Polymath User manual Analogue Solutions
Polymath POLYMATH, W HAT IS IT? Polymath is a 4 voice paraphonic analogue modular synthesizer, with built in analogue step sequencer, arpeggiator and spring reverb. The circuit designed is quite literally from the 1970s. It has a very old sound. And isull of character. Analogue synths of the 1970s had that just ever so slightly drifty sound that many would agree is so much more full of life than many of its digitally sanitized analogue synths.
Polymath PARAPHONIC Paraphonic is half way between a traditional monophonic and full polyphonic synth (though closer to the second). Up to four note chords can be played, since it has four separate oscillators. However, it only has one filter and one amplifier section. Polyphonic synths usually have a filter/vca/envelope per voice/oscillator.
Polymath be physically removed, swapped or changed with other circuits, like say, VCF. (For instance a Concussor or Doepfer modular) to be classed as modular. Some say the synth can be called modular if the circuits are fixed and not swappable, but has a full complement of sockets.
Polymath INTRODUCTION Congratulations on buying the Polymath synthesiser. Polymath is part of the Analogue Solutions range of analogue music equipment. Polymath is a precision electronic musical instrument. It combines all the often needed music electronic circuitry to make a music synthesiser in one compact module. No compromise has been made with the construction of Polymath.
Polymath EFFECTS PROCESSOR Polymath has an audio input socket, so you can feed external sounds into the on-board analogue filters for analogue processing. This sound could come from an audio track on your DAW (for example a vocal track), from a sampler, or even, say a CD player. POLYSYNTH In Poly mode you can play 4 note chords! DRUM SYNTHESISER It is easy enough to patch this synth up to create all sorts of electronic percussion sounds, including, snares, kicks, hihats, metal sounds.
Polymath SAFETY INSTRUCTIONS Please read carefully before using: Only use the correct power adaptor. 230V (or 115V whatever your country needs). Check rear panel to see what voltage the unit has been set up to take. Never handle the power cable or the unit with wet hands. Never excessively bend the adaptor cable or get it trapped or place heavy objects on it. If the adaptor cable becomes damaged, replace the adaptor. Ensure the unit is disconnected from the mains before moving or cleaning.
Polymath MAINTENANCE INSTRUCTIONS Any cleaning of the Polymath case should be done with a clean lint-free cloth. DO NOT USE SOLVENTS OR CLEANERS, as this will deteriorate the exterior appearance of the equipment. MOUNTING Mounting does not mean 'place on the wall' or 'to make love to' in this instance. Place Polymath soundly on any stable surface so he cannot fall off or over, causing it or yourself injury. POWER The unit must be connected to the mains using an earthed and fused IEC power lead.
Polymath Analogue Solutions | Safety Instructions 9
Polymath INITIAL TUNING Once the MIDI and audio connections have been made it may be necessary to tune in the VCOs to the rest of your music set-up. Allow a five minute warm up time. First set up the controls of Polymath to make a simple sound. It is usually best to leave the VCA at ON. Turn VCO2, 3, & 4 to zero volume so you can only hear VCO1. Centre all the VCO Tune controls, and also the MASTER TUNE and DETUNE knobs. Ensure no other CVs affect VCO pitch.
Polymath CIRCUIT IN DETAILS Here follows details on all the sockets and controls, with brief simplified explanations of what the circuits do. We have not gone into technical details on how or exactly what each circuit does but tried to explain each control's function and effect. We won’t describe in full detail what a ‘VCO’ is, for example. In principle, a Polymath VCO is the same as any other VCO. We have assumed you have at least abasic understanding of analogue synthesis and modulars.
Polymath CIRCUITS – MAIN PANEL VOLTAGE CONTROLLED OSCILLATORS (VCOS) These are circuits that produce the initial sound that is then shaped by the filters and amplifiers. They are what produce the ‘notes’. They produce a continuous sound/waveform. Normally this is used as audio for the filters, but they can also be used as modulation signals.
