the PARASITES

[para]

hey everyone i've been wanting to post this the whole time i was developing these. let me know what you think.


::: PLUGINS FOR BENDERS :::

the PARASITES are intended to be used as both "circuit bending plugins" ( think VST's for speak & spells and casio's) as well as "lo-fi mini synth modules" that will all run off of a wide range of readily available power supplies. please read the full page for the item you are interested in before purchasing so you know what you are getting yourself into.

here is the general break down of what they are on a hardware level and how they arrive. in a static bag you will find an almost fully assembled and tested PCB with all the required parts, the pots, switched, hookup wire, and an attached 9V clip (everything will run off of a single 9v if that’s what you want to do), but the controls like switches and pots are NOT soldered into place. they come as a 90ish% complete kits because i realized that nearly every application you end up using these for will be different and if i go and solder them all with 5 inch wire you will almost always have to change them so i'm shipping them with a good amount of hookup wire and everything you will need to get going (this also makes less work for me and lower prices for you), also many but not all, of the PCBs will have an area to directly mount and solder the pots, this will help to keep things clean and simple and help with the task of mounting each device. there will not be any jacks shipped because once again you will probably just change them. the boards themselves are professionally manufactured and are as compact as i can reasonably make them. on each page you will find the actual measurements to make sure they will fit where you want them. i'd suggest making a dummy block out of cardboard or something to make sure they fit so your not pissed at me later.

TREMBLE - switchable squarewave / pseudo-random self-modulating pot replacement
QUIVER - variable shape square / triangle self-modulating pot replacement
SHIVER - pseudo-sinewave self-modulating pot replacement
DRENCH - variable resonant low pass filter
CONSTANT – analog voltage controlled shape variable oscillator
PARADE - six oscillator squarewave synth
POLLEN - analog noise generator
CLATTER - self-modulating variable speed optical switch
FALTER - voltage controlled digital squarewave oscillator
SHUDDER - variable shape square / triangle lfo
MIMEO - variable capacitance multiplier
SECRETE - high gain booster with switchable distortion


http://thesquarewaveparade.com/


this is what they look like






steven

[expanoncolin]

Sounds like a very interesting idea.  Any more technical info?  What designs are they based on?  What are you using as a pot replacement (LDR's, H11F3's?)  Is the resistance range user settable with those?

-Colin

[para]

i explain a bit more in detail in the instruction pdf's - here is the one for the quiver- http://thesquarewaveparade.com/instructions/quiver.pdf

i'm using Silonex vactrols. i find it hard to explain how it works any more plainly then this, which is long winded and probably confusing to some people. but the lfo sweeps the resistance range for the quiver from around 0k to 300k in most cases and then with the depth pot you can manually adjust that range from 0k to around 800k so you can have it mod the 0k to 300k (or less ) range or move that to the 500k to 800k range. does that make sense?

then i also added a space to insert a resistor across the two output leads of the vactrol so that you can limit the range if you want. my focus was on keeping the lowest possible parts count and thus keeping the board size as small as i possibly can, and on making them as universal as possible which might bit me on the ass latter. so i could have added more features or done things a bit prettier but i chose these as a main design basis and tried to stick with it.

all of the designs are my own personal mutations / elaborations of either very basic ideas or things i found in data sheets or like tech papers published by university’s and shit like that. i’m not a plagiarist so i put great effort into the designs, a lot of this stuff i’ve never seen used like this before anyway so its not like i could just snatch it and change a couple values. it was all pretty ground up for the most part but its not like its all the most complicated stuff. real engineers would probably just laugh at me. my house was insane while doing this. shit was everywhere and i ended up with so many bread boards and custom little parts i made for the them that i don’t know what to do with them all, i’ll put them to use though with all the new stuff coming.

i learned so much doing all of this its crazy.


steven

[expanoncolin]

Sounds great man.  Where are you sourcing your vactrols, is it a renewable source?

Next up: replace a 3 terminal pot, am I right?

-Colin

[para]

next up is getting people to buy these or i'm completely fucked. the idea doesn’t seem to be sinking in right with people. how do i explain these better so people aren’t lost or frightened away on their first introduction ??  are these really coming too far out of left field? i guess i live in left field

hey benders do these make sense to you? this is the stuff everyone is always asking for "how do modulate this pot?" or "how do i add a resonant lowpass filter?"  the parasites are the answer -



the source is an odd secret one right now but i'm not happy with it and it won't last forever. i will almost definitely be using allied soon. just because the results will be predictable

i was thinking of doing an even smaller, simpler and cheaper ( but less functional ) pot replacement just to get it to fit in very small places. and then i have a bunch more effect type things on the list. a 3 terminal replacement could be cool, maybe if people ask for it.



steven

[expanoncolin]

Well, if it helps, I understand how these are very useful and can help explain that I guess.  The thing you might also want to stress is that all circuits are made up of components, like a tremolo would be a simple op amp amplifier and your modulating resistance, bam the end.  So you are essentially selling parts of circuits to allow for maximum customization but to make design choices easier, layout easier, etc.  Maybe talk more about their application... like show a speak and spell where it has a pot, and show how you'd wire it to the modulating resistance.

