TINRS Rectangular thing 2010 - blk

A Classic Synthesizer

While playing with the re-issued Curtis chips we hit upon such an audio-aesthetically pleasing prototype that we could not resist manufacturing a limited run of 20 fully analog synthesizers.

RectangularThing is a classic synthesizer with two oscillators, two envelopes, two VCAs, a mixer, a highpass and a lowpass filter and allows you to adjust the hardware on the back to do your own Thing.

Our RectangularThing has a unique way of making rich analog waveforms based on sub-oscillation with our Rambler. Rambler is a combination between two oscillators – it uses a sub-oscillator to switch very quickly between oscillator 1 and oscillator 2 on every sub-oscillator transition.  We have also created a ‘sawpulse’ which is an oscillator that alternates between saw and pulse cycles creating a new waveform.

!?!?! knobs on RectangularThing are there for you to decide. These knobs control the output of the sub-oscillators and you can change that Thing. By rearranging the jumpers on the back you can select if the top oscillator has either a sub-oscillator or a Rambler oscillator (jumper at SubOsc 1) and for the bottom oscillator you can decide on having a Rambler, sub-oscillator or a sawpulse (jumper at SubOsc 2).

You can also select the order of highpass and lowpass filtering by adjusting the Filters jumper.

The SYNC switch toggles between soft / off / hard synchronisation of both oscillators in your  RectangularThing.  The top oscillator is the basis for the bottom oscillator to sync to. When the switch is in the hard sync position, the starting point of a new cycle of the top oscillator forces the bottom oscillator to also start a new cycle. When the switch is in the soft sync position, the starting points of a new cycle are gradually aligned and when the switch is in the off sync position, your oscillators are ignoring each other.

SpecificationsTypeAnalog synth voiceWidth36 HPDepth25mm (skiff friendly)Power usage +12V60mAPower usage -12V60mA