Tuesday, March 31, 2009

Cwejman RES-4 Kick Drum

The Cwejman RES-4 is a truly great sounding module. It is made of four resonant bandpass filters. The top knob controls the frequency, the middle the amount of resonance, and the bottom the level for that filter. We are running the Plan B Elf LFO, triggering the Model 10 Polyphonic Envelope. The envelope is running into the audio in of the RES-4. We're just using one band to start but then we add another for some added attack. We're also using the super awesome Cwejman VC-FC compressor module, that is now available in stereo as the VC-FCS!




Wednesday, March 25, 2009

SH-101 w/ Eventide PitchFactor

We made a little sequence on the Roland SH-101 sequencer and ran it into the new Eventide PitchFactor harmonizer pedal. Eventide has outdone themselves. This thing is fun! The "Quadravox" setting is super cool (listen to the last segment). It actually gives you four harmonies and you can offset their attack. This makes for some really great sounds that are sure to inspire you.

Tuesday, March 24, 2009

Aries Modular and Eventide PitchFactor

Here's an Aries modular synth we've had in mothballs for a while so we thought we'd see if it was still running. It is!
We just got in the Eventide PitchFactor pedals in. These pedals are pretty revolutionary, giving you a high quality bank of effects that were previously unavailable in a pedal.
Here are a couple settings we were messing with. Keep in mind our sound source is a pretty simple drone. The harmony and delay effects in the PitchFactor sound really really REALLY good. Get that? We'll do another video soon of something that's not a drone! Thanks for watching.

Saturday, March 21, 2009

Analogue Systems rs430 Distortion Module Redux


First dry, then wet...This cool little module is based on the classic Univox Super-Fuzz guitar pedal. This is considered by many as the holy grail of fuzz pedals. We're using the Cwejman VCO-2RM oscillator, the ADSR-VC2, the INS-2MX and the MMF-1 multimode filter. The rs430 has CV input for distortion amount and dry/wet mix. The rs430 uses two germanium diodes to produce the unique squarewave clipping and -- it -- sounds -- sweet!

Check out the Diabolical Devices Matter Disorganizer pedal which is also based on the
Shin-ei fuzz design.

Friday, March 20, 2009

Gleeman Pentaphonic-Dirty Boy Bass Bully

Wow. Here's Stephi tweaking the Gleeman Pentaphonic into the Dirty Boy Bass Bully. The Bass Bully is one of the best sounding bass guitar fuzz pedals ever made. All of the Dirty Boy pedals are handmade, using the highest quality new-old-stock parts. Every pedal's germanium transistors are hand-matched too for the best sounding pedal possible. Oh yeah. The Gleeman sounds pretty good too huh?

Thursday, March 19, 2009

Diabolical TR-505 Modular Jam

Sorry the loops don't match. Here's the Diabolical Devices TR-505 with pitch mods sequenced by the Elektron Machinedrum. We're running it into various modules. The modules are the Analogue Systems rs120, rs30, rs50, rs60, rs170, the Cwejman RES-4, MMF-1 and probably a couple more random modules. The combination of the rs30 Envelope Follower module with the Shaper section of the rs50 is a really powerful combination. The rs50 allows you to take a the envelope generated voltage and turn it into a pulse that the rs60 ADSR module can understand. Run the ADSR out to whatever you want! In this case we're sending it to the MMF-1 cutoff and the rs120's variable CV input.

Monday, March 16, 2009

Saturday, March 14, 2009

Zvex Vextron Series Pedals Arrive



We just got in two incredible new pedals from Zvex. There's the Mastotron, a silicon based fuzz and the crushing Distortron.

Envelope Actuated FM Distortion Recipe -Metasonix r51


Elektron Monomachine beats.
Envelope Follower (Analogue Systems rs30 module).
Oscillator (Analogue Systems rs95 module).
Metasonix r51 VCA/Distortion module.

The Monomachine audio is split. One output goes to the envelope follower. One goes to the audio input of the r51. The output of the envelope follower goes into the variable CV in of the oscillator, controlling the oscillator pitch. We're using the wide range mode allowing us to go from LFO speed into audio territory. The output of the oscillator goes into the r51 distortion CV input.
Tweak until golden brown (or yellow).

