ALM Busy Circuits Akemie's Taiko

The offspring of the Akemie's Castle and the Dinky's Taiko is a complete FM synthesis drum like voice which uses the same Yamaha FM chip as Akemie's Castle but with control and voicing more like a Dinky. It's also smaller, and cheaper but has only one voice, no chords and less precise FM control.

Its FM sounds are based around 6 algorithms with 2 or 4 operators and 64 waveform combinations. The direct control allows for quick and easy work andthe module offers plenty of interesting sounds: glassy, bell-like percussions, round basses or even rough stuff with strong digital character.

Parameters:

• "Freq Start" and "Freq End" dictate from which base frequency the oscillator starts when a trigger is applied and at which frequency it stops.
• "Speed" controls the speed of the oscillator sweep from Start to End frequency.
• "Release 1" determines in 16 steps the decay time of at least one envelope in a range of few umpteen milliseconds to some minutes. "Release 2" is responsible for the decay time of an 'opposed' operator. The specific assignment depends on the chosen algorithm, see user manual.
• "Algo" selects on of the six algorithms which use either two or four operators.
• "Ratio" controls the integer frequency ration between the FM operators.
• "Waves" choses one of the 64 specific combinations of the eight waveforms which are used by the selected algorithm.
• In eight steps "Fb" dials in the feedback amount of the first operator. Feedback creates more percussive sounds at some settings.

A trigger at the "accent" input will emphasize the sound, a trigger at "choke" input will cause an abrupt cut. The module can be played tonally via the two "1V/Oct" inputs, e.g. for nice FM basslines.