Gator Legio#

Supersaw oscillator inspired by the Manis Iteritas core

Overview#

Gator Legio makes supersaws easy. Pick your saw count and amount of stereoness, then crank up the detuning and add in some saw mod for ripping basses and screaming leads. Stereo phase-modulation inputs and a transpose gate input make it even more fun to patch into a larger voice, too.

• Type: Supersaw oscillator
• Size: 6 HP
• Depth: 1.5 inches
• Power: 2x5 Eurorack
• +12 V: 140mA
• -12 V: 22mA

Etymology#

Gator -- from English: Alligator” Legio -- from Latin: “legion, army”

“Army of Alligators”

Color code#

On boot, the Legio's LEDs will shine with this color pattern to indicate that it is running the current Bitcrush firmware:

Power#

To power your Noise Engineering module, turn off your case. Plug one end of your ribbon cable into your power board so that the red stripe on the ribbon cable is aligned to the side that says -12 V and each pin on the power header is plugged into the connector on the ribbon. Make sure no pins are overhanging the connector! If they are, unplug it and realign.

Line up the red stripe on the ribbon cable so that it matches the white stripe and/or -12 V indication on the board and plug in the connector.

Screw your module into your case before powering on the module. You risk bumping the module's PCB against something metallic and damaging it if it's not properly secured when powered on.

You should be good to go if you followed these instructions. Now go make some noise!

Noise Engineering modules are reverse protected. If you accidentally installed it with the red stripe up, simply remove the power and place it correctly.

A final note. Some modules have other headers -- they may have a different number of pins or may say "not power". In general, unless a manual tells you otherwise, do not connect those to power.

Input & output voltages#

Legio’s CV-modulation inputs expect signals from 0v to +5v.

The Pitch input’s range is -2v to +5v.

The 8vA input responds to a rising edge around +1.6v.

The audio inputs are AC coupled and respond to any Eurorack audio signals.

The audio output can reach up to 16v peak-to-peak.

Interface#

Pitch (encoder+CV input)

Sets the pitch of the oscillator. Turn for fine tuning, press and turn for coarse tuning.

Detune (potentiometer+CV input)

Increases detuning between oscillators.

Saw Mod (potentiometer+CV input)

Adds in Manis-style saw modification, resulting in timbre shifting somewhat similar to hard sync.

Saw Count (switch)

Changes the number of saw oscillators.

Stereoness (switch)

Changes how dramatic the stereo spread of oscillators is.

8vA (gate input)

Increases the pitch of the oscillator by one octave when gate is high.

PM L/R

Stereo phase-modulation inputs. The L jack is normaled to the R jack if R is left unpatched.

Out L/Out R

Audio outputs.

Patch tutorial#

Patch the outputs of Gator to a stereo VCA controlled by an envelope generator (like Ampla Legio). Patch a pitch sequence to the Pitch input of Gator, and a gate sequence to the envelope generator. Dial in Gator Legio's parameters to suit your patch.

Try patching a gate sequence or random gate generator to the 8vA input to add some variety to your sequence.

Patch another oscillator the the PM inputs to take your sound to the next level. Bonus points for using a second Gator Legio!

Signal flow#

Warranty#

We will repair or replace (at our discretion) any product that we manufactured for one year after initial purchase as long as we are able to get the parts to do so. This warranty does not apply to normal wear and tear, including art/panel wear, or any products that have been modified, abused, or misused. Our warranty is limited to manufacturing defects.

Warranty repairs/replacements are free. Repairs due to normal wear, user modification, or other damage are charged at an affordable rate. Customers are responsible for the cost of shipping to Noise Engineering technicians for repair.

All returns must be coordinated through Noise Engineering; returns without a Return Authorization will be refused and returned to sender.

For immediate issues with new modules, please contact your dealer for a replacement. Otherwise, please contact us if you think one of your modules needs a repair.

Design Notes#

Years ago, our pals Matt Lange and Anthony Baldino requested a module that became Manis Iteritas. We still love Manis, but even more, we love the sound of supersaws.

Gator Legio is our answer to when we want some gnarly sounds but don't have 10HP to spare.

You may ask why it's called Gator. We generally all weigh in on naming (we have a dedicated channel on our team Slack). We tried to do puns on saws and ALMOST called it Machete Legio. We went back and forth for a while, proposing all types of saws (jig? band? hand? table? a lot of nopes.) and someone posted Alligator saw, which is a real thing. Who knew? And we all decided that Gator Legio was a bit too good to pass up. Did I remember all of this? No. Did I have to go back through the Slack history? Yes. A lot of naming happened that day.

Special thanks#

• Enthusiastic Electrons
• Everett Dolgner
• Frequency Divide
• itsMasterIll
• Ozon
• starthief