Drop this module (or a few of them) into your 1U row, patch in some sound sources, and then ping them with gates and CV to get some instantly pleasing results. So simple and fun!
In general, low pass gates (LPGs) control the amplitude and timbre of a signal by opening and closing a low pass filter. When the gate is closed, no frequencies are allowed to pass through (and no output is heard). As the gate begins to open, the lowest frequencies pass through to the output. As the gate opens further, the output grows louder and its high frequency content increases.
Traditional Low Pass Gates use vactrols to control the opening and closing of the filter. Encased within a vactrol is both a light source and a light detector. Applying a control voltage to the vactrol lights its internal LED — the brightness of which is measured by its detector. What makes vactrols particularly unique (and well-suited to musical applications) is their non-linear response to voltage — in particular, the way in which the internal LED slowly dims (rather than shutting off instantly) when the control voltage is removed. This sonic coupling of timbre and volume, along with the circuit’s natural decay, makes the low pass gate particularly adept at producing tones associated with struck objects, like hand drums or marimbas. Indeed, low pass gates are the main ingredient of the so-called “Buchla Bongo” sound.
The Intellijel Passive Low Pass Gate 1U is a simple, DC-coupled, vactrol based, 1-pole passive low pass gate, which is controlled by an external CV input. Without positive control voltage, the gate is completely closed and none of the LPG’s input signal is passed through to the output. Increasing amounts of positive CV open the gate — making the output signal both louder and brighter. At +5V, the gate is fully open and the input signal is passed through to the output. This makes LPGs sound very different (and more “acoustic”) than the traditional complement of envelopes, VCFs and VCAs that are employed in most subtractive synthesizers. Exciting the vactrol (via the CV input) with a trigger, noise blast, or short envelope will result in a very natural sounding filtered envelope that’s reminiscent of the sonic characterics of struck objects, which are allowed to decay naturally.
In addition, because this is a passive circuit (no power is applied to it), its sonic characteristics are somewhat dependent upon the audio signal you feed into it, making it a very natural and organic way to shape a signal’s volume and tone.
Pairs very well with the intellijel Shifty module to derive polyphony out of a only a few HP of modules.
Width 6HP
Depth 19mm
- Width: 6HP
- Power: Power not required
How much is my shipping?
Shipping costs are calculated automatically at checkout. Simply add items to your cart and proceed to the checkout page, where you'll see the available shipping options and their prices. VAT at the applicable rate for your country will also be displayed at checkout.
European Union orders:
- Standard shipping is free on orders over €100. Express shipping is available on orders over €100, and free on orders over €400.
Poland orders:
- Standard shipping is free on orders over 250 PLN. Express shipping is free on orders over 500 PLN.
What about local taxes?
By default prices on the site include sales tax at 20%. The precise sales tax rate for your country will be calculated at checkout.
Do you ship to my country?
We ship to all EU member states from our warehouse in Warsaw, Poland. Add an item to your cart and enter your country and postcode to see the available shipping options and prices for your location. If you have any questions about shipping to your country, drop us an email at info@signalsounds.eu and we'll be happy to help.
Shipping methods
All EU orders are shipped via UPS. We offer two service levels:
- UPS Standard – our default shipping option. Delivery times vary by country (see estimated delivery times below).
- UPS Express Saver – next business day delivery to most EU destinations.
Each product page shows the estimated delivery time for your location, so you'll always know what to expect before you order.
Estimated delivery times (Standard shipping)
The times below are estimates in working days from dispatch, based on UPS Standard service. Express Saver delivers by the next business day to most destinations.
| Country | Estimated delivery (working days) |
|---|---|
| Austria | 2–3 |
| Belgium | 2 |
| Bulgaria | 4–5 |
| Croatia | 2–4 |
| Cyprus | 10 |
| Czechia | 2–3 |
| Denmark | 3 |
| Estonia | 2–3 |
| Finland | 3–5 |
| France | 2–4 |
| Germany | 2 |
| Greece | 5–7 |
| Hungary | 2–3 |
| Ireland | 4–6 |
| Italy | 3–5 |
| Latvia | 2–3 |
| Lithuania | 1–2 |
| Luxembourg | 2 |
| Malta | 5–7 |
| Netherlands | 2 |
| Poland | 1–2 |
| Portugal | 4–5 |
| Romania | 3–4 |
| Slovakia | 2–3 |
| Slovenia | 2–3 |
| Spain | 4 |
| Sweden | 3–5 |
These times are estimates and are not guaranteed. Delivery may occasionally take a little longer due to customs processing, local conditions, or carrier delays.
Dispatch times
Orders placed before 15:00 CET (Central European Time) on a working day are normally dispatched the same day. Orders placed after 15:00 CET, or on weekends and public holidays, will be dispatched on the next working day.
If you have an urgent order, please email us at info@signalsounds.eu before placing your order and we'll do our best to accommodate you.
Pre-orders
If a product is listed as a pre-order, it means we've ordered it from the supplier but it's not physically in stock yet. The product listing will include an estimated shipping date based on the best information we have from the supplier, but do bear in mind this is subject to change and is not a guaranteed date.
If you place an order containing a mixture of in-stock and pre-order items, we'll normally hold off on shipping anything until the pre-order item(s) have arrived, rather than splitting it into multiple shipments. If you need the in-stock items sooner, we'd recommend placing separate orders. As always, please get in touch at info@signalsounds.eu if you have questions.
