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User Manual for Whimsical Raps models including: WSLASH2 Uniz Slash 2 Plus 3D Printer, WSLASH2, Uniz Slash 2 Plus 3D Printer, Slash 2 Plus 3D Printer, 2 Plus 3D Printer, 3D Printer
W/ – WHIMSICAL RAPS
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DocumentDocumentW/
Music, is sounds, are vibrations, as waves, of energy. One can wait all day for the perfect wave, though it may never come. In these ebbing moments we live inside of memories gone past.
These tiny histories aren't meant for books, nothing but personal fragments. Instead we capture these energetic wavings. Within W/.
PERSONALITIES
Three ways of being, singularly focused on multiplying the power of an existing instrument. W/Tape expands your system through self-referential recording & playback, geared toward dense layering. W/Del leverages W/Tape manipulation methods, while zooming in to microsound possibilities. W/Syn presents a duality of rapid polyphony and structured FM exploration, draping harmonic textures behind your sound stage.
These three worlds are navigated from the Launcher. Accessible at any time for rapid context shifts, along with the simplest of preset systems.
With its diminutive interface, remote-control with II is a natural choice for W/. There is a rich interface for all three engines provided, expanding the panel-possibilities when controlled by monome & our crow module, or monome's teletype.
POWER CONSUMPTION
59mA @ +12V 13mA @ -12V
Red Stripe (-12v) toward center of module where `power' is printed.
FUTURE UPDATES
W/ has grown over the years taking it's two-point-oh form in early 2021. To update in the present future, hold record while engaging power to your case. Then play the update as audio to IN.
For the latest improvements and full instructions, visit:
github.com /whimsicalraps /wslash
strike IN
filter
freeze
Z-1
W/Del
A flexible delay line is a core element of many electronic music techniques. Short to long, and all the time between. W/Del can delay up to 4 seconds at full quality, or stretch out to a minute with degraded time stretching. Zoomed in, the delay approaches 1ms for all kinds of pitch effects like chorus & flange, and includes an exciter for Karplus-Strong strings.
Classical TIME, FEEDBACK, and MIX controls are familiar along with an adjustable lowpass FILTER in the feedback loop. Integrated MOD-ulation opens up vibrato and broken tape sounds, plus FREEZE locks in the current buffer for giant wavetable time-stretching.
TAP tempo, and direct LOOPing are available, while the new ZOOM controls allow dynamic buffer manipulation. Halve and double delay times in recursively nested loop slices.
rate modulation
feedback
mix xfade OUT
W/Syn
pitch N/D
Polyphony in a modular context is a can of worms, but sometimes faking it is just as satisfying as the real thing. W/Syn hides away four, 2-op-FM voices, accessible with a single GATE and PITCH(v8) control. Rapid arpeggios and long envelope tails will build ringing harmonic timbres.
FM index FM env
Similar to JUST FRIENDS, waveshaping is performed by RAMP (saw/tri/ramp), and CURVE (sine/tri/square), extended by tightly coupled frequency modulation. The modulator generates sine waves with pitch directly related to the carrier. Set the ratio with NUMerator and DENOMinator for controlled yet complex timbres.
symmetry time gate
ramp curve
OUT
All voices pass through a Lowpass-Gate for dynamics control, struck by a vactrol-style GATE, highly sensitive to pulse-width for velocity control. Stretch & shape notes with TIME & SYMMETRY, applying the envelope to FM amount for brassy attacks. All voices are finally squished together with an output compressor ensuring smooth density.
W/Tape
The original idea for a tiny tape recorder with overdubbable hours remains compelling and herewith. Three hours, tied start to end in a giant loop-- it's enough to get lost in, and then find a new, or old, self. Recording is typically presented as a productive act, but not here. W/Tape defines the archive as an ephemeral entity; a medium to be manipulated in realtime in the most cavalier way. A history to be revisited and revised.
W/Tape is modelled after an open reel Tape Machine. A motor pushes and pulls the tape across the erase/playback/record heads, while impossibly instant tape-splicing forms dynamic loops. Separating these three elements of loop, play, and record enables a tiny interface to cover a great deal of functional ground.
play Press play. The tape will move, and recorded vibrations can be heard. Press again to stop. Reverse is a first-class citizen of W/Tape, distinguished only by the colour of pulsing play light. Playback speed can be increased and decreased in steps of half or double, slowing down to glittering low-quality sparkles. Tape motion can be encouraged by the toggle, nudged faster or slower while the tape is playing, or full fast-forward/rewind when stopped.
record Sound-on-sound recording is fundamental to W/Tape, always adding new sound to existing recordings. Press to punch-in and again to punch-out. Recording is independent of playback, so try dragging the tape with FF/RWD while engaged. When you want to cut away sounds, enable the erase head to record over previous material. Erase-strength can be set in-between overdub & overwrite, enabling gradually decaying sounds. Echo-mode extends this technique for loops by switching the play-head before the erase-head, hearing old sounds one last time.
loop Dynamic loop markers allow for rapid alternation between sketchpad and structured musical phrases. Set loops from the panel, or with a smartly quantized voltage trigger. Any captured loop time can be expanded or shrunk by a factor of 2, with context-aware nesting, for sequential fixed-time loops, or `90s techno risers.