Polymath There are four VCOs. They can all be used together to make sound, or just some can be used for sound, and others as modulation sources. All four VCOs are essentially the same. VCOs 1 and 3 are identical, and 2 and 4 are identical. 1/3 and 2/4 are almost the same. VCOs 1/3 and 2/4 have some slight different controls. First we will go over what they have in common. TUNE Sets the initial Pitch of the VCO.
Polymath The Pulse Width (duty cycle) of the square wave output can be changed. Changing this changes the tone of the Square Wave. Note, this control is not an attenuator for the PW CV socket described below. PW CV Socket This is a modulation input socket to control pulse width with an external voltage, or from another circuit within the synth, e.g. Envelope signal. CV (MODULATION) There are two input sockets to modulate VCO pitch from a control voltage (CV).
Polymath These are sockets used to modulate the pitch of the VCO with an external voltage, or from another circuit within the synth, e.g. Envelope signal. Take the CV from the external source, and patch it into the socket. Use the CV Control knob to set the strength of modulation to the VCO pitch. Waveform select switch This switch determines whether Saw or Square is fed to the Voice Gate circuit.
Polymath It is possible to reset the waveform using an external signal. Normally audio from another VCO would be patched into here. Then when the pitch of the VCO is changed, interesting new harmonics can be heard. CV Out This is the Pitch control voltage from the MIDI Converter for the VCO. Gate Out This is the Voice Gate output from the MIDI converter for the VCO. Saw Out This is the Sawtooth waveform audio output Square Out This is the Square wave/PW waveform audio output.
Polymath This is the audio output from the Voice Gate circuit, that is controlled by the MIDI converter. The actual waveform is determined with the Wave select switch. SUB1 Out (VCO1 only) This is the audio output from the Sub oscillator. This follows the pitch of the main oscillator but at -1 octave. SUB2 Out (VCO1 only) This is the audio output from the Sub oscillator. This follows the pitch of the main oscillator but at -2 octave.
Polymath VCF Polymath has a multimode filter similar to that found in the old Oberheim SEM. It comprises low and high pass filters, and they can be combined to create band and notch filters. The voltage controlled filter (VCF) is used to change the tone/frequency content of the raw oscillators.
Polymath This controls the input level of the audio going into the filter through the AUDIO sockets. AUDIO socket This is the audio input to the filter. Typically this would be patched to the Mixer’s audio OUT socket. CUT-OFF This sets the filter cut-off frequency. It is used to change the tonal characteristics of the audio going through the filter. RESONANCE This control increases feedback at the filter cut-off frequency. What some people like the technically refer to as squigyness.
Polymath This four position switch selects the type of filter used, and the filtered audio of the selected filter type is sent to the VCF audio out socket. LP – low pass BP – band pass HP – high pass Notch Each of these filters also has their own audio output socket, independent of the switch position. See below. LP / BP / HP / NOTCH sockets These are audio outputs direct from each filter type. VCF socket This is the filtered audio from the filter selected by the MODE switch.
Polymath This is the audio input to the VCA. LEVEL This controls the level of the audio fed into the VCA. CV control and socket There are two filter cut-off CV control input sockets. Each has its own attenuator. These sockets allow the cut-off to be modulated from an external CV. EG1 modulation control This controls the amount EG1 modulates the filter cut-off. Turn to the left and an inverted EG1 signal is used, to the right and positive, and centre is zero.
Polymath This controls the amount that MIDI Velocity modulates the filter cut-off. Note, this control does not affect the Velocity CV output by the socket described below. Velocity VC Output socket This socket outputs the MIDI Velocity control voltage.
Polymath SIGNAL SUMMER / MIXER The mixer is typically used to mix the audio outputs from each oscillator so they can then be fed to the Filter. Take each VCO audio output and patch to the mixer inputs. Patch the mixer Out socket to the Filter AUDIO in socket. It is possible to overdrive the mixer for a crunchier sound. If you want a smoother sound you may have to slightly reduce the Level controls. It can in fact be used to mix control voltages too.