Product Overview
Drop this module (or a few of them) into your 1U row, patch in some sound sources, and then ping them with gates and CV to get some instantly pleasing results. So simple and fun!
In general, low pass gates (LPGs) control the amplitude and timbre of a signal by opening and closing a low pass filter. When the gate is closed, no frequencies are allowed to pass through (and no output is heard). As the gate begins to open, the lowest frequencies pass through to the output. As the gate opens further, the output grows louder and its high frequency content increases.
Traditional Low Pass Gates use vactrols to control the opening and closing of the filter. Encased within a vactrol is both a light source and a light detector. Applying a control voltage to the vactrol lights its internal LED — the brightness of which is measured by its detector. What makes vactrols particularly unique (and well-suited to musical applications) is their non-linear response to voltage — in particular, the way in which the internal LED slowly dims (rather than shutting off instantly) when the control voltage is removed. This sonic coupling of timbre and volume, along with the circuit’s natural decay, makes the low pass gate particularly adept at producing tones associated with struck objects, like hand drums or marimbas. Indeed, low pass gates are the main ingredient of the so-called “Buchla Bongo” sound.
The Intellijel Passive Low Pass Gate 1U is a simple, DC-coupled, vactrol based, 1-pole passive low pass gate, which is controlled by an external CV input. Without positive control voltage, the gate is completely closed and none of the LPG’s input signal is passed through to the output. Increasing amounts of positive CV open the gate — making the output signal both louder and brighter. At +5V, the gate is fully open and the input signal is passed through to the output. This makes LPGs sound very different (and more “acoustic”) than the traditional complement of envelopes, VCFs and VCAs that are employed in most subtractive synthesizers. Exciting the vactrol (via the CV input) with a trigger, noise blast, or short envelope will result in a very natural sounding filtered envelope that’s reminiscent of the sonic characterics of struck objects, which are allowed to decay naturally.
In addition, because this is a passive circuit (no power is applied to it), its sonic characteristics are somewhat dependent upon the audio signal you feed into it, making it a very natural and organic way to shape a signal’s volume and tone.
Pairs very well with the intellijel Shifty module to derive polyphony out of a only a few HP of modules.
Width 6HP
Depth 19mm
Technical Specs
Shipping Details
How much is my shipping?
Shipping costs are calculated automatically at checkout. Simply add items to your cart and proceed to the checkout page, where you'll see the available shipping options and their prices. VAT at the applicable rate for your country will also be displayed at checkout.
European Union orders:
- Standard shipping is free on orders over €100. Express shipping is available on orders over €100, and free on orders over €400.
Poland orders:
- Standard shipping is free on orders over 250 PLN. Express shipping is free on orders over 500 PLN.
What about local taxes?
By default prices on the site include sales tax at 20%. The precise sales tax rate for your country will be calculated at checkout.
Do you ship to my country?
We ship to all EU member states from our warehouse in Warsaw, Poland. Add an item to your cart and enter your country and postcode to see the available shipping options and prices for your location. If you have any questions about shipping to your country, drop us an email at info@signalsounds.eu and we'll be happy to help.
Shipping methods
All EU orders are shipped via UPS. We offer two service levels:
- UPS Standard – our default shipping option. Delivery times vary by country (see estimated delivery times below).
- UPS Express Saver – next business day delivery to most EU destinations.
Each product page shows the estimated delivery time for your location, so you'll always know what to expect before you order.
Estimated delivery times (Standard shipping)
The times below are estimates in working days from dispatch, based on UPS Standard service. Express Saver delivers by the next business day to most destinations.
| Country | Estimated delivery (working days) |
|---|---|
| Austria | 2–3 |
| Belgium | 2 |
| Bulgaria | 4–5 |
| Croatia | 2–4 |
| Cyprus | 10 |
| Czechia | 2–3 |
| Denmark | 3 |
| Estonia | 2–3 |
| Finland | 3–5 |
| France | 2–4 |
| Germany | 2 |
| Greece | 5–7 |
| Hungary | 2–3 |
| Ireland | 4–6 |
| Italy | 3–5 |
| Latvia | 2–3 |
| Lithuania | 1–2 |
| Luxembourg | 2 |
| Malta | 5–7 |
| Netherlands | 2 |
| Poland | 1–2 |
| Portugal | 4–5 |
| Romania | 3–4 |
| Slovakia | 2–3 |
| Slovenia | 2–3 |
| Spain | 4 |
| Sweden | 3–5 |
These times are estimates and are not guaranteed. Delivery may occasionally take a little longer due to customs processing, local conditions, or carrier delays.
Dispatch times
Orders placed before 15:00 CET (Central European Time) on a working day are normally dispatched the same day. Orders placed after 15:00 CET, or on weekends and public holidays, will be dispatched on the next working day.
If you have an urgent order, please email us at info@signalsounds.eu before placing your order and we'll do our best to accommodate you.
Pre-orders
If a product is listed as a pre-order, it means we've ordered it from the supplier but it's not physically in stock yet. The product listing will include an estimated shipping date based on the best information we have from the supplier, but do bear in mind this is subject to change and is not a guaranteed date.
If you place an order containing a mixture of in-stock and pre-order items, we'll normally hold off on shipping anything until the pre-order item(s) have arrived, rather than splitting it into multiple shipments. If you need the in-stock items sooner, we'd recommend placing separate orders. As always, please get in touch at info@signalsounds.eu if you have questions.
