Mutant BD9

analog 909-inspired bassdrum synthesis with sub-oscillator

Not just another clone or continuation of the 808-esque, acid-style kicks of the Mutant Bassdrum - the Mutant BD9 seeks to explore uncharted bassdrum territory by having an integrated sub-oscillator for maximal auditory obliteration.

Parametric bassdrum synthesis offers creative control of the core sound

• The primary analog VCO offers classic 909-esque sinusoidal bassdrums, but can also be switched to generate a square wave bassdrum
• The PITCH of the VCO spans several octaves, from about 30Hz to 240Hz, and can be modulated with voltage control
• A novel PITCH DECAY circuit allows you to adjust the duration and AMOUNT of the pitch-modulation envelope applied to the bassdrum, from short blips to exaggerated tom-like sweeps
• The AMPLITUDE DECAY allows adjustment of the length of the bassdrum, from short punchy kicks to massive booms. This parameter is voltage-controlled with a snappy CV response time, allowing you to modulate the duration of your kicks per step.
• The CLICK generator is responsible for the attack intensity of the BD9. A fair amount of circuitry goes into creating this subtle punch at the beginning of the kick. The level of this effect is adjustable up to a fairly dramatic extremity.
• The overall timbre of the BD9 varies with the DRIVE control from warm, analog bassdrums at low settings to speaker-shattering overdriven sounds at high settings. Output levels are modular-level signals, unlike many classic line-level percussive devices.

Still not heavy enough? Try the sub-oscillator.

• A square wave sub-oscillator derived from the primary oscillator's pitch can be mixed in (manually and with voltage control) to the BD9. The effect can be subtle deepness or extreme timbre changes.
• A jumper on the back of the module allows you to select between the sub-osc being a raw square wave or having some of the high frequency components removed with a lowpass filter.
• At high OUTPUT DRIVE and SUB LVL combinations, the sub-oscillator can be modulated with CV to saturate the BD9 output in evolving ways.
• The SUB OCT can be set to 0, -1 or -2 octaves down from the primary oscillator. A drop of 0 means that you can mix an equal-pitch square wave with a sinusoidal primary wave.

Designed for the contemporary modular synthesizer

• Plenty of eurorack-compatible control voltage inputs with bipolar attenuverters allow synthesis of dynamic percussion
• A practical analog trigger circuit allows activation of the BD9 from many signal sources (anything with a positive-going edge lasting 2ms or longer). Most electronic drum pads can also directly trigger the Mutant BD9.
• An accent input accepts analog voltage control (0 to 5V will fully modulate the volume from low to high)