Tacsynth was built using the powerful Synthedit SE1 program. It consist of typical sections found on most analog mono synthesizer : VCO, VCF, VCA, Pitch Controls and Clocks, Bias, ADSR....

Also, it incorporates three basic percussion modules (in case you don't have any percussion modules at hand on your Lap-Top) : A Snare drum, a Hi-Hat and a Ride Cymbal!

Although it is basically a mono synth, it can generate Jazzy orchestrated tonal /atonal polyphonies of timbres, thanks to its 8 voices capabilities. Also,  its complex clocking devices allows very sophisticated rhythms to be programmed (1/2,2/3,2/4,3/4,4/4,6/4,5/7,3/8,6/8 to name a few). If needed, these rhythms can be further divided to generate even more complex rhythms or they can be added to the rythms generated by the two probability clocks)..

Tacsynth is an ideal tool  to explore automated melodic sequences, generated by 64 events Binary Sequencers, Seedable Probability Generators, Chaotic Generators, Pseudo-random Generators and other voltage controlled modules. All parameters are easily accessible, by mouse tweaking .Also, the intuitive X/Y Joypots brings great control flexibility for keyboard-less 'Live' performances.

In my opinion, the result is surprisingly good : the sounds don't appear to be "digital"  at all : On the contrary, they sound very analog to me, even acoustic, at times! 

This is an example of what I have been advocating for years : analog synths should be kept strictly monophonic! : Each VCO should have its own VCF and Envelope generator, in order to enhance the timbre of each voice!.Also, there should be plenty of controllers to tweak, in order to emphasize the lively and dynamic "beatings" of frequencies and harmonics!:

Voltage Controlled Oscillators (8 VCO)

The eight VCO's are located in the upper left section of the synth:

For clarity sake, let us focus on VCO1 first line of controls:

F1 : Initial frequency knob

PW : Knob used to set the Pulse Width ratio.

1PM : Knob used to set the amount of Pulse Modulation & Phase modulation of VCO1 by LFO 10 output.

9LFO : Knob used to set the amount of  vibrato control from LFO9 output.

1FM2 : Knob used to set the amount of reinjection of VCO1 output to VCO2 frequency input.(FM)

Rect 1-2 : Knob used to set the amount of diode rectification fold back of VCO1 output into VCO2 frequency  input. (For wave multiplier effects, VCO1 and VCO2 should be sine waves and  VCO1 should be synced to VCO2!) Note : VCO1 and/or VCO2 should be one or two octaves apart!

Clipper1 High : This small pot on the lower left of the rectifier sets the Higher level of clipping.

Clipper1 Low : This small pot on the lower right of the rectifier sets the Lower level of clipping.

VC Clipper 1 : ON/OFF switch, located under the rectifier, for voltage control of the clipper Hi-Low pots by LFO10 output.

Note : Signals are always clipped before the diode rectification! Please note, that the clipper is only operative when the rectifier Pot is open!

1Oct : Push-on Switch to select the octave range of VCO1 (from -2 to +3octaves)

1Tr  :  Push-on Switch to select the frequency transposition of VCO1 (from 0 to 11, within the octave)

Sync2 :Push-on Switch to select the syncing of VCO2 frequency, by VCO1 output.

Waveforms : Push-on Switch to select the waveform output of VCO1 ( Saw, Ramp, Triangle, Pulse, White noise, Pink noise, Sine).

Scale Quantizer : Up/Down select switch for scale quantization

Major scale

Natural scale

Harmonic scale

Melodic scale

Pentatonic scale

Whole Tone scale

Blues scale

Chromatic scale (Default)

M+C5 scale

              Middle Eastern scales

M. Ussad

M. Hawa

M. Abu Sa

M. Zankul

M: Rahawi

M. Hussain

M. Higazi

M. Iraq

M. Istahar

M. Kirafkar

M.Buzuik

VCO1 Control Inputs : Rotary Switch is used to select the melodic generators controlling VCO1 initial frequency :

C= Seedable Probability Generator C (+/- 12 o'clock)

D= Seedable Probability Generator D (+/- 1 o' clock)

Henon Chaotic Generator's X output (+/- 2 o ' clock)

Henon Chaotic Generator's Y output (+/- 3 o' clock)

8 Steps Binary Sequencer (+/- 3.30 o'clock)

Sample & Hold ouput (+/- 4 o'clock)

Midi Keyboard (+/- 5 o'clock)

Null : No voltage whatsover (6 o' clock)

1Gn : Knob to set the Gain of VCO1 audio output.

