ModularARK
Patch Lab

A modular system has no assumed instrument architecture. Audio and control signals only travel where you patch them. Begin by tracing one complete path from an oscillator to the output, then add control signals one at a time.

Audio cables carry sound. CV changes a parameter such as pitch or cutoff. Gate describes when a note opens and closes. Clock is a repeating timing pulse that advances the sequencer. The jack colours in this lab keep those jobs visible.

An oscillator repeats a waveform. Sine is pure, triangle is soft, sawtooth is bright and square is hollow. Tuning two oscillators by an octave, fifth or small detune changes the harmonic weight before the filter does any work.

Each step stores a pitch offset and a gate state. Clock moves from one step to the next; pitch CV tells the oscillator which note to play; gate triggers the envelope. Remove any one of those cables and the behaviour changes.

A low-pass filter removes energy above the cutoff, a high-pass removes energy below it, and a band-pass keeps a focused region. Resonance emphasises frequencies around the cutoff. Patch the LFO to Cutoff CV to hear the filter move automatically.

The VCA controls amplitude. The envelope tells it how a note evolves: attack rises, decay falls, sustain holds and release fades after the gate. Without this control patch, an oscillator behaves like a continuous drone.

Delay only affects sound routed into it. Time sets the spacing of repeats, feedback returns part of the echo to itself and mix balances dry and delayed sound. Moving the effect earlier or later in a real modular patch changes the result.

1. Load the Classic patch and start the system.
2. Remove LFO → Filter CV and compare the static cutoff.
3. Reconnect it, then change LFO rate and depth.
4. Remove Envelope → VCA to turn the sequence into a drone.
5. Restore it and edit the eight pitch steps.