so what have we got:
- trigger buttons for all sounds.
kick, snare, (snare roll, claves, tom1, tom2 as per the original), hihat, and open hihat. that last one does require a hihat trigger as well, since it just modifies the decay of the same sound source, so it's a bit fiddly - but it's very workable, really.
- individual volumes for all sounds.
- snare drum roll speed and routing.
instead of always co-triggering tom1, you can now select which (if any) of the other sounds get triggered alongside the snare noise. combos are very well possible.
all sounds but the hihat - that'd be ludicrous, seeing how it's just the same noise as the snare top end.
- open hihat volume.
- pitch and length control for clav, t1, t2, kick.
the dual gang pitch pots worked to a certain extent. you can still feel the circuitry is a lot more prone to oscillation in certain ranges (depending on the third, fixed resistor in the twin T network, no doubt), so it is very interactive with length and volume controls - by necessity. meaning, basically: mind your speakers when roughing the pitch and length knobs. but hey, it's modding, not design.
you just have to be a bit careful about the sounds jumping into a wild screech. which can sound lovely, by the way.
length takes you from an atonal click, through poor man's 808 boom, to full on oscillation. there are some sweet spots along the way, like when it's oscillating but you can still hear the trigger's impact. does a nice compressor ducking thing.
- individual outputs.
that row of jacks in the back is wired 808-style: every sound you plug into - to add effects or whatever - gets taken out of the master output's mix. works like a charm. no need to change the classics.
it might not be as full option as i could have gone (midi triggers, anyone? that data crossbend thing on a matrix?) but it's a damn great start as it is. and extending the mods is always a possibility for later.
sounds coming soon, hopefully, if i get the chance to record a bit more before it goes to its warm loving home..
