Cloudlab 200t Reference Manual
Cloudlab 200t Reference Manual
Cloudlab 200t Reference Manual
CLOUDLAB 200t
Nematic Labs
Reference Manual
WARNING: RISK OF EAR AND SPEAKER DAMAGE. USE THIS SYSTEM WITH CAUTION.
Credits:
Original concept based on Donald Buchla's 200 and 200e system.
Ensemble programming - Trevor Gavilan.
GUI - Trevor Gavilan. 256t Grid based on Peter Dine's Freshmaker Ensemble.
Technical advisor - Jesse Voccia.
Hardware notes - Jesse Voccia, Antonio Isaac and Leonardo Mendez.
Snapshots by Jesse Voccia, Trevor Gavilan, Maurice Gallagher and Scott Abstract
Cats.
Personal Notes
It took a fair amount of time to put the ensemble together and what happened along
the way has been quite enlightening, getting to know an instrument at a deep level is
always a wonderful thing and I have to say that in this case it opened up a whole world
of understanding what Don wanted to communicate through his instruments.
Most emulations now a days try to replicate original and existing hardware but the
reality is that so much things are put into the mix when soldering components and
letting electricity do its work that to me the concept might be very very far away from
where we are right now. Another factor that plays along is the human interaction with
an interface that could easily re-shape our workflow and in the case of a Buchla system
that concept comes naturally since many composers and synthesists around the world
continue to redefine the way of working through the philosophy that designers like
Donald put into their modules and their system's interface. I believe that's one of the
main reasons a hardware interface will always continue to be the preferred way of
working.
Of course I am not able to emulate a Buchla system to such extent but I took the liberty
of at least trying and making the interface respond and work almost like the real thing.
The sound engine and philosophy was the same as Don's, packing as much power
into a single module as possible. I'm certain that this ensemble will help people who
haven't had the chance to work with a real Buchla system understand the workflow
behind the brand and feel less intimidated by it.
Its is very important getting to know each individual module on itself so you can
appreciate what each one is capable of doing and also knowing what kind of signals
does it handle, ins, outs and even its name and code number which will be constantly
used in the signal administrator section. We'll cover that part further along but as in the
same nature as Buchla, each module has an individual character and lots of things to
offer on its own so I highly recommend getting personal with them.
I have to disclaim that this was done out of pure fun and for my own personal use but
decided to publish it for free so others could enjoy the capabilities that this ensemble
has to offer. I hope it inspires you or helps you learn and understand what West Coast
synthesis is all about.
A LOT of time and work was put into this project so if you wish to donate something to
support what I've put into not only this free ensemble but all of the other ones you can
find on the Reaktor User Library, please click on the PayPal "Donate" button on my
webpage. I'd deeply appreciate it. www.trevorgavilan.com
Signal Types
In Reaktor we can't use real world CV signals for those are electrical and Reaktor works
with events instead but the terminology CV is highly used in this ensemble.
CV stand for Control Voltage but in other words lets remember it as Control Signal.
The control signal is used to modify existing parameters within each module, for
example if we wanted to use a MIDI Keyboard or any other given signal to control the
Frequency or Pitch of an oscillator, we'd use only Control signals.
The Modules that handle control signals are the 245t, 256t, 281t and the 266t.
The Modules that handle audio signals are the 258t, 259t, 261t, 291t, 292t and the
207t. All of these signals are administrated on the Panel B and the Panel A
corresponds to the main front panel. MIDI P corresponds to MIDI Notepitch input, MIDI
G to the MIDI Gate Input and MIDI PB to the MIDI pitch bend input.
Lo-Pass - 12 dB/Oct Low Pass Filter. Cut-off frequency is controlled by the level knob.
Combo - Low Pass Gate, which is a combination of a VCA and a VCF. It has its own
release response which sounds "organic" to some people and its one of the key
signature sounds created by Buchla. Cut-off frequency and amplitude is controlled by
the level knob.
Channels A through D have a Ring button which has a CV input. It affects the Damp of
the Low Pass Gate (LPG) when in Combo Mode and the Resonance of the filter when
in Lo-Pass Mode.
