ADDICTION GUARANTEED

A HUGE LIST OF MAJOR PRODUCERS ALREADY USE THE SHERMAN FILTERBANK. WHY? NO PLUGIN SOUNDS LIKE THIS BABE !. THESE DAYS, THE MARKET IS OVERWHELMED WITH DSP GEAR. SECOND-HAND ANALOGUE STUFF IS HARD TO FIND AND EVEN HARDER TO MAINTAIN. SHERMAN OFFERS YOU THE FILTERBANK WHICH IS BASICALLY A SMALL MODULAR SYNTH, THAT INCLUDES TWO MULTIMODE FILTERS, WITH AN EXTERNAL INPUT INSTEAD OF OSCILLATORS. THE BOX IS EQUIPPED WITH 23 ROTATING KNOBS, A ROTARY AND 6 TOGGLE SWITCES, 7 INDICATORS, AND 11 JACK CONNECTIONS PLUS 5 MIDI SOCKETS ON THE REAR SIDE. NO ANALOG MACHINE ON THE MARKET CONTAINS SO MANY FEATURES IN JUST ONE HANDY BOX. THE MAIN IDEA BEHIND THE FILTERBANK IS THAT THE SOUND OF AN ANALOGUE SYNTH IS DETERMINED BY THE FILTER AND THE VCA; THE REASON FOR THE ABSENCE OF AN OSCILLATOR IS BECAUSE NOWADAYS THERE ARE PLENTY OF SOUND SOURCES. THE ARCHITECTURE OF THIS SHERMAN IS BASED ON FILTERS AND VCAS. THEY SHAPE THE SOUND. ITS THE MISSING LINK IN YOUR SETUP THE SHERMAN INCORPORATES A LOT MORE THAN JUST A LOW PASS. FILTER AND A NORMAL VCA. THE WIDE RANGED KNOBS ALLOW YOU TO GO OVER-THE-TOP LIKE YOUVE ALWAYS WANTED BUT NEVER COULD. THE VCAS ARE , SPECIALLY DESIGNED TO ACHIEVE TUBE OVERDRIVE BEHAVIOUR. ONCE FAMILIAR WITH A SHERMAN, YOU WILL FULLY UNDERSTAND WHAT IT MEANS HAVING NO LIMITATIONS IN SOUND SHAPING. BEWARE: THE SHERMAN USERS GROUP IS ONE THAT YOU CAN ENTER, BUT NEVER LEAVE !

