Saturday 16 January 2010

New Cwejman Modules!



Wowa Cwejman is back with a range of new modules in a stunning new livery. I was lucky enough to get my hands on the CTG-VC Complex Transient Generator and MMF-6 Multi Output Filter on Friday. Lucky, because they have already all but sold out or are spoken for. After a few hours with these modules, it's easy to see why:


Cwejman CTG-VC & MMF-6

The MMF-6 is capable of the sort of nasty, distorted sounds I never thought I'd hear from a Cwejman filter. It features two sets of three outputs, LP, BP & HP in clean, soft & hard saturation variations. According to the product page, he symmetry control makes it possible to set different cutoff frequencies for the positive and negative halves of a signal. This can have a radical effect on the sound and means you can attain a nice amount of bite even from the 'clean' outputs. The amount of grunt, growl and distortion is highly dependent on the level of the incoming audio and the amount of Q so, much like a wavefolder, it might make sense to patch your signal to a VCA before hitting the MMF-6.

Cwejman MMF-6  by  navs

This clip shows some of the aggressive sounds the MMF-6 is capable of. Manual tweaking of the cut off, resonance, input, symmetry, hard & soft controls.

And here is a rather more mundane run-through:



LP, BP then HP. Clean outs, then saturated. One bar no resonance, then with res @ 7, then manual symmetry control. Last four bars are the saturated outs.

The CTG-VC can function as both a gated ADSR-type envelope and triggered AD-type transient generator. It features a hold stage of up to two seconds to add compressor-like punch to sounds and has a variable shape decay slope. As with Make Noise's Maths, this can radically alter the character of a sound. An AD loop mode can be activated either manually or by CV, allowing the CTG-VC to release rapid-fire trills. The 'Zero Restart' function overcomes the offset experienced when an envelope is re-triggered before the release phase has completed and forces the envelope to start from scratch. Nearly all parameters can be voltage controlled, including the final output level which is bi-polar.

Cwejman CTG-VC  by  navs

This clip demonstrates the effect of changing the Hold and Decay Slope parameters. Manual tweaks: Hold first, then D-Slope. I kept the envelope times fairly short so you can hear the difference these stages make. First run-through with res @ 3, then @ 6. After onset of delay I couldn't resist toying with the symmetry. Note, this is the 'clean' output!

And here is an additional recording showcasing the Zero Reset and Looping functions:



Sequence with Zero Reset activated, then off (traditional ADSR response). AD Loop: clock divider used to provide syncopated bursts/ trills. In the latter half, the envelope is so short that the VCA is amplitude modulated at audio rate.

Both these modules look and sound great and are of the build quality we've come to expect from Cwejman. Grab them if you can!

5 comments:

Unknown said...

Thanks a lot for your review !
Very interesting !

barnone said...

Awesome....great review and samples. Are they available anywhere yet?

Navs said...

Cheers! I have a feeling this new direction for Cwejman is going to make a lot of people very happy.

They are available from Schneidersbuero or directly from their shop:

http://schneidersladen.de/

and I believe Shawn at AH has some too.

Richard Devine said...

Hello Navs, awesome examples, you sold me on the Cwejman CTG-VC.

Navs said...

Thanks, Richard - I'm glad you liked the examples and hope you have fun with the envelope!