Audio Ins:
- A to D: Individual Ins.
Audio Outs:
- A to D: Individual Outs.
-All: All channels mixed into a single output.
CV Ins:
- CV In A to D: Individual control inputs for modulating the level on each channel.
- Ring CV In: Individual control inputs for modulating the Damp or Resonance when
desired.
This oscillator belongs to what we could consider the Complex Oscillators Family
which have a dual voice setting. It consists of two separate oscillators, one called the
Modulation Oscillator and another one called the Principal Oscillator. The Mod OSC is
designed primarily to serve as a modulation source for the Principal OSC which is
supposed to be the main audio source. Although the Mod OSC's primary use is mean
to be a modulator, it can also become a second full range oscillator. Let's look at the
details.
Center frequency is controlled by the big knob and the fine tune is controlled by the
very small round knob to the upper right of the main frequency knob.
The Modulation Oscillator has three frequency settings, Low, High and Track. Low has
the typical range of an LFO, High completes the rest of the frequency spectrum to
make it a full range oscillator and Track has the same full range as high but it enables
the 1.2V/Oct input so there can be pitch tracking coming from any modulation source
but mainly one that outputs full pitch tracking like MIDI P or the 245t sequencer.
The gray push button selects between these 3 range modes.
Waveforms can be selected to the left of the main frequency knob, there are three
waveforms available, Saw, Square and Triangular. If none of them are selected then
there will be no wave at the output stage. There can be more than one wave selected
at the same time giving way to more interesting waveforms. This oscillator is able to
output both audio and control although the control signal will always be positive (DC).
The FM knob controls the frequency modulation amount being received at the Mod
OSC FM In.
The way the Mod OSC affects the Principal OSC is through the Mod Index knob which
determines the amount of control signal being fed into any of the Mod Type (morph,
warp and frequency of the Princ. OSC) parameters. The Mod Index will create an
offset from the parameters original position, for example if the frequency is modulated
through the Mod Index, it will create a positive offset from the pitch's base frequency. If
the Mod Index if fully clockwise while modulating the freq. the result will give us an
offset of an octave above the Principal OSC's center frequency. The Mod Index knob
can be CV controlled by a control signal through the Mod Index CV In input.
Hard sync will truncate the waveform and make the Mod OSC follow the Princ. OSC.
Warp acts as a not so typical Wavefolder with a less aggressive character, its more of a
Driver with partial harmonics and it can also be modulated through a CV input or the
Mod Index function. There are two LED's next to the Warp knob, the one on the left
indicates when signal from the Mod Index is modulating Warp and the one on the right
indicates when an external CV signal is modulating Warp.
The FM knob controls the frequency modulation amount being received at the Princ.
OSC FM In, this input works at exponential levels.
The center frequency is also controlled by the big knob and the small fine tune knob.
The 1.2V/Oct button will enable the full pitch tracking input on the 1.2V/Oct Princ. OSC
Input for regular pitch tracking purposes. For example the MIDI P Input.
Timbre banks 1 to 5 have sine variations while banks A,B and C are the original twisted
waveforms from the Buchla 259e, once any of them are selected, the Skew knobs are
enabled and an LED will light up. The Skew knob on the left corresponds to the Green
Bank and the Skew knob on the right to the Red bank. These knobs are used for
scanning between the "abnormal" waveforms and they can be CV controlled by an
external signal using the G (Green) or R (Red) Skew CV In inputs.
Audio Outs:
- Princ. OSC Out.
- Mod. OSC Out.
CV Ins:
- 1.2V/Oct Princ. OSC
- 1.2V/Oct Mod. OSC
- Princ. OSC FM In.
- Mod. OSC FM In.
- Morph CV In.
- Warp CV In.
- Mod Index CV In.
- G Skew CV In.
- R Skew CV In.
CV Outs:
- Mod. OSC CV Out.
Center frequency is controlled by the big knob and the fine tune is controlled by the
very small round knob to the upper right of the main frequency knob.
