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Classic '909 Kick in a Eurorack Module





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The Tiptop Audio BD909 module puts the iconic sound of the TR-909 kick drum in your Eurorack rig, plus a ton of under-the-hood controls that offer an extended range of expression. It starts off with a sine-wave-shaped triangle VCO that produces one of the most instantly recognizable punchy kick sounds of classic electronic music. Just plug a gate into the gate input, run the output to your system, and you're good to go. You can trigger the accent level via either gate or CV signal, and a separate overload function makes it easy to add distortion to your BD909 sound.





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Flexible tuning control lets you shape your tone





Three tuning knobs dictate the timbre of the BD909 kick drum module, allowing you to shape the frequency of its oscillator to create a wide range of expressive tones. You can set the basic pitch of the oscillator via the Osc Tune knob, but thanks to the Tune Attack and Tune Decay controls, it's easy to add frequency sweeps and pitch-shifting effects to your kick sound. What's more, you can control the BD909's tuning via CV signal, providing you with endless real-time tuning options.





Overload offers warmth, grit, and total insanity





We've seen a lot of '909 clones here at Sweetwater, but none of them offer the kind of harmonic distortion that the BD909's Overload circuit delivers. Here's how it works. The oscillator of the classic '909 kick is a triangle wave VCO that runs through a sine-wave wave shaper, which increases the ratio of odd-order harmonics. The Overload control lets you amp up that wave shaper, which both increases the odd harmonics and over-saturates the circuitry. Turn it up a bit, and you get a tape-like saturation that adds a hefty punch to your kick. Crank up the Overload, and you won't need a distortion box to lay down a hardcore beat. And best of all, you can control the Overload with CV, allowing you to continuously vary the rudeness of your kick sound.





Add the perfect accent with gate or CV signal





Most people don't think of the classic '909 kick as terribly dynamic, but with the accent options onboard the BD909, you get an amazing array of amplitude control. At its simplest, the accent is an additional volume boost you can dial in with a dedicated control and trigger with its own gate input. You actually don't even need to plug in a gate signal to access this volume boost, since the accent control is normalled internally. If you want even greater control over your dynamics, plug in a CV signal instead, and you can continuously alter the volume from an external source.





Tiptop Audio BD909 Features:


An analog remake of the classic '909 kick drum for your Eurorack modular synth


Includes all the original controls: Attack, Decay, Tune Decay, Accent, and Level


Additional controls provide a wider array of expression and triggering dynamics


Continuously control tuning via CV or add tuning attack to create cool pitch effects


Use CV or gate signal to control the accent volume for dynamic performances


Overload boosts the wave shaper to add odd-order harmonics for punch or pure chaos


Only 8HP wide, so you'll have plenty of space for more drum synths