MEGA MILTON Patch Assembly
The ‘MEGA MILTON’ provides essential classic synthesizer building blocks for patching in any Eurorack system.
In this patch we used all of the MEGA MILTON's utility circuits to assemble a full track. We then split up the patch, isolating each sound's sub patch for a clearer look at the module's functions.
Bass Drum Drive
To create the driven bass drum we started with a low sine wave drone from Oscillator B of Akemie's Castle patched to channel 2 of the MEGA-TANG mixer. We patched a x1 exponential envelope from Pamela's PRO Workout to the V/Oct pitch input to add a punchy pitch sweep, then used a matching x1 gate from another output to trigger the Pip Slope, using its envelope to open the corresponding VCA of the MEGA-TANG.
In this sub patch, the MEGA MILTON was used to add drive as well as mixing with the hi-hat sound when fully patched. To add drive to the bass drum we took the individual output of channel 2 on the MEGA-TANG and connected it to the attenuated input of the MEGA MILTON's summing mixer. The mixer output was then patched back to the line input, causing the bass drum to clip as the gain was increased from the attenuator. The driven output was then returned back to channel 4 of the MEGA-TANG for mixing.
Synth Voice Mult & Slew
The synth voice was created using Oscillator A of Akemie's Castle, set to chord mode with simple 2 operator FM from the first algorithm. The Pip LFO was used to slowly sweep the level of operator 1, raising and lowering the FM depth. The Castle's A output was then patched through the right side low pass filter of the MCFx2 and on to channel 1 of the MEGA-TANG.
In this sub patch, the MEGA MILTON was used as a both a mult and gated slew limiter for the voice. The buffered mult section was used to duplicate a Euclidean gate pattern from Pam to trigger both the Quaid Megaslope in envelope mode as well as another output of Pam set to be externally triggered as a second envelope for the voice. The pair of envelopes were patched to modulate the MCFx2 and MEGA-TANG channel's VCA level respectively.
For a gliding pitch sequence, a quantised looped random sequence from Pam was patched into the MEGA MILTON's slew section, then on to the V/Oct input of Akemie's Castle. The Slew level was increased to add glides between the notes. A random gate from Pam was then patched to the Slew Enable input, causing the slides to occur only when the gate went high.
Hihat Noise & S&H
The next sub patch used the MEGA MILTON to create a simple analog hihat with triggered random filter modulation. First, the white noise output was patched through the left side band pass filter of the MCFx2, then out through the Pip Filter for both low pass filtering and level control via its built in VCA, modulated by an envelope from Pamela's PRO Workout. The Sample & Hold output was then patched to the Pip Filter's cutoff frequency CV input to randomly open and close the filter, darkening the sound of the hihat. The same euclidean gate pattern from the synth voice sub patch was connected from the buffered mult section to the S&H clock input to trigger the random filter changes.
The output of the Pip Filter was then summed and driven with the bass drum using another input of the MEGA MILTON's summing mixer. The mix result was driven through the line input and patched to channel 4 of the MEGA-TANG as detailed above.
Snare Noise
The final sub patch was a simple snare drum, also using the analog white noise circuit of the MEGA MILTON and left side filter of the MCFx2. For this sound, the low pass filter output was patched directly out to channel 3 of the MEGA-TANG, creating a duplicate of the hihat noise but with a darker sound. A simple /2 gate from Pam with reduced width was then patched to the corresponding VCA of the MEGA-TANG, for a simple snare hit to complete the beat.
This patch made full use of the MEGA MILTON's many circuits, showcasing the valuable utility it can provide to a small system. There are many ways to combine the sections, inspiring patches with classic analog patch programmable building blocks.
