OVERVIEW

The Tone Science Chance Delay is a unique concept in Eurorack modules as it combines chance and randomness with pulse delay and pulse conditioning, and is a collaboration between between electronic musician/composer Ian Boddy and AJH Synth.

It can perform as a variable Chance generator, pulse stretching for Trigger to Gate conversion, pulse shortening for Gate to Trigger conversion, Gate Delay, Sub Bass Generation and also "divide by n" clock division.

The firmware for the Chance Delay has been developed and coded by "Electric Druid" Tom Wiltshire, and lots of development time was spent perfecting the fast processing that allows it to work into the lower audio range.

The function of the module can be seen in graphic format in the block layout diagram below. It takes an incoming gate or trigger, and then determines the chance (between 0 to 100%) of this gate being passed through to the second section of the module - this is a delay and pulse stretching circuit, and with this we can delay the outgoing gate between 0.5mS and 30 seconds, and we can also choose a pulse width of between 0.5mS and 30 seconds.

Block Layout

 

KEY FEATURES:

Chance, Gate Delay time and Pulse Length can all be set manually or controlled using external CV voltages.

The ’TRIG’ push button allows manual triggering, and Chance will be applied to any manual triggering too.

Fast processing allows operation into the lower audio range, so it can perform sub bass generation on drone type sounds. In this mode the Length pot (or an external Length CV) can be used to change the PWM of the output waveform.

After the initial trigger pulse has been acted on, further incoming pulses are ignored until the current cycle has finished. This useful feature allows it to perform "divide by n" division on gate pulses, so it can be used for clock division, and the delay function can be used to add a "swing" away from the rhythm.

Gate pass through mode - if the Length pot is set to zero, then the incoming gate length is preserved, so in this case the gate has Chance and Delay time applied to it, but the outgoing gate length is the same as the incoming gate length.

By setting Chance to 100% and Delay to zero (0.5mS) it can be used as a Gate to Trigger converter, or a Trigger to Gate converter, depending on the Pulse length set with the LENGTH control. We can also use an external Length CV to shorten or increase the length of the output pulse in real time.

Fast and slow ranges for both DELAY time and PULSE length - Fast range is 0.5mS to 2 Sec and Slow Range is 2 Sec to 30 Sec.

Green status LED shows when the output pulse is high.

 

 

 

FRONT PANEL CONTROLS

 

Chance Control and CHA Input

This sets the probability of an incoming trigger or gate being passed through to the Pulse Generator circuit. The chance can be set anywhere between 0% and 100%.

The CHA input allows an external control voltage (CV) to control chance remotely. In this mode the Chance control acts as an attenuator for the incoming CV. With the Chance control fully clockwise a CV of +5V will give 100% chance, and lower CV voltages reduce the Chance accordingly. For example, a +2.5V CV will give a 50% chance. The attenuator function is useful if we are using higher control voltages of for example 0 to +10V. If we set the Chance control to the 12 o'clock position it would then halve the incoming CV signal, so in this case +10V will give 100% chance and +5V will give a 50% chance. Negative CV voltages are ignored and will be treated in the same way as zero volts..

 

Delay Control and DEL Input

This sets the delay amount that is applied to the leading edge of the incoming Gate or trigger received at the IN jack (or a press of the Manual Trigger button), assuming that the "Chance" has been determined to be positive. With the Delay Time switch set to FAST the Delay range will be from 0.5mS to 2 Seconds. With the Delay Time switch set to SLOW the Delay range will be between 2 Seconds and 30 Seconds.

The DEL input allows an external CV voltage to control Delay Time remotely. In this mode the Delay control acts as an attenuator for the incoming CV. With the Delay control fully clockwise a CV of +5V will give the maximum Delay time of either 2 Seconds or 30 seconds depending on the position of the Fast / Slow switch. Lower CV voltages reduce the Delay Time accordingly, so if we apply a CV of zero volts then we will get the minimum Delay time. The attenuator works on any CV patched to the DEL input in the same manner as described for the Chance control.

