Add a chiptune charm to any signal with the Harmonic Engine from Circuitbenders. It’s a square-wave effects generator which follows the pitch of your sound and generates relative harmony with glorious synthesized swarms. This superb DIY project gives you the PCB and the instructions you need for construction (and subsequent sonic destruction)!
The Harmonic Engine is a faithful clone of the E&MM Harmony Generator, originally published in Electronics & Music Maker magazine from 1981. It uses a 4046 Phased Locked Loop (PLL) to generate a square wave at harmonic intervals relative to the frequency of your input sound. Plug in a guitar, microphone, or drum machine and the Harmonic Engine will sing along!
Reign in the chaos by altering the added octave from -3 to +3, and adding 3rd or 5th harmonic overtones, depending on the result you want. You’ll find it adds something to everything, but is highly recommended for percussive sounds, converting drum hits into what Circuitbenders himself describes as “some kind of warped electronic splatter”.
Once you’ve made this pocket beast you can turn your Harmonic Engine into a Eurorack module or stand-alone effect unit, with a flexible PCB for both types. It sounds like nothing else and is available now from the Circuitbenders Tindie store.
