Over the last few months, Doepfer has been recording videos featuring their BBD and A-188-9 Highspeed VCO for their Instagram channel. They have just uploaded a compilation of these videos to YouTube.
The BBD and High Speed VCO combination is designed for Karplus-Strong synthesis, which is usually used for string-like sounds, but can also produce more extreme sounds — as can be heard in some of these examples.
In this video, the 'basic patch' consists of a ping that comes from the digital noise output of the A-117-2 (which is sometimes filtered) into an A-130-2 VCA with a short envelope. From there, it goes into the BBD's audio input. The A-188-1 BBD receives an external clock from the A-188-9 Highspeed VCO, which tracks at a perfect 1V per octave, making it possible to create tonal melodies.
In addition to the BBD/Highspeed VCO combination, the A-121-S Stereo filter is primarily employed as an "end of chain filter". The A-149-4 Quad Random Voltage source can be used to add modulation to the stereo field in combination with the filter. The feedback path was also frequently patched in the clips — for example with a high resonance bandpass filter, which can lead to some pretty wild sounds.
Another interesting idea is playing very high or low notes, since the BBD cannot track some of the notes, often resulting in some interesting glitches. Most of the clips were sequenced from the DAW using devices such as the Fors.FM Opal, which is an Elektron-style sequencer.
As you can hear, the combination of these two modules easily leads to "happy accidents" — which is where modular really shines of course!
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