The Modulation Oscillator has three frequency settings, Low, High and Track. Low has
the typical range of an LFO, High completes the rest of the frequency spectrum to
make it a full range oscillator and Track has the same full range as high but it enables
the 1.2V/Oct input so there can be pitch tracking coming from any modulation source.
The gray push button selects between these 3 range modes. This oscillator is also
able to output both audio and control signals.
Waveshaping is controlled through a knob that ranges from Sine to Square to Pulse but
this knob can also be CV controlled through the Mod. OSC Wave CV In input and the
CV Knob next to the FM knob controls the amount of modulation being sent to this
parameter.
The FM knob controls the frequency modulation amount being received at the Mod
OSC FM In.
The Mod Index knob determines the amount of control signal being fed into any of the
Mod Type (amp, timbre and frequency) parameters from the Principal Oscillator.
The Mod Index knob can be CV controlled by a control signal through the Mod Index
CV In input.
Hard sync will truncate the waveform and make the Mod OSC follow the Princ. OSC.
The Principal Oscillator consists on three main knobs that control the shape of the
waveform and work as follows:
The main waveform produced by the 261t is a Sine wave but by altering the position of
those three knobs it can easily turn into a very complex and alien waveform. Let me
mention that the Saw wave is not exactly a very conventional one since it has a very
high and resonant shape cut. High Order, Symmetry and Timbre are all CV
controllable at their CV inputs on the Signal Administrator.
The FM knob controls the frequency modulation amount being received at the Princ.
OSC FM In, this input works at exponential levels.
The center frequency is controlled by the big knob and the small fine tune knob.
The 1.2V/Oct button will enable the full pitch tracking input at the 1.2V/Oct Princ. OSC
Input for regular pitch tracking purposes.
Audio Outs:
- Princ. OSC Out.
- Mod. OSC Out.
CV Ins:
- 1.2V/Oct Princ. OSC
- 1.2V/Oct Mod. OSC
- Princ. OSC FM In.
- Mod. OSC FM In.
- Timbre CV In.
- Symmetry CV In.
- High Order CV In.
- Mod Index CV In.
- Mod OSC Wave CV In.
CV Outs:
- Mod. OSC CV Out.
Generator A/B
This is a Sine to Saw oscillator, the waveform's shape is controlled via the Shape Knob
and can be CV controlled externally through the A Morph CV In input and internally by
the Generator B by pushing the red xB button.
FM can be controlled externally or also internally by pushing the xB button next to it.
The external input can be found on the signal administrator under the A FM In input.
FM works in an exponential way.
The center frequency is controlled by the big knob and the small fine tune knob.
The 1.2V/Oct button will enable the full pitch tracking input at the 1.2V/Oct Princ. OSC
Input for regular pitch tracking purposes.
* Generator B is exactly the same as A, the only things that change are the internal
modulations, instead of being fed by B (xB), their being fed by A (xA)
Audio Outs:
- Gen A Out.
- Gen B Out.
CV Ins:
- 1.2V/Oct Gen A.
- 1.2V/Oct Gen B.
- A FM In.
- B FM In.
- A Morph CV In.
- B Morph CV In.
- A CV In.
- B CV In.
CV Outs:
- Gen A CV Out.
- Gen B CV Out.
Signal goes into the module through three different point, A, B and C. If signal goes
through input A it could be routed in a serial way to B and C but it could also be
independent and any signal going into B or C act only as individual filters passing
straight to their outputs. It is crucial to know that if the Filter is used in a serial way,
Input A could go into all three Nodes but if any other signal is added at the inputs then
those signals will be automatically mixed and when using it in independent mode, then
three different signals go into all three nodes and need to be outputted independently
but the Signal Path Selector should ALWAYS be in A mode if this routing is desired.
A
Input A Filter A A-B Main Out
A-B-C
The Main Amount knob controls how much of the original signals are passed and
affected by the 291t Filters. It works in a general mode, this means it controls all three
filters equally.
In order to edit or view each filter there's a Node Selector button than can scroll
between all 3 of them. A little display will display which filter is currently being viewed,
as the nodes are being changed the entire settings of the filter will change accordingly.
For example if we have Setting A on Filter Node A and Setting B on Filter Node B, the
parameters on the knobs, stage numbers and even A.M. settings will change
accordingly.