SINGLE RACK

1 EXTRA LFO OUTPUT

DOUBLE RACK

2 EXTRA LFO OUTPUTS

THE UNIVERSAL TOOL

THAT TURNS YOUR SET-UP INTO AN INSPIRING LABORATORY. THE SHERMAN FILTERBANK FEELS AT HOME IN VARIOUS SURROUNDINGS. IF YOURE LUCKY ENOUGH TO POSSES A MODULAR SYSTEM , THE
SHERMAN WILL BE YOUR FAVOURITE MODULE. IT IS PATCHABLE AT ANY POINT IN YOUR MODULAR CHAIN, AND WILL PROVIDE SIMPLY EXQUISITE FILTERED AND OVERDRIVEN SOUND. CONNECTIONS MAY ALSO INCLUDE TRIGGER AND VOLTAGE SIGNALS IN BOTH DIRECTIONS. WIPE THE DUST OFF YOUR OLD FM SYNTH, AS THE SHERMAN FILTERBANK GENERATES NICE RESULTS WITH THIS TYPE OF SIGNAL. EVEN A SIMPLE SAWTOOTH WILL BE ENOUGH TO DISCOVER NEW, AMAZING SOUNDS AT THE TURN OF A KNOB. THE SHERMAN FILTERBANK IS AN ANALOG SYNTHESISER WITH NO COMPETITION IN ITS PRICE CLASS. IN ANY STUDIO IT S THE MOST INSPIRING EFFECT UNIT OF ALL. FROM PRECISE EQUALIZING ON CRITICAL TRACKS, TO BRAIN-FRYING FILTER SWEEPS, YOU ALWAYS HAVE TOTAL CONTROL. THE KNOBS HAVE DIFFERENT COLORS TO GUIDE YOU QUICKLY. GET A HAND-ON FEEL AND JUST KEEP KICKING THE SONIC ENERGY IN THIS PURE ANALOG MACHINE, OVER AND OVER AGAIN. NO WONDER MANY ENGINEERS BECAME REAL SHERMAN FILTERBANK ADDICTS. GUITAR & BASS PLAYERS WILL DISCOVER A WHOLE NEW DIMENSION IN THE CREATION OF THEIR PERSONAL SOUND, WHATS MORE, WITHOUT GIVING UP THEIR FAMILIAR WAY OF PERFORMING, THEY WILL FIND AN UPDATED PLACE IN TODAYS SOUND WORLD. THE INPUT SENSITIVITY IS A PERFECT LINE LEVEL ADJUSTER UP TO THE MIDDLE POSITION. THERE, IT BECOMES MORE SENSITIVE, UP TO OVERDRIVE WITH MICROPHONE LEVEL. PLUG IN A MIKE, AND ENJOY PROCESSING ANY ACOUSTIC SOUND SOURCE. DRUMS & PERCUSSION CAN TRIGGER THE ADSR AND AR GENERATORS, OR APPLY THEIR DYNAMICS VIA THE ENVELOPE FOLLOWER TO E.G. A STRING PAD PASSING THROUGH THE FILTERBANK. IN THE MEANTIME, MIDI OUT WILL SEND OUT THE ACOUSTIC TRIGGERING IN A VERY ACCURATELY TIMED WAY, FOR LATER RE-USE OR FOR DIRECT TRIGGERING OF ANOTHER FILTERBANK. SIMPLE BUT MORE USEFUL IN PRACTICE THAN YOU MIGHT THINK. NOT HAPPY WITH THE INTERNAL FILTER SOUND OF YOUR S- S-SAMPLER ? SHERMAN FILTERBANK IS THE CURE, PROVIDING THE NICE VELVET FEEL OF A ROTATING KNOB FOR EACH PARAMETER INCLUDED !

SHERM AN F IL T ERBANK 2

MIDI CONTROLLABLE

AUDIO & CONTR. VOLT.

AUDIO SIGNAL
A HIGH QUALITY PRODUCT WITH A LONG HISTORY.
SHERMAN PRODUCTIONS IS SMALL COMPANY, FOUNDED IN 1988 BY HERMAN GILLIS, PRODUCER AND MUSICIAN. ALTHOUGH HIS PASSION FOR ELECTRONICS DATES BACK FROM CHILDHOOD, IT WASNT UNTIL 1995 THAT HE DECIDED TO MARKET HIS GEAR. ALL THE FEATURES OF THE FILTERBANK ARE BASICALLY THE BEST OF MANY EARLIER EXPERIENCES IN THE LAST 20 YEARS. SUCH A LONG DEVELOPMENT TIME IS RATHER UNUSUAL THESE DAYS. EVERY UNIT IS FINISHED, ADJUSTED AND CHECKED WITH CARE. THE SMD TECHNOLOGY ALLOWS HIGH PERFORMANCE ON A VERY SMALL SURFACE. THE SMALL OVERHEAD COSTS AND THE LACK OF A HUGE MARKETING BUDGET, MAKES THE SHERMAN A GOOD VALUE FOR MONEY TOOL. THE HEAVY DUTY STEEL CASE IS OF HIGH QUALITY AND FINISHING, AS YOUR MUSIC DESERVES QUALITY SOUND SHAPING, YOUR EYES AND FINGERS HAVE THE RIGHT OF PLEASURE TOO. YOU GET THE POWER OF A REAL MODULAR SYSTEM. IN A COMPACT BOX, YOUR INSPIRING FRIEND IN STUDIO OR ON STAGE. WANNA BET ?

