nine lives

ninelives · modulation

LFO with NINE CV outputs on a geometric 1/3 rate ladder + a reset trigger. out1 runs at the Rate knob; each subsequent output is 1/3 the rate of the previous, so out_n = rate * (1/3)^(n-1) — out2 = rate/3, out3 = rate/9, ... out9 = (1/3)^8 = rate/6561 (~0.0001524x). At the shipped Rate of 1 Hz that is 1.00 s per cycle on out1 and 1.8 HOURS on out9, so the bottom of the ladder reads as DC rather than as modulation — that is the module working, not a dead jack. All nine taps share ONE Waveform morph (sine -> saw -> square) and are fixed full-scale +/-1: there is no depth control, so attenuate downstream. out1 is bit-identical to a normal LFO only at that LFO default Depth of 0.5, where its own Depth*2 scaling reaches unity. A rising edge on RESET re-zeroes every phase so all outputs re-sync to phase 0 together. Ports live on the yellow drill-down PATCH PANEL (no raw side jacks).

Nine LFOs in one — a single oscillator fanned out to NINE bipolar CV outputs whose rates form a geometric ⅓ ladder. OUT 1 runs at the Rate knob (the same 0.01–100 Hz log range and the same sine→saw→square waveform a normal LFO has). Each output below it runs at one-THIRD the rate of the one above, so OUT 2 = Rate/3, OUT 3 = Rate/9, and the slowest, OUT 9 = (1/3)^8 = Rate/6561 (about 0.0001524×). All nine taps share ONE Waveform shape. It's a quick way to get a spread of slowly-detuning modulators — clock-like at the top, glacial at the bottom — from one knob. RESET re-syncs the whole stack: each rising edge snaps all nine phases back to 0 at once so they restart together. Two things to know before you patch it. First, THE BOTTOM OF THE LADDER IS SLOWER THAN IT SOUNDS: at the shipped Rate of 1 Hz, OUT 5 takes 1.4 minutes per cycle, OUT 8 takes 36 minutes and OUT 9 takes 1.8 hours — and at the bottom of the Rate dial (0.01 Hz) OUT 9's cycle is 7.6 DAYS, so a scope on the slow taps looks like a stationary DC level rather than a modulator. That is the module working, not a dead jack; measured on the shipping worklet through this module's own factory (art/scenarios/ninelives/ladder.test.ts). Second, THERE IS NO DEPTH CONTROL: every tap is a fixed full-scale ±1, so attenuate downstream (ATTENUMIX, ILLOGIC) rather than here. OUT 1 is bit-identical to a normal LFO's output only at the LFO's default Depth of 0.5, which is where an LFO's own scaling reaches unity — at Depth 1 the LFO swings ±2 and this module still swings ±1.

the faceplate

1 inputs · 9 outputs · 2 params

about this module

Hover a control, or open the patch panel and hover a jack.

inputs

id	cable	what it does
`reset`	gate	A trigger input: each rising edge (crossing above 0.5) re-zeroes all nine phase accumulators at once, so every output restarts from phase 0 together (a hard re-sync of the whole ladder). Edge-triggered — it fires once per rising edge and ignores how long the level stays high, so holding it high does not freeze the outputs. Patch a clock or gate here to lock the stack's restart to a tempo. gate / trigger; trigger — fires once per rising edge

outputs

id	cable	what it does
`out1`	cv	The fastest tap: a bipolar ±1 LFO at the full Rate knob frequency, and the reference rate the rest of the ladder divides down from. Bit-identical to a normal LFO at the same Rate and Waveform when that LFO's Depth is at its default 0.5 (where an LFO's Depth×2 scaling reaches unity) — at Depth 1 the LFO swings ±2 and this tap still swings ±1. One cycle takes 1.00 s at the shipped Rate of 1 Hz. control voltage (CV)
`out2`	cv	Rate ÷ 3 — one third the speed of OUT 1, same shared waveform. 3.00 s per cycle at Rate 1 Hz. control voltage (CV)
`out3`	cv	Rate ÷ 9 — (1/3)^2 of OUT 1. 9.00 s per cycle at Rate 1 Hz. control voltage (CV)
`out4`	cv	Rate ÷ 27 — (1/3)^3 of OUT 1. 27.0 s per cycle at Rate 1 Hz. control voltage (CV)
`out5`	cv	Rate ÷ 81 — (1/3)^4 of OUT 1. 1.4 minutes per cycle at Rate 1 Hz: this is the first tap that no longer reads as movement on a scope you are watching, and the first one a patcher is likely to mistake for a dead jack. control voltage (CV)
`out6`	cv	Rate ÷ 243 — (1/3)^5 of OUT 1. 4.1 minutes per cycle at Rate 1 Hz. control voltage (CV)
`out7`	cv	Rate ÷ 729 — (1/3)^6 of OUT 1. 12.2 minutes per cycle at Rate 1 Hz. control voltage (CV)
`out8`	cv	Rate ÷ 2187 — (1/3)^7 of OUT 1. 36.5 minutes per cycle at Rate 1 Hz. control voltage (CV)
`out9`	cv	The slowest tap: Rate ÷ 6561 — (1/3)^8 of OUT 1 (≈ 0.0001524×). At Rate 1 Hz that is one sweep every 1.8 hours (6561 s); at the bottom of the Rate dial (0.01 Hz) it is 7.6 DAYS and at the top (100 Hz) it is 65.6 s. Over any session you will see a slow one-way ramp, not a cycle — which is the point of it, and also why it looks like DC. control voltage (CV)

params

id	label	range	default	curve
`rate`	Rate	0.01..100Hz	1	log
`shape`	Waveform	0..2	0	linear

controls

control	what it does
Rate	Sets OUT 1's frequency from 0.01 Hz (one sweep per 100 s) to 100 Hz, on a log fader — the same range and curve as the LFO. Every other output tracks it on the fixed ⅓ ladder (OUT n = Rate × (1/3)^(n-1)), so this one knob speeds up or slows down the entire stack together. What the number on the fader cannot tell you is what it did to the BOTTOM of the stack: it prints one frequency for nine outputs that are 6561× apart, so 1.00 Hz here means OUT 9 sweeps once every 1.8 hours, and 0.10 Hz means once every 18 hours. The faceplate prints both ends of the ladder and the nine cycle times beside it for that reason.
Waveform	The shared waveform for all nine outputs: morphs continuously across 0–2 (0 = sine, 1 = saw, 2 = square), with smooth crossfades in between (e.g. 0.5 = halfway sine↔saw). The fader's glyphs mark sine / saw / square.

control

what it does

Rate

Sets OUT 1's frequency from 0.01 Hz (one sweep per 100 s) to 100 Hz, on a log fader — the same range and curve as the LFO. Every other output tracks it on the fixed ⅓ ladder (OUT n = Rate × (1/3)^(n-1)), so this one knob speeds up or slows down the entire stack together. What the number on the fader cannot tell you is what it did to the BOTTOM of the stack: it prints one frequency for nine outputs that are 6561× apart, so 1.00 Hz here means OUT 9 sweeps once every 1.8 hours, and 0.10 Hz means once every 18 hours. The faceplate prints both ends of the ladder and the nine cycle times beside it for that reason.

Waveform

The shared waveform for all nine outputs: morphs continuously across 0–2 (0 = sine, 1 = saw, 2 = square), with smooth crossfades in between (e.g. 0.5 = halfway sine↔saw). The fader's glyphs mark sine / saw / square.

source

ninelives.ts on GitHub.