Lorre Mill Double Knot v3 User manual
Double Knot v3
User Guide
The Double Knot v3 is a small generative synthesizer with two voices and corresponding sequenc-
ers. This instrument has a simple architecture which is capable of a wide variety of sounds, including
rhythms and drum patterns or textural and grating noise sounds. The interface is made up of knobs,
switches, and banana plugs for patching. The two voices of this device each consist of a triangle/
square wave oscillator, a shift register sequencer, an enveloper, and a voltage controlled amplier. A
clock sets the tempo of the shift registers.
The voices of the Double Knot are pre-wired, in a linear chain of functional blocks. The patch points
are available to route modulations, inuencing the simple linear voices. The game of this device is to
investigate the relationships between the elements of the synth using the knobs, switches and patch-
points.
is user guide written and illustrated by Will Schorre.
Rendered images by Max Anderson.
Enjoy!
Double Knot v3
Please take a moment to read this guide in its entirety before use. Thank you.
3 year full warranty on any manufacturing defects.
Warranty does not cover damage by impact, crushing, water, or any other misuse or mistake.
Must provide proof of original purchase.
No liability is taken for harm that may come to person or device
resulting from misuse of this equipment.
Please be careful of your ears! You only get one pair!
No part of this document may be duplicated without express consent
from the proprietors of Lorre Mill, LLC Baltimore, MD 21214. Thank you.
All contents of this manual are subject to change without notice.
lorre-mill.com/doubleknot
Warranty and Warnings
Power
+12V power input is applied by a positive tip 2.1mm x 5.5mm barrel connector. e supply must have an output
capable of at least 600mA output current. ere is a "so" power switch next to the power input.
Connections
• Audio output is a line level signal for connection to an audio mixer or computer speakers.
• Clock input will disconnect the internal clock and advance the shi registers on the rising edge crossing
~2.5v
• Clock output gives a square wave ~1.2v - 8v.
• Banana inputs are high impedance and can handle some signals outside the supply voltage range of the de-
vice. +/-8v is safe.
• Banana outputs are low impedance. 1k limiting resistor carrying 0-9v signals. e outputs can handle some
voltages outside of the power supply range as well. Such as when a low impedance output (1k) happens to be
patched to one of the Double Knot's banana outputs. Maximum safe voltage range for this situation would be
+/- 8v. is situation could happen when mixing voltages using banana plugs.
Oscillators
e main tone sources are two oscillators which have a
triangle/square topology. ey inherently generate tri-
angular and square wave shapes without any additional
circuitry. e pitch range of these oscillators is wide,
from below audible range to nearly ultrasonic. Sync in-
put is most usefully patched to the square output of the
opposite oscillator for so sync eects.
FM Section
e FM section situated between the two oscillators is
used to make timbral changes to the sounds. is sec-
tion feeds one oscillator output to the opposite oscilla-
tor's pitch control input for complex and inharmonic
wave generation. e amount knob becomes an attenu-
ator for the signal at CV Input. e yellow button in the
FM section cycles through four modes. e modes are
o, full on (where both oscillators modulate each other),
osc 1 -> osc 2, and osc 2 -> osc 1.
Pitch
Pitch CV
Attenuator
Pitch CV
Input
Square
Output
Triangle
Output
Sync
Input
FM
CV
Input
FM
Amount
FM
Mode
6
Exp
Lin
Bottom Voice (Right Side)
5
Zero Crossing
Phase Irreverent
4
VCSlew
VCA
3
Exp
Lin
Top Voice ( Le Side )
2
Zero Crossing
Phase Irreverent
1
VCSlew
VCA
Switch
ON
OFF
:)
Dip Switches
Small switches on the
back of the synth set
these three
options for each
voice.
Shift Registers
e shi registers in this synth can act as 5-8 step
rhythm sequencers or random pattern generators.
e orange and white buttons are for entering or remov-
ing data from the shi register.
To loop the register, patch the data input to one of the
four data outputs (5,6,7,8). en, type bits in at the
rhythm of the clock using the data + and data - buttons.
is data will recycle.
