Installation
Always turn your eurorack case off before plugging or unplugging a module.
Do not touch any electrical terminals when attaching any Eurorack bus board cable.
Ritual Electronics Anima requires:
- 95mA on +12V
- 35mA on -12V
- 0mA on +5V
You will need 18HP of free space in your Eurorack case to install Anima. The module is 25mm deep.
Connect the included ribbon cable to the module. Connect the other end of the cable to the bus board connector of your case.
Overview
Anima is a dual voltage-controlled segments generator. It can be an AD or an ASR enveloppe,
an LFO, a Digital Oscillator and even more.
Anima draws its roots in the “west coast” analog function generators and updates them in the digital realm.
This take allows for extremely precise 1V/Oct tracking
(10+ octaves) when in cycling mode, and for the control of the rising and falling segments (aka attack and decay) curves without affecting timing + a few more tricks.
Controls
- Curve (from log to lin to exp with bell and notch in between)
- Attack (from 0.5ms to 40s)
- Decay (from 0.5ms to 40s)
- Dedicated attenuverters for each control
- AD / ASR / LFO switch
- Unipolar / Bipolar output switch (0/+8V or -5/+5V)
- 1V/Oct input (tracks 10+ octaves)
- EOC output (5ms trig at the end of decay/release phase)
Technical characteristics
- Digital high precision core
- USB port for future firmware updates / variations / hacks
Dimensions
- 25 mm deep
- 18HP large
- 3U
Controls
A – Mode switch
Chose the mode of operation
AD, ASR, Cycle.
B – Attack knob
Sets the rising segment length.
C – Activity LED
Glows according to the output.
D – Attack attenuverter knob
Going left the CV input is subtracted from the Attack knob value. To the right the CV input is added.
E – Attack, Curve, Decay CV inputs
External control for each parameter.
F – Gate input
Use it to trig the envelope or reset the cycle.
G – 1V/oct input
Can be used to play harmonically when cycling or as a CV input for both Attack and Decay.
H – Polarity switch
Sets the output signal polarity and voltage.
I – Curve knob
Sets the curvature of both segments.
J – Decay knob
Sets the falling segment length.
K – Curve attenuverter knob
Dial in the right amount of control voltage.
L – Decay attenuverter knob
Dial in the right amount of control voltage.
M – EOC output I & II
Outputs a trig at the end of decay / release / cycle.
N – Out I & II
Outputs signal according to the polarity switch.
Modes
AD Mode
The module takes any signal as an input, turns it into a trigger to launch a rising segment (attack) and a falling segment (decay). The length of these segments are defined by Attack and Decay knobs. They are independent of the input signal.
ASR Mode
The module takes any signal as an input and turns it into a gate. The attack phase is initiated at the rising edge of the gate, the voltage is then sustained during the length of the gate before starting the release phase (controlled by Decay knob).
Cycle Mode
Cycle loops the rising and falling segments according to their lengths. Long lengths will result in slow, low frequency oscillations (max 80s). Short lengths rising and falling lengths will go to audio speed (up to 2kHz). An incoming signal can reset the LFO or sync the oscillator.
Curves
The Curve parameter goes well beyond the usual Lin/Log control. It morphs smoothly between several curvatures (including the classic log, lin and exp) without affecting the rising and falling times.
When tweaked in envelope mode, Curve opens up new performance possibilities. Changing the length of a segment is not always the solution. Modifying the curve shifts the emphasis of the envelope for nuanced phrasing.
Output Polarity
Anima’s channels can be individually set to output unipolar or bipolar signals.
If used as a “classic” envelope we recommend using the unipolar (0 to 8 volts) mode. Usually VCAs only “see” positive voltages.
To take advantage of Anima as an oscillator we recommend you use the module with a bipolar output. The output will then swing between -5 and +5 volts (10vpp as recommended for sonic signals according to Eurorack standards).
There is no rules though. Flip the switches and experiment. It makes a pretty good performance tool too, capable of drastically affecting a patch.
1V/Oct
The 1V/Oct input turns Anima into a very capable digital dual oscillator – when in cycle mode – with two types of frequency modulation and voltage controlled waveform crossfading.
Due to its digital nature, Anima is capable of tracking well over 10 octaves with no drift.
The 1V/Oct is also useful in “envelope mode” to shorten envelopes when an oscillator pitch gets higher thus recreating the behaviour of acoustic plucked instruments.
Patch Ideas
Patch #1 – Self Patching
From subtle control of a channel’s parameter by
the other channel (make those envelopes groove!)
to complete cross patching audio mayhem there
is a world to explore.
Patch notes
Anima has been designed to encourage this exercise. Get those stackables or multiples out
and start patching all these ins and outs together.
This way it is possible to generate very complex feedbacked control voltages, capable of complex changes at the flip of a switch or at the slightest turn of a knob. Speed it up and you have chaotic audio generator. Experiment…
Warranty
Thank you for purchasing Ritual Electronics Anima.
Your module has been assembled with care in our studio in Marseille, France.
You can find your module on Modulargrid:
https://www.modulargrid.net/e/ritual-electronics-anima
For any remarks and informations, contact us at:
contact@ritualelectronics.com
For video demos and patch ideas check:
https://www.instagram.com/ritualelectronics/ https://www.youtube.com/c/ritualelectronics
Limited Warranty
Ritual Electronics warrants this product to be free of defects in materials or construction for a period of one year from the date of purchase.
Malfunction resulting from wrong power supply voltages, backwards or reversed eurorack bus board cable connection, abuse of the product or any other causes determined by Ritual Electronics to be the fault of the user are not covered by this warranty, and normal service rates will apply.
During the warranty period, any defective products will be repaired or replaced, at the option of Ritual Electronics, on a return-to-Ritual Electronics basis with the customer paying the transit cost to Ritual Electronics. The return of your module is on us.
Ritual Electronics implies and accepts no responsibility for harm to person or apparatus caused through operation of this product.