that the arrows for the switch and the Input jack are backwards on this module only and that is the way it came from the factory. Nothing wrong, you just need to keep that in mind.
* NTO New Timbral Oscillator: The NTO is one of the most powerful oscillators ever and has incredible sonics and versatility...like most Serge Modules. There are simultaneous Sawtooth, Triangle and Sine wave outputs in addition to a Variable Waveform output whose waveform can be CV selected, modulated and controlled. There are (3) control inputs...a 1volt/octave, a mod input with a knob to determined + or - direction and a voltage controlled portamento input. This is a cv input with voltage controlled slewing or glide with the addition of a manual knob to set the basic amount of slewing!! Last but not least is a voltage controlled FM input with an offset knob. There is also a Sync input to allow for syncing to another audio signal. This single oscillator can make truly incredible sounds and can be modulated out the wazoo.

* Wave Multipliers: The Serge Wave Multipliers are truly legendary and are hard to describe but in essence they take a waveform and ADD various types of harmonics unlike anything you have heard except maybe the Wave shape and Timbre controls on a Buchla Modular. There are three sections; the top is basically a VCA with a switch that "squares up" the incoming signal and produces distortion....sounds amazing. The middle and bottom sections are magical and the sounds range from some kinds of harmonic modification to ring mod, frequency shift and sync...but different and unique. The bottom section can be patch to oscillate and can then be further modulated. Putting two different audio signals into these sections and then adding a control voltage modulator produces sounds unlike any other module available. It is one of the signature modules in the Serge System and moves it into completely new sonic territory.

* Extended Range VC Filter: First off, this filter can be used to filter and modulate either audio or control voltages as well as sub-harmonics. It can easily be set to oscillate in both audio and cv mode. There are two audio inputs, one with auto-gain control and the other with an associated attenuator as well as two CV inputs, one with a direction knob to determine the amount and direction of the modulation. The Resonance is also voltage controllable! This is a 12db slope filter and has four simultaneous audio outputs: Low pass, High pass, Band pass and Notch. Lastly, the Trigger input will cause the filter to "ring", kind of like a damped bell when a trigger is applied and if there is audio coming though you get this really unique clangorous tonality.

* Smooth & Stepped Generator: This is also one of the most powerful and flexible modules in the Serge System an has a top and bottom section that can be used independently of together to provide VC Sample and Hold, VC Voltage Slewing, Audio Filtering, Harmonic modulation (like PWM), Stepped CV Outputs, Smoothed CV Outputs, VC Low Frequency Oscillator and VC Audio Oscillator. It is both a modulator and generator and it can be patched to perform feats of audio and CV magic....an astoundingly powerful module.

BOTTOM PANEL:

* PCO Precision Oscillator: The Precision Oscillator is only a slightly less powerful version of the NTO oscillator. The PCO can be run in audio or Low Frequency Mode and can move REALLY slow if desired. It has (3) separate CV inputs; a 1standard 1v/octave input, a second CV input and a third CV input with an attenuator to determine amount and +/- direction of the modulation. There is a linear FM input with an attenuator and a Sync input along with simultaneous Sawtooth, Triangle and Sine wave outputs. There is a main frequency control knob and a fine tune frequency control as well. Again, sounds amazing with great top and bottom end.
* PCO Precision Oscillator: Same as above, another one!

* Divide by N Comparator: This too is one of those modules that is difficult to describe as it is totally unique and incredibly cool...it does a lot of things that nothing else does. The bottom section is a comparator - it compares two signals and when both are "high" it puts out a pulse so one use is to derive pulses from two other varying CV signals In terms of audio on the bottom section, If you put in a sine wave and an LFO into the other input you get a square wave output with pulse width modulation! The top section is a variable pulse/audio divide that can divide between1 to 13 depending on the knob setting. Say you set it to "8" it will count 8 pulses before it will output a pulse, or, if you put in high frequency saw wave it will divide the audio based on a division between 1 and 13. Add the ability to dynamically modulate the division and the thing becomes unlike anything else. Patch the output back to the input and you have another oscillator that can be frequency modulated in discreet steps! Hard to imagine until you've tried it!

* Ring Modulator: Not your grandmothers ring mod. This is a wonderful sounding module with great rejection of the carrier signal. Creates all sorts of clangorous tones as well as a wonderful tremolo when the carrier is a slow LFO wave. You can also use this as a VCA by using an envelope as the carrier and the amount of ring mod is voltage controllable which is very nice. A great audio modifier.

* Smooth & Stepped Generator: Same module as the one in the other panel except this one has a custom push button on the lower Stepped section to allow for manual sample triggering. As stated this is an amazingly complex module and having two is totally worth while as they can do so much. I also should mention that the red Comp out is a built in comparator that sends out a pulse when the outputs of both the Smooth section and the Stepped section are "high" at the same time.

* Dual Random Generator: This is one of my all time favorite modules and is akin to the Buchla Source of Uncertainty. It is two separate random voltage generators that produce...well...random voltages. Each unit has both a Stepped and a Smooth voltage output with a knob to set the overall Rate. There is a corresponding Trigger output as well that generates random trigger pulses. Note that the voltage and the rate or time between the voltage change is random. The random triggers follow the voltage change somewhat in as you turn up the rate the speed increases but the pulses are still random. This is a kind of chaos theory module. What is REALLY cool is that the rate can be modulated and there is a depth knob so you can determine how much the rate is modulated. You can even plug the random output back into the input! This module has been customized to include a White and Pink Noise outputs as well as a Random Source output which is a special filtered random wave that is designed to be used as a source input for sample and hold in the Smooth and Stepped Generator or as a filtered noise modulation source. This module can make the Serge jump, squiggle and twitter like nothing else.

* Dual Transient Generator: Same as the one in the other panel as it is a wonderfully powerful and variable module.

* Extended Range VC Filter: Again, same as the one described above...more top quality audio and CV processing.

* Dual Channel Stereo Mixer: This is the main stereo mixer in the system. Each side is essentially a VCA and has cv inputs for amplitude and dynamic panning as well as manual controls for each per side. There is also an additional set of AUX inputs that are not controlled by the volume controls so you can mix in other sources or module outputs that will not be affected by changes in amplitude or panning. There are a set of banana outputs as well as a pair of main 1/4" outputs that can drive a set of headphones or can be used as an input to a mixing board etc, etc,

This system is also includes a number of customizations that I requested that are not available elsewhere including the White and Pink Noise Outputs as well as the Random Source Output on the Dual Random Voltage Generator and a manual trigger button on the bottom half of the Smooth and Stepped Generator that allows you to manually trigger/sample this module. Both of the Dual Transient Generators include a three-position switch to choose whether the incoming CV Input affects “Attack only”, “Decay only” or “Both” as well. The other side of the Transient Generator has a Black Input jack that can accommodate both Audio and higher frequency bi-polar CV signals and allow them to be “filtered” by the Transient Generator…yes, it can act as a filter for both Audio and Control Voltages among other things like an Envelope Follower, Oscillator, LFO, Lag Processor, Envelope Generator etc.. You will find a description of each module in the next section; Module Details."