Intellijel Cascadia: build a kit

8 drum sounds this box makes on its own, in the order to build them.

Record each hit with the sampler, recorder, or DAW you use.

Routing — played from MIDI IN or EXT IN PITCH/GATE, or by holding the front panel MANUAL GATE button, which gates any envelope whose own GATE input is empty (p.54) — Cascadia has no sequencer of its own.

This block draws on the Intellijel Cascadia Manual v1.4, pp.22-58; its values are starting points.

Everything else about the Intellijel Cascadia

  1. 1KICK 1Sine kick: Envelope B dropped into VCO A pitch, filter bypassed to the amp

    kick · hard

    Routing — Envelope B does the pitch drop, Envelope A the body

    • ENVELOPE B · ENV BVCO A · FM 1

      FM 1 has no normal, so this cable is the whole pitch drop

    • VCF · LP4VCA A · IN

      breaks the VCF OUT normal — LP4 is always live whatever MODE says (p.49)

    • VCO A · TZFM/EXPEXP(TZFM, EXP)
    • VCO A · AC/DCDC(AC, DC)
    • VCO A · OCTAVE1(0…7)
    • VCO A · PITCH0st(-6…6 st)
    • VCO A · FM 122% travel(0…100 % travel)

      how far the pitch falls

    • ENVELOPE B · MODEENV(ENV, LFO, BURST)
    • ENVELOPE B · TYPEAD(AD, AHR, CYCLE)
    • ENVELOPE B · RISE0% travel(0…100 % travel)
    • ENVELOPE B · FALL12% travel(0…100 % travel)

      the drop; longer is a boomier kick

    • ENVELOPE A · SPEEDFAST(FAST, MED, SLOW)
    • ENVELOPE A · HOLD POSITIONX(Gate Extender, X, AHDSR)
    • ENVELOPE A · ATTACK1ms(0.2…1500 ms)
    • ENVELOPE A · DECAY190ms(0.6…2500 ms)
    • ENVELOPE A · SUSTAIN0V(0…5 V)
    • MIXER · SUB58% travel(0…100 % travel)
    • MIXER · SUB TYPESUB -1(SUB -1, OR, SUB -2)
    • MIXER · SOFT CLIPON(ON, OFF)

    Record one hit with your recorder as KICK 1.

  2. 2KICK 2Folded kick: the wave folder back into the mixer, soft clip engaged

    kick · dirty

    Routing — The folder replaces the ring modulator on mixer channel 1

    • OUTPUT CONTROL · FOLDMIXER · IN 1

      breaks the RING MOD normal on IN 1; FOLD is the folder’s only output (p.74)

    • ENVELOPE A · ENV AWAVE FOLDER · FOLD

      FOLD MOD has no normal — the fold count now follows the amp envelope

    • VCO A · OCTAVE1(0…7)
    • WAVE FOLDER · FOLD64% travel(0…100 % travel)

      more folds, more upper harmonics

    • WAVE FOLDER · MOD30% travel(0…100 % travel)
    • MIXER · IN 152% travel(0…100 % travel)
    • MIXER · SUB66% travel(0…100 % travel)
    • MIXER · SUB TYPESUB -1(SUB -1, OR, SUB -2)
    • MIXER · SOFT CLIPON(ON, OFF)
    • ENVELOPE A · SPEEDFAST(FAST, MED, SLOW)
    • ENVELOPE A · ATTACK1ms(0.2…1500 ms)
    • ENVELOPE A · DECAY210ms(0.6…2500 ms)
    • ENVELOPE A · SUSTAIN0V(0…5 V)
    • VCO A · PW62%(50…95 %)

    Record one hit with your recorder as KICK 2.

  3. 3TOM 1Tuned tom: sine with a short pitch fall, no sub under it

    tom · hard

    Routing — Same pitch-drop idea as the kick, tuned up and shortened

    • ENVELOPE B · ENV BVCO A · FM 1

      FM 1 has no normal; this is the fall

    • VCO A · TZFM/EXPEXP(TZFM, EXP)
    • VCO A · AC/DCDC(AC, DC)
    • VCO A · OCTAVE3(0…7)
    • VCO A · PITCH-2st(-6…6 st)
    • VCO A · FM 116% travel(0…100 % travel)
    • MIXER · IN 272% travel(0…100 % travel)

      IN 2 is VCO A’s sine by default (p.43)

    • MIXER · SUB0% travel(0…100 % travel)
    • ENVELOPE B · MODEENV(ENV, LFO, BURST)
    • ENVELOPE B · TYPEAD(AD, AHR, CYCLE)
    • ENVELOPE B · FALL20% travel(0…100 % travel)
    • ENVELOPE A · SPEEDFAST(FAST, MED, SLOW)
    • ENVELOPE A · ATTACK1ms(0.2…1500 ms)
    • ENVELOPE A · DECAY300ms(0.6…2500 ms)
    • ENVELOPE A · SUSTAIN0V(0…5 V)

    Record one hit with your recorder as TOM 1.

  4. 4METALLIC 1Ring modulator fed a square, notched rather than filtered

    metallic · dark

    Routing — RING MOD is already on mixer channel 1 (p.43); this changes what it eats

    • VCO B · SQUARERING MOD · IN 2

      breaks the VCO B sine normal — a square through the ring modulator is harsher

    • VCF · MODENT2(LP1, LP2, LP4, BP2, BP4, HP4, NT2, PHZ)
    • VCF · FREQ38% travel(0…100 % travel)
    • VCF · Q54% travel(0…100 % travel)
    • MIXER · IN 182% travel(0…100 % travel)
    • MIXER · IN 20% travel(0…100 % travel)

      VCO A’s sine off, so only the ring output is heard

    • VCO B · OCTAVE4(0…7)
    • VCO B · PITCH3st(-6…6 st)

      detune from VCO A is what makes it clang

    • VCO B · PITCH SOURCEPITCH B(PITCH A+B, PITCH B)
    • ENVELOPE A · SPEEDFAST(FAST, MED, SLOW)
    • ENVELOPE A · ATTACK1ms(0.2…1500 ms)
    • ENVELOPE A · DECAY320ms(0.6…2500 ms)
    • ENVELOPE A · SUSTAIN0V(0…5 V)

    Record one hit with your recorder as METALLIC 1.

  5. 5METALLIC 2Hard-synced ring mod, high-passed to a strike

    metallic · hard

    Routing — VCO A syncs to VCO B by default (p.25); this drives the sync harder

    • VCO B · SQUAREVCO A · SYNC

      breaks the VCO B SAW normal — a square edge is a sharper sync trigger

    • VCO A · SYNC TYPEHARD(SOFT, X, HARD)
    • VCF · MODEHP4(LP1, LP2, LP4, BP2, BP4, HP4, NT2, PHZ)
    • VCF · FREQ54% travel(0…100 % travel)
    • VCF · Q40% travel(0…100 % travel)
    • MIXER · IN 174% travel(0…100 % travel)
    • VCO A · OCTAVE5(0…7)
    • VCO B · OCTAVE3(0…7)
    • VCO B · PITCH SOURCEPITCH B(PITCH A+B, PITCH B)
    • ENVELOPE A · SPEEDFAST(FAST, MED, SLOW)
    • ENVELOPE A · ATTACK1ms(0.2…1500 ms)
    • ENVELOPE A · DECAY160ms(0.6…2500 ms)
    • ENVELOPE A · SUSTAIN0V(0…5 V)

    Record one hit with your recorder as METALLIC 2.