To generate random sequences based on interference
patterns, patch one of the oscillator square outputs to
the data input of one of the shi registers. Data corre-
sponding to the pitch of the oscillator will be entered
into the shi register.
e data outputs and the R2R outputs can be used for
modulating other parts of the system.
Envelopers
Zero attack, voltage controlled decay envelopers control
the volume of each voice. ere are controls for veloc-
ity and sink (or decay). Velocity controls the starting
voltage of the envelope, sink determines how long it
takes for the envelope to fade out. e range on these
envelopers is very wide, from short clicks in the full
clockwise position of the sink knob to many seconds in
the full ccw position.
Yellow buttons toggle on and o a gated loop mode.
When the envelope is receiving a high signal at the
trigger input, the envelope will loop at a rate set by the
velocity and sink controls. Dip switches on the back of
the synth select zero-crossing mode/ phase irreverent
modes for each enveloper separately. It should be noted
that with the dip switch set to zero-crossing mode, if
the oscillator never crosses zero, the envelope will not
sound. is can happen when using oscillator sync.
Data
Input
Clock
Input
Data + Data -
R2R
Output 5
6
7
8
Sink
Velocity
Sink
Input
Velocity
Input
Output
Trigger
Input
Loop
On/Off
Block Diagram
Vca/Slew
DIP Switch
Vca/Slew
DIP Switch
Lin/Exp
DIP Switch
Lin/Exp
DIP Switch
Zero Crossing
DIP Switch
Zero Crossing
DIP Switch
Vca/Slew Output
CV in
Input
Amp/Rate
Vca/Slew Output
CV in
Input
Amp/Rate
VCA Mid Scoop
& Saturate
Oscillator
Triangle Out
Square Out
Pitch CV Pitch
Sync In
FM
Mode
Level In
Level
Shift Register R2R Out
Data In
5 6 7 8
Clock In
Data + Data -
Shift Register R2R Out
Data In
5 6 7 8
Clock In
Data + Data -
Enveloper
Envelope Out
Velocity In
Sink In
Trigger In
Velocity
Loop
Sink
Clock Clock Out
Rate CV
Rate
AND
VCA Mid Scoop
& Saturate
Enveloper
Envelope Out
Velocity In
Sink In
Trigger In
Velocity
Loop
Sink
AND
Oscillator
Triangle Out
Square Out
Pitch CV Pitch
Sync In
Audio
Output
Stereo Volume
Potentiometer
Clock
e clock is a simple voltage-controlled square-wave
generator. e red button starts and pauses the clock.
Clock output is available as a modulation source or as a
connection to another receptive banana jack synthesizer.
When an external clock is plugged into the 3.5mm jack
on the back of the unit, the internal clock is disabled.
e play/pause button will still halt the external clock
and the output becomes a buered copy of the clock at
the 3.5mm jack.
Clock rate is roughly 1Hz to 60Hz without using the
CV input. is range is extended when using a signal to
modulate the rate of the clock.
Vca/VC Slew
ese two circuits are the only parts of the Double Knot
which are not pre-wired to any other part of the system.
ese are independent signal processors with one knob
two inputs and one output. Signal input is on the le,
CV input is in the middle, and output is on the right.
e knob sets the slew rate from nearly halted (full
CCW) to pretty fast (full CW). When set as a VCA the
level goes from o to roughly unity gain.
e CV Input and knob are summed together so when
a CV is plugged in, the knob is added with the input
signal as an oset control.
Dip switches on the back of the synth select the mode
of each of these sections. Please refer to the dip switch
table on page 3.
e main stereo volume knob is in between these two
sections.
Clock
Output
Clock
CV
Input
Clock
CV
Attenuator
Rate
Play/Pause
Vca Level/
Vc Slew Rate
Input Output
CV
Input
Phasing Patterns The registers here are looping data from the bit outputs back to the data input.
Enter data using the red data + button on each sequencer.
All Random By using the audio oscillators as sources for the shift registers and feeding the shift
registers back to the pitch of the oscillators, random rhythmic patterns emerge.
“Rungler” Patch How to implement a Rungler, a concept coined by Rob Hordijk. The Double Knot
provides a good environment for experimenting with this fun and puzzling technique. Try it!
Your Patch ______________________________________________________________
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