Introduction.
2
The TOMS909 is a recreation of Roland's legendary TR-909 analog Tom drums
sound generator for use in modular synthesizer format. The TOMS909 includes all
the original controls found on the TR-909 drum machine, as well as several new
features never before available, such as extended TUNE range and independent
voltage control for accent and tune/pitch on each drum. There are three independent
Tom drum sounds, starting from the left with the Low, Mid, and High, Tom; each
Tom drum section gives you full control over the Toms’ volume Level, Accent, Decay,
and Tune levels. On the right side of the module is a voltage control section with a
voltage control input for each Tom drum and an accompanying attenuator knob for
scaling the incoming voltages, as well as a MIX OUT for summing the three drum
sounds.
Let’s get started.
To start out using the TOMS909 let’s begin from the left side on the LOW Tom.
First plug a gate signal into the LOW Tom GATE input this will trigger the drum to
start playing. Turn the LEVEL knob up half way, plug the LOW OUT into your sound
system, and turn the ACCENT knob up half way. You will now hear the LOW Tom
drum playing. Try changing the TUNE and DECAY knobs to hear their effect.
Repeat these steps in each section to get all three Toms playing together as each
TOMS controls are identical. You can plug the Tom’s OUT into your sound system
each on their own channel, or you can plug the MIX OUT in to your sound system
as one signal with the three Toms mixed together. You can also enable the Bus Mix
into the MIXZ mixer module by setting the header on the back.
TUNE Explained:
The TUNE knobs allow you to adjust the pitch/timbre of each drum making it
possible to create a wide range of drum sounds from low end soft bass drums,
Toms, and many other percussive sounds. Turning the TUNE knob clockwise will
increase the pitch of the drum. Adding voltage control to the VC-TUNE section’s
provides voltage control over the entire TUNE range giving you even more playing
possibilities to explore using a keyboard or sequencer and new sounds to create
by modulating the tune in the audio range. (the VC-Tune are not 1V/Oct)
DECAY Explained:
The DECAY knob adjusts the length of time the drum sound will play after reaching
the peak of its attack; by turning it fully counterclockwise the drum sound will be
shortened producing a tight plucking drum. Turning it fully clockwise will let the entire
body of the drum sound through. Try experimenting with the three Toms at different
decay settings to hear how they accompany each other in an open sound space.