  6. 6NOISE 1Noise alone through the filter, cutoff sampled and held

    noise · dirty

    Routing — S&H is clocked from MIDI CLK by default (p.56), so it moves in time

    • MIXER · NOISEVCF · IN

      breaks the MIXER OUT normal — the oscillators drop out entirely

    • S&H · OUTVCF · FM 3

      FM 3 has no normal; stepped voltages walk the cutoff

    • MIXER · NOISE TYPEALT(WHITE, ALT, PINK)
    • MIXER · ALT NOISE SOURCECrunch(Cymbal, Crunch, Crackle, Velvet)

      not on the panel — hold MANUAL GATE and press MIDI CC to load it; a fresh source always comes up on the first of its three variations

    • MIXER · NOISE84% travel(0…100 % travel)
    • VCF · MODEBP2(LP1, LP2, LP4, BP2, BP4, HP4, NT2, PHZ)
    • VCF · FREQ48% travel(0…100 % travel)
    • VCF · Q46% travel(0…100 % travel)
    • VCF · FM 362% travel(0…100 % travel)

      FM 3 is attenuverted, so this sets the step depth

    • ENVELOPE A · SPEEDMED(FAST, MED, SLOW)
    • ENVELOPE A · ATTACK12ms(2…10000 ms)
    • ENVELOPE A · DECAY600ms(3.5…10000 ms)
    • ENVELOPE A · SUSTAIN3V(0…5 V)

    Record one hit with your recorder as NOISE 1.

  7. 7NOISE 2Pink noise slewed smooth, low-passed and sitting still

    noise · dark

    Routing — Slew turns the stepped S&H into a drift (p.57)

    • MIXER · NOISEVCF · IN

      breaks the MIXER OUT normal

    • SLEW / ENV FOLLOW · OUTVCF · FM 3

      FM 3 has no normal; SLEW takes S&H by default (p.58), so this drifts

    • MIXER · NOISE TYPEPINK(WHITE, ALT, PINK)
    • MIXER · NOISE70% travel(0…100 % travel)
    • VCF · MODELP2(LP1, LP2, LP4, BP2, BP4, HP4, NT2, PHZ)
    • VCF · FREQ24% travel(0…100 % travel)
    • VCF · Q18% travel(0…100 % travel)
    • VCF · FM 334% travel(0…100 % travel)
    • SLEW / ENV FOLLOW · SHAPEEXP(LIN, EXP)
    • SLEW / ENV FOLLOW · RATE620ms(0…1000 ms)

      the cited maximum is the LIN figure; EXP runs to about five times it

    • ENVELOPE A · SPEEDSLOW(FAST, MED, SLOW)
    • ENVELOPE A · ATTACK400ms(9.3…60000 ms)
    • ENVELOPE A · DECAY2000ms(30…60000 ms)
    • ENVELOPE A · SUSTAIN3V(0…5 V)

    Record one hit with your recorder as NOISE 2.

  8. 8IMPACT 1Burst of pulses into the amp, folded on the way

    impact · hard

    Routing — Envelope B in BURST is a pulse train inside one envelope (p.35)

    • ENVELOPE B · ENV BVCA A · LEVEL

      breaks the ENV A normal on LEVEL MOD — the burst becomes the amplitude

    • OUTPUT CONTROL · FOLDMIXER · IN 1

      breaks the RING MOD normal on IN 1

    • ENVELOPE B · MODEBURST(ENV, LFO, BURST)
    • ENVELOPE B · TYPEAD(AD, AHR, CYCLE)
    • ENVELOPE B · RATE70% travel(0…100 % travel)

      how fast the pulses repeat

    • ENVELOPE B · LENGTH34% travel(0…100 % travel)

      how long the burst lasts

    • WAVE FOLDER · FOLD72% travel(0…100 % travel)
    • MIXER · IN 166% travel(0…100 % travel)
    • MIXER · SOFT CLIPON(ON, OFF)
    • VCF · MODEBP2(LP1, LP2, LP4, BP2, BP4, HP4, NT2, PHZ)
    • VCF · FREQ44% travel(0…100 % travel)
    • VCF · Q50% travel(0…100 % travel)
    • VCO A · OCTAVE2(0…7)
    • ENVELOPE A · SPEEDFAST(FAST, MED, SLOW)
    • ENVELOPE A · ATTACK1ms(0.2…1500 ms)
    • ENVELOPE A · DECAY700ms(0.6…2500 ms)
    • ENVELOPE A · SUSTAIN0V(0…5 V)

    Record one hit with your recorder as IMPACT 1.

Not in this kit

Bring snare, clap, rim, closed hat, open hat and ride from another box or a sample library.