"Our complete lack of understanding shouldn't preclude us from doing some cool ass shit with it." Eurorack in a nutshell.

you made the impossible, a musical demo of the pll

I pulled a couple of ne567 ICs out of an old telephone the other day. It is described as a tone decoder/phase locked loop in the datasheet... Which I figured would be great for synth circuits! I played around with it for a bit and got some vaguely similar results, sonically. I'll definitely be revisiting that concept after seeing a pll module. DON'T THROW AWAY OLD ELECTRONIC DEVICES WITHOUT LOOKING INSIDE FIRST! Anything we could ever want is being thrown away, right now.

The best explanation of PLL that I've heard is on the wiki. "As an analogy of a PLL, consider an auto race with two cars. One represents the input frequency, the other the PLL's output VCO frequency. Each lap corresponds to a complete cycle. The number of laps per hour (a speed) corresponds to the frequency. The separation of the cars (a distance) corresponds to the phase difference between the two oscillating signals. During most of the race, each car is on its own and free to pass the other and lap the other. This is analogous to the PLL in an unlocked state. However, if there is an accident, a yellow caution flag is raised. This means neither of the race cars is permitted to overtake and pass the other car. The two race cars represent the input and output frequency of the PLL in a locked state. Each driver will measure the phase difference (a distance in laps) between himself and the other race car. If the hind driver is far away, he will increase his speed to close the gap. If he's too close to the other car he will slow down. The result is that both race cars will circle the track in lockstep with minimum phase difference between them. Since neither car is allowed to lap the other, the cars make the same number of laps in a given time period. Therefore the frequency of the two signals is the same."

Just got a PLL, so I'm watching this video to get a grip on where to start. I really like your videos. They have a funny twist, and they show what I need to know without wasting an hour of my life. Your voice is nice to listen to as well! Keep up the good work.

11:25...a slice of pure ace! Great vids. Thank you.

You have the most expressive hands in modular!

that last sequence is just nuts, love it

I finally understand how dividing the loop multiplies the frequency. The phase comparator needs to generate more voltage to the VCO to match the reference frequency since the phase comparator is listening to the divided signal. It's like change the gears on a bicycle.

a196 was one of my first modules and I love it - this is the best ever demo created for it, definitely going to be pointing people here from now on.

It's great to have new stuff from you... Thank you and I'll look into donating

omg this module, some Rungler and resonant feedbacks should summon all the demons ever depicted by human beeings 🤯

This is a brilliant demo. Well done, sir.

Great stuff as always!

This was a great demo of this strange little beast. Oh, and the module explanation was good too =)

Bought the A-196 purely because of this video. Ace.

Actually there's a clone of this module in vcv rack. I was intruiged since it appeared, but never managed getting anything musical out of it. Now, after watching this I think I gave up prematurely. Thank you for the demo Cheers!

Really cool. Thanks for the demo. Have to get me one as well !

hot damn loved that bit at the end, many thanks

Awesome! I love sloppy tracking so I love my PLL and Synchrodyne with Expand (though I admit haven't had enough time to fully figure it out yet). Just adds that extra bit of uniqueness even if only mixing with straight VCOs through a filter. For the same reasons I enjoy using tracked noise like syncing Erica Black Digital Noise or Malekko Noisering to a square VCO. Fun stuff! The recent Modular Podcast on VCOs totally skipped over both these options. Thanks for jumping in the fill some of the gap.

thanks a lot for this video - i've been considering filling my last empty HP for a while with this module. I tried patching up a manual PLL in my small system and got some great abrasive noise but only about 4 semitones worth of passable tracking. I pretty frequently use the disting's pitch/envelope detector a lot for similar purposes. I like pairing my main sound source(s) with what I think of as a drunk sister oscillator from not cleanly filtering the pitch detect input or put through a little delay with feedback or something.

Been watching your videos for a few years. Revisited this one tonight... didn't sell me the module, but you did earn a new Patreon supporter! You do great work here, and it is appreciated. (How's that for return on a six year old video?)

sounds like the "track" switch in the sherman filterbanks, lovely sounds to get out of it :)

Super awesome demo!

Very overlooked module! Now I want it...thanks 😧

Very entertaining. I think I heard some formant mayhem in there. Great demo. I'm getting an Elta Music PLL-4046 phase locked loop pedal, made in Moscow, by UPS in a few days. After watching this video, I'm inspired to run my Piitsburgh Modular Lifeforms System 201 through it. Also what a PLL will do to a drum machine.

Nice demo!

Great demo thank you. I have a Syncrodyne by WMD and it's one of my favourite Vco's.

Great video, I love the A196, I like the part where you put the Radio Music through it, will be giving that a go later on!

what i like from you is while we learn you do music :-) pretty cool for Techno riffs

Yesterday I watched this video again and decided I have to have it. Today my new module arrived!

