CV Toolkit – Biased Switcher Explained

Today we are going to take a look at one of the virtual modules that comes with CV Toolkit, the Biased Switcher.

According to the CV Toolkit manual:

“Biased Switcher works similarly to the Mutable Instruments Branches eurorack module. When triggered, the device flips a virtual coin to decide if the incoming stereo signal (BS 1 / BS 2) will be outputted normally (BS1 to BIAS. SW. 1, BS2 to BIAS. SW. 2) or inverted (BS1 to BIAS. SW. 2, BS2 to BIAS. SW. 1). You can also bias the coin, increasing the chances of outputting the signal normally or inverted.

Biased Switcher can be automatically triggered using an internal clock synced to the main transport or manually triggered (Int Trigger) using the Enter key, any MIDI note, or the Step Sequencer.”

Although the basic idea is very simple (take an input and randomly decide to which output it should go to), this module is great for adding variation to your patch. 

Here's an example of how you could use Biased Switcher together with the two AD generators to add some variation to a VCA:

 - Set AD1 and AD2 to approximate values
 - Send AD1 to BS1 and AD2 to BS2
 - Set the Biased Switcher ‘Trigger Source’ to Int Trigger
 - Route the first output of the Biased Switcher module (Bias. Sw. 1) to an analog outputs and then patch it to a VCA
  
Whenever a note is trigger, the Biased Switcher will randomly select one of the two AD generators to send to the analog output. 

Here are some other cool ideias that you could try:

- Route both LFOs to seperate inputs of the Biased Switcher, route the Bias. Sw. 1 output to an analog output and then patch it to your VCF. You can use this to make CV Toolkit randomly output one of the two LFOs to the filter. 

- Route 'Trigger' to B. S. 1, route each of the 2 outputs of the Biased Switcher (Bias. Sw. 1 / Bias. Sw. 2) to two different analog outputs and then patch those two outputs to the Trigger input of 2 different drum modules. Now, whenever the B.S. module gets triggered, it'll randomly trigger one of the two drum modules.

- You can make your sequence randomly glide by sending the output of the Step Sequencer to both Slew and BS1 inputs, the output of the Slew module to BS2 and then routing the Bias. Sw. 1 output to an analog output (which you should patch to your VCO’s 1 V/oct input). Finally, set ‘Trigger Source’ to Clock, Rate to 1/4 and then set both dials inside the Slew module to ~90ms.

This is a very flexible module and it can help you add variation and randomness to your patch. If you haven't already, take some time to experiment with it!

Until next time!