Joined: Dec 23, 2005 Posts: 4127 Location: Mount Hope, KS USA
Audio files: 97
Posted: Fri Oct 12, 2007 7:29 am Post subject:
Quote:
The Klee will suck you in ............
I'm trying to understand the pleasure I get from seeing it happen to someone else for a change
Tim, that piece is fantastic! What a cool rhythm....it's like Lorne Greene ate a pound of peyote and the boys have to go out and haul him back to the Ponderosa. Bravo!
Joined: Dec 23, 2005 Posts: 4127 Location: Mount Hope, KS USA
Audio files: 97
Posted: Fri Oct 12, 2007 9:24 am Post subject:
The inevitable errata. I never ran the appendices past the editors, and editor Bill spotted some errors in Appendix A and Appendix B. I also think the beginning paragraph on page 109 could stand some rewording.
I'm going to let Issue 1 circulate a while in case anything else comes to light - it'll save y'all from potentially having to download a largish doc several times.
After a week or so, I'll post Issue 2 with these and any other potential corrections.
There are ten trim pots (nine if you’ve installed one of the variable range options). Two of the trim pots are used to zero the offset of the op amps that sum the Register A voltages (stages 1 through 8 ) and the Register B voltages (stages 9 through 16).
Page A-1:
R58, change quantity to 1
R33, can be 5% or 1% (listed as 5% in board build and 1% here)
10K Trimmer, change quantity to 8
Page B-2:
Socket for X1, X8 should be type "8" Pin DIP not "14"
=====
For those of you who have printed out the doc, I've attached the corrected pages in one doc, as well as the PDF of the above errata.
Joined: Dec 23, 2005 Posts: 4127 Location: Mount Hope, KS USA
Audio files: 97
Posted: Sat Oct 13, 2007 11:40 pm Post subject:
Here's an example of something I don't think I've ever posted - a 32 step Klee Sequence.
Generally, I've found 32 step sequences to be the most difficult to get a good feel for, but I think I'm getting more the hang of it now.
When the Klee Sequencer is in the 16X1 mode with Invert B on, all of the voltage outputs will put out a 32 step sequence. This is because the sixteen bit pattern gets inverted between the output of Register B and the input of Register A - the sixteen bit pattern flows through having its data inverted and not inverted, so there's 16 steps inverted and 16 steps non-inverted..
In this sample, I'm using pretty much the same setup I've had since I tested the Klee (if you could see my bench, you'd understand why). I did go to the trouble of taking a little more care with this recording - I ran the mono signal into the Dim C, then through the Lexicon.
The lower voice is a pulse wave VCO (Schmitz VCO3) and the higher voice is the resonating Schmitz MS-20 Clone Filter running through the CGS Wave Multiplier then through the other half of the Schmitz Late MS-20 Clone filter in low pass mode. Too lazy/no room to hook up a second VCO.
The VCO is passing through the 2040 Clone filter, then through a VCA. The EG that's controlling this filter and VCA is triggered by Gate Bus 3 (no gating at all in this patch, just triggering). The VCA the MS-20 voice is passing through is controlled by an EG that's triggered by Gate Bus 1. Output A+B is controlling the VCO voice - optional output on the VCO (no glide), and a slightly glided A+B is controlling the cutoff by around half. Output A is controlling the MS-20 Resonant Filter voice.
It was, as usual, recorded in one take. Towards the end of the song, I vary the pattern by manipulating the 16X1/8X2 switch, Invert B, and Gate Bus 1 Load, then return back to the 32 step pattern as it fades out. During the sequencing, I alternately adjust the EG time constants (which is a switch I have built into my EGs). I also adjust the glide on output A every now and then when that voice's EG has a longer time constant.
It's pretty far out to think that a sequencer with 16 pots is producing two unique 32 step voltages (actually 3, I wasn't using Output B).
Joined: Dec 23, 2005 Posts: 4127 Location: Mount Hope, KS USA
Audio files: 97
Posted: Sun Oct 14, 2007 1:14 am Post subject:
I hooked up the CGS Tom circuit to gate busses 2 and 3, fixed a pattern in, and started twiddling the merge switches, range switch, and the variable range control. The Klee, she went berserk.
Here's a little story that may be of interest to would be Kleengons.
When I put my PCBs together, I didn't really think very much about the Gate/Trigger levels, (I'm actually a relative noob to modular analogue gear) and consequently found that I had none of either when I first fired up my Klee.
What had happened was that my ASM-2 is set up for minimum Gate/Trig levels of 4V (I didn't even know that until it mattered. ) and I had installed the Gate/Trig resistors for the Klee the wrong way (ie, I had inadvertantly gone for the 5V option, (which is actually closer to 4.5V)), then I was testing it on a +/-12V supply (instead of +/- 15V) which pulled that down below 4V.
So, I had to swap all the 1K5s and 3Ks in the Gate/Trig section, so that I'd be more up around 10V (8V for +/-12V operation).
For this, I had to remove the digital board. Now this could have been a real pain, but it wasn't. I went with the connectors, which meant I was able to disconnect about 85 wires from the board in about 30secs. And after the job was done, I reconnected them just as fast, and completely secure in the fact that they were just as reliably connected as they had been 20 minutes before. My genius even astounds me sometimes!