Wednesday, March 11, 2009

606-prometheus-heliotrope


The Diabolical 606 is back again. This time it's being shaped and mangled by the SubDecay Prometheus pedal and the Catalinbread Heliotrope.

The Prometheus is an absolutely beautiful sounding envelope filter.(Maybe not in this instance). This is one of the cleanest, most pure sounding filters out there. Really! It has up and down envelope modes as well as a super hip LFO/sample & hold modulation option. There are high, band and low pass modes that can be swept with the frequency knob. You can turn down the envelope amount and use it as a fixed filter too!

Last in the chain is the Catalinbread Heliotrope. This is a super affordable, versatile and great sounding pedal. You can get bit-crushing, crazed ring modulator effects, a nice distortion via the "gain" knob, and there are two modes. "Hi" mode is a more subtle setting for sample rate reduction and bit depth. "Low" mode will turn your source sound into a groveling pile of sloshy bits and digital nastiness. We'll try and do some more refined videos with these pedals soon.
Thanks for watching!

Tuesday, March 10, 2009

Diabolical Devices Modified Juno 106


We're using the arpeggiator from the Elektron Monomachine to drive the Juno. This Juno has controls for filter cutoff and resonance for each of the six voices. In "Poly II" mode the voices fire in succession and here is a little taste of what is possible. The overall filter controls still work when you engage the mods. Each voice has it's own filter mod on/off control and there are also 3.5mm control voltage input jacks to modulate the resonance and cutoff externally. This keyboard is a lot of fun. For flavor we're running the Juno outs into a Vermona Retubeverb.

Monday, March 9, 2009

Diabolical Devices Casio RZ-1 Quickie

Here's the super fun RZ-1 sampling drum machine bent by Diabolical Devices. We sampled some really basic saw wave synth sounds and then sequenced a few beats. This is probably the easiest to use drum machine ever made. There is a rotary switch to select different bends for both the internal drum sounds and whatever you sample. There's also a banana plug patch bay for those bends on the bottom right, allowing you to combine bends. Funky. Sorry, we just had to rock the cowbell for a second!

BCM Welcomes Tone Candy Guitar Pedals


These pedals are awesome. Really awesome.

Saturday, March 7, 2009

Diabolical Acid

Here's a little acid trip courtesy of Diabolical Devices. Diabolical modded this vintage TR-606 drum machine. It has bass drum pitch, decay, and envelope. The snare drum has pitch, decay and high pass filter controls. There are also controls for a crash cymbal band-pass filter and a system noise level (think noisy reverb).

The Diabolical built Xoxbox, an awesome TB-303 clone, has mods for bass boost, resonance boost, and cross-modulation. This is a pretty evil little setup!

Diabolical x0xb0x


We have a couple Diabolical Devices x0xb0xes now in stock. These are definitely one of the best 303 clones out there. But, these are modified from Diabolical Devices! These have the original 303 VCA chip as well. They sell for $825. Email us!

Plan B Stock Update


We currently have one or more of the following Plan B Modules in stock.

Model 10
Model 12
Model 13
Model 15
Model 23
Model 24
Model 28
Model 29
Model 31
Model 36
Model 37

Contact us via email if you don't see it on
bigcitymusic.com via sales@bigcitymusic.com.

Wednesday, March 4, 2009

SubDecay Noise Box Synth Sequence

Part II. Here's a short sequence using an Analogue Systems rs95 oscillator, pulse out, into the rs100 low pass filter into the Metasonix r51 vacuum tube Distortion/VCA. The Noisebox sounds goood. It made this boring sequence certainly more interesting!

Monday, March 2, 2009

SubDecay Noise Box Bass Synth

Holy cow. This pedal is awesome. We're pretty sure is some sort of syncing squarewave but whatever it is, it kicks butt. There's a lot of unheard tones in this guy. The built in envelope is a great shaping tool. Oh man. We can't wait to run some synths through this!