1Out : Push-on Switch to connect VCO1 audio output to VCF1 audio input.

                 Note : All above controls are identical for all eight Voices!.

VOLTAGE CONTROLLED FILTER (8 SV Filters)

The eight Voltage Controlled  Filters are located in the top middle of the synth.

For clarity sake, let us focus on VCF1 first line of controls:

Fc 1 : Knob to set the Frequency cut-off point of VCF1.

Q1 : Knob to set the amount of resonance (Q factor) of VCF1.

Env1 : Knob to set the amount of envelope output modulation to the Fc. of VCF1.

Mode  : Knob to select the filter mode (LP= 7 o'clock, Notch= 10 o'clock, BP= 2 o'clock, HP=5 o'  clock)

        Note : All above controls are similar for all eight VCF's.

XF1-4 : Push-on switch to select LFO10 Cross-Fading between VCF voices 1+2 and 3+4 (the LFO CV signal for voices 3+4 is inverted)

XF5-8 : Push-on switch to select LFO10 Cross-Fading  between VCF voices 5+6 and 7+8 (the LFO CV  signal for voices 7+8 is inverted)

11Fc.1-8 : Rotary switch to select the individual VCF Fc. to be controlled by the S&H ouput.

11Lev : Knob setting the level of  Sample & Hold output into the respective VCF Fc. 

FiBias : Small pot controlling the amount of DC Bias on  all VCF Fc. (Default is 2.5V, mini-pot fully clockwise)

10Fc.1-8 : Rotary Switch : to select the individual  VCF Fc. to be controlled by  LFO10 output.      

10Lev : Knob setting the level of  LFO output into the respective VCF Fc.

EQ, PAN & VCA Output :

Pan1-8 : Pots setting the Panning spatial location, for each voice, into VCF and VCA

VCAGn : Knob controlling the VCA Master Gain output.

A-AM: Knob controlling the amount of AM into the VCA (from the A Probability Algorithmic generator output).

Pan : Knob controlling the global Left/Right manual panning settings of the VCA.

10Pan : Knob controlling the amount of Left/Right VC Panning by LFO10 output.

Synth/P : Knob to mix all synthesizer audio outputs/ Drums audio outputs (Snare, Ride, HiHat).

HH/RIDE : Knob mixing Hi-Hat with Ride cymbal.

HH/SN : Knob mixing HH+Ride with Snare.

PercGn: Knob setting the Percussions Master Gain output.

M.I.D.I  

MIDI Channel select : ALL (internally set, by default, on MIDI to CV module)

Retr : MIDI retrigger ON (internally set, by default, on MIDI to CV module)

Mono : MIDI mono mode: ON (internally set, by default, on MIDI to CV module)

SAMPLE & HOLD

11SH : Knob setting the Sample & Hold initial frequency.

PW :  Knob setting the Sample & Hold Pulse-Width for all waveforms, except noises.

Sync : Push-on/off  switch for Gate syncing/unsyncing  (default is sync ON).

Pha : Knob setting the phase of the Sample & Hold (for all waveforms except noises).

S&HLev :  Knob setting the Sample & Hold output level.

Waveform : up-down Switch selecting the S&H different waveforms.

Output  : Push-on switch for selecting the output mode (Default is output) or the inverted output (Signal out)

Gate /Step n output : Push-on switch selecting the soft syncing mode (Gate / Step n division output).

Soft Sync Input (Gate divided by n) : Push-on switch selecting the division of the Gate by a factor of n (from 1 to 8)

LED :  Led showing the Gate or Step n output Pulse.

PERCUSSIONS (Snare/Ride/HH)

Snare Drum

SN : Small Knob setting the snare sensitivity input.

PI : Small Knob setting the snare pitch. 

D : Small Knob setting the snare Decay time.

Gn: Small Knob setting the Gain output.

Seq: Push-on switch for pitch control of snare by Seq/Binary seq

Mode : Knob controlling the snare Gate inputs : Master Clock/Clock Div: n (7 o' clock), HH Beat +S&H( 9 o' clock),  Assigned Matrix (12 o'clock), Assigned Matrix+S&H (3 o'clock), S&H (5 o'clock)

Ride Cymbal :

Ride : Small Knob setting the "Ride cymbal" sensitivity input.

D : Small Knob setting the Ride Decay time.

Gn: Small Knob setting the Ride Gain output.

      Note :  The Ride Cymbal is gated by the master clock/Div : n and the 1-16 steps assign Matrix push-on switches.

