What Will I Learn?

You will learn the purpose for VCO-1 and VCO-2 modules.
You will learn the about Voltage Control.
You will learn the about Frequency Modulation.
You will learn the about the 4 wave types.
You will learn the about the Pulse Width Modulation.

Requirements

To complete this tutorial learners will need to have the following:

The software application VCV Rack installed
Access to the Internet
An account created on www.vcvrack.com
Fundamentals plugin installed

Difficulty

This tutorial is at an Beginner level.

Description

Learn the purpose for VCO-1 and VCO-2

Oscillators create waves. In modular synthesis oscillators are one of the main sound generators. Rack provides us with two oscillators as part of the Fundimental kit: VCO-1 and VCO-2.

VCO-1 and VCO-2 have many of the same features. Later in this tutorial I will indicate some of the differences.

What is Voltage Control

The VC in VCO refers to Voltage Controlled. This means that we can use voltage from another module to control various aspects of the VCO. In the video tutorial I demonstrate some of the practical uses of Voltage Control.

What is Frequency Modulation

As previously mentioned, VCOs produce waves. All waves have a frequency. When we alter the frequency of a wave being produced by an oscillator this is referred to as Frequency Modulation. VCO-1 and VCO-2 both have a manually controlled knob for adjusting the Frequency. VCO-1 and VCO-2 can both have the Frequency Modulation controlled via Control Voltage. This is done through the FM jack and can be accomplished with a number of modules. In the video tutorial I demonstrate using the LFO.

What are the four wave types

VCO-1 and VCO-2 can produce four wave types: Sine, Triangle, Saw, and Square.

These can be outputted via the four output jacks on the VCO-1 and the OUT jack on the VCO-2 in coordination with the WAVE dial on the VCO-2 UI.

What is Pulse Width Modulation

A technique of altering the shape of a square wave can be accomplised with VCO-1. In this technique one half of the waveform's cycle is compressed. This is not possible with VCO-2.

VCV Rack is an open source application, which means that it is free for everyone to use. Please consider going to the developers' website and show your support for the project - http://www.vcvrack.com

I hope you enjoy this tutorial. If you have any specific questions for me feel free to leave it in the comments of this post and I will do my best to get back to you with an answer.

Cheers,
@buckydurddle

Video Tutorial

Curriculum

Learn VCV Rack Modular Synthesis Series

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VCV Rack - Modular Synthesis, Plugin Manager, Customize UI

VCV Rack - VC Mixer, Patching, & VCO-1 to VC Mixer

VCV Rack - 1st Setup, Multi-Outputs and Audio Interface

VCV Rack - Scope, MIDI, Organizational Tools

VCV Rack - Delay Module - Time, Mix, Feedback

Learn Hydrogen Drum Machine Series

Hydrogen - UI Layout & Basics

Hydrogen - How to Make Beats

Hydrogen - Beat Shaping Tools

Hydrogen - Rhythmic Resolution

Hydrogen - Pitch Shifting

Hydrogen - Effective Beat Making

Hydrogen - Song Editor, ADSR, Importing DrumKits from Respositories

Hydrogen - Humanize (Velocity, Timing & Swing)

Hydrogen - New Instruments, Loading Samples & Multiple Sample Sounds

Hydrogen - Beat Counter, BPM & Other Tempo Tools

Learn Helm Series

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Helm Introduction Video

Helm 1st Oscillator Video Tutorial

Helm 2nd Oscillator Video Tutorial

Helm - Cross Modulation

Helm - Amplitude Envelope

Helm - Keyboard Response A

Learn Audacity Series

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If you would like to learn how to use the open source sound recording and editing software Audacity then have a look at these tutorials: