JOYSTICK / CONTROL PORT

Control your C1 using an Atari joystick. Or get creative and build your own external controller.
Technical specs available. C1 sequencer available Summer 08’.

HOW TO USE IT:

-Plug an Atari 2600 joystick into the control port.
-Use the trigger button and directional stick to generate and manipulate sounds.
Trigger: ON. This is the same as pressing the ON button on the touch pad.
UP: Hold. Grabs and loops a split second of the sound that is playing when activated.
Down: Varies between Spell, Math and Read.
Left and Right: Glitches. 

NOTES:

The exciting thing about modular control ports like this one is that it allows for further development and expansion. For instance the port could be used to plug the C1 into a specialized computer interface allowing for computer synchronization. Or a sequencer could be used to sync several units together.
Look for the C1 Sequencer slated for release Summer 08’

GLITCHES

Create rambling tangents, scrambled words and phrases and robotic blips and bloops

HOW TO USE THEM:

-Throw one or more of the three glitch switches.
-Press one of the buttons on the touch panel such as the ON or GO buttons.
-Listen to the strange sounds. 

NOTES:

-These three switches activate synthesizer glitches which will “confuse” the speech synth inside the C1. The results range from slowed down speech to long tangents of blips and bleeps and scrambled word fragments. The glitches can be used one at a time or in conjunction with one another.
I’ve found that the most reliable results are achieved by activating just one or two glitches at a time.

-The glitches do not generate sound, what they do it they modify the sound generator. Pressing a button on the touch panel will generate a sound. Switching on one of the glitches while that sound is playing or before it starts will confuse the synthesizer and create unusual sounds.

LOOP

This feature can function in two different modes depending on the setting of the loop adjustment knob.
LOOP MODE:
Creates looping tones and pulses. A loop can be easily created and will vary each time a new one is generated. Very complex patterns can be generated by combining this effect with the hold feature.

GLITCH MODE:
Create glitch effects similar to those generated by the three glitch switches (see glitches above)

HOW TO USE IT:

LOOP MODE:
            -Switch on the loop switch and turn the loop adjustment all the way up.
-Hit the ON button repeatedly until a loop is activated. You may have to press ON several times.

GLITCH MODE:
            -Throw the Loop switch and turn the loop adjustment half way up. 
-Press one of the buttons on the touch panel such as the ON or GO buttons.
-Listen to the strange sounds.

NOTES:

-Once a loop is activated all of the buttons on the touch panel will become inactive.

-Adjusting the other mods such as Hold or any of the three Glitches will have an effect on the loop.

-Activating the Hold effect or Glitches while a loop is playing may cause the loop to stop playing and may even freeze the unit. If the loop stops, turn off the other effects except Hold and press the ON button repeatedly. If the unit freezes, press the Reset button and start over.

HOLD

The effect generated by the hold feature is determined by the hold adjustment knob.
This feature can function as a variable distortion effect or as a hold effect.

HOW TO USE IT:

DISTORTION MODE:
-Switch the hold switch to the ON position and turn the hold adjustment knob all the way DOWN.
-Press a button on the touch pad to generate a sound. The sound may be slightly distorted.
-Turn the hold adjustment knob clockwise to increase the distortion.

       HOLD MODE:
-Switch the hold switch to the OFF position and turn the hold adjustment knob all the way UP.
-Press a button on the touch pad to generate a sound.
-While the sound is playing, switch the hold switch to the ON position. Whatever sound is playing will be held as long as the effect is on. For instance if you threw the switch while the unit is saying “spell the word dog” it may sound like “spell the word dooooooooooooooooo…..” 
-Slowly turn the hold adjustment knob down. At a certain point the held sound will be released but the sound will be very distorted. This setting at the point where it is just between distortion and hold mode is where some of the  richest sounds can be found. This works especially well with the loop feature.

NOTES:

-This effect does not generate sound. It only reacts with sound that are already playing. If you throw the switch while no sound is playing, nothing will happen.

-Once the hold effect is activated all of the buttons on the touch panel will become inactive. In order to generate new sounds you must first turn the adjustment knob down or switch the hold switch off.

-The effects generated by adjusting the hold adjustment knob will vary depending on the life of the batteries or setting of power adaptor used. For instance when the batteries are new you may get a distortion effect when the adjustment is all the way down. As the batteries die, you will need to turn the knob up to achieve a distortion effect.

TOUCH SENSORS

Drop the pitch by touching both sensors at once.

NOTES:

Interesting effects can be achieved by turning the pitch adjustment all the way down and touching both touch sensors. Chances are this will drop the pitch so low that the power will shut off. If you hold down on the ON button, the power will flicker on and off instead of simply shutting off. This in itself can be pretty interesting sounding and looking. But even more interesting is that once in a while this will trigger a strange loop mode which will remain active as long as the ON button is pressed.

PITCH ADJUSTMENT

Turn the pitch up and down.

LOCKING 1/4" AUDIO OUT JACK

Plug the C1 into any amp, mixer or DI box using a standard guitar cable.

NOTES:

This is a locking jack. In order to unplug the cable you must press the orange tab then pull out the cable. This is especially useful for preventing any accidental disconnects which would be more likely to happen while the unit is being worn.

GUITAR STRAP PEGS

Attach any standard guitar strap to the C1.

SPEAKER SWITCH

Switches the internal speaker on and off.

NOTES:

The speaker is automatically disconnected when a cord is plugged into the original headphone jack.
The added ¼” audio jack does not disconnect the speaker which is why this feature was added.
You may find it desirable to switch off the internal speaker when using the audio output jack. On the other hand I have found it useful on many occasions to be able to hear the unit through the speaker before fading it into the mix on my mixer.

RESET BUTTON

Momentarily disconnects the power and shuts down the unit.

HOW TO USE IT:

Simply press the button.

NOTES:

-This feature is most useful for getting the C1 out of a frozen state or locked glitch. although it can also be used as an OFF switch.

-A frozen state is when all buttons become inactive including ON and OFF. This is often caused by activating several glitches and effects at once.

-A locked glitch is similar to a frozen state. This is when a certain glitch is active and none of the other effects or buttons have any effect.

LED

Follows the audio output. The louder the output, the brighter the light. I find this to be especially useful in live situations as a visual indicator that there’s sound coming from the unit.

DC and HEADPHONE JACKS

The DC jack allows you to power the C1 using a “wall wart” power supply. Connecting a power supply will disconnect the batteries.
The headphone jack is an 1/8” audio output jack (standard headphone size). Plugging a cord into this jack will disconnect the internal speaker.

IMPORTANT NOTES:

-Use a 6 volt DC, positive tip, negative ring power supply. At least 100mA.

-The rating of the power supply will have some slight effects on the behavior of the added features. Most noticeable is the hold feature which may need to be set differently to achieve the hold effect depending on the supply rating.

-More often than not the output from a wall wart power supply will be 2-5 volts higher than listed. If you use a 9 volt supply you are probably getting 14 volts or so. This won’t break the unit, but it’s certainly not good for it. I would recommend using a supply rated between 3 and 6 volts.