Introducing Sparks

Sparks is a stereo overdrive, wavefolder, and state-variable filter that combines a fully analog signal path with advanced digital control.

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Please note that the flickering of the LEDs is due to the high speed frame rate of the camera. This is not actually perceivable.

0:00 Introduction

0:57 Shoegazey overdrive with reverb and warble from Ribbons
A simple warbly reverb patch on Ribbons into Sparks drive. The drive breaks up the diffuse harmonics of the reverb, turning it into a rich disintegrating wall of sound while still preserving the stereo image. We mixed in a bit of clean signal with the blend knob to add clarity and dynamics to the chords.

1:31 Stereo harmonic tremolo into Ribbons looper
The LFO is mapped to the filter cutoff and the SPIN control is slowly sweeping the filter across the stereo field. This is running into the stereo four-track looper on Ribbons to create a sparkling ambient soundscape.

2:28 Simple overdrive
Just drive with some subtle gate.

3:04 SID chip synth ambient patch
In this track we’re using our capacitive touch MIDI keyboard prototype to play the Sparks synth, with some reverb from Ribbons.

3:35 Stereo harmonic tremolo
The LFO is mapped to the filter mode to sweep between high-pass, band-pass, and low-pass for a lush harmonic tremolo effect. The ENV is also mapped to the LFO rate so that every time the guitar is picked harder, it briefly increases the rate of the LFO.

4:05 Dynamic audio rate amplitude modulation
The LFO is mapped to the output level to get a ring mod-like amplitude modulation effect. The ENV is also mapped to the LFO rate so that changes in dynamics slightly modulate the pitch of the LFO.

4:31 High gain wavefolding with choppy gate
The wavefolder and gain turned up to 11 with a little gate for a choppy sputtering effect.

5:14 Chiptune track made entirely with sounds from Sparks
In this track we’re using our capacitive touch MIDI keyboard prototype to play the SID chip synth in Sparks. For the melody line we used the pulse waveform and modulated the pulse width using the LFO. We did a couple other passes, including drum sounds using the LFSR noise waveform and a gliding bass line. For all of them the bit-depth is set low (2-8 bits) to get a really crunchy lo-fi sound.

5:45 Overdriven 808 and 303-ish acid patch
The Sparks on the left is overdriving the 808 with a bit of gate. The Sparks on the right is generating the acid-y melody line using the SID chip synth. For the synth we added some glide, cranked the drive and resonance, and used the ENV to modulate the filter cutoff which gives it a squelchy 303-like character.

Credits:
Guitar: Patrick Horigan
Keys on chiptune track: Hannah Aaron
Filming/Recording/Mixing: Jaak Jensen