The one I"m really curious about the design on is the LPF.  Is it an OTA sallen-key type?  I am getting really sick of those and am seeking a better design for general use.  They are OK for really nasty evil sounding boxes, but they distort so ugly that you have to drive them with a quiet signal and reamplify = noisy.  Maneco once sent me his filter design way back in the day, that filter is AWESOME, but I have since lost the schem.

-Colin

[para]

hmmm well i was in a rush to get these up so i haven't had the time to stuff them into other things yet. i guess it would be a good idea to show an illustration of them controlling bends or controlling basic designs. i'll have to get on that.

the LPF is a dual op amp with a buffer feeding a sallen key. if it were an OTA i would have added voltage control : ) which i might still do. but i didn't think the layout would end up being small enough.

i guess i should have expected that if people even do start getting into these that it would be a slow process. if not i guess i can just say fuck it make a massive modular synth with them all. my second batch of boards is already here and the third will be here tuesday .........eggs / one basket.......... lesson learned


steven

[expanoncolin]

hmmm well i was in a rush to get these up so i haven't had the time to stuff them into other things yet. i guess it would be a good idea to show an illustration of them controlling bends or controlling basic designs. i'll have to get on that.

the LPF is a dual op amp with a buffer feeding a sallen key. if it were an OTA i would have added voltage control : ) which i might still do. but i didn't think the layout would end up being small enough.

i guess i should have expected that if people even do start getting into these that it would be a slow process. if not i guess i can just say fuck it make a massive modular synth with them all. my second batch of boards is already here and the third will be here tuesday .........eggs / one basket.......... lesson learned


steven

I am broke right now from ordering parts/boxes/boards/assembly for 24 production units, so we are on the same boat.

-Colin

[para]

you doing your delays? seems like a big project from the layout i saw. is that going to fit in a 1590bb?


i'll end up with about 240 boards by tuesday .......



steven

[expanoncolin]

you doing your delays? seems like a big project from the layout i saw. is that going to fit in a 1590bb?


i'll end up with about 240 boards by tuesday .......



steven

12 delays, 12 PU's...  1790NS for both of them.  The delay has 3 footswitches, 5 knobs, and 7 jacks, gotta do a 1790NS!

-Colin

[para]

shit 3 foot switches? true bypass, tap tempo and FB loop? jacks in, out, send, return, CV, exp, and ? . no adress bends?

did you mod the PU from what it was?

[salamanderanagram]

these look great! the variable capacitor i am definitely interested in, but my budget for bending is zilch at the moment (on my floor are are an sk-1, tr707, yamaha dd5 and a 10 step led flasher, all in various stages of completion).

but yeah, as a potential consumer and bender somewhere between noob/intermediate status, it would be nice to see a little specific examples of how the bender utilities hook into a common device (speak and spell or SK or whatever) and how they differ from a normal pot hookup. i know how much of a pain in the ass it is to do that and document it but it would certainly demystify it some. i have a pretty good concept of how many of these would work but i have a feeling that many might not.

anyway, good luck and maybe i'll hit you up when i can walk across my bedroom without stepping on electronics!

[para]

i'll do a few diagrams and things wheni get some time but to quickly explain we'll look at the quiver diagram here

http://thesquarewaveparade.com/instructions/quiver.pdf  


you see the vactrol outputs in the bottom right corner? well you just run two wires from those points to the ones you would normally attach two pins of your pot to. thats it!


you of course install the rest of the pots and give it a power source which can be a 9v or you can snip those ends off and solder them to the power source of the device you're bending. there isn't anything else you have to do. there are Extra things you can do but we'll keep it simple for now.


steven

[expanoncolin]

shit 3 foot switches? true bypass, tap tempo and FB loop? jacks in, out, send, return, CV, exp, and ? . no adress bends?

did you mod the PU from what it was?

Bypass, hold, mode.  Tap tempo would add too much $$, if you want a FX loop footswitch, put a TB loop in the FX loop.  No address bends, this is not a pre-bent one  You missed 9V DC.  PU is the updated version with in/out buffers.  EXP for gain, frequency.

-Colin

[salamanderanagram]

yeah, i guess it's not so hard to understand, but it did take me a while to get it exactly... i do now, but many people have limited attention spans, if you had a vid or two showing a normal pot on a speak and spell and then the quiver on the same bend, i think it would illustrate better exactly how useful they can be. just a thought.

anyway they look great, i hope i can grab some off you soon.