CONTOUR 1
SLEW LIMITER/FUNCTION GENERATOR
3
4 FREQUENCY RANGE SWITCH
This switch determines over which time range
Contour 1 will operate: full (slew limiter, VCLFO,
envelope generator, envelope follower…) or audio
frequency (VCO, VCF, waveshaper…).
5 BEND KNOBS
Using these knobs, the rising and falling slopes
can be individually bent: from concave through
linear to convex. While in loop mode, changing
the shape will inevitably affect slope time as well.
However, Contour 1 has been designed to
minimise this effect as much as possible.
6 SLEW RATE CV INPUTS
An increase in voltage at one of these CV inputs
will increase the corresponding slew rate, and
thus decrease the slew time.
The rise CV socket is normalised to the fall CV,
allowing both to be modulated by the same
source simultaneously. In this case, the module
will respond at a standard 1 volt per octave. For
the best possible pitch tracking performance, set
both rise and fall slew rates equal and the slope
shapes linear (bend knobs centred).
7 BEND CV INPUTS
These inputs are used to modulate the slope
shapes. With the corresponding bend knob
centred, the CV range is −5 V to +5 V. Both slopes
can be modulated separately or together thanks
to the normalisation from rise to fall.
8 ANALOGUE INPUT
Apply the signal to be slew limited to this input
socket. When the gate, trigger or loop features
are used, this sets the minimum voltage for each
cycle (0 V by default).
9 GATE INPUT
The gate input has a different function
depending on Contour 1’s mode of operation.
In slew mode, a high gate switches the source
between the analogue input socket and a
pre10 V reference. This allows accurate
attack-release (AR) envelopes to be created from
any gate signal.
In loop mode, it allows for gated oscillation: once
a cable is inserted in the socket, Contour 1 will
only loop while the incoming gate is high.
10 HOLD INPUT
A hold gate signal ‘freezes’ the slew core, slowing
it down to near-standstill until the hold is
released. This is useful for halting modulations, or
as a sync-like effect at audio frequencies.
11 ANALOGUE OUTPUTS
The slew limited output signal is available from
the main output socket. It is highly accurate and
impedance-compensated, allowing portamento
effects to be applied on pitch-accurate CV
sequences. An inverted output is included as
well.
12 SLOPE GATE OUTPUTS
These gate outputs go high (+5 V) whenever the
slew core is rising or falling. At any other time,
they are low (0 V).
