Studio Electronics Tonestar Folktek'd Module

Studio Electronics Tonestar Folktek'd is a version of their Tonestar module redesigned by Arius Blaze of Folktek, about which he says:

'I'm a circle person, so you're going to end up with something that's circle-driven. One of my goals is not just to throw some image stuff on this but to create something that makes sense visually as it corresponds to functionality. I find that kind of thing difficult with complex layouts like this — it's difficult to find the room for pure design, yours or mine. But at this point I'm starting to come to something...'

At its heart, Studio Electronics Tonestar is an ARP 2600-inspired synth voice 31 years in the shaping, pre-patched like Pearlman's prodigy, and fully 'outs to outs' modular. Connect CV/gate and twist 'n' switch, or pull its tones and voltages apart one patch cord at a time. 26 knobs, 7 switches, and 21 jacks make for complex and satisfying signal flow, color and collisions. If it gets reedy, just route the triangle wave 'round the VCF!

• Features
• Premium quality analog pre-patched and fully modular all-hardware synth voice
• 26 knobs, 7 switches, 21 patch points in a daring yet ergonomic 32hp module
• Eight octave tracking ARP-, Oberheim- and Moog-styled oscillator with sub-oscillator, octave control, waveform mixing, triangle direct to VCA, and LFO/ADSR modulation of pulse width with dedicated triangle wave for warming/chorusing effects
• 24dB/octave cascaded transconductance lowpass filter employing six pairs of hand-matched transistors (think 'orange and black' ARP 2600) with input drive control, variable tracking and voltage-controlled resonance — four-pole ARP 4072 magic without the 12kHz cutoff flaw
• Classic ADSR/AR envelope with original 2600 'sustain sink' behavior to keep it movin'
• Ultra wide-ranging voltage-controlled LFO with input speed control
• Drone mode: instant infinite sustain
• Master mode: ADSR controls both filter and amplifier envelopes (a la JUNO-106)
• Feedback! Harmonic-generating/multiplying oscillator/filter feedback loop manipulation
• Noise generator and external audio input patching with native tonal bleeding
• Legendary Studio Electronics 31-year-perfected through-hole build quality and supreme sound
• Module controls
• VCO
• FREQUENCY knob: oscillator frequency attenuator.
• PULSE WIDTH knob: variable pulse wave width control.
• OCT switch: +1/-1 octave switch.
• LFO (^) knob: triangle wave low frequency oscillation to pulse width control.
• FREQ/PW switch: oscillator frequency, or pulse (square wave) width to ADSR modulation routing switch. Center off.
• GLIDE knob: slew generator control.
• TRIANGLE (symbol) / NO VCF switch: triangle to VCA switch, bypasses VCF.
• MOD (ADSR) knob: oscillation modulation via ADSR control.
• SAWTOOTH (symbol) knob: sawtooth wave attenuator.
• SQUARE (symbol) knob: square wave attenuator.
• SUB knob: square wave sub-oscillator attenuator.
• Noise
• LEVEL knob: Noise attenuator.
• VCF
• FREQUENCY knob: frequency/cut-off attenuator
• RESONANCE knob: resonance/Q attenuator.
• TRACK knob: keyboard/voltage tracking attenuator.
• DRIVE knob: oscillator output to filter input attenuator.
• FREQ/RESO switch: filter frequency, or resonance-to-LFO modulation routing switch. Center off position.
• ADSR knob: filter to ADSR envelope attenuator.
• MOD (LFO) knob: filter to LFO attenuator.
• LFO
• TRIANGLE/SQUARE (symbols) switch: waveform select switch (triangle core).
• DPTH (OSC) knob: LFO to oscillator control.
• SPEED knob: speed or rate attenuator.
• ENVs
• ATTACK knob: attack stage control.
• DECAY knob: decay stage control.
• SUSTAIN knob: sustain stage control.
• RELEASE knob: release stage control.
• DRONE/MSTR switch: indefinite/instant sustain and master mode for ADSR routing switch, fuses VCF envelope with VCA envelope. Center off.
• ATTACK knob: attack stage control
• RELEASE knob: release stage control.
• VCA
• FEEDBACK knob: oscillator/filter feedback loop control.
• VOLUME knob: master volume control.
• Patch points
• VCO
• TRIANGLE (symbol) output: waveform output.
• SAWTOOTH (symbol) output: waveform output.
• SQUARE (symbol) output: waveform output.
• MIX output: composite waveform output.
• 1V/O output: one volt per octave control voltage input.
• TUNE input: master fine tune (approx. -5/+ 5 semitones).
• MOD IN input: modulation CV input, normalled to ADSR. ADSR is replaced when alt. source connected.
• Noise
• NOISE output: noise generator output.
• VCF
• EXT IN input: external audio input.
• FIL OUT output: filter audio output.
• MOD IN input: frequency or resonance modulation CV input.
• LFO
• DEPTH input: LFO depth control voltage Input.
• TRIANGLE (symbol) output: triangle wave output.
• SQUARE (symbol) output: square wave output.
• SPEED input: speed or rate CV input.
• ENVs
• MOD IN input: Allows for dynamic modulation of the ADSR. If you want the amount of modulation added to / determined by a external source, jack in! Or, if you prefer, modulation input to the ADSR routing — use with velocity, or a sequencer: the sequencer could isolate the ADSR amount to a single step in the phrase, for example. A second external envelope can provide an interesting effect, or you can just use the AR via 'in-the-box' patching.
• ADSR OUT output: ADSR output.
• AR OUT output: AR Output.
• VCA
• VCA/CV output: amplifier control voltage output.
• IN/MIX input: VCA mix input switch switch (normalled jack). When set to IN, external audio replaces filter output to VCA; when set to mix MIX, filter output is fed along with the filter audio to VCA.
• VCA IN input: audio input.
• OUTPUT: main output.
• Physical specifications
• Size: 32hp
• Module depth: 35mm (including connectors)
• Power usage: 130mA @ +12V, 80mA @ -12V