Let’s get creative with crossfading

Most people often ignore the key utilities needed to really ignite a system. With Knobs from Rabid Elephant we inject some fun into CV utilities

Here at Future Music we love a good knob and cable twiddle. That’s the key to hardware for us. Forget about analogue vs digital, forget anything format specific… we just want tactile control! Moving knobs and plugging in cables to create signal paths is great – we love it, and that’s why we use modular.

Knobs are great but have you used a synth with faders before? There’s something about a fader that feels right and it’s easy to see why mixers opt for them over using pots and knobs for every function. However, if our Eurorack systems were full of faders each module would be huge with the actual faders taking up most of the panel space. But Rabid Elephant have provided what feels like a real luxury item with their new module Knobs. The name is deceptive as the key bit for us is the crossfader on the module (but yes it does have knobs too).

It’s a dual channel utility module that has gain, offset and slur (often referred to as slew, lag or glide) and a crossfader. It can generate voltages and mix them or process external signals. It may not be the latest flavour of the month low-pass ladder filter but Knobs gives us great things in a well-laid-out module. You can think of the module as a DJ friendly CV manipulator allowing for ‘scratch DJ’ style crossfader moves. If only we had DMC champion DJ QBert’s skills we could go seriously finger ninja on our voltages!

If you are new to modular some of the functions may seem alien so we’ll quickly run down those for you. Gain can literally control the signal right from subtle low levels to boosting the signal way above the input signal. An offset voltage will create a static voltage to offset the signal. So if we had say an LFO moving between +2V and -2V we could add a 2V offset to create an LFO that moves between 4V and 0V. It’s really useful for nudging signals around and finding those sweet spots with your modulation. Slur works like a glide or portamento control on a keyboard. As you increase the portamento level on a keyboard new notes glide into each other. From a quick 303 Acid-style slide to a long pitch rise or fall between notes, that’s exactly what the slur is doing. As the input moves between voltages it adds a glide and the time it takes to move between changing voltages depends on the slur level.

The module oozes quality and feels great – Rabid Elephant’s website states: “Tactile feedback and ergonomics are essential for an instrument to become a natural extension of the body and mind. Our instruments feature comfortable, easy, and inspiring user interfaces.” We think they’ve got it right with a well-laid-out panel and that crossfader feels like a real luxury.