MAKEN0ISE PoliMATHS: Exploring Dual Cycle Modes for Modular Mayhem

PoliMATHS introduces two distinct cycle modes, each designed to expand its role as a modular utility beyond traditional function generator territory. By pressing and holding the cycle button, users can toggle between these modes, with the lightning bolt LED providing a visual cue for which mode is active. This dual-mode approach is a nod to the flexibility that modular enthusiasts crave, offering both immediate and sequential cycling behaviours in a single module. The video sets the stage by highlighting how these modes can shape both sound design and sequencing workflows, making PoliMATHS a versatile tool for patchers who like to push boundaries.

Cycle All mode is signified by a purple lightning bolt, and it’s all about simultaneous activation. When engaged, every channel on PoliMATHS begins cycling at once, with each channel re-triggering itself as soon as its fall stage completes. This behaviour is reminiscent of patching the end-of-cycle gate back into the trigger input on the original Maths, but here it’s elegantly handled internally for all channels.

The real power of Cycle All emerges when you start tweaking individual channel parameters. Thanks to the spread control and per-channel attenuverters, each channel can have its own rise, fall, rate, oscillation, and strength settings. The result? A patch can quickly evolve into a complex polyrhythmic landscape, with each function generator ticking away at its own tempo. This mode is perfect for those who want maximum independence between channels, ideal for layered envelopes, LFOs, or even self-oscillating chaos.

Follow the Leader mode, indicated by a pink lightning bolt, brings a whole new level of interactivity to the table. Here, the end of a channel’s fall stage triggers the next channel in sequence, looping from channel 8 back to channel 1. This behaviour mimics the classic trick of patching the end-of-cycle gate from one Maths channel to the next, but now it’s automated and elegantly chained across the entire module.

This mode isn’t just about neat sequencing—it’s about dynamic, evolving chains. The video demonstrates how you can start the chain by activating a channel via the cycle button or the cycle gate input, and even patch in external gates to the activate input for more complex patterns. Multiple chains can run simultaneously, and the behaviour is nuanced: if a channel is reactivated before its fall stage completes, it won’t pass the baton, and if two functions overlap, the activation can be ignored. These subtleties make Follow the Leader a playground for experimental sequencing and generative patching.