flight of harmony plague bearer (eurorack format) price : $95.00   plague bearer (frac rack format) price : $95.00

the plague bearer is available in both eurorack and frac rack formats. each module is fully tested and assembled. they ship in a box with a ribbon cable, choice of knob color (depending on stock) and mounting screws. panels are 0.062"/2.2mm photo-anodized aluminum and the screws are stainless steel m3x6.0. the jacks are wired in pairs for added flexibility.

the plague bearer is called a filter, but that is just a description of the circuit topology, what it can actually do goes way beyond that. it has been described as a filter, a mangler, a crusher, and - my favorite - as an "fsu module".

i think calling it a filter may be a bit misleading, but i have no idea what else to call it. it is a filter, but it does more (all at the same time, really ) excessive phase shifting, waveforming, ringing, formant generation, and so on. i guess it could be called a waveform modifier or enhancer, but those don't sound good either. i called it the plague bearer for a reason.

it is designed to infect, corrupt and pervert a signal beyond recognition.

it is a voltage-controlled resonant bandpass filter that was designed with the goals of maximum signal alteration and maximum parameter controllability. the plague bearer has controls for varying the high and low corner frequencies of the passband, as well as variable gain and an input attenuator. a single plague bearer can be used as a filter, an oscillator, a noise generator, or even as a resonance oscillator.

depending on the settings, the filter can be a lowpass, highpass, single-bandpass, or multiple-bandpass. adjust the resonance point to cause the filter to self-oscillate in many ways: by adjusting the controls to just below the point of oscillation, and then applying a pulse, square, or other abrupt-edged input signal waveform will "ring" the filter. a simple "click" on the input can give a percussive output sound - from bass drum to bell to a harsh metallic clang; crank the controls up and this beast will scream like a banshee! the oscillation can be damped or continuous. chain a couple in series and get accumulating feedback - the build-up can be slow, fast or instantaneous. white noise is easy to do - you don't even need an input signal! turn the input all the way down, and then slowly turn the gain up. then you can adjust the "color" of the noise with the frequency controls. daisy-chaining multiple filters can give a "comb" or multi-phase noise.

if you are looking for technical synthophile specs you are out of luck here. all f(h) devices are designed in accordance with how they sound, not to achieve mathematical perfection - the slope is directly tied to the gain of the circuit, making it variable, and the q is affected by all three filter controls. since the setup is actually a combined high- and low-pass, the corner frequencies can be overlapped completely, which gives a comb-filtering effect.

about phase-shift characteristics: a single filter can give a strong chorus effect if so desired, useful as a sub-oscillator or just to fatten a sound.

specs:
supply voltage (min -> max) ±9v -> ±15v
supply current (max draw @ ±12v) +12v: 6.5ma -12v: 4.0ma
input voltage (@ ±12v) 0vpp -> 10vpp
output voltage ±5v
input & ouput (i/o) coupling capacitive (ac)
output impedance 2.2µf in series with 1k?

control voltage (cv) inputs 0v -> v+
cv input coupling direct (dc)

cv input impedance 100k?

further details are available in the following user manual.

click here to visit the manufacturer's webpage for more info.