Looking for a filter that will....like Plague Bearer

[Soy Sos]

So I have a pair of Plague Bearers, one of which I use as a self oscillating sound source to ping and plink with gates and rhythmic
patterns from the Generator X etc... The PB is weird and magical, but really unreliable in live performance. For those of you that
have never used one, there's a trick to throwing into self oscillation and it'll do anything from clave' to dirty bass drums (sort of).
My case pictured below contains trigger/gate and sequence options, plus 3 "voices".
1. Mixer for CV/trigger/gates >Low Pass Gate for low range voice
2. Radio as sound source > preamp > Mixer for CV/trigger/gate > Filter > Dynamic Impulse Filter > Analog Delay
3. Mixer for CV/trigger/gates > Plague Bearer > Analog Delay

Any recommendations for something in a similar territory? Bonus points for something not huge, expensive or super rare.
I'm not interested in drum modules or more complex signal/control chains. Something I can ping, pluck, kick and modulate.
It needs to fit into this case...without the Plague Bearer DIY unit. (it's the crummy looking DIY in the upper right)

[EATyourGUITAR]

Snazzy high gain? WMD TRSHMSTR? The WMD cr4tr is a small filter + distortion.

Was the problem that you need to kick start it? Or you want more voices? You send a click track through the PB is that right?

[Soy Sos]

Thanks EATyourGUITAR.
Yeah the thing is to set it to the edge of oscillation, then hit it with gates, triggers
and CV to get it to ring in interesting ways. It's the same way I generate low end
basslines and kicks with a low pass gate.
This is from last night:

[autopoiesis]

schlappi 100 grit has the plague bearer spirit in spades as just one of several great tricks it does. and then can be a moog style ladder filter when that's all you want

[EATyourGUITAR]

casper dark matter or the dave smith instruments feedback module. it is discontinued BTW. but I also think a lot of people sell them off so it should not be hard to find. the RYO optodist is discontinued. all really great at doing what you describe.

[exper]

I'd say condense all of that open space and put in an Intellijel Morgasmatron. It's my go-to for analog percussion sounds, pings, distorted thuds, kicks, etc. You'd get 2 channels, one with distortion (Rat-like), lots of patch-ability, ring mod, etc. Even without the distortion engaged you can get really thick and dirty sounds with the Q-Drive.

[lisa]

Synthrotek DIRT Filter is similar to Plague Bearer. Don't know if it's more reliable. I often get it to do about what I expect it to.

[Soy Sos]

IIRC, wasn't it Synthrotech that turned out be a bit of a raging ass? Not trying to do bizz with someone like that.
Just looked it up, yup, that was him.

[subliminal drew]

I have and really enjoy both the PB and the Dirt, and my other similar but not quite as dirty (if not more flexible and consistent) is the Zlob SVF.
Bigtime self-oscillation squelcher, only 4hp, good CV control, HP/BP/LP simultaneous outs. Plenty of bang-per-buck.

[Soy Sos]

Zlob SVF looks great. Thanks for all the advice so far.
Does anyone have any examples showing how they're
using any of these filters in practice? Not asking for
anyone to create something just for my inquiry tho.

[lisa]

Not trying to do bizz with someone like that.

If you feel that way you can always buy used. Win-win.

[chachi]

uh, what’s the trick to kick them into self oscillation?

[EATyourGUITAR]

uh, what’s the trick to kick them into self oscillation?

turn knobs up and put sound in. 0db on the switch. OP is patching the clock as audio. I was playing with this same patch tonight after I got the idea from this thread. I also tried making a feedback loop from the output of the PB to a VCA back to the mix input on the PB. it did not work. I think I need to flip the phase of the feedback. I really like sending slow random attenuated voltages to the cv inputs.

this is pretty cool but people don't really talk about it.
https://www.sequential.com/product/dsm0 ... ck-module/

[Yes Powder]

Metasonix RK4? Very pingable, goes into self-oscillation easily (in fact it’s called an oscillator/filter), can get nasty when you want it to, only 8hp.

[Rex Coil 7]

... what is this ~ping~ you all speak of? ... (no troll, sincerely asking).

I've read the term many times over the years, I've presumed what it means, but I've not really out-and-out asked about it.

I'm old and stupid and all I know how to do is make sounds with Minimoogs and put my hair in a ponytail (there, now that we got that out of the way ...).



H'ep a broham out?

Thank you!

[EATyourGUITAR]

Because karplus strong sounds like physical modeling drums. High gain filter oscillating sounds like karplus strong. Usually I hear the term ping used to describe some kind of vactrol controlled something. You send it pulses, you get decay envelopes in your VCF modulation for example. This is why people think of strikes and bells or strikes and decay envelopes. Like pinging a piece of metal.

[Soy Sos]

Here are some examples, check with headphones or full range speakers and please don't share or use without permission.
Sound generation is by the function blocks I explained in my first post. Triggers are generated with pulses, CV and sequences from:
Generator X, Game System, Knit Rider and Micro Sequence.
Lo sound is Low Pass Gate, clap/snare is radio Dynamic Impulse Filter, clicky/bell is Plague Bearer.
In sample 3 the low sound is Plague Bearer.

LPG PB & DIF AS PERC 1.mp3

(2.43 MiB) Downloaded 2 times

LPG PB & DIF AS PERC 2.mp3

(3.5 MiB) Downloaded 1 time

LPG PB & DIF AS PERC 3.mp3

(3.17 MiB) Downloaded 1 time

[pieter]

"Pinging the filter" refers to setting the filter close to self-oscillation but not quite. Then a trigger or gate will excite the filter, giving a "ping". The frequency of the ping is set by the filter cutoff frequency, and the decay of the ping is determined by the amount of resonance you dial in. As far as I'm aware vactrols don't usually come into it.

[EATyourGUITAR]

Sounds like convolution of an impulse which is exactly what it is. It also has modulation so it is not like convolution of a system that has constant parameters.

Watch the video for the future sound systems module. This is a perfect explanation of a module specifically designed for your application.
https://www.modulargrid.net/e/future-so ... -generator

[EATyourGUITAR]

"Pinging the filter" refers to setting the filter close to self-oscillation but not quite. Then a trigger or gate will excite the filter, giving a "ping". The frequency of the ping is set by the filter cutoff frequency, and the decay of the ping is determined by the amount of resonance you dial in. As far as I'm aware vactrols don't usually come into it.

The decay is determined by the resonance but on the PB it is a function of all the knobs. Resonance with oscillation of filters happens when the feedback gain is greater than 1. For some filter networks, this happens at gain greater than 0.5 so this is not always a rule. This is the internal routing of any filter. You won't know it is there unless you build or design the filter. On the PB, because all the knobs are a part of the transfer function, you could say that on the PB there is no resonance control so it is a function of gain.

[lohacker]

I don't have a PB so I'm not very familiar how it pings, but you could give a try with a Bastl Cinnamon, having a drive input and 3 resonance responses it can create several kind of pings (small and inexpensive too).

[Soy Sos]

Found a used DIRT Filter and picked that up. Looks like I can flip the faceplate around backwards.
Did some research on that guy, total right wing douche. Not trying to support him at all.
Will report back after I've had a chance to put it thru the paces.