Don’t know if this finding of mine has been discussed before so here goes…
Patch the ‘Osc Out’ into the ‘Audio In’. Take the Output and send it to your mixer. Set the controls in the following manner:
Freq = 4 1/2
Sync = off
Waveform 3:00 (halfway between square and pulse).
Drive 12:00
Output 12:00
Env. Amount = 5
FM Amount = 5
Mix = 4
Turning the FM Amount to the right will drop the pitch by increments found in the subharmonic series. For those of you new to subharmonics, they follow the same pattern as the harmonic series, except in reverse. The above settings gets the FreqBox to oscillate about as high as it can. From there you follow the subharmonic series down: octave, fifth, fourth, major third, minor third, septimal third, septimal second, major second, etc.
Another way of looking at it is this: Harmonics follow these ratios, 1/1, 2/1, 3/1, 4/1, 5/1, 6/1, 7/1, 8/1 etc. (C2, C3, G3, C4, E4, G4, Bb4-, C5) Subharmonics follow these ratios: 1/1, 1/2, 1/3, 1/4, 1/5, 1/6, 1/7, 1/8 etc. (C5, C4, F3, C3, Ab2, F2, D2+, C2).
This is using only the FreqBox as a solo sound source. Additional fun can be had by setting up an old school sequencer or keyboard and ‘playing’ melodies that are derived from this scale. You’ll quickly find that the Harmonic Series is more ‘major’ sounding while the Subharmonic Series is more ‘minor’ sounding.
I used to do this with the Positive Slew module on my Serge Synthesizer, haven’t come across it for many years until now.
Cheers,
Stephen
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