Every Node will have the same parameters and 8 stages, every stage represent a
different filter state and we can scroll through them with the red Edit button beneath the
stage numbers. Like mentioned before, whenever we change the stage, the
parameters will change accordingly. There are 3 main settings on every stage,
Amplitude which controls the general amplitude and "Drive" on the filter on every stage,
Frequency which controls the cut off frequency and Band Width (Q) which controls the
filter's resonance. Frequency, Stage and Band Width are all CV controllable through
the signal administrator but only Freq. and Band Width (Q) have a CV amount knob
next to them. There's one individual CV amount knob in both parameter per stage, this
mean that there are 8 possible CV knob combinations per Node.
There is a way to sequence the stages as they scroll through one another both
internally and externally.
The run button with the ext. clock button deselected will enable the internal clock and
the speed of the clock can be controlled with the time knob. In order to do it internally,
the Ext. Clock button should be pushed and there should be a CV control signal being
received at the Ext. Clock In input of the desired Filter Node.
The length of the sequence is controlled through the Steps knob, 1 stage being
complete counterclockwise and 8 stages fully clockwise.
There is also another modulation input available at the Stages level and that is a Stage
CV In input that will make the sequence progress accordingly to the signal received at
the Stage CV In input, the blue CV button needs to be pushed in order for this function
to work, this is commonly referred to as Stage Addressing Modulation.
The A.M. section refers to a way of achieving Ring Modulation and the signal flow goes
as follows:
The A.M. receives an external input that is internally driven by a Sine Wave, then its
amplitude modulated by the main filtered signal, the ring mod signal is then summed
up with the original filtered signal and passed through the output. The Frequency of
the Sine Wave and the Amount of the A.M. is controlled by the same knob "mod. freq."
It is important that the A.M. green push button is engaged and audio signal is going in
to the A/B/C A.M. In input for this function to work. Also, the Sine Wave frequency can
be CV controlled through the A/B/C A.M. CV In and has an attenuverter knob for
controlling the amount (a.m. cv).
All Nodes have the same A.M. function and works exactly the same so there could
easily be 3 different Ring Modulations happening at the same time.
Audio Ins:
- A In.
- B In.
- C In.
- A A.M. In.
- B A.M. In.
- C A.M. In.
Audio Outs:
- Main Out.
- B Out.
- C Out.
CV Ins:
- Ext. Clock A In.
- Ext. Clock B In.
- Ext. Clock C In.
- A Stage CV In.
- B Stage CV In.
- C Stage CV In.
- A Freq. CV In.
- B Freq. CV In.
- C Freq. CV In.
- A Q CV In.
- B Q CV In.
- C Q CV In.
- A A.M. CV In.
- B A.M. CV In.
- C A.M. CV In.
CV Outs:
- None.
Cycle Mode : When in Cycle mode, the Action/Function (Envelope) will loop on itself.
Attack will control the rise speed and Decay the fall speed. The combination of two
could yield slow rising envelopes to very percussive and fast ones.
Transient Mode: In Transient mode, the action is ready to receive a gate or a pulse at
the Gate In Input to be triggered and react as a regular Attack Decay Envelope.
Hold Mode: When in Hold mode, the action will also be ready to receive a gate or a
pulse at the Gate In Input but it'll react as an Attack Hold Envelope.
When CV controlling the Attack and the Decay, new rhythmic and reactive capabilities
become possible so it is highly encouraged to experiment with both of these CV
Inputs.
Quadrature Mode: There are two Quadrature modes, A to B (A-B) and C to D (C-D) and
what happens when one of these functions is triggered is that the four knobs
corresponding to the actions A and B turn into an ADSR envelope (A Attack = Attack,
A Decay = Decay, B Attack = Sustain, B Decay = Release). When the C-D Quadrature
is selected then the controls are assigned in the same way but starting at the C action.
When in Quadrature mode the actions must be in Transient mode and their signal flow
goes as follows.
A-B = Gate input at the A Gate In input and quadrature output at the B Blue Output.
