Bastl Instruments Dark Matter
Positive feedback loop processor for controlled audio chaos
13 HP Eurorack module
Dark Matter is a Eurorack feedback processor that uses a positive feedback loop — a VCA fed back into itself through a 2-band EQ — to generate resonant tones, harmonic distortion, and controlled chaos from any audio source. It features a drive preamp, envelope follower, crossfader, and external feedback loop jacks, making it equally useful as a savage distortion unit, a self-oscillating drone machine, or a rhythmically reactive feedback beast. Its musical character ranges from subtle tonal coloring to full-blown screaming feedback oscillation.
Features
- Positive feedback loop using FBK VCA re-feeding TONE output back to TONE input
- DRIVE VCA preamp with x3 gain, soft clipping at +/-5V, and CV modulation
- Hyper Drive switch for extra amplitude into TONE section
- 2-band equalizer (Bass and Treble) with independent boost/overdrive pots per band
- Voltage controlled Bass Boost and Treble Boost with +/-8V CV range
- DYNAMICS envelope follower tracking INPUT signal, outputting 0-5V CV envelope
- DYNAMICS envelope normalised internally to FBK CV and X-FADE CV inputs
- Pre or post DRIVE source selection for DYNAMICS envelope follower
- Short and long decay time switch for DYNAMICS envelope
- DYNAMICS envelope follower input low pass filtered for kick/bass tracking (jumper selectable to all pass)
- Voltage controlled FBK VCA with attenuverter CV pot, +/-5V CV range
- FBK CV input normalised to DYNAMICS envelope output
Controls & Jacks (22)
- Input — Main audio input.
- Dynamics — Dynamics/compressor sidechain input.
- X-Fade — Crossfade CV input between dry and driven signal.
- FBK Out — Feedback send output. Route through external processors and back to FBK In.
- FBK In — Feedback return input from external processor chain.
- Drive CV — CV input for drive amount.
- X-Fade CV — Attenuator for crossfade CV input.
- FBK CV — CV input for feedback amount.
- HF — High frequency warning indicator. Lights when excessive high-frequency content is present.
- Dry/Drive — Switches monitoring between dry input and driven signal.
- Dynamics — Enables/disables the dynamics processor.
- Decay — Sets dynamics processor decay time (fast/slow).
- Out Polarity — Inverts output polarity (normal/inverted).
- CV Control — Selects which parameter the CV inputs control.
- Bass — Bass boost/cut EQ for the distortion tone.
- Treble — Treble boost/cut EQ for the distortion tone.
- Drive CV Attenuator — Attenuator for drive CV input.
- X-Fade CV Attenuator — Attenuator for crossfade CV input (large Boost knob).
- FBK CV Attenuator — Attenuator for feedback CV input.
- X-Fade/Dry — Switches between crossfade mode and dry bypass.
- Hyper Drive — Engages extreme distortion mode for maximum saturation.
- Dynamics LED — Shows dynamics processor activity.
How-To Guides
- Feedback Drum Processing
- Self-Oscillating Feedback Drone
- VCO-Synced Feedback Oscillator
- Melody-Synced Drum Feedback Gate
- Echo Feedback Loop
- Feedback Harmonic Distortion
- Dynamics-Reactive Mix Gate
- CV-Animated Bass Saturation
- Dual Input Tone Shaper
- LFO-Synced Feedback Throb
Explore the interactive Dark Matter panel on BleepDex — tap any control to learn what it does.
