SOMA Pulsar 23, User Manual

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PULSAR • 23 USER MANUAL
Pulsar-23 is a complex device with many non-obvious functions and capabilities. To unleash
its full potential, it is strongly recommended to read these instructions.
GENERAL OVERVIEW
Pulsar-23 is a multi-functional analog synthesizer and generator of complex rhythmic patterns.
The Pulsar consists of 23 different modules, including four flexible sound generators with
completely different structures, four envelope generators, four looper-recorders, a clock
generator with dividers, a controlled chaos generator, an LFO, a two-channel CV-controlled
effects processor, distortion, two controlled amplifiers, an inverter, a controlled inverter and
two controlled analog switches.
In addition to these 23 main units, the Pulsar also contains 13 auxiliary units, such as a
four-channel MIDI to CV converter, a noise generator, four attenuators, two dynamic CV
generators with sensory control, two impulse converters and single passive electronic com-
ponents for live circuit bending.
Pulsar-23 can be used for the synthesis of percussion instruments and rhythms, bass and
melodic lines, effects and sound landscapes, as well as a source of control voltage. The Pul-
sar functions in three different modes: stand-alone, MIDI control and CV control. Moreover,
all the above features and control modes can work simultaneously in any proportion or
combination. Additionally, Pulsar offers live circuit bending capabilities and the use of the
artist’s body conductivity to create patches and cross modulations.
Pulsar continues the line of organismic synthesizers begun by LYRA-8, but now in the area
of percussion instruments.
ORGANISMIC SYNTHESIZER
"Organismic" means that some of the principles of how living systems — organisms — operate,
form the basis of development:
• Everything can interact with everything, forming multiple feedback loops, resulting in very
complex behavior of the system, even with a simple set of its constituent elements.
• The blurring of the functions of organs and parts, allowing them to be interpreted differ-
ently, depending on which context and connection they work in.
• The absence of a rigid linear structure, where there is a clearly leading head and the tail
strictly following it. Any part of the body can become for a while both leading and driven.
• The resulting behavior is a dynamic equilibrium spontaneously formed between the inter-
acting parts of the living system.
These principles are most clearly expressed in neurosystems (brain) and systems built on
their basis (for example, human society).
Consider how these principles were implemented in Pulsar:
The Pulsar is a semi-modular system, where each unit has an input, output and several
available control points that can control the processing. The audio and control signals op-
erate in the same voltage range of 0-10 volts, and the inputs and outputs are organized in
such a way that the audio signal can be a control signal, and the control signal can be used
as an audio source. For example, you can use the bass drum channel as an LFO, the LFO as
an additional sound oscillator, the clock generator as a source of percussive sounds, and
the bass synth channel as a clock source for the loopers. This lets you build many different
structures, including paradoxical ones.