Facehugger 8-Stage Function Generator

Flight of Harmony Facehugger

Flight of Harmony's Facehugger is an eight-stage function generator that fills any niche from envelope to waveshaper. While the layout mirrors that of many sequencers, its behavior is far stranger. Typical function generators only give you control over their rise and fall stages. Facehugger on the other hand allows you to arbitrarily set the overall speed, level, polarity, offset, slew time, curve, and number of stages from 1-8. Facehugger includes three switchable run modes. Free Run mode continuously loops at a rate set by the speed knob. The other two modes rely on triggers or gates to activate the function rather than using external gates to step through its individual stages one at a time. Trigger Only mode runs once through all stages then stops, while Trigger with Gating loops through the stages as long as it detects a high signal at the trigger input.

By default, Facehugger uses an internal timing ramp to address the active stages set by the Length knob; moving from one stage to the next at a rate set by the Speed knob. This ramp includes a switch and control to adjust the curve for linear, logarithmic, and exponential shapes. A linear timing ramp gives all stages the same length. An exponential timing ramp starts slow and accelerates over time, taking a shorter and shorter amount of time to step through each active stage. A logarithmic curve is the opposite, where the first stage is the shortest and the last stage the longest, slowing down over time. Each curve mode runs at a slightly different speed with linear the slowest and exponential the fastest. The Length knob sets the number of sliders that control the output level but does not affect the overall length of the timing ramp. Whether you use all eight steps or just two, this control does not affect the total time from start to finish but rather the time spent on each step, working in tandem with the Speed and Curve controls.

Patching into the Ext In jack overrides the internal timing ramp, allowing you to use any signal in your system to determine the function position. This input accepts any signal in a +/-5V range. Patching in everything from other function generators to random voltages to VCOs. When used with audio rate signals, Facehugger acts as a multi-stage waveshaper. The stage sliders and root control shift and shape the waveform, while the Glide control smooths and filters harsh jumps in the waveform. With the glide switch in the center, the steps jump from one voltage level to the next. Switching to the right adds linear smoothing, while the left position adds logarithmic smoothing to Facehugger's output signal. The Operation Mode switch selects from one of three modes that determine both the order of stages and whether the sliders output positive voltage or both positive and negative voltages. Root and scale set the offset and level of the output. Both associated CV inputs accept bipolar signals, giving you full voltage control over offset and attenuversion of the output.

While one Facehugger gives plenty of functionality you aren't limited to using one on its own. Headers on the back of the module allow you to connect multiple units with no set limit on the number of attached segments. The output headers allow for either Parallel connections or Chained connections. Parallel units all act synchronously with a primary Head module supplying the ramp. Chaining on the other hand sequentially extends the number of possible stages beyond eight. The head acts as the primary control unit for all connected Facehuggers. Connect one module to add a tail. If that's not enough, add additional body segments to extend the reach and control of the hoard of alien modulation sources. Additionally, Flight of Harmony offers several expanders that augment the input and outputs available. Facehugger gives you access to a huge range of behavior, whether you need predictable modulation or unruly manipulation, look no further.

Facehugger Features

• Eight stage function generator
• Great as a source of envelopes, stepped modulation, LFOs, gate sequencing, audio waveshaping, and more
• Extensive voltage control over active step, offset, scale, and speed
• Internal voltage controlled ramp with adjustable curve
• Free running, one shot, and gated cycling modes
• Connect multiple units with no set upper limit
• Glide control with linear or logarithmic slew
• Unipolar or bipolar outputs