manis-iteritas

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.

8c571ce