Gliss Patch Notes 2

Attenuating, scaling and offsetting control voltages is a crucial part of modular synthesis. On the other hand, these functions are often considered as set-and-forget “utilities” rather than a chance for performative interaction.

For the second installment of our Patch Notes series of instructional videos, we show how Signal Mode in Gliss reshapes how you work with and think about your control voltages. Rather than connecting your modulation directly to its destination, placing Gliss in-between turns control voltage routing into a chance for hands-on musicality.

In this patch, we run a sequencer through Gliss in Signal Mode and use the touch strip as a performance attenuator. By moving a finger up the touch strip, we let more of the control voltage through to its destination. In this case, we’re connecting to the decay time of an envelope, so as we move our finger up the touch strip, longer notes begin to appear. If we want to hear less short notes, we can use another finger to increase the minimum value by moving it up the touch strip.

What’s happening here is that we are scaling the output CV of our sequencer to a new range. We define the maximum and minimum voltages of this new range with the positions of our fingers on the touch strip. Between these two points, we effectively create a moveable window for our control signals, which can then be shifted and reshaped as your musical intuition dictates. A second Gliss in Signal Mode is used in the same way to control the timbre and brightness of the sound. We’re then free to follow our ears and reshape otherwise static control signals with direct control, breathing life into the patch.

To learn more about using Gliss check out the first episode of Patch Notes and the Video Manual.