Fascina

Ritual Electronics 8HP
VCA COMPRESSOR DISTORTION UTILITY

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Dual linear VCA (SSI 2164) with per-channel drive, anti-click gating and an audio-rate control input. Each channel can saturate, hard-limit at 12Vpp, duck, expand or act as an envelope follower, making it a patch-programmable dynamics and distortion pair.

Patch Ideas · 4

Clickless pluck
Short envelope into CV IN · Drive low · Anti-click on · the VCA stays clean and punchy for plucks, bass notes and percussion accents.
Walkthrough
  1. Set Level to about 9 o'clock and Drive fully down so only envelope opens the VCA.
  2. Flip Anti-click ON for the channel you are patching.
  3. Patch a short pluck envelope (fast attack, short decay) into CV IN and turn the CV attenuverter roughly +70%.
  4. Send your VCO into VCA IN and VCA OUT into your mixer or output.
Signal out A clean, click-free plucked note that starts and ends silently even with very fast envelopes.
Listen for Tight, punchy tone with no pop or zipper noise on the attack, like a well-behaved analog VCA.
▸ Show diagram
Patch diagramPatch diagram with 5 modules and 3 connections. Modules: Fascina (Ch A), Envelope, VCO, Output, Fascina. Signals: 2 audio, 1 cv.Fascina (Ch A)EnvelopeVCOOutputFascinaAnti-click: onDrive: lowLevel: ~9 o'clockCV attenuverter: +70%OutcvOutaudioInaudioCV INcvVCA INaudioVCA OUTaudioaudiocv
Sidechain ducking
Kick into CTRL IN · ctrl attenuverter set negative · pad into VCA IN · the internal envelope follower pulls the pad down on every kick without a dedicated compressor.
Walkthrough
  1. Patch the pad into VCA IN and set Level to about 2 o'clock so the pad is fully open at rest.
  2. Patch the kick into CTRL IN and turn the Ctrl attenuverter counter-clockwise past center (negative).
  3. Send VCA OUT to the mixer, and send the kick itself to another channel of the mixer.
  4. Play the kick - the pad should dip in volume on every hit; dial the Ctrl attenuverter deeper negative for more duck.
Signal out Pad audio that ducks down in volume each time the kick's envelope follower fires, then recovers.
Listen for A classic pumping sidechain groove - the pad breathes around the kick without any external compressor.
▸ Show diagram
Patch diagramPatch diagram with 5 modules and 4 connections. Modules: Fascina (Ch A), Kick, Pad, Mixer, Fascina. Signals: 4 audio.Fascina (Ch A)KickPadMixerFascinaLevel: ~2 o'clock (pad fully open)Drive: lowCtrl attenuverter: negative (~-70%)Anti-click: onOutaudioOutaudioInaudioVCA INaudioCTRL INaudioVCA OUTaudioaudio
Voltage-controlled saturator
Audio into VCA IN · Drive past noon · Level trimmed back · Fascina hits its 12Vpp hard limiter and becomes a compact saturator and brick-wall preamp.
Walkthrough
  1. Send any hot audio source (drums, bass, a line-level instrument) into VCA IN.
  2. Turn Drive up past 12 o'clock until the signal visibly clips into the hard limiter.
  3. Pull Level back so the output sits at a sensible volume coming out of VCA OUT.
  4. Run VCA OUT into a filter to tame the new harmonics, then on to your mixer.
Signal out The same signal, now clipped against the 12Vpp limiter with added harmonic content and a flatter dynamic envelope.
Listen for A gritty, glued preamp tone - louder and denser, with brick-wall peaks instead of transient spikes.
▸ Show diagram
Patch diagramPatch diagram with 5 modules and 3 connections. Modules: Fascina (Ch A), Audio Source, Filter, Output, Fascina. Signals: 3 audio.Fascina (Ch A)Audio SourceFilterOutputFascinaDrive: 2-3 o'clockLevel: trimmed to tasteAnti-click: onOutaudioInaudioOutaudioInaudioVCA INaudioVCA OUTaudioaudio
Stereo compressor
Stereo mix split across both channels · sum of L+R into both CTRL INs · matched settings give a simple linked stereo compressor with dual distortion on tap.
Walkthrough
  1. Patch the left side of your stereo source into channel A VCA IN and the right side into channel B VCA IN.
  2. Use a mult (or passive splitter) to send a mix of L+R into both channels' CTRL IN.
  3. Set both Ctrl attenuverters to the same negative value (around -50%) so loud peaks duck both channels together.
  4. Match Level, Drive and Anti-click across both channels; push Drive up gently for glued stereo distortion.
Signal out A stereo signal that is level-controlled by its own combined loudness, giving linked gain reduction on transients.
Listen for A classic 'glued' stereo bus - peaks pulled in, body thickened by drive, stereo image held together instead of collapsing.
▸ Show diagram
Patch diagramPatch diagram with 7 modules and 8 connections. Signals: 8 audio.Fascina (both channels matched)Stereo Source LStereo Source RMixer (stereo)MultFascinaMixerDrive: noonLevel: ~2 o'clockCtrl attenuverter: negative (~-50%, same both channels)Anti-click: on bothOutaudioOutaudioInaudioOutaudioCh A VCA INaudioCh B VCA INaudioCh A CTRL INaudioCh B CTRL INaudioCh A VCA OUTaudioCh B VCA OUTaudioLaudioRaudioaudio

Behaviors

Anti-click gating short envelope into CV IN with Anti-click switch on

The zero-crossing anti-click circuit suppresses pops on fast attacks, so percussive envelopes stay clean even at very short rise times.

Audio-rate control path patch audio into CTRL IN

The control input runs through an internal envelope follower, so any audio source becomes a level-follower CV for sidechain ducking or expansion.

Drive into limiter raise Drive past 12 o'clock

Drive pushes the signal into the 12Vpp hard limiter, turning the VCA into a soft-then-hard saturation stage with voltage-controlled distortion.

Inverted ducking vs expansion flip Ctrl attenuverter between positive and negative

Positive settings open the VCA when CTRL IN is loud (expansion), negative settings close it (ducking) - no extra inverter needed.

Patch-programmable dynamics cross-patch the two channels

Feeding one channel's OUT into the other's CTRL IN, or sharing a CV, lets Fascina behave as a compressor, envelope follower, dual distortion or stereo VCA pair.

Controls

Per-channel Level Sets the initial VCA gain before any CV is applied.
initial volume, one per channel
Per-channel Drive Adds gain into the VCA so the signal hits the 12Vpp hard limiter and saturates.
gain stage feeding the limiter
Per-channel CV Attenuverter Attenuates or inverts the CV IN signal controlling the VCA.
bipolar attenuverter for CV IN
Per-channel Ctrl Attenuverter Attenuates or inverts the audio-rate control input feeding the internal envelope follower.
bipolar attenuverter for CTRL IN
Per-channel Anti-click Engages a zero-crossing circuit that removes clicks and zipper noise from fast gates and envelopes.
on/off switch per channel

I/O

IN · 3

  • VCA IN audio / CV CV
    Main signal input of the VCA (audio or CV). One per channel.
  • CV IN CV CV
    Voltage-control input for VCA level, routed through the CV attenuverter. One per channel.
  • CTRL IN audio ENV
    Audio-rate control input feeding the internal envelope follower for ducking, expansion, compression or sidechain-style movement. One per channel.

OUT · 1

  • VCA OUT audio / CV CV
    Output of the VCA with drive, limiter and anti-click applied. One per channel.