BTW The boards are of sufficient quality, that pulling 16 resistors, cleaning the holes, and re-soldering them again was a piece of cake. No lifted pads, no plate throughs pulling out etc. The board looks as perfect as it did the first time.
BTBTW I do intend putting a dedicated +/-15V PSU in when I finish off the case and get it all in my rack. _________________ What makes a space ours, is what we put there, and what we do there.
Joined: Dec 23, 2005 Posts: 4127 Location: Mount Hope, KS USA
Audio files: 97
Posted: Sun Oct 14, 2007 10:08 am Post subject:
Yep, Jan - glad you mentioned that inverter long ago - that's what gave it the ability to even do that.
Great sample, Andy! I really like hearing the different takes people have with the Klee, and how it interacts with their synths - so far I've heard Tim, Tom and Andy. I'm finding there are a zillion ways to program and vary things. I've got a lot of weird little ditties like the berserk sample that I record from time to time.
Gate bus voltages (12V operation) - That's why I took the pains to describe the gate bus resistors in the digital build - the standard values give 1K output impedance whichever placement you give. With 15V operation, I think they work fine (though I do provide values for precisely 5V and 10V, still with output impedance within 5% of 1K).
12V operation, though definitely needs different values for 5V and 10V operation. With 5V operation, 2K/2K gives exactly 5V with 1K output impedance, and 10V operation reuires a 1K output resistor with no dividing resistor - exactly 10V with 1K output impedance.
Andy pointed out the cal procedure voltages should be negative (which they are), so issue 2 will put the minus sign in front of those voltages. Either that, or I'll just switch the DMM leads around
Joined: Apr 17, 2006 Posts: 2812 Location: New York
Audio files: 25
Posted: Sun Oct 14, 2007 10:16 am Post subject:
Quote:
I went with the connectors, which meant I was able to disconnect about 85 wires from the board in about 30secs. And after the job was done, I reconnected them just as fast, and completely secure in the fact that they were just as reliably connected as they had been 20 minutes before. My genius even astounds me sometimes!
Another good reason to use connectors instead of just soldering the wires to the boards !!
Good job ....
PS: The samples are really I am re-arranging some gear in my rack in the hopes of setting up some examples myself
This is a good time for me to get the studio organized again .....
I want to mate my EM-Klee, my SN Voice, and my LIN/LOG SSM2164 based VCA's I cooked up last year .....
Joined: Dec 23, 2005 Posts: 4127 Location: Mount Hope, KS USA
Audio files: 97
Posted: Sun Oct 14, 2007 11:44 am Post subject:
Here's another sample that may be interesting just in the fact it demonstrates some of the methods for manipulating the Klee.
Normally, I'll combine adjusting settings on the Klee as well as parameters on the modular in order to make these samples. With this sample, mostly only controls on the Klee are adjusted. It's pretty much the same patch of the previous two - I haven't altered it since I went through bring-up after the proto was finished.
The merge switches, range switch, random/pattern switch, and Bus 1 Load switch are manipulated to provide variation. The only adjustment to the synth settings are to fade the voices in one by one at the beginning and the end (the two voices and the CGS toms are routed to my synths mixer module). Throughout, the Klee is in 8X2, Invert B On.
00:00 - 00:31 Clock enable is switched on, and the voices are faded in individually
00:41 Gate Bus 3 is unmerged
00:51 Gate Bus 1 is unmerged
1:10 Range switch is switched from 5V to position 8, variable. An LFO is applied to the external input, and the external range control is set all the way anti-clockwise, allowing none of the external LFO signal to be applied to the programming pots.
1:15 Switch range switch back to 5V range
1:25 Switch back to variable range (variable still full anti-clockwise)
1:30 Switch back to 5V range
1:40 Switch back to variable range, switch gate busses 1 and 3 to merge
1:41 - 2:09 Gradually turn variable range control clockwise, allowing an increasing amount of LFO to affect the programming pots.
2:10 Set Gate Bus 1 and Gate Bus 3 to unmerge
2:19 Set Range Switch back to 5V range
2:40 Ranom/Pattern is switched from Pattern to Random. No signal is applied to the random input, so the voice controlled by the A output quickly runs out of bits and goes to 0V, which puts the voice at its resting frequency. The voice controlled by the A+B output is still cycling a 16 bit pattern through register B (invert B is on), but register A is adding nothing to it anymore.
2:49 The same LFO that was driving the external range is removed from the external range input jack and plugged into the random input jack - this begins to feed random bits to register A. Both voices are affected - the A voice is controlled entirely by the random bits, and the A+B voice is controlled by the random bits plus the 16 step pattern that's circulating through the B register. Of course, the gate bus is also affected, which can be heard easily in how the drum voices react here.
3:00 - The Random/Pattern Switch is set to pattern, locking the new random bits into register A, where the recirculate and "repeat".
3:10 The Gate Bus 1 Load Switch is set to on, shortening the sequence to a few notes as long as its on, plus serving the purpose of loading the original beginning pattern.
