littleBits produces the Electronic Music Inventor Kit. Pittsburgh Modular produced the SV-1 semi-modular synthesizer. This video is a combination of the two. The SV-1 has a digital low frequency oscillator, or LFO. The voltage output is between 0 to 5 volts. That’s the same voltage range as a littleBits keyboard or sequencer controller. Hence, we have a digital LFO’s voltage modulating the voltage per octave of an Oscillator, or its frequencies. This is called Frequency Modulation (FM).
In this video the LFO serves in place of a physical controller like a keyboard or sequencer. In cycling through the LFO waveshapes on the SV-1, not all are musical. One arrives at Noise, then an LFO waveshape which plays the littleBits Oscillator like a sequencer would. I couldn’t sort the LFO’s frequency, though it doesn’t quite sound like “tearing” heard with audio rate frequencies as the input to an Oscillator’s FM input.
While not heard in this video, the SV-1’s first oscillator (and most of the PM synths) are prewired to the second oscillator for frequency modulation. Other synths may be prewired to the Low Frequency Oscillator, which may oscillate at a sub audio rate up to audio rate frequencies. It’s fun to play with the range of an LFO because the sounds can vary so much. As always, record everything all the time.
The littleBits Proto Bit allows an external signal to enter a littleBits circuit. You only have to connect a mono cable to the top of the Proto Bit via its screws and remove the middle jumper. The Proto bit also allows a signal to exit littleBits if the middle jumper is left in and a cable is connected to the bottom. (A future video will demonstrate that.)
The littleBits circuit is Power>Proto>Numbers voltage reader>Oscillator>Speaker. The digital LFO is before the Oscillator, modifying its frequency. You can get interesting results with littleBits by placing multiple Oscillators in series of 3 or more.
The littleBits Oscillator in this video is hidden by a large dial that was purchased from Pittsburgh Modular. It’s the size of the filter dial on the SV-1.
The free Blackmagic Camera (BMC) app was used for this handheld recording on an iPhone 15. Audio was recorded from the littleBits speaker by the iPhone microphones. Audio levels were left at auto.
The BMC allows you to record ProRes 422 and set the audio rate to 48 kHz. This means you’re dealing with less audio and video compression than an H.264 or H.265 file recorded by iPhone’s native camera app. This translate to being able to use the recorded audio as a sound effect or sample for music.
The ProRes 422 files are large in comparison to H.264 files. Moving the files to a computer and then an external hard drive is a good practice at the end of the shoot day. Like a regular Blackmagic Design camera, you’ll have to empty the device/app of files if you want to keep shooting. Thankfully the BMC app displays how much recording time and storage space remains on the device.
Thanks for reading and watching! If you have any questions or suggestions, please add them to the comments.
The next post will be a video with an article related to the video. Publication should be on the first and 15th.
Best, Anthony Torres, Joy of Synths.
All Contents Copyright Anthony Torres 2025. All rights reserved.
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