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Part 71

One Source, Many Destinations

In a modular synthesizer, any output can connect to any input. A function generator doesn't know or care whether it's controlling pitch, timbre, or rhythm. That's your choice, and it's what makes modular synthesis endlessly creative.

The Modular Philosophy

In Part 67, you routed a function generator to four targets and heard how the same shape transformed different parameters. Now we add the lowpass gate as a target and think about why modular designers consider this flexibility fundamental.

Patching means connecting a source to a destination. On hardware modular synths, you literally plug a patch cable from one module's output into another module's input. In our demo, the target buttons do the same job.

A single cycling function generator produces one simple shape, a triangle wave rising and falling at a fixed rate. But where you send that shape determines what it means. Patch it to pitch and you hear vibrato. Patch it to fold amount and you hear timbral breathing. Patch it to a lowpass gate and you hear rhythmic pulsing. Patch it to a filter and you hear a brightness sweep. Same source, four completely different sounds.

Four Destinations, One Source

Pitch: The function generator sweeps the oscillator's frequency up and down. At moderate depth this is vibrato, a gentle wobble around the center pitch. At extreme depth it becomes a siren.

Fold: The function generator sweeps the wavefolder's fold count. The timbre breathes as harmonics swell and recede while the fold amount rises and falls. This is the quintessential West Coast sound.

LPG: The function generator opens and closes the lowpass gate rhythmically. Each cycle produces a percussive "bongo" hit with the characteristic vactrol decay. The sound pulses with organic rhythm.

Filter: The function generator sweeps a lowpass filter's cutoff frequency. Brightness rises and falls, creating the classic filter sweep heard in countless electronic music productions.

Hearing the Connection

Click through each target without changing anything about the function generator. Same shape, same rate, same depth. The musical result is completely different each time. That's the power of patching.

Try it: play a note, then click each target button to hear the same modulation shape transform completely different aspects of the sound.

Preset
Target
Function Generator
Audio Output
Spectrum

References