Engines & The Launcher
LOADING ENGINES
When you start W/ you'll be running the W/Tape engine, with it's hours of malleable media. Once it's time to explore the other possibilities of W/Del and W/Syn, you'll need to access the Launcher:
Sequentially, press and hold: record + play + loop
The toggle lights will charge up, then start flashing. Release, and you're in the Launcher. The yellow record light will be throbbing, indicating W/Tape mode. The three engines are selected by the buttons, with a mnemonic light pattern per mode:
loop : W/Del play : W/Syn record : W/Tape
Once you've selected a new engine, hold Down and wait for the lights to charge after which your new engine will run.
Exit the launcher without change by pressing Up.
PRESETS: W/Del & W/Syn
W/Del and W/Syn don't save changes by default. When you turn on your case, the most recent engine will be loaded with the default settings.
Both W/Del and W/Syn have a single preset which will override the defaults on load. Once you've found a sound you want to retain:
Open the launcher White light will throb (ready to save) Hold Down to save
If you've been experimenting but want to return to your saved preset:
Open the launcher Press the current engine's key White light will go dim Hold Down to reload your preset
Perhaps your tired of the preset and want to start from scratch:
Open the launcher Press the current engine 3 times White light will flicker Hold Down to clear and load defaults
A CLEAN TAPE: W/Tape
From time to time you may desire to clear the tape, abandoning any prior recordings. The command is the same as returning to the default preset (Del/Syn):
Open the launcher Tap record 3 times quickly record's white light will flash Hold Down to clear the tape
W/Del
select engine with loop
W/Syn
select engine with play
selected parameter
value
modify selected parameter
parameters
control voltage
MIX
(dry, 50/50, wet)
FILTER
(16, 1k, 16k)Hz
v8 RATE
(-5, 0, 5)Octaves
select parameter
loop play record
FREEZE
{active, frozen}
STRIKE
(CV destination only) Trigger a pulse of noise into the delay line
MODULATION
(slow, none, fast)
TAP/LOOP
- Tap Down 5x for tempo
- Down then Up sets loop
- Hold Down for max time
CLOCK
- Modifies RATE such
that 4 triggers is
one delay time
FEEDBACK
(0, 50, 100)%
ZOOM
Repeatedly tap Up to
double or Down to
halve delay time
Hold record while inserting a patch cable to display routing: - Change with buttons - Confirm with Down - Cancel with Up
THIS & THAT
selected parameter
value
modify selected parameter
parameters
control voltage
GATE TIME
(slow, VTL5C3, fast)
GATE SYMMETRY
(sharp, balanced, laggy)
GATE
(CV destination only)
Opens the GATE while
input is >1V
FM ENVELOPE
(-ve, none, +ve)
loop
FM INDEX
(-ve, none, +ve)
FM RATIO: N
{1..19}
Tap Up/Down once
per step
PITCH v8
(CV destination only)
0V = C3. Only active
while GATE is open.
RAMP
(saw, tri, ramp)
select parameter
play record
CURVE
(square, tri, sine)
FM RATIO: D
{1..19}
Tap Up/Down once
per step
Hold record while inserting a patch cable to display routing: - Change with buttons - Confirm with Down - Cancel with Up
IN, THIS & THAT
monitor level
UP/DOWN While stopped: SEEK Up fast-forward with acceleration Down rewind with acceleration While playing: NUDGE Up speed up, accelerating to 1.5x Down slow down, decelerating to 0.75x
loop
LOOP Lights off indicates no current loop To set a loop, play the tape then: Press loop to set the start point Press loop again to set the end-point Now you're looping: Reset to the start by pressing loop Clear a loop by holding loop Change loop size: 2x size: Hold loop then press Up 1/2x size: Hold loop then press Down NB: Release loop first to avoid reset
play
PLAY Press play to start playback White = forward. Yellow = reverse Speed indicated by pulsing Press play again to stop (lights off) Direction: Forward: Hold Up then press play Reverse: Hold Down then press play Speed Modifier: 2x Speed: Hold play then press Up 1/2x Speed: Hold play then press Down
record
RECORD Toggle recording on/off with record Erase Strength: Hold Up/Down to set record + Up: Stronger (overwrite) record + Down: Weaker (sound-on-sound)
THIS & THAT
Hold record while inserting a patch cable to display current routing: - Select routing with buttons - Confirm with Down - Cancel with Up
LOOP: Clock Quantized Looping Attach a trigger or cycling-sig-
nal at the loop-rate. Press loop to arm looping. The next CV events set start & end points. Further CV events reset the loop
LOOP+PLAY: Monitor level Acts as a VCA over signal from
IN to OUT. Through-zero.
PLAY (yellow): Linear Speed Directly control tape speed.
Negative values go through-zero to reverse speeds.
PLAY (white): Expo Speed v8 Modify current tape speed such
that 1V = 2x speed (1octave higher). Requires PLAY state.
PLAY+RECORD: Input Gain Set volume of signal going to
tape machine. Attach an envelope!
RECORD: Gain & Erase Macro 0V = No recording
+ve fades toward current record setting. -ve same as +ve but with opposite erase-strength.
echo mode
W/Tape
select engine with record