Polymath 24 Circuits – Main PANEL | Analogue Solutions
Polymath ENVELOPE GENERATORS (EGS) The EGs produce a control voltage that varies over time. Typical used to shape the volume of a sound when controlling the VCA, or the tone, when controlling filter cut-off. But can also be used to modulate, say, the pitch, for drum effects, or, pulse width, for brassy sounds. A This controls how low the EG takes to reach maximum level once triggered.
Polymath After reaching maximum level following the Attach stage, Decay sets the time taken to reach the level set by Sustain. S Once the Attack and Decay stages have passed, Sustain sets the level that the EG will hold its output at for as long as a key is held down. R Once the key is released, this sets the time take for the signal to fade to zero. MANUAL push button Push this button to manually trigger the EG.
Polymath The LED gives a rough approximation of output level. SEQ Toggle switch When this switch is down it can be triggered from sequencer. MIDI Toggle switch When this switch is down it can be triggered from MIDI. TRIG socket This is the input socket for an external trigger signal, eg, use an LFO square wave to trigger the EG. -EG CV Output This is the CV output of the EG, but the signal is inverted.
Polymath VOLTAGE CONTROLLED AMPLIFIER The VCA is an amplifier whose gain can be changed with a modulation signal, typically an envelope. There are four choices available on the rotary switch. EG1 EG1 CV is used to control the VCA level. EG2 EG2 CV is used to control the VCA level. GATE MIDI Gate - an on/off (organ like) voltage is used to control the VCA level. THRU The VCA is left ‘open’ / on. It stays at full level. CV Level control and socket An external CV can be used to control the VCA level.
Polymath SIG OUT socket This is the signal output from the VCA. In ‘normal’ use, this is in effect the MAIN AUDIO OUTPUT from the synthesiser, which you would patch to your mixing desk. You may prefer to patch this to the Adaptor – so that the main signal output of the synth is then on a ¼” jack, which will make it easier to patch to your mixing desk.
Polymath SPRING REVERB The spring reverb is a vintage effect. It was a pre-digital solution in getting artificial reverberation. Polymath uses a high quality triple spring Accutronics unit. Ordinarily, you would patch this in at the very end of the signal chain, just like a traditional effect. But, for more fun, why not try patching it between the mixer output and the filter input, for example? IN Level and socket This it the audio input to the spring. The level can be attenuated with the Level control.
Polymath The wet effect signal is output here. DRY Control Sets the level of dry signal fed to the MIX output socket MIX Output socket This is the wet effect signal plus the dry signal. Note; spring units are typically ‘quite noisey’ compared with modern effects, and even some other types of vintage effects. So don’t expect a perfect signal to noise ratio. Always try to keep the audio level of the input signal as high as possible.
Polymath LOW ER SECTION / EXPANDER PATCH PANEL MULTIPLE 1/2 A multiple is used to split signals. It is not a mixer! It would typically be used to split an audio or CV so that it can be fed to more than one source. INVERTER The inverter will invert any control voltage fed into it. There is one signal input, and two inverted outputs. MIDI NOTE-TRIG MIDI Note Trigs 00 and 01 are used for triggering EGs or to clock the sequencer, for example. The notes share the same MIDI channel as the rest of the synth.
Polymath This is a gate voltage that is produced each time MIDI note 01 is received. This could, for example, be patched to the Sequencer’s RESET input, so the sequencer can be programmed to reset using MIDI Note 01. SAMPLE & HOLD (S+H) A sample and hold will ‘record’ a voltage level and hold it there. SIG IN socket Patch the CV to be sampled into here, typically an EG or LFO, or patch in white noise.