CONTROL VOLTAGE

LINK SYSTEM

1000 Hz 2000Hz

EASE OF USE AND LAY OUT
MUSICIANS ARE HUMAN BEINGS. MANY DESIGN ENGINEERS DONT REALISE
HOW IMPORTANT THE USER INTERFACE OF A MUSICAL TOOL IS.

FREQUENCY MODULATION INPUT

ACTUAL TIME

ADSR OR ENVELOPE FOLLOWER, YOU CHOOSE.
THE SHERMAN IS EQUIPPED WITH A VERSATILE ADSR GENERATOR THAT RECEIVES ITS OWN TRIGGERING FROM THE INPUT SIGNAL. THE RANGE OF THE SPEED KNOBS IS EXTREME, BUT STILL EASILY CONTROLLABLE (VIA MIDI AS WELL) FROM LESS THAN 1 MS UP TO 15 MINUTES! ESPECIALLY FOR THIS REASON, CUSTOM MADE SUPER-EXPONENTIAL CURVED POTS ARE USED. EACH KNOB ON THE FILTERBANK HAS ITS OWN STORY. A DESIGN GOAL WAS TO GIVE EACH KNOB A CLEARLY AUDIBLE IMPACT. THE SUSTAIN LEVEL CAN GO BELOW ZERO - THIS CAN BE MONITORED ON THE BI-COLOURED ADSR OUTPUT INDICATOR. A TOGGLE SWITCH TURNS THE ADSR GENERATOR INTO AN ENVELOPE FOLLOWER CAUSING THE SUSTAIN KNOB TO BECOME A SENSITIVITY ADJUSTER. ATTACK AND RELEASE KNOBS REMAIN IN EFFECT. THE GENERATOR HAS ITS OWN INPUT, SENSITIVE TO AUDIO AND GATE SIGNALS. ANY EXTERNAL GATE PULSE OR LINE SIGNAL CAN TAKE OVER THE MAIN INPUT TO CONTROL THE ADSR AND ENVELOPE FOLLOWER. WHY NOT SMOOTHLY MODULATE YOUR STRING PAD WITH THE DYNAMICS OF A DRUMLOOP? THERES A SEPERATE ADSR VOLTAGE OUTPUT, THAT ENABLES PATCHING TO OTHER DEVICES.
LFO, MORE THAN LOW FREQUENCY.
THE SPEED GOES FROM AN EXTREMELY SLOW MINUTE LONG CYCLE TO AN EXCESSIVE 3600 HZ, SMOOTHLY CONTROLLABLE WITH ONE SPEED KNOB. NEXT TO THE SPEED KNOB, A TWO-COLOUR INDICATOR MONITORS YOUR POSITION IN THE SLOW CYCLES. FINALLY THERE IS THE ZERO-CENTRED AMOUNT KNOB: TO THE LEFT, THE FILTERS ARE MODULATED IN ANTIPHAZE, TO THE RIGHT, IN PHAZE. ON THE RACK VERSION THERE IS AN LFO OUTPUT
AMPLITUDE AND RING MODULATION INPUT
THE AM INPUT MODULATES BOTH OUT 1 AND MAIN OUT VCAS. AM MODULATION IS THE KEY TO WARM, FAT AND EXTREMELY AGGRESSIVE SOUNDS. THIS IS BECAUSE IT WORKS IN FAVOUR OF THE EVEN HARMONICS. WHEN THERES NO JACK PLUGGED IN THE AM INPUT, THE OUTPUT OF FILTER 2 IS USED AS INTERNAL AM SOURCE. THE EFFECT OF THIS MODULATION IS SIMILAR TO RING MODULATION.

RESO 1

THE FREQUENCY MODULATOR USES THE AUDIO INPUT TO ALTER THE FREQUENCY OF BOTH FILTERS. THIS WAY YOU CAN ACHIEVE VERY FAT AND DIGERIDOO-LIKE SOUNDS. IT
GETS EVEN MORE INTERESTING WHEN AN EXTERNAL SIGNAL IS APPLIED. THE FM INPUT ALSO ACCEPTS DC VOLTAGES FROM E.G. A CV/GATE OUTPUT, A MODULAR SYSTEMS LFO OR AN ADSR, THE VOLTAGE OUTPUT OF ANY ANALOG SEQUENCER, ANY PEDAL OR DEVICE THAT PROVIDES A VARIABLE VOLTAGE OR SIGNAL OUTPUT.

