Bastl Instruments Timber
Dual waveshaper: overdrive meets harmonic folding chaos
7 HP Eurorack module
Timber is a dual waveshaping module featuring an overdrive/folding Wave Driver and a 4-stage Serge-style Wave Folder, with a voltage-controlled crossfader to blend between them. It excels at adding rich harmonics to simple waveforms, producing timbres ranging from warm tube-like overdrive to aggressive metallic folding and chaotic self-oscillation. Its musical character spans smooth harmonic saturation to brutal high-frequency destruction, with feedback and symmetry controls enabling pseudo-chorus, PWM, and asymmetric distortion effects.
Features
- Dual waveshaping: I. WAVE DRIVER overdrive+fold circuit and II. WAVE FOLDER 4-stage Serge-style circuit
- Common INPUT shared by both waveshaping circuits
- SHAPE knob and CV for voltage-controlled input amplification (acts as VCA at low settings)
- SYMMETRY knob for DC offset addition; becomes bipolar attenuverter when CV is patched
- Voltage-controlled crossfader X-FADE with bipolar attenuverter on CV input
- X-FADE switch selects between INPUT or I. WAVE DRIVER on left side of crossfader
- X-FADE IN jack breaks II. WAVE FOLDER normalization for independent crossfade use
- FBK CV jack for voltage-controlled feedback from II. WAVE FOLDER to input (calibrated for 5V gates)
- Independent outputs for both I. WAVE DRIVER (I. OUT) and II. WAVE FOLDER (II. OUT)
- 3-way DRIVE switch on I. WAVE DRIVER: SOFT, MID, HARD
- 3-way FOLD switch on I. WAVE DRIVER: LO, NO, HI (HI threshold is 2x II. WAVE FOLDER threshold)
- 3-way FOLD switch on II. WAVE FOLDER: OK (symmetric), NO (last stage only), KO (asymmetric metallic)
Controls & Jacks (29)
- X-Fade CV — CV control for crossfader
- Symmetry — Sets the amount of voltage offset added to the input signal; acts as attenuverter when CV is patched
- X-Fade — Voltage-controlled crossfader knob to blend between input signal and wave-shaped signals
- X-Fade In — Right side input for crossfader (normalizes to Wave Folder)
- Shape — Sets the amount of amplification of the input signal before it enters the wave shaping stages
- X-F IN
- FBK CV — Feedback CV input for chaotic modulation
- II. Wave Folder Output — Wave Folder circuit output
- Input — Main audio or CV input signal
- I. Wave Driver Output — Wave Driver circuit output
- INPUT — Main audio or CV input signal
- Shape CV — CV control for Shape amplification
- Symmetry CV — CV control for Symmetry offset
- X-Fade Output — Crossfader output
- II. Fold — 3-way switch to set folding character: OK (4-stage clean), NO (last stage only), or KO (asymmetric metallic)
- X-Fade Switch — Selects between INPUT and Wave Driver for the left side of the crossfader
- I. Drive — 3-way switch to set overdrive character: SOFT, MID, or HARD
- DRIVE — 3-way switch to set overdrive character: SOFT, MID, or HARD
- FOLD Switch (Wave Driver) — 3-way switch to set folding threshold: LO, NO (off), or HI
- FOLD Switch (Wave Folder) — 3-way switch to set folding character: OK (4-stage clean), NO (last stage only), or KO (asymmetric metallic)
- X-FADE CV Attenuverter — Bipolar attenuator for the X-FADE CV input signal; center position mutes CV, CW adds, CCW subtracts from X-FADE knob position
- A AC Jumper — Internal jumper; when open, AC-couples the I. Wave Driver output to remove DC offset
- B AC Jumper — Internal jumper; when open, AC-couples the II. Wave Folder output to remove DC offset
- INV A Phase Jumper — Internal jumper; inverts the phase of the I. Wave Driver signal
- Norm SHPCV_TO_MIX Jumper — Internal jumper; when closed, normalizes the SHAPE CV input voltage to the X-FADE CV input
- SYMMETRY Jack — CV control for Symmetry offset
- I. OUT — Wave Driver circuit output
- II. OUT — Wave Folder circuit output
- X-FADE OUT — Crossfader output
How-To Guides
- Parallel Harmonic Extraction
- Tube-Style Asymmetric Warmth
- Wavefold Filter Sweep
- Chaotic Feedback Drone
- Pseudo-Chorus via LFO Symmetry
- Metallic Percussion Processor
- Self-Oscillating Feedback Voice
- Harmonic Dry-Wet Blend
- PWM-Style Symmetry Sequencing
- Two Independent Waveshaper Send-Return
Explore the interactive Timber panel on BleepDex — tap any control to learn what it does.
