Cwejman BLD-2 Bass-Lead & Drum Generator

Cwejman’s BLD-2 module specializes in drum sounds, basses and leads. The synthesizer voice consists of an oscillator plus noise generator, a filter, a VCA as well as an AR and AHR envelope. The Mk2 module is an extensively overhauled version. Versatility and sound have been significantly enhanced. The BLD is primarily meant for producing juicy drum sounds. However, a wide range of crisp leads and basses can be created as well. Using oscillator, filter and envelopes separately is also not a problem with the Mk2 module.

The oscillator of the BLD Mk2 comes equipped with two potentiometers for coarse and fine tuning. In addition, there are two pitch CV inputs. The first FM path features a bipolar attenuator and is normalized to the AR envelope. The second CV input is calibrated to 1 v / octave. Additionally, a sync connector was implemented. Using a potentiometer, you can crossfade between triangle, pulse and saw waveforms. Similar to Cwejman’s VCO-6, the latter can be deformed via the pulse width knob and the PWM CV input. Furthermore, there is a switch for choosing between two types of pulse waves. One contains mostly even harmonics, the other mostly odd harmonics. The oscillator’s level can be set to values ranging from silence to unity gain and finally saturation. The BLD’s noise source may be fed to the filter or the VCA, either before or after the gain stage.

While the first BLD was equipped with a pure low-pass filter design, the Mk2 version can be switched to a band-pass mode. The edge steepness is variable as well. More precisely, you may choose between -24 dB and -36 dB per octave. The cutoff parameter can be altered manually and via the AR respectively AHR envelope. – In positive or negative direction. Furthermore, there is a LPF CV input plus you have the ability to use the second FM channel for key tracking. With most of these options, you may utilize attenuators for adjusting the modulation intensity. High resonance settings make the filter self-oscillate.

AR or AHR envelope can be activated by hand using a button or via a trigger input. Attack, hold and release parameters of the AHR modulator not only feature potentiometers, but CV inputs as well. With the AR circuit, only the release phase can be voltage controlled.

The VCA is influenced by both the envelopes. Additionally, a Velocity CV input was implemented.