The A Action is inserted in the middle of the ADSR and interacts with the B Action.
C-D = Gate input at the C Gate In input and quadrature output at the D Blue Output.
The C Action is inserted in the middle of the ADSR and interacts with the D Action.
The Quadrature push buttons engage the ADSR function for it work.
The OR's only work in Quadrature mode and what they do is that they insert a fragment
of one of the Actions (envelopes) in between the ADSR result in order to yield more
complex actions. The ORs have their own individual output (A-B or C-D OR CV Out)
and when Quadrature mode is not selected, their knobs behave as Biases or Amounts
for the Actions B or D depending on the selected OR Output. The OR knobs control
the main output for those functions.
The 281t creates two main output signals, the Blue outputs and the Red outputs.
Blue outputs correspond to the full CV signals with the whole Envelope forms whereas
the Red outputs will only give a Pulse at the end of every cycle. These Red outputs
come in handy when controlling other modules that require a pulse or a clock in order
to work but remembering that the trigger out will happen at the end of every cycle and
not at the beginning. This could yield some typical swing effects when clocking. If you
wish to have a precise output that will be in perfect sync with the Action, use the Blue
outputs instead.
CV Ins:
- A Gate In.
- B Gate In.
- C Gate In.
- D Gate In.
- A Attack CV In.
- A Decay CV In.
- B Attack CV In.
- B Decay CV In.
- C Attack CV In.
- C Decay CV In.
- D Attack CV In.
- D Decay CV In.
CV Outs:
- A Blue CV Out.
- B Blue CV Out.
- C Blue CV Out.
- D Blue CV Out.
- A Red CV Out.
- B Red CV Out.
- C Red CV Out.
- D Red CV Out.
- A-B OR CV Out.
- C-D OR CV Out.
H Fbck acts as Bell distribution and can yield very different results that could affect
timbres and shaping when applied properly. Note that not all settings will respond the
same to this feature. Both States knobs can also be CV controlled through their CV In
inputs.
Chroniker is a section that outputs pulses that are controlled by an internal clock. In
order for the clock to start, the Run button should be pressed.
The Chroniker main knob controls the rate of the clock and can be CV Controlled via its
input and has its own CV attenuverter knob.
The main constant pulses from the Chroniker are outputted through the Tick Out.
The Density knob controls the amount of pulses being produced at the Talk Out output
and the way that it works is that the more density (fully clockwise), the more constant
the pulses will be and the less dense (counter clockwise), the pulses will be
subdivided based on the Chroniker's own clock speed. These subdivisions could give
a Euclidean rhythmic feel. Density can also be controlled via its CV In input and has an
attenuverter knob for controlling the CV amount.
CV Ins:
- A CV In.
- B CV In.
- C CV In.
- D CV In.
- Chroniker CV In.
- Density CV In.
CV Outs:
- A CV Out.
- B CV Out.
- C CV Out.
- D CV Out.
- Tick CV Out.
- Talk CV Out.
The way that this module works is by receiving a control signal at its input and
processing through a section called Transfer Function and then is outputted.
There are two main knobs that control the process, the @0V Knob to the left and the
@10V Knob to the right.
When the 0V knob is fully counter clockwise and the 10V knob is fully clock wise the
signal passes unaffected from the input to the output. This is known as Pass Through
Mode. The two red dots on both edges indicate the state of both knobs, the left dot
belongs to the @0V knob and the right dot to the @10V knob.
By bringing down the @10V knob the 256t will begin to act as an attenuator, when the
knob is fully counter clockwise, the signal being process will cease to pass to the
output.
By bringing up the @0V knob and leaving the @10V knob down, the signal will begin to
be inverted. When the knob is fully clockwise, then the signal will be fully inverted.
Modulating these two knobs and combining them will already process the signal in
more complex ways.
The mathematical representation of this operation si represented as follows:
Vout = Vin - 1 (@0V) + Vin (@10V)
By pressing the Breakpoint button a new dot will appear in between the 0V dot and the
10V dot. This dot represents a new processing offset that will happen in between the
two main processes. This breakpoint is controlled by the In and Out value knobs.
