Ring Modulator

Ring Modulator

classic passive ring modulator effect!
built-in carrier oscillator with frequency and amplitude control
separate input, carrier and output jacks
plug in any source - guitar, keyboard, synthesizer, voice, etc.

you have probably heard a ring modulator in use, even if you have never heard the term. it was most famously used to create the voice of the daleks on Doctor Who. two incoming signals (referred to as the input and carrier) are multiplied and the output is the sum and difference of the two frequencies. most often, a sine or triangle wave is used for the carrier signal. when modulating a voice, the effect sounds "robotic" and is similar to a vocoder (in sound, not operation). there are tons of effects that can be achieved by varying the two input signals. using the same signal for the input and carrier has the effect of multiplying the frequency. you can also feed in a dry signal for the input and use the same signal through a delay for the carrier. lots of combinations can be used to get a variety of effects.

there are many different circuits use to create digital ring modulators, including using dsp (digital signal processor) chips. this one is the classic passive ring modulator which uses nothing more than two audio transformers and four germanium diodes - and no power. that is why it is called a passive ring modulator.