Noise Reap Foundation User manual

Foundation
User Manual v1.0
Overview
The Foundation is an original bassdrum
synthesizer with a smooth and organic
sound. It’s modeled after an actual
acoustic drum. Each part of the physical
instrument has been translated into
analog and digital electrical components.
Technical
Specifications
● Width 10hp
● Depth 28mm
● Current draw 20mA @ +12V
● Current draw 10mA @ -12V

Inputs
STRIKE
Triggered by any hard edged waveform greater than 2V. Sets the drum in motion.
CV
5V range. Controls the amount of RING. Positive voltages increase RING, negative decrease.
1V
10V range. Standard 1V per octave input to control the drum tuning.
NUDGE
10V range. A heavily attenuated exponential input to control the drum tuning. This is calibrated
such that a 5V gate will add a point of interest to the sound, but not change the tuning so much
that it sounds disjointed. It can be used with random sources/LFOS/etc to achieve subtle pitch
variations and add humanization to a track.
Outputs
DRUM
~10V audio output. The final drum synth output.
ENV
0 - 5V envelope output. It has a range of about 50mS to 1.5 seconds, and a blended
exponential/linear shape.
NOISE
5V audio output. This is a digital white noise signal used by the texture control.
SINE
~10V audio output.
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Knobs
RING
Controls how long the drum “rings out”. This changes the decay length of both the main
envelope and a shorter envelope controlling the texture transient.
BEND
This control mimics the amount the drum membrane bends when struck. It applies a fixed 45mS
sweep to the tuning. More BEND results in a higher pitched transient.
TUNE
Controls the fundamental tuning of the drum. Has a wide range from about 20Hz to 180Hz.
TEXTURE
This represents the complex midtones resulting from the drums shell, hardware, atonal
interactions, etc. Rotating TEXTURE clockwise adds digital noise to the signal. RING controls
the length of this texture transient.
DAMPING
Damping is like stuffing a pillow in the drum shell or softening the beater. It filters out some of
the harsh higher frequency and ‘click’ of the attack. Use in conjunction with TEXTURE to
achieve a nuanced kick sound that sits great in a mix.
*Damping affects volume. You’ll want to adjust the gain on your mixer when creating a heavily
damped kick sound.
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Patch Notes
Realistic Bassdrum
Ring & tune 11 o’clock. Bend noon. Texture & damping 9 o’clock.
909 Style
Ring noon. Tune 10 o’clock. Bend 2-3 o’clock. No damping. Barely any texture.
Lofi Hiphop
Ring 2 o’clock. Bend 9 o’clock. Texture & damping noon (or alternatively both minimized). Adjust
mixer gain to compensate for increased damping.
Minimal Techno
Ring & tune 9 o’clock. Bend 10 o’clock. Add just enough texture so that you hear it. Then add
just enough damping so that you hear it.
Indie Rock Kick
Ring & tune noon. Bend 9 o’clock. Texture min. Damping max. Adjust mixer gain to compensate
for increased damping.
Unlock the Kick!
Set up a kick sound with no damping. Run it through a nearly closed lowpass filter with plenty of
resonance. Use the Foundation envelope to open the filter. Anomaly works really well for this
because it adds a bit of additional grit and character.
Hihat & Snare
Use the texture output to create rudimentary hihat or snare sounds. Patch a short envelope to
modulate a VCA. Run texture through the VCA. This can all occur without interrupting the use of
the kick drum.
Easy-ish Ducking
Run your to-be-ducked signal through a VCA. Send an inverted copy of the Foundation
envelope out to modulate the VCA.
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