Polymath RING MOD (RM) RM takes typically two audio signals, multiplies them together, and produces a rich harmonic sound. Typically used to create metallic and bell type sounds. For best results, use two VCO audio outputs and patch into the two RM inputs. Then take the output to the mixer, and further onto the filter for further processing. NOISE Noise generator literally produces noise, white noise in fact.
Polymath Each time a MIDI note with velocity over 80 is received, this socket will output a trigger. MAIN GATE This is the main Gate signal of the converter – the one that ordinarily controls the paraphonic gating. It will turn on whenever a MIDI key is held down. CLOCK This converts MIDI Sync to 16th (semiquaver) analogue clock pulses at 4ppqn. CC#55 This is CV output controlled by MIDI controller number 55. CC#56 This is CV output controlled by MIDI controller number 56.
Polymath A mono headphone pre-amp. Normally you would patch the output from the VCA to the headphone amp. Although this is a monosynth (that is monoaurial!), you must use stereo headphones, that is use a stereo jack, since a mono jack will cut out the signal -if mono headphones exist The top minijack is the input. Feed the output of the VCA into here. The bottom jack is for your stereo headphones.
Polymath ANALOGUE SEQUENCER CLOCK SOURCE Clock source is selected using an eight way rotary switch. OFF Sequencer does not step LFO2 LFO2 controls tempo MIDI NOTE #00 MIDI Note 00 controls tempo. EXT The signal fed into the EXT socket is used as a clock source. Typically use a square wave or gate signal from your modular. EXT/8, EXT/16, EXT/32 These also use the signal from the EXT socket, but divide the clock ratio down by 8, 16 and 32.
Polymath This is particularly useful if you want the SEQUENCER to run at different clock divisions from the ARPEGGIATOR. This was the SEQUENCER can be used to transpose Polymath/the Arpeggio every bar, every 2 bars, or every 4 bars. ARP The clock source will be taken from the ARP socket. That way both the SEQUENCER and ARPEGGIATOR will be running together from a common clock. Step Sliders It is an 8 step sequencer, so there are 8 sliders! Voltage range is approximately 0-5V.
Polymath This button toggles on/off the selected step’s Gate. When off, no gate is output for that step, when on a gate will be output for that step (when the sequencer is running). It is best to stop the sequencer when setting the steps’ Gates on or off. ADVANCE push button Pushing this button steps the sequencer forward one place. Typically this would only be used when the sequencer is stopped. CV Control and Output socket (x2) There are two identical CV outputs available from the sequencer.
Polymath CUTOFF This control sets the amount the sequencer will change the filter cut-off GATE output socket This is the gate signal generated by the sequencer RESET input socket This socket is used to reset the sequencer to step one. A 5V signal will reset the sequencer. To reset the sequencer from MIDI, patch this to the MIDI NOTE #001 sockets. Every time MIDI Note 002 is played by keys or a DAW, then you can reset the sequencer.
Polymath In Poly mode, as you play each MIDI key, each VCO in turn is played, cycling through all four VCOs. RETRIG push button / LED When the Arp’ is off, this button toggles on/off Gate re-trig mode. When off, if notes are overlapped the Gate signal is not retriggered. This means when overlapped notes are played, the EGs will not retrigger. When on, if notes are overlapped the Gate signal is retriggered. This means when overlapped notes are played, the EGs will retrigger.
Polymath ARPEGGIATOR An arpeggiator allows you to hold down 2 or more and have those notes played out individually. Eg, hold down notes C, E and G, (as a chord) and the arpeggiator will play back singles notes in a sequence, C, then E, then G, and then loop back to C and repeat. Note!!! For the Arpeggiator to work it needs a timing signal. This could be the LFO (square wave) or MIDI note (gate signal) for example. So for it to work, you must patch the timing signal to the ARP clock source jack. Eg.