Ooh, I like that "angry puppy" patch idea. A PLL is a great addition to your rack if you like making abrasive and ugly clustercusses of snarl.

Those angry puppies sound just like my 4ms Noise Swash, great video as always. Inspiring stuff

So nice to hear that voice again.

I love how the PLL is like -____-

Thanks a a lot! I wonder what happens if you compare really complex sounds, like 2 music tracks, or at least one music track/field recording & one easier to track square/saw.... is it just a harsh-mess-noise or still some bubbly adorable quaks?

The way you smacked that blind panel was Pulitzer-worthy

After binge watching your channel for the last couple of days I have ascertained two things. One: I would really like to get into modular synthesis. Two: I cannot afford to get into modular synthesis.

the patch from 9:30 onward sounds like a Battles riff on a synth, it's nuts!

who the f^?k are you? where have you been? Why haven't I found your channel much much earlier? awesome videos! I mean - really awesome!

Yes, pll tracking is *charming* indeed 😊😆

BRILLIANT!!!

archived to the favorites.

Loved the vid as always, what cables are those funky colored ones?

"Its like an angry puppy"......Thats such a brilliant analogy

"our complete lack of understanding should not stop us from doing cool as shit"

when the PLL is playing with the atlantis starting at 9:30, as you increased the tempo and then added the reverb... fuckin chills man

I hope to hear your voice when I die. With some cool patches ofc

If i connected the low pass out to a quantizer, could i then use the pll as an pitch to cv converter? I would love to sync the frequency of MI Elements to the pitch of my guitar, when i use elements as an effect for it, or use an electric bass as a controller to play synth bass lines. Have you tried doing that?

man, that sequence with multiplication sounds awesome! by the way, can you make the pll sound like a suboctave guitar pedal by feeding two signals an octave apart to the comparator?

Well yeah... Now I want one!

I'd be interested to know if the tracking VCO of a PLL has to use a linear CV. The idea of the phase comparator is to produce an error, or adjustment voltage that when fed into the VCO will adjust the frequency so that the frequencies of the two signals being compared match. If that would work with a 1v/oct VCO, then that adjustment voltage could be fed into an additional VCO tuned anywhere you like-- and at that point you have a frequency shifter that can track the second VCO at an offset that can be less than an octave. And theoretically, with a clean input signal converted to a square wave, you'd have a crude pitch-to-voltage converter that would produce a 1v/oct tracking output.

Any recommendations on a sequencer I’m currently using the doepfer MSQ 16

Nice to see another video from you :) Hand gestures are a good addition hehe hey i like your green braided cable, where did you got it? Ebay?

ACE!!

OMG! You are the first person, apart from Germans..., that I have heard pronounce the name "Doepfer" correctly... I doff (or is that "Doerf"?) my cap you sir!!

"It sounds like an angry puppy." What kind of puppies are you encountering? I need to get one!

Could you do a how-to pitch track video with the PLL.

The bounce on the PLL is really a feature tbh

Is the "squonk" on the PLL related to the "woggle" on the wogglebug?

That is exactly the opposite of what I need. I have a Lyra-8 that I want to turn into something chromatic. I would like a module that locks the phase of the external signal (the Lyra-8) to the frequency I set in the internal oscillator of the module. I wonder if something like that exists...

I have a 4MS Atoner. It's almost but not quite these things. Every now and then though. OMG! You have a brain storm and realise it's a clock divider as well.... and it takes any audio input and clock divides it!

"It tries to sing along - which it can't" sad story bro

Currently deciding if I'd make better use of the HP with one Doepfer PLL or two NLC Vactrol-PiLL's - I still think Doepfer gets the edge because of that LPF to clean up the sound & sparing my other filters... But mannn; if crosspatching two Vactrol-PiLL's doesn't sound like an audio manglers good time, then idk what does. 🤔

I don’t think you mentioned how exactly you have to patch the pll to the clock divider

Ace.

12:28!!!!!!! holy shit.

Your Erica Synths Black Wavetable VCO has the "Bitchrush" spelling error panel - Collectible! Retirement income!

Dope!

“Sounds like an angry puppy” What do you do to your puppies my friend? 😂

The last part with the sine wave sounded like a didgeridoo or something vocal!

PLL + Euclidean Gate triggering = ?

yes, the Doepfer PLL is doing some really weird sounds if but in its proper business (PLL) transposing signals up the analog way it is pretty limited and does not work well. WMD is doing better.

5:24 Go here if you want to hear what R2D2 would sound like on acid.

squawnk

A-111-6 and a PLL and i'll see you fools later

For someone concerned enough to make a video about installing modules incorrectly and blowing them up, you have nothing to say about how easily this is done with the A-196 PLL. FYI, evidently in Doepfer-ville, the PCB marking C12 means -12. Snap! then...magic smoke!!