Hi-Hat Cymbal

HH : Small Knob setting the Hi-Hat sensitivity input.

D : Small Knob setting the Hi-Hat Decay time.

Gn: Small Knob setting the Hi-Hat Gain output.

Gate/Step n Output  : Selector to switch between initial clock frequency/ Clock(s frequency divided by n.     

Div :: Push-on switch selecting the division of the Clock 's  frequency by a factor of n  (The default is 4)

ENVELOPES 16 (8 individual ADSR connected to each  individual VCF Fc (Big Pots) + 8 individual ADSR connected to VCA control inputs (Small Pots))

A : Knob setting the Attack segment of the envelope.

D : Knob setting the Decay segment of the envelope.

S : Knob setting the Sustain segment of the envelope.

R : Knob setting the Release segment of the envelope.

KB :  Red LED showing the Gates generated by a M.I.D.I  Keyboard..

LED Outputs (TOP) : Red LEDS showing the evolution in time, for each VCF envelope ..

LED Outputs (Bottom) : Red LEDS showing the evolution in time, for each VCA envelope ..

BIAS -/+ 

Bias -/+: Knob for selecting the DC range of the two individual joysticks X and Y

           Note : This knob can also be used as the Master X/Y Joystick! In this case, the  -/+ DC Voltage ranges of  operation should  be preset for Joy X and JoyY)! 

Pan -/+: Panning select switch.The -/+ Bias knob is used to Pan manually in real -time (Global VCA Pan knob should be set at 12 c'clock)

Seq -/+ : Sequencer Transpose select switch .The -/+ Bias knob is used to transpose sequencer/binary sequencer manually in real -time. 

JOY X (Left) : DC Bias -/+ Knob for nVCO, nRECT and CLK inputs.

VCO : Push ON/OFF  Switch for applying a bias DC voltage to all VCO's initial frequency.

RECT:Push ON/OFF  Switch for applying a bias DC voltage to all VCO rectifiers.

CLK : Push ON/OFF  Switch for applying a bias DC voltage to the Master Clock 's frequency .

JOY Y (Right): DC Bias -/+ Knob for nVCF, nPWM and LFO frequency inputs.

VCF : Push ON/OFF  Switch for applying a bias DC voltage to the VCF Frequency cut-off.

LFO : Push ON/OFF  Switch for applying a bias DC voltage to the LFO initial frequency.

T : One shot push-on switch for manual triggering. 

Slew :

A : :Small knob setting the amount of Attack slew for the manual trigger sustain level.(T)

D : Small knob setting the amount of Decay slew for the manual trigger sustain level.(T)

 LFO

  
9LFO: LFO 9 initial frequency.

9PW : LFO 9 Pulse-Width.

9Out: LFO 9 Output level.(connected internally to all 8 VCO's control Pots labelled 9LFO (Vibrato)

9LFO waveform selection

10LFO: LFO 10 initial frequency.

10PW : LFO 10 Pulse-Width.

10Out: LFO 10 Output level

Note : (this output is connected to all VCO Pulse & Phase Modulations pots (PM Pot). It is also internally connected to VCF Cross-Faders 1-4 and 5-8  (The LFO CV signals for voices 3+4 and 7-8 are inverted): It is also used to FM the Master clock.

10LFO waveform selection

CONTROLS

8 Steps Binary Sequencer (64 different events per cycle)

A0 to A7 : 8 Knobs, to select the DC voltages for each step (A red LED on the top right of the knob shows when the step is activated)!

                                    Note : This is not a normal sequencer!: Several steps might be ON at the same time!

TRUTH TABLE

                                                 Binary sequences operate as follows : 000,001,010,011,100,101,110,111.

           Example :      Steps     0           1         2          3          4          5           6            7                         time -->

            Event 1                        0           

                                                             1

                                                0           1

                                                                       2

                                                0                     2

                                                             1        2

                                                 0          1         2

                                                                                   3

                                                 0                                3

                                                               1                  3

                                                  0           1                  3

                                                                         2         3

                                                   0                    2         3

                                                                1        2        3

                                                    0          1        2         3

                                                                                                4

                                                    0                                          4

                                                                 1                             4

                                                    0           1                             4

                                                                           2                   4

                                                    0                     2                   4

                                                                  1       2                   4

                                                     0           1       2                   4

                                                                                      3        4

                                                      0                               3        4

                                                                   1                  3        4

                                                      0           1                 3         4

and so on......