3:15 The Gate bus 1 Load Switch is set to OFF, allowing the original pattern to cycle uninhibited.
3:25 Gate Bus 1 is merged.
3:35 Gate Bus 3 is merged
3:36 - 4:03 The voices are faded out one by one, and the pattern is stopped by flipping clock enable to off.
Cheerios,
Scott
Edit: Actually, the pattern was programmed in the 5V range, which I've set range switch position 7 to in my electro-music Klee.
Joined: Dec 23, 2005 Posts: 4127 Location: Mount Hope, KS USA
Audio files: 97
Posted: Sun Oct 14, 2007 12:37 pm Post subject:
I think probably most people that start messing around with the Klee are going to wind up with hundreds of these oddities on their hard drives - you just get such bizarre results sometimes, you feel like you should just record them and sort them out later. Then, at a later date, you go through and think either "That one's pretty cool, I can base a composition around that" or "What the hell was I thinking?". This one, I think, belongs to the latter group.
I recorded it a few weeks back with the electro-music Klee Sequencer, and ran across it last night. Listening to it, I get the impression it's like one of those interminable instrumentals I would witness in the big arena concerts I attended back in the late seventies/early eighties. I picture a guy standing up there, barely visible through the strobe lights and thick haze of....smoke.....that always accompanied such events and caused such grievous memory loss at a later age. The guy is playing a Klee-tar, angrily, with his teeth and behind his back, simultaneously, through a very heavy delay. These days, he's a manager of a business furniture rental supply warehouse. Well, that's what I hear, anyway.
Scott! Your 32 step and Berserklee2 are so far the absutively most amazing Klee works that I've heard yet! The potential from this beast is almost unbelievable!
Joined: Nov 18, 2006 Posts: 236 Location: San Francisco, CA bay area
Audio files: 13
Posted: Sun Oct 14, 2007 2:23 pm Post subject:
Yes very cool Scott! Great tunes. Keep em coming. All these great tunes are making me giddy with excitement. I cant wait till I have my own Klee-tar, he he. Klee-tar, that sounds great! _________________ Check out my music
Joined: Mar 07, 2007 Posts: 4579 Location: London, UK
Audio files: 172
Posted: Sun Oct 14, 2007 3:40 pm Post subject:
Yeah I liked this. I will wait, patiently to build my own. I keep wondering what I'd do at the helm of such a vehicle. _________________ Garret: It's so retro.
EGM: What does retro mean to you?
Parker: Like, old and outdated. Home,My Studio,and another view
Joined: Apr 17, 2006 Posts: 2812 Location: New York
Audio files: 25
Posted: Sun Oct 14, 2007 4:53 pm Post subject:
Quote:
This Klee thing is going to be a "Classic"
I agree with this Jan !! I think that we will see lots of add-on type gadgets in the future as well. Like direct entry CV-MAX range, Patch Memory, MIDI Interfaces, perhaps many other innovative add-ons !!
You will no doubt see folks even modifying their Klee's as they get some new ideas. Maybe one mod. would be to tap off J12-1 of the digital board, inverted or non-inverted most significant bit of register "B" and bring it out to a jack on the front panel and use it for Klee chaining. Two Klee's set in random mode and sending the MSB inverted version or non-inverted version of register "B" to the random input of the second Klee. The seconds Klee's output register "B" MSB is sent back to the first Klee's random input. Two Klee's can be set up to do a 64 step sequence using the Invert and Random function!!! So the random really does not have to be random at all !
Joined: Dec 23, 2005 Posts: 4127 Location: Mount Hope, KS USA
Audio files: 97
Posted: Sun Oct 14, 2007 5:36 pm Post subject:
Yep, that would be quite easy to accomplish - I'd say just tap off the pole of the Invert B switch through a 1K resistor to the jack. The hardest part would be finding room for the jack
Y'know, the one thing that really hit me a couple of weeks ago was the opportunity passed up on one more unique voltage output. There's A+B, can anybody guess what I'm getting at?
There are also methods of getting more variation out of the gate bus (which I've mentioned before). And EXOR function between busses 1 and 3 would add a lot.
All of this, and much more, could also be accomplished through external modules - the voltage variation I hint at above, the inversion of Register B's output (taken from a merged gate bus - in fact, it could taken from any tap in the register using that method), the EXOR function, inversions of the gate bus, etc.
We should definitely look into these mods.
Especially the ones which could be easily accomplished by simply changing the interconnect cables. You know, like making additional Y-connectors etc. which add functionality while keeping the original options.
I think most people would house the Klee in a rack sized unit. This will probably mean a case of some sort, to which a couple of 25pin D connectors could mount onto. Some ribbon cable (IDE style) connects to a secondary unit, maybe 1U or 2U high which could sit underneath. If it requires extra componentry, a little stripboard, or even, God forbid, another PCB, we could easily send some power over for that too.
To justify another unit though, we'd need more than just one extra function. I think we should start a thread which is about deciding what extra functions we (might) want. Then the "upgrade" could be standardised, and have all the most popular additions. _________________ What makes a space ours, is what we put there, and what we do there.
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Cool new EM Klee samples
