Pittsburgh ModularLifeforms Double Helix Oscillator

These 3 patches are a sampling of the Pittsburgh Lifeforms Double Helix Oscillator's broad sound palette. The Double Helix is a dual complex oscillator with features beyond the typical Buchla-style Eurorack VCO. In addition to typical FM and wavefolding capabilities, it adds a voltage controlled CV routing section, a dedicated LFO, and a contour section for low pass gate effects.

In the first patch in this video the Double Helix is used as a complete synth voice with the Frap Tools Sapel's n+1 output used as a quantized pitch source. The second is a drone demonstrating various modulation routings with the switches on the VCR or voltage controlled routing section, which yield a broad range of timbres with simple controls. In the third patch the oscillator is used for more “west coast” style synthesis, creating peculiar sounds / effects utilizing both oscillators, the LFO, and pseudo-lowpass gate.

The Pittsburgh Lifeforms Double Helix Oscillator is a complex dual oscillator for both sound generation and modulation. The Primary Oscillator contains all of the classic waveshapes, with a waveshaper internally normalized to the output of the sine wave. A secondary oscillator provides square, sine and sawtooth waveshapes. Also included is a Contour control, utilizing a Low Pass Gate, able to be "struck" with a gate, or controlled via CV. At the bottom of the Double Helix is a set of voltage controlled Routers, used to send various CV to various destinations. With the Double Helix, a broad range of timbres is quickly accessible.