Noise Engineering Manis Iteritas Alia
Gross, gritty, haunted industrial sawtooth voice module
10 HP Eurorack module
Manis Iteritas Alia is a 10HP Eurorack voice built on the Alia swappable oscillator platform, derived from the Basimilus Iteritas architecture but redesigned for maximum grit and aggression using exclusively sawtooth-based tone generation. It combines additive synthesis, phase modulation, wave-folding via a modulus-function wave destroyer, variable sample rate aliasing, and a pitch-tracking low-pass filter to produce industrial leads, bass lines, drums, and pure sonic mayhem. Firmware can be swapped via USB, making it a versatile platform for multiple oscillator personalities.
Features
- Sawtooth-only tone generation for maximum grit and aggression
- Three tone generation algorithms: Skin (6-oscillator additive), Liquid (6-oscillator additive with pitch envelope), Metal (2x3-operator phase modulation)
- Bass/Alto/Treble pitch range switch with two-octave steps per position
- Pitch-tracking low-pass filter using two cascaded 2-pole non-resonant filters
- Variable sample rate tied to fundamental frequency for musical aliasing
- Saw Mod function: Frac((2*s+1)*x) — PWM and sync-like timbral modulation
- Profundity: out-of-phase oscillator chorus plus random sample rate modulation for pitch blur
- Smash: modulus-function wave destroyer for gnarly harmonic distortion
- Bash: envelope-to-parameter routing attenuverter for Smash, Profundity, and LPF
- AD envelope with free-running mode at full CW
- Envelope output (0-5V) mirroring internal envelope shape
- 1V/octave pitch CV input standard
Controls & Jacks (28)
- Env Out — Envelope output that mimics envelope shape of Manis's internal envelope. Range 0V to +5V.
- Saw Mod CV — CV modulation input for sawtooth modulation effect. Range 0V to +5V.
- Profundity — Adds additional out-of-phase oscillators for chorus effect and detunes voice by randomly modulating sample rate, making perceived pitch blur
- Pitch CV — 1V/oct standard pitch control input. Range -2V to +5V. Sums with pitch knob.
- Envelope — Simple attack-decay envelope control. Fully CCW = short pop. Clockwise increases decay. Around 2 o'clock attack time increases slightly. Ful
- Saw Mod — Sawtooth modulation creating PWM or sync-like effect. Operation: Frac((2*s+1)*x) where s is knob+jack and x is current oscillator amplitude.
- LPF CV — CV modulation input for low-pass filter cutoff. Range 0V to +5V.
- Bash CV — CV modulation input for envelope routing attenuverter amount. Range 0V to +5V.
- Bash — Routes envelope to Smash, Profundity, and LPF. Acts as attenuverter: 12:00 is off, right of center is positive send, left of center is negat
- Smash CV — CV modulation input for wave-folder distortion amount. Range 0V to +5V.
- Audio Out — Low-impedance audio output. Up to 14V peak-to-peak. Output varies based on parameters with loudness compensation.
- Smash — A gnarly wave-folder replacement using modulus-function wave destruction. Knob sets level of destruction.
- Profundity CV — CV modulation input for profundity/chorus detuning effect. Range 0V to +5V.
- Trig Button — Manual button to activate envelope.
- Pitch — Adjusts pitch of fundamental oscillator. Default is fine mode with sub-perceptual steps. Push and turn for coarse adjustment (semitone steps
- LPF — Low-pass filter that tracks pitch. Fully counterclockwise passes only very low frequencies. Fully clockwise disables filter. Uses two 2-pole
- Trigger — Envelope trigger input. Threshold around +1.8V.
- S/L/M
- Mode LED 1 — Visual indicator for Skin/Liquid/Metal mode selection.
- Mode LED 2 — Visual indicator for Skin/Liquid/Metal mode selection.
- Bass/Alto/Treble — Changes pitch of voice. Each position offsets pitch by two octaves.
- Trigger LED — Visual indicator for trigger activation.
- Skin/Liquid/Metal — Mode selector. Skin (left): Six-oscillator additive. Liquid (middle): Six-oscillator additive with pitch envelope. Metal (right): Two 3-oper
- Trig LED — Visual indicator for trigger activation.
- Skin — Visual indicator for Skin/Liquid/Metal mode selection.
- Liquid — Visual indicator for Skin/Liquid/Metal mode selection.
- Metal — Visual indicator for Skin/Liquid/Metal mode selection.
- Trig — Manual button to activate envelope.
How-To Guides
- Autocalibration
- The Manis Industrial Sound
- Subby Synth Bass
- Crunchy Metal Lead
- Industrial Kick
- Detuned Madness Drone
- Bash Filter Sweep
- Inverted Bash Accent
- Saw Mod CV Sweep
- Melodic Industrial Hit
Explore the interactive Manis Iteritas Alia panel on BleepDex — tap any control to learn what it does.
