Dexter

Quick Start Guide

Dale Johnson, Valley, 2018

License information

Dexter is covered by BSD-3-Clause.

Copyright 2018 Dale Johnson. Redistribution and use in source and binary forms, with or
without modification, are permitted provided that the following conditions are met: 1.
Redistributions of source code must retain the above copyright notice, this list of conditions
and the following disclaimer. 2. Redistributions in binary form must reproduce the above
copyright notice, this list of conditions and the following disclaimer in the documentation
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holder nor the names of its contributors may be used to endorse or promote products
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1. Overview

Dexter can be thought of as either a “synth with no envelopes”, an oscillator or complex

waveform generator. It is based off a combination of oscillator designs to create a highly
usable and fun approach to FM synthesis. There is a lot of control available to the user, and
we are sure that many of you will enjoy the results you will get from this module.

Below is an overview of the controls:

Voices A pitch and Algorithm, LFO and Reset Operator controls and
chord controls, and Phase controls, and pitch CV inputs
Voice B pitch controls CV for voices A and B.

Shape and Brightness macro CV control for voice A, feedback,

controls, and Feedback control for brightness and shape, and voice
the operator highlight orange in outputs.
the algorithm diagram.

In the right click menu you may change the panel style and operator sync sources.
2. Basic usage
Insert a copy of Dexter and connect the A L output to an Audio Interface output.

When the module is first inserted, the level of operator 1 is already at maximum and has a
pitch multiplier of 1. You should be able to hear a pure tone. Changing the Mult, Coarse and
Fine controls changes the pitch. It is best to leave Coarse and Fine in their default settings
for now. Changing the wave and shape controls will change the timbre of the tone.

Looking at the algorithm diagram, in its initial state you can see 1 goes to the AB output, that
2 can modulate 1, 3 modulates 2 and 4 modulates 3. This is the key to FM synthesis where
complex sounds are generated by modulating operators with other operators, or carriers.

Now, turning up the level of operator 2 you’ll hear the tone become richer as 2 increasingly
modulates 1. This is much like controlling the cutoff frequency of a filter. Changing the
multiplier of either operator will again result in different yet harmonious / pleasing timbres. The
results are harmonious because the multiplier values between operators are related. Again,
this is an important aspect of FM synthesis: controlling the level controls the depth of the
timbre, whilst controlling the multiplier controls the overall timbre and harmonic content in a
pleasing manner. If the multiplier values between operators are unrelated i.e. the Coarse and
Fine controls are tweaked, the results become dissonant / clangourous / bell-like / metallic
etc.

Inserting a jack into the A VOct input allows you to control the pitch of Voice A of Dexter.
Inserting jacks into the operator CV inputs allows you to modulate almost anything in the
operator. The most common thing to do is to connect LFOs and envelopes into the level CV
inputs as to modulate the level or each operator, controlling either the output volume if the
operator is at the end of an algorithm and is connected to an output, or the depth of modulation
if an operator is modulating another.

3. The operator settings menu

Each operator has a settings menu that is accessed by pressing the button next to the little
gear icon at the top left corner of the operator.

Within this menu are 3 pages: Wavetable, Mod 1 & 2, and Mod 3 & 4:

3.1 Wavetable

In this page you can select which wavetable the operator will use via the blue wavetable knob,
and the synchronisation and phase shaping modes via the drop down menus.

3.2 Mod 1 & 2 and Mod 3 & 4

These 2 pages allow you to select what parameters the assignable modulation inputs can
modulate.
4. Connectivity
Half of Dexter’s front panel is covered in jacks, where most of these are in fact CV inputs.
However, there is a lot a of repetition so try not to be intimidated. The following table describes
the functionality of each jack:

Outputs
A L and A R Stereo outputs of voice A. Chord notes are spread between the L and R
outputs, or summed to the L output if only L is connected.
OP 1 to 4 These are the individual output taps from each voice A’s operator. Can be
either post or pre fade level.
B Out Mono output of voice B.

Master Inputs
A and B VOct Volts per octave pitch control of voices A and B
Chord Chord CV
Inv Chord inversion CV
Detune Chord detune CV
Algo Algorithm CV
FB (Feedback) Feedback CV
Bright Brightness CV
Shape Shape CV

Operator Inputs
Pitch Volts per octave pitch control. Note: Multiple can be controlled via an
assignable mod input.
Wave Wave CV
Shape Shape CV
Level Level CV
Mod 1 to 4 Assignable CV modulation inputs

Note: All inputs operate between 0 – 10V and feature an attenuverter.