Description
Mars Roveriser is an experimental granular crackle noise / echo percussion synth inspired by the mars rover robots Spirit and Opportunity. The sound evokes the dust and chaos of the red planet and the interplanetary transmission of data conjuring resonance through micro textures.
The sound is created from particle generator crackle noise which can be triggered by an internal clock, manually with a pushbutton, and also from external triggers. There are two base noise modes; white noise and a lower-frequency bitcrushed noise. These granular sounds go through a glitchy lo-fi ‘reverb’ to create a range of metallic pings and strums, didgeridoo sounds and loud overflowing feedback. These controls allow for sonic range including continuous digital echo noise, radio crackle textures, intermittent micro-clicks, rhythmic percussion hits and pulsating drones.
Mars Roveriser – Build Guide and User Manual
Features
- Granular crackle and percussion synth with analog filter
- Six knobs, two switches, and a pushbutton to shape and control the sound
- Gain and Length shape each crackle particle
- Speed sets the internal clock from discrete triggers up into audio frequencies
- Space, Pitch, and bipolar Feedback control the reverb
- Chaos/Order switch selects regular or randomized internal clock
- Hi Rez/Lo Rez switch selects between two reverb resolution ranges
- Pushbutton triggers single crackles, or held for a second, swaps the base noise between white and bitcrushed
- Trigger input accepts pulses or gates from sequencers, drum machines, and Eurorack
- Separate DC trigger pulse output for syncing external gear
The synth requires a centre-negative 9v DC power supply, i.e. standard Boss-style guitar-pedal PSU. You can also power it with a centre-negative 9v battery adaptor for portable use. (Please note that, even though the on-board Arduino has a USB socket, the synth can NOT be powered from USB!)
Important: As this is an open circuitboard synth, handle with care and make sure you don’t accidentally short-circuit anything with metal objects. Be careful with loose wires and cables, and don’t play it on a bare metal or conductive surface!
