Destructo Disc

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Named after the Mighty Krillin’s unstoppable sawblade of doom, the Destructo Disc is a sawtooth oscillator gone mad. Two waveshapers and an array of 555-based saw-width modulators transform a basic sawtooth waveform into a vast array of aggro sounds.

Three tunable width modulators create three permutations of the same wave. When mixed with each other, and with the original signal, all four waves modulate one another, occasionally reinforcing or phase-cancelling one another. A width bias knob adjusts the saw-width of all three modulated signals.

Underneath, and on top of, these modulators are two waveshapers. Waveshaper 1 mangles the sawtooth wave before it is modulated, with optional CV control on the depth. Waveshaper 2 mangles the mix of the modulated signals from the 555 array.

The Destructo Disc borrows heavily from Mortiz Klein’s Shapes VCO and Forrest M. Mims III’s frequency divider. Q1 and Q2 should be mounted so that the flat sides are touching one another. For best results, use thermal tape or thermal paste between the touching sides of the transistors. Adjust trim pots on RV5 to set the saw width of each 555 array. The trim pot at RV4 is for calibrating the oscillator.

Schematic

As with any schematic found on the internet, exercise caution when building. Test the build before plugging it into your case. If you find mistakes in the schematic, or you have recommendations for improving the design, feel free to contact us and let us know.

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BOM

  • Capacitors
    • 2.2nf (1) C4
    • 10nf (3) C2
    • 47nf (3) C1
    • 1uf (5) C5, C6, C7, C8, C9
    • 10uf (1) C3
  • Resistors
    • 1.5k (3) R4, R8, R9
    • 2k (2) R15, R19
    • 10k (7) R11, R18, R21, R25, R26, R27, R28
    • 20k (2) R20, R23
    • 47k (1) R16
    • 100k (7) R1, R2, R3, R5, R7, R14, R17
    • 200k (4) R12, R13, R22, R24
    • 1M (2) R6, R10
  • Potentiometers
    • 1k (1) RV4
    • 10k (2) RV7, RV8
    • 100k (3) RV1, RV2, RV6
    • 1k Multiturn Trim (1) RV4
    • 1M Trim (3) RV5
  • Transistors
    • BC548 (1) Q2
    • BC558 (1) Q1
  • ICs
    • 555 (3) U1
    • TL074 (2) U4, U6
    • TL072 (1) U5
    • TL071 (1) U2
    • 40106 (1) U3
  • 10k thermistor (3) TH1, TH2, TH3
  • Audio jacks (3) 1v/o Input, CV, Output

Demos

Long demo of the Destructo Disc, starting with a sweep of the width bias with both Waveshapers at 0; then Waveshaper 1 is faded in followed by another sweep of the width bias; then Waveshaper 2 is faded in followed by another sweep of the width bias; then some playing around with various LFOs and envelopes in the Waveshaper CV.
Another long demo, noodling with wave shapes and widths, with some VCA bias tweaking to allow and disallow the bleed through of the tail of each note. Slightly less curated than the previous demo, with some spots highlighting glitchier elements of the module.
One more long demo, playing about with widths and shapes. This demo ends with some mixing-in of stereo reverb and delay for atmosphere.
A bit o’ lead synth–keyboard into the Destructo Disc, output into the Inferno, through an LPF to shave off some of the harsher high ends and into the Wocka for extra ugly. There’s a slow sine wave LFO on the CV input of the Destructo Disc, automating depth modulation.