Polymath HOLD push button / LED When the Arp’ is on, this button toggles on / off HOLD mode. When this is activated then any note you play will be memorised even after you have released the key. The memorised notes will be cancelled once HOLD is turned off. It will note only remember pitch (note number) but also velocity (how hard you hit the key). This is perfect to have, for instance, the filter cut-off to play back a particular pattern of cutoff setting (when MIDI Velocity is set to mod’ cut-off).
Polymath There are 2 octave ranges. When selected, the arpeggio will paly at the original pitch, the at an octave higher, or lower. Push the button to cycle through each setting. The LED will flash to indicate the range. Off Only the original octave is played -1 The arp’ is played at the original octave, then at one octave below, before repeating. +1 The arp’ is played at the original octave, then at one octave above, before repeating. ARP Clock input jack. This is the clock source for the arpeggiator.
Polymath GLOBAL EFFECTS AND MODULATORS The EFFECTs section provide tune and CV controls that affect ALL four VCOs at once. MASTER TUNE This is a master tune that affects all four VCOs’ pitch. DETUNE DETUNE is used to ‘fatten’ the sound when all four VCOs are used, typically in unison. When turned VCOs 2 and 4 are sharpened and flattened around VCOs 1 and 3 so that the overall spread of pitch remains around the root note. Turn the control fully left for no Detune.
Polymath VCO CV Level control and socket. This is a modulation CV control input that globally affects all four VCOs. This might be used when you want to apply say vibrato equally to all four VCOs. So try, for example, patching in here the output of a LFO triangle wave. The VCO CV control attenuates the CV signal fed into the socket. PWM Level Control and Socket This is a modulation CV control input that globally affects all four VCO square wave pulse widths.
Polymath Each LFO hasa triangle and a square wave output, each with their out signal output sockets. The SPEED control alters the LFO frequency. LFO1 Triangle wave can be used to directly modulate all VCOs’ pulse width by turning the PWM pot. LFO2 is an option on the Sequencer Clock Source switch, so LFO2 can control the speed of the Sequencer. Each LFO’s Triangle and Square waves are output at their respective sockets.
Polymath Two are supplied with the unit. We recommend only using LED gooseneck lamps. These are lower power and put less strain on the power supply, and induce less noise into the electronics than an incandescent bulb. Handle The heavy duty handle not only looks good but you will find it comes in great use when you need to move the Polymath to a new location! Patch Cables Polymath uses mono 3.5mm / mini-jack ‘standard’ CV cables. Stereo plugs may cut out the signal / ground it to earth so do not use.
Polymath Analogue Solutions | Patch Examples 49
Polymath PATCH 1; BASIC SYNTH PATCH This is the main patch to memorise. It sets up Polymath to act like a ‘traditional mono/poly synth’. For playing typical leads, basses, pads etc.
Polymath PATCH 2; USING RING MOD Shows typical use of ring mod to create metal type sounds. Patch 2 VCOs to the Ring Mod and take the output to the mixer (or straight to the filter). Alter pitches of the 2 VCOs for crazy sounds.
Polymath PATCH 3; USING SAMPLE AND HOLD This patch shows typical use of Sample and Hold. It uses the Noise Generator to create a Random voltage that changes each time a clock pulse received. Instead of noise, also try EG output, or LFO Triangle (use a different LFO than that used to clock it).
Polymath PATCH 4; HOOKING UP THE ARPEGGIATOR The Arp’ must receive a clock signal to work. Either use LFO square wave, MIDI Clock, or better still, MIDI Note 00 – so you can step as required using a MIDI sequencer.
Polymath 54 Patch Examples | Analogue Solutions
Polymath SPECS; Size: 680mm wide 600mm high 230mm deep Mass: 15Kg ACCESSORIES 1x IEC Power Cable 2x LED Gooseneck Lamps (12V, BNC) 10 x 30cm patch leads 5 x 60cm patch leads 2 x splitter leads (manual can be downloaded off the web site) Analogue Solutions | Patch Examples 55
