Verbos Electronics Bark Filter

Introducing the Verbos Electronics Bark Filter, a versatile and powerful 12-band fixed filter bank that is perfect for sound designers and musicians looking to add a unique flavor to their music. With its combination of band-pass and high-pass filters, the Bark Filter produces steep and precise filters with individual inputs and outputs per band, as well as dedicated envelope followers and an integrated voltage-controlled mixer.

Bark Scale Processing

At the core of the Bark Filter is the Bark scale, a psychoacoustic scale that provides pitches based on frequencies that correspond to perceptually equal distances. This scale is used to process the frequencies within the Bark Filter, where the highest band is processed with a high-pass filter and all other frequencies are processed through band-pass filters. The Bark scale is employed in this module due to its musicality and ability to add a unique flavor to your music outside of conventional scales and patterns.

Design and Application

With 12 bands of frequencies, the Verbos Electronics Bark Filter offers a versatile range of functionality and versatility, making it an excellent addition to your existing modular Eurorack synthesizer. Each band features a CV input as well as a universal scan function that can be modulated in several ways. The frequency scan dial scans through the frequency spectrum, while the center and width dials determine the center frequency and bandwidth. The spectral tilt section, with CV input, emphasizes the low or high harmonics to produce some interesting harmonics and overtones that can lift your tracks to pop out from your mix.

Envelope Followers

Each band in the Bark Filter passes through an individual envelope follower that produces a CV, where the sum of each CV is sent through the follower’s output. The time of each envelope is set globally between 100ms to 3s to dictate the speed of the filters to produce different tones that may be suitable for certain instruments. Longer settings work effectively for vocal performances, while shorter settings are more suited to percussive signals such as drums.

Voltage Controlled Mixer

The inbuilt voltage-controlled mixer features intuitive sliders for volume as well as CV inputs and outputs with a center and width control that allows you to scan across the frequency spectrum to be blended and mixed in a variety of ways. The ability to produce some interesting effects, mainly a six-band vocoder effect for vocal performances, is made possible with toggle switches on the right side of the module that allow the odd envelope followers to control the level of the even channels in the mix or vice versa.

Additional Features

The Verbos Electronics Bark Filter also includes independent envelope follower per band, dedicated odd and even filter outputs, and a control for input gain dial. The Spectral Tilt function allows you to boost the harmonic content of a set frequency band between low and high, transforming the sound of your tracks from dull and lifeless to exciting and vibrant.

Specifications

The Verbos Electronics Bark Filter has a size of 34HP and requires 210mA +12, 185mA -12 of power. Its product code is VEBF.

In conclusion, the Verbos Electronics Bark Filter is an excellent addition to any modular Eurorack synthesizer. With its unique combination of band-pass and high-pass filters, Bark scale processing, and envelope followers, the Bark Filter provides you with a range of flexibility and versatility. The integrated voltage-controlled mixer, independent envelope followers per band, and spectral tilt function give you even more control over your sound, making it perfect for sound designers and musicians looking to create a unique sound that stands out.