In V controls the X axis and Out V controls the Y axis.
The lower both of these knobs are, the harder the breakpoint will be, the higher the
values are, the wider the now created curve will be. By positioning this dot in different
places along the grid the results will become less linear and will directly interact with
the @0V values and the @10V values. This is what we would call a non linear
transformation.
There is one more function available and that is the ability to Add another control signal
to the mix. This can be achieved by inputing a second signal into the A/B/C 2 In input
and mixing it manually with the A/B/C 2 Knob. This second signal will also get
processed through the same setting and rules as the first signal.
The A/B/C 2 Knobs are all CV controllable through their CV Mix inputs and by pressing
the CV a/b/c 2 buttons.
CV Ins:
- A1 In.
- A2 In.
- B1 In.
- B2 In.
- C1 In.
- C2 In.
- A2 CV Mix.
- B2 CV Mix.
- C2 CV Mix.
CV Outs:
- A CV Out.
- B CV Out.
- C CV Out.
CV Ins:
- A Pulse CV In.
- B Pulse CV In.
- A Ext. Clock In.
- B Ext. Clock In.
- A Gate In.
CV Outs:
- A Control CV Out.
- A Pulse CV Out.
- B Control CV Out.
- B Pulse CV Out.
- A Clock Out.
- B Clock Out.
SIGNAL ADMINISTRATOR
The way the system is connected is through the Signal Administrator located in the B
Panel of the Ensemble.
This is where all the possible Ins and Outs can be connected.
Inputs:
Every module has an equivalent back panel here with all its possible Inputs, both
Audio and CV. These are the Input Ports.
Every Control input will have a "CV In" included in the input's name and every Audio will
only say "In" after the parameter's name. Even though the system is ready to receive
audio at CV points just like a Eurorack would work, its important to keep in mind the
different types of signals the modules can handle.
There's a yellow LED on every Input Port that will the level of any signal coming in.
Sometimes the signal isn't strong enough for the LED to light up entirely but that
doesn't mean there's no signal coming in and that's why its important to always check
the connection not just visually but sonically.
Outputs:
Every output from every module is available in the form of a List which is accessible at
every Input port. The list will display every single possible output available and by
selecting one of the outputs listed in the Input port, a connection is made.
This is a simple concept by itself but when patches become more and more complex,
the signal flow can become a little bit hard to track but just as using cables, it is always
really important to keep track of the signal flow in the best way possible.
LEMUR TEMPLATE
I've taken the liberty of creating an iPad template for the App Lemur with most of the
parameters needed for performance already mapped and ready to go.
It also includes a Keyboard and a Sequencer, both based on Softcore's iVCS3
template.
You'll find that the keyboard is available on all tabs and can be hidden but when
shown, it'll be super imposed at the bottom. Only the tab A has it permanently
showing.
*Sequencer Bug - There is a weird bug that you may encounter with the sequencer and
the way it works is that in order to get the scales moving and the pitch to change, the
major/minor buttons should be clicked once just to get it going. Another bug you might
encounter is that at some point it could stop sending pitch messages and all you have
to do is reset the lemur template so be sure to save it directly to you iPad.
There are 6 Tabs with all modules included, the only one I wasn't able to include was
the 245t, not because of anything else but the fact that 128 MIDI messages were just
not enough to map out the whole system. Maybe if you have another midi controller you
could map it out yourself, just make sure to use a different midi channel and device.
NOTE - ALL PARAMETERS THAT WERE NOT MAPPED FOR LEMUR WILL HAVE THEIR
MIDI IN OPTION IN THE CONNECT TAB DISABLED. If changes wish to be made, then
you'll need to access and configure those parameters yourself.
Thank you for taking the time to read this manual and I hope this instrument can inspire
and yield some unique and interesting results. Please consider making a donation on
my webpage if you find the amount of work that was put into this project worth it. You
can find the Donate button at www.trevorgavilan.com You can also follow me and my
music:
www.trevorgavilan.bandcamp.com www.soundcloud.com/trevorgavilan
@trevorgavilan
Much appreciation and thank you!
Trevor Gavilan, March 2017. Nematic Labs.