STUDIO ELECTRONICS TONESTAR 8106
TONESTAR 8106, an ARP® 2600-inspired complete synth voice, infuses Tim Caswell's "Jupiter to Juno" filter alchemy—a 6db/oct hi-pass filter followed by a recreation of the Roland IR 3109 module—into our Tonestar 2600 platform; this chirpy yet full-bodied 8106 model is also fully #OutsToOuts modular featuring 27 pots—one more that the 2600 model for the high-pass filter, 6 switches—one less, sacrificing resonance modulation for that high-pass filtering, and 21 jacks. If the Tone☆ 8106 thins somewhat with resonance excess, route the triangle wave 'round the VCF with the "NO VCF" switch setting, and keep this juicy reimagining of the Roland® IR3109 module boomin' and gloomin'. Nearly thrilling Out to Outs/Interesting Patches .pdf (there). Caswell Knowledge (circuit designer talk): "The VCO is the same affair as the Oscillation, the Boomstar, and the Omega. It's kind of a combination of Arp®, Oberheim® and Moog® circuits (sort of a greatest hits), time-tested, very stable—very good tracking over a very large range; certain parts have to be hand selected to achieve that level of exacting performance. Editors Note: This module is a TONESTAR—its own thing—and not a 2600 clone attempt; nevertheless, the Tone☆ tugs lovingly at times on the sleeve of the 1970's era classic. Envelope FYI: The Tonestar Sustain control replicates the behavior of the 2600 and Odyssey: after the initial Decay, it continues to move (sink) very slowly, adding a little extra texture to the sound. It's technically a flaw, but after digging out my Odyssey, it is for sure a desirable "quirk", and the perfect companion to the 4072 filter (which we mistakenly titled a 4075 in the Boomstar Modular line). Another bit of fun: The LFO is voltage controlled, so you can envelope, LFO, or otherwise modulate both the rate and the depth; the ADSR amount is also voltage controlled, so it can be manipulated by MIDI dynamics, MIDI volume, an LFO, etc. Greg[St. Regis] has decreed that anything must be patchable to anything, so some technically wrong patchings (for example, pulse wave out to ADSR out) may often produce unexpectedly interesting, x-mod/notch filtering—quite pleasing effects. The Tonestar was Greg's concept, but as I understood it, the goal was a single oscillator, 2600 VCF (initially), pre-patched and yet fully modular classic synth voice, at a specific size, wielding every trick we could cram in. Main use would be as a go-to bassline/lead tool, or a premium quality, entry-level, complete synth module, for root-to-leaf sound design, and multiform analog exploration/expression." Instagram Junp-cut https://www.instagram.com/explore/tags/tonestar8106/ ( ) represents normalled connections. 27 Knobbed and "Shafted" Potentiometers VCO: RANGE, PM MAN, LFO (^), PORTA, MOD (ENV), TRIANGLE*, SAW*, SQUARE*, SUB, TUNE; Noise:LEVEL; VCF: FREQ, RES, KBYD, DRIVE, HPF, ENV, MOD (LFO); LFO: AMNT (OSC), RATE; ENVs: (ADSR) ATTACK, DECAY, SUSTAIN, RELEASE, (AR) ATTACK, RELEASE; VCA: FEEDBACK (filter/VCA), VOLUME* symbol 6 Switches VCO: OCT (up/null/down); FREQ/PW (frequency/null/pulse width); NO VCF (VCF/null/no VCF); VCF:TRIANGLE*/SQUARE* (triangle/null/square); ENVs: HOLD, MSTR (hold/null/master); VCA: IN/MIX* symbol 21 Jacks VCO: TRIANGLE*, SAWTOOTH*, SQUARE*, MIX, 1V/O, MOD IN; NOISE: NOISE (white); LFO: DEPTH, TRIANGLE*, SQUARE*, SPEED; VCF: EXT IN, FIL OUT, MOD IN; ENVs: MOD IN, ADSR OUT, AR OUT, GATE IN; VCA: IN/MIX, VCA IN, OUTPUT* symbol All Controls—arranged in order of signal flow—and Patch Points VCO: RANGE – Oscillator frequency attenuator. PW MAN – Variable pulse wave width control.OCT – +1/-1 octave switch. LFO (^) – Triangle wave low frequency oscillation to pulse width control.FREQ/PW – Oscillator frequency, or Pulse (square wave) width to ADSR modulation routing switch. Center off.PORTA – Slew generator control.MOD (ENV) – Oscillation modulation via ADSR control. TRIANGLE*/NO VCF – Triangle to VCA switch—bypasses VCF. SAWTOOTH* – Sawtooth wave attenuator.SQUARE* – Square wave attenuator.SUB – Square wave Sub Oscillator attenuator.TRIANGLE* – Waveform output.SAWTOOTH* – Waveform output.SQUARE* – Waveform output.MIX – Composite waveform output.1V/O – One volt per octave control voltage input. TUNE – Master fine tune (approx. -5/+ 5 semitones).MOD IN – Modulation CV input. Normaled to ADSR; ADSR is replaced when alt. source connected.* symbol Noise: NOISE – White noise generator output.LEVEL – Noise attenuator. VCF: FREQ - Frequency, or cut-off attenuator.RESO – Resonance, or Q attenuator.KYBD – Keyboard/voltage tracking attenuator.DRIVE – Oscillator output to filter input attenuator.HPF – High Pass Filter.ENV – Filter to ADSR envelope attenuator. MOD (LFO) – Filter to LFO attenuator. EXT IN – External audio input. FIL OUT – Filter audio output. MOD IN – Frequency or Resonance modulation CV input. LFO: TRIANGLE/SQUARE* – Waveform select switch (triangle core).AMNT (OSC) – LFO to Oscillator control. RATE – Speed or rate attenuator. AMNT – Control voltage Input.TRIANGLE* – Triangle wave output.SQUARE*– Square wave output. RATE – Speed or rate CV input.* symbol ENVs: A – Attack stage control.D – Decay stage control.S – Sustain stage control.R – Release stage control.HOLD/MSTR – Indefinite/instant sustain; master mode switch for single ADSR: fuses VCF envelope with VCA envelope. Center off.A – VCA Attack stage controlR – VCA Release stage control.MOD IN – Allows for dynamic modulation of the ADSR, eg., if you want the amount of modulation added to/determined by a external source, jack in; or if you prefer, modulation input to the ADSR routing—use with velocity, or a sequencer: the sequencer could isolate the ADSR amount the amount to a single step in the phrase for example. Exciting. A second external envelope can provide an interesting effect, or the AR (in the box patching).ADSR OUT – ADSR output. AR OUT – AR Output. VCA: FEEDBACK – Oscillator/filter feedback loop control.VOLUME – Master volume control.VCA CV – Amplifier control voltage output.IN/MIX – VCA mix input switch switch (normalled jack). When set to IN, external audio replaces filter output to VCA; when set to mix MIX, filter output is fed along with the filter audio to VCA.VCA IN – Audio input.OUTPUT – Main output. Vitals PCB Mounting Scheme - Through-hole.Filter - A 6db/oct hi-pass filter followed by a recreation of the Roland® IR3109 module, which is a 4 pole, 24 db/oct voltage controlled lowpass filter with voltage controlled resonance. 3 dual OTAs with similar topology to the BA662 used in the Jupiter 8 (and the IR3109 module) were employed, 1 amp for the hi-pass filter, 4 (with added buffers) for the low-pass, and 1 for the resonance. This filter takes a wide range of input signals, and tracks control voltage extremely well. Tap points are available for 6db, 12db, and 18db/oct. Although the topology is similar to the 4072, the tonality, especially when over driven, is distinct.Size - 32hp.Depth - 35mm including connectors.Power Usage - 130mA, 80mA (+12 / -12) PDF Redux Outs to Outs and Other Interesting TONE☆ Patches