 

 

Length Control and LEN Input

This sets the length, or rather pulse width of the output pulse. With the LENGTH Switch set to FAST the pulse length can be anywhere between 0.5 mS to 2 Seconds. With the LENGTH Switch set to SLOW the pulse length can be between 2 seconds and 30 Seconds.

The LEN input allows an external CV to control Delay Time remotely. In this mode the Length control acts as an attenuator for the incoming CV in the same manner as the Chance and Delay controls.

Setting the Length control to zero invokes "Gate pass through" mode - in this case the incoming gate length is preserved, so the incoming pulse or trigger will still be affected by the Chance and Delay controls, but the outgoing gate length will be the same as the incoming gate length. Turning the Length control slightly clockwise will then invoke the minimum pulse length around control position 1, and further clockwise rotation will increase the Pulse Length as expected. This behaviour also applies to external CV's patched to the LEN input, where a CV of 0V will enable Gate pass through mode.

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Fast / Slow mode switches

These switches allow the selection of Fast or Slow mode for Delay time and pulse length, so these ranges can be selected independently for Delay and Length. Fast range is 0.5 mS to 2 Seconds, and Slow range is 2 Seconds to 30 Seconds.

 

TRIG Switch

The TRIG push button allows manual triggering, and Chance will also be applied to any manual triggering, so depending on the setting of the Chance control, pressing the button has a chance of not doing anything! Holding the button down keeps the incoming gate high for as long as the button is pressed, however this is only really relevant in "Gate pass through" mode - normally only the leading edge of the input pulse is used.

 

IN - input jack

Connect your input here - a gate, output from an LFO, or even waveforms from a VCO. Any negative component of the input voltage will be ignored, so unipolar or bipolar signals can be used.

 

OUT - output jack

This outputs the binary pulse (or stream of pulses) that are generated by the Chance Delay circuitry. The gate low level is 0V and gate high level is +6V. The green status LED shows if a pulse is currently being generated.

 

TONE SCIENCE

Created by Ian Boddy

Ian Boddy has been composing and performing electronic and ambient music since the late 1970’s, becoming one of the best known and loved musicians in these genres. He has also worked extensively in sound design having produced several well known and critically acclaimed sample libraries as well as composing many library music albums. Ian also owns and runs DiN Records, which has well over 100 releases by electronic and ambient artists from across the world. The more recent sub-label, Tone Science, showcases musicians working within the fascinating world of modular synthesis.

Ian has many years of experience with modular synth systems and Eurorack, so we are delighted to be collaborating on a series of modules that allow the easy creation of some of the complex patches that he uses in his music. Ian comes up with the ideas and we herd the electrons to make them real!

 

 

The inspiration for the Chance Delay came from Boddy’s fascination with chance and randomness in his musical compositions. This module provides an easy manual or CV controlled way of determining the probability of whether a trigger or gate can be passed to the output.  Combined with the extra functionality of gate delay & length control this provides all sorts of opportunities for rhythmic experimentation. The module will even accept audio frequency signals for waveform mangling and sub-octave generation.

 

 

 

SPECIFICATION

Useful information

 

Effective CV Range for Chance, Delay and Length is 0 to +5V with associated attenuation control fully clockwise.

Maximum permissible CV Range is -12 to +12V, however negative voltages are ignored.

Input pulse levels of up to -12 to +12V are allowed, however negative voltages are ignored.

Input trigger threshold voltage +1.5V

Output (Gate high) level +6V

Module Width: 8hp

Module Depth: 26mm (Including power lead)

Current Usage: 25mA Positive, 6mA Negative

 

 

 

DEMO VIDEOS

 

An introduction to the Chance Delay

This video gives an overview of the features and uses for the Chance Delay

 

 

Description and demo by Ian Boddy

Here's Ian Boddy himself discussing the reasons behind the creation of the Chance Delay module, and a taster of some music that he has created with it.

 

 

 

Availability

In production and available now.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Copyright © 2014 AJH Synth