Alterneath

Everything below was written by wz, the author, on the patch's Patchstorage page. It is reproduced here as written, with three spellings corrected.

A crystalline (pre-)delay smeared into a cavernous, ominously modulated, reverby wash. Inspired by the EQD Afterneath.

I've always loved the character of my EQD Afterneath; that dense, multi-tap delay with a typical 'smearing' of the echos… It was one of the first things I tried building in ZOIA and of course it became very much its own thing. I'm quite honored that this has become such a popular download, so now it's time for some (long overdue) updates and improvements!

[UPDATED to V5 – 12MAY2020]

I've changed quite a bit here and quite proud of how it's turned out:

• Controls and key modules named(!), so much more user-friendly now!
• Improved some I/O and Mixing routing (and removed a 'switching' bug, now using a Panner instead, so more robust)
• Gained enough DSP to add a second filter, so now the Stereo field is MUCH wider (delay taps all around you!)
• Stomp Switches completely overhauled; Freeze is gone (cause it never quite 'froze' properly), but you get Flexi-switching Activate/Bypass in return (VERY cool for momentary bursts of echos!).
• Added a glacially slow, asymmetrical modulation
• Now goes to FULLY wet (for ambient dreamscapes!)

[OVERVIEW]

• Input: Mono (L) or Stereo.
• Output: Stereo (or mono, but then you're missing out!)
• Dry: Audio goes dry to stereo output (but can go down to 0% dry).
• Wet: Audio in goes to 3 longer delay lines (pre-delays) that feed into each other and into 2 shorter delay lines (quasi-reverb), and a mix of all delay lines feed into two filters (L and R), which feed into a stereo ReverbLite module, into the final Audio Output.
• CPU load: Around max, but should never clip.
• Build: Updated V5 version built with firmware 1.10

All 3 stomps have functions, so use Performance Mode for the full experience!

PAGE0: This has all the main controls in RED and GREEN (see below) and some blue pixels that are a mix of knob indicators (brightness indicates knob value levels) and audio-pixels (pretty bouncy lights!)

PAGE1: This has all the echoes / pre-delays. 3 longer Delay Lines (delay times around 900ms, 400ms, and 300ms) with VCAs (so feedback can be adjusted). The delay Times are controlled by one CV value, so you can 'drag' the time through a wormhole. 2 shorter Delay Lines with high fixed feedback for a quasi-reverb, feeding into each other and into two Bandpass Multi-Filter modules (NOTE: V5 has 2 filters for much wider stereo field). Top right has the controls for the Modulation (see Controls).

PAGE2: Here's the Input and Output module (with overall Gain control), and the ReverbLite module. The Mix is CV controlled, to enable plonky echoing or smeared out atmospheres.

PAGE3: This has stuff the 'Flexi-Swithing' mechanism for the Left stompswitch (for momentary and/or latching action). See my Utility Patch on here for more info (NOTE: V5 has a new Flexi-Switch method, less modules, simpler, saves some CPU too!).

PAGE4: Alternate controls section; enables switching between the Red and Green values. The 3 slew limiters can be set to taste, especially the one for DRAG is fun to tweak (fast for zippy-sounds, slow for eerie pitch dives)

PAGE5: Modulation section; the 2 asymmetrical LFOs are offset from each other and summed, giving a strange, quite haunting modulation shape.

[CONROLS]

Most key controls for live-playing are on PAGE0, the modulation is on PAGE1. The RED values are the 'normal' controls. The GREEN values are the 'alt' controls, can be set independently and you can then 'Alternate' between them with middle stomp (pixels will turn greenish to indicate if ALT is active).

Feedback / Fbck.alt (Feedback control of pre-delays, goes up to slight self-oscillation into noise so careful.. or not!) Drag / Drag.alt (Time control of pre-delay and verb time, increases size of the cavern) Diffuse / Diff.alt (Smears out echos) Dampen (Filtering control, for a low rumbling, or to accentuate 'plucky' echos!) Mix (Balance between Dry/Wet, goes fully wet!)

LEFT stomp = Activates/Bypasses input to the effect. This has Flexi-Switching; a short tap changes states (ON/OFF), but a longer press (>250ms) gives momentary bursts of (de)activation. The tails will always continue (this is quite a powerful tool, really love how this turned out!)

MIDDLE stomp = Alternate; toggles between GREEN and RED values.

RIGHT stomp = Modulate; toggles the modulation ON/OFF (I think default is ON).

Modulation controls on PAGE1 (top right):

Mod depth (Depth of modulation, goes VERY deep so best to keep below 0.4, but can be cranked for weird effects) Mod rate (Rate of LFO, best kept quite low)

The RED stomp switch indicates if Modulate is on.

[TIPS/TRICKS]

• For very bouncy echos: High DRAG, high DAMPEN, medium FEEDBACK, low DIFFUSE, turn MOD off.
• For echo-accents: Same settings as above, but bypass the effect and use momentary Flexi-Switching (Left stomp) to create bursts of bouncy reflections!
• For deep drones: Lower DAMPEN, higher DIFFUSE, crank MIX to full wet if desired!
• For 'infinite' sustain: Set FBCK.ALT near maximum, set DIFF.ALT pretty high, but set DRAG.ALT the same as DRAG. Now toggle ALT (Middle stomp) and Toggle bypass. You can still play over the freeze, but occasionally input new notes with Flexi-Switching the Left Stomp!
• For pitch dives: Set DRAG.ALT lower/higher than DRAG. Set FCBK.ALT and DIFF.ALT controls similar to Green values. Increase the Drag Slew (on PAGE4) and toggle Alternate (Middle stomp).
• Seasickness: Turn up MOD DEPTH, keep MOD RATE lowest. Turn DIFFUSE up, rest of settings to taste…

Thanks to all for the (unexpectedly) huge amount of interest and downloads! Enjoy!