RIDES IN THE STORM SED-CSM Synth Module

Rides In The Storm SED-CSM at a glance

With SED-CSM, Rides In The Storm presents a complete synthesizer as a Eurorack module with a best-of of the previous module line. The monophonic synthvoice is capable of far more than the usual repertoire of tried and tested Bass and lead sounds with 1-2 oscillators. At least as far as the FM capabilities, the wavefolder, the distinctive filter and the super crisp envelopes are concerned, the Synthvoice can certainly compete with most comparably equipped desktop synthesizers of recent years. The module is very well thought out and offers enormous creative potential.

Oscillators, filters & modulations

It all starts with the two discrete oscillators, which cover a wide frequency range and boast particularly stable tracking. Both oscillators offer the waveforms square with PWM, sawtooth and triangle. The triangle waveform of VCO2 is equipped with a wavefolder that can be adjusted manually or modulated via envelope 1 or LFO 2. In addition, a sub-oscillator with five different frequency divider and waveform combinations follows the frequency of VCO 1. Envelope 2 or LFO 2 can be selected for each oscillator to modulate Freq 1/2 and PWM 1/2 without having to use the patch sockets. Hardsync can be activated for VCO 2.

All signals flow together in the mixer: the two oscillators, sub-oscillator, the XOR ring modulator, noise generator and an external signal respectively LFO 2. The mixer is followed by the very good sounding 24dB Lowpass filter with switchable overdrive. The filter can be modulated using keytracking, envelope 1 and LFO 2 or any control voltage. The VCA is controlled by envelope 2, or you can use a different CV.

For modulation, the SED-CSM contains two identical ADSR envelopes, which are internally connected to different destinations (including filter and VCA). Each envelope can have a different time range (slow/fast) and can be switched to loop mode. The two LFOs extend into the audio range and can follow the pitch control via keytracking. LFO 1 only has the triangle waveform, which is sufficient in most cases. LFO 2, which can be used as a third oscillator, can fade its waveform from ramp to triangle to sawtooth or offers a choice of square wave with PWM or sample & hold. Thanks to the numerous CV inputs, it's no problem to integrate additional envelopes, function generators and CV combiners into Patch. You should also try out cross-patching the internal functions, as there is a lot of potential to discover.