MIDI CONTROLLER

RESO 2
ALTERING A SOUND IN THE MIDDLE OF A SESSION SHOULD BE INTUITIVE. DIRECT PERFORMANCE AND SOUND SHAPING , THATS WHAT YOU GET WITH THE SHERMAN FILTERBANK. THE MANUAL IS
WRITTEN IN A CLEAR AND UNDERSTANDABLE LANGUAGE WITH MANY ILLUSTRATIONS. YOU JUST DONT HAVE THE TIME TO STUDY STACKS OF MANUALS. INSPIRATION COMES AUTOMATICALLY IF YOU RELAX.

SERIAL

KNOB POSITION

PARALLEL

GOING SMOOTHLY FROM PARALLEL TO SERIAL JUST ANOTHER UNIQUE SHERMAN FEATURE. A BYPASS / EFFECT BALANCE, AFFECTING MAIN OUT AS WELL OUT 1.

PEDAL INPUT

*THE PEDAL INPUT ALLOWS ANY
TOGGLING FOOTSWITCH FOR BYPASS / EFFECT SWITCHING. A MODIFIED FOOTPEDAL CAN ALSO CONTROL F1, SEE TECHNICAL CORNER ON WWW.SHERMAN.BE. *A BIG GREEN LED INDICATES "EFFECT ON" STATUS OF THE FB 2.
WHY IS IT NOT PROGRAMMABLE?
FIRST OF ALL, BECAUSE YOU ARE
FORCED TO MAKE YOUR OWN SOUND. WITH A LITTLE PRACTICE, THE FILTERBANK WILL REVEAL ITS SECRETS TO YOU. LIKE WITH A REAL MUSICAL INSTRUMENT, IT WILL BECOME AS FAMILIAR AS A PART OF YOUR BODY. THATS THE WAY IT HAS TO BE PLAYED. COMPARE IT WITH A GUITAR-AMP. SETUP WE SUGGEST TO TAKE DIGITAL SNAPSHOTS TO MEMORIZE YOUR SOUND SETTINGS
SWITCHES WITH 3 POSITIONS

THERE ARE

5 SWITCHES;
*3-WAY SWITCH. ALLOWS HI BOOST AS WELL AS HI CUT ON THE INPUT STAGE.
ALLOWS "SENSITRIG" (WHICH MAKES THE TRIGGERING TWICE AS SENSITIVE, FOR, E.G, CLEAN STRING PAD FILTERING), AND "LIMIT", WHICH LEAVES THE FILTERS MORE "BREATHING ROOM" FOR SELFOSCILLATION IF THE INPUT STAGE IS EXTREMELY OVER-DRIVEN.
*3-WAY SWITCH. HAS 2 GENERAL TRANSPOSE FUNCTIONS : +1 OCTAVE AND + QUINT WHICH WORKS LIKE AN OCTAVER WITH MONOPHONIC SIGNALS, AND HAS A SPECIFIC DIRTY CHARACTER

*3-WAY SWITCH.

WHY ARE THE MIDI CONTROLS ONLY RECEIVED, NOT TRANSMITTED ?
INCOMING MIDI CONTROLS ARE ADDED TO THE INTERNAL ANALOG MODULATION BUS. DRAW YOUR MODULATIONS OR RECORD PITCH MODULATION WHEEL IN THE SEQUENCER. WE STRONGLY SUGGEST TO RECORD HAND-ON PERFORMANCES IN AUDIO, ITS SMART TO RECORD EVERY SECOND OF FILTERBANK FIDDLING, VERY OFTEN AN UNIQUE AND CREATIVE MOMENT.
PERFORMS THE REALLY POWERFUL AND UNIQUE - A MONOPHONIC PITCH FOLLOWER, THAT TUNES FILTER 2 TO THE INCOMING PITCH, AND MAKES FILTER 1 SLAVE OF FILTER 2 VIA THE HARMONICS SWITCH. E.G. IN POSITION 2, FILTER 1 WILL BE PITCHED ONE OCTAVE HIGHER THAN FILTER 2, BUT STILL FOLLOWING THE PITCH. THIS EXTRA SWITCH ACTIVATES "TRACKING" IN NORMAL OR DEEP "TRACK LOW" POSITION, WITH STUNNING BASSES AS A RESULT. THE

"TRACKING" FUNCTION
USED SUBTLY OR OVER-THE-TOP, SHERMAN FILTERBANK ALWAYS WORKS.
OVERALL HARMONIC STRUCTURE ALTERING AS WELL AS EXTREME FILTER SETTINGS ARE A PIECE OF CAKE. THESE KNOBS ALSO ALLOW DIFFERENT SUBSTAGES OF DISTORTION IN THE CIRCUIT. STEP-LESS MIXING OF LOW PASS, BAND PASS & HIGH PASS OFFERS THESE SIX BASIC VARIATIONS TO START WITH:

BP LP HP

TECHNICAL SPECIFICATIONS
INPUT IMPEDANCE : 1 MOHM. USABLE INPUT LEVEL : 1 MVOLT TO 10 VOLTS TOP-TOP. OUTPUT IMPEDANCE : 600 OHM. NOMINAL OUTPUT LEVEL : 0.7 VOLT RMS. LINE LEVEL. POWER CONSUMPTION : 7.5 WATT. FILTER FREQUENCY RANGE : 0 HZ (!) UP TO 30 KHZ. DIMENSIONS : 17 X 4.5 X 3.2 INCH. - 432 X 114 X 81 MM. PACKED WEIGHT 4 KG (TABLETOP), 5 KG (SINGLE RACK), 8 KG (DOUBLE RACK). 19 RACK MOUNTABLE IN 6 WAYS. RACK MOUNT KIT INCLUDED.
HARMONICS: AN INTERESTING MUSICAL APPROACH
THE HARMONICS SWITCH IS PART OF FILTER 2. IN 11 OF THE 12 POSITIONS, FILTER 2S CUT-OFF FREQUENCY HAS A FIXED RATIO TO THE CUT-OFF FREQUENCY OF FILTER 1. FOR INSTANCE IN POSITION 1, FILTER 2S CUT-OFF FREQUENCY IS EQUAL TO THAT OF FILTER 1. IN POSITION 2, FILTER 2 IS TUNED EXACTLY 1 OCTAVE BELOW FILTER 1. IF YOU ALTER THE FREQUENCY OF FILTER 1, FILTER 2 WILL FOLLOW EXACTLY THE SAME MODULATIONS, BUT ONE OCTAVE LOWER ! THE SAME FOR POSITION 3 = ONE OCTAVE & A QUINT, 4 = TWO OCTAVES, AND SO ON. LIKE THE REGISTERS OF AN ORGAN, THE HARMONIC RELATION BETWEEN THE 2 FILTERS IS DETERMINED HERE. IF ONE FILTER PEAK
IS IN HARMONY WITH THE SOUND PASSING THROUGH, THE OTHER PEAK WILL BE IN HARMONY AS WELL, THANKS TO THE HARMONIC PROPORTION PROVIDED BY THE HARMONIC SWITCH. THE FREQUENCY KNOB, AND THE ADSR KNOB OF FILTER 2 ONLY APPLY IN THE FREE POSITION.
THE LINK SYSTEM ENDLESS FILTER POWER UNDER 1 KNOB
SPECIAL LINK IN AND LINK OUT JACKS ALLOW YOU TO CHAIN 2 OR MORE FILTERBANKS TOGETHER. THE FIRST IN THE CHAIN WILL CONTROL FILTER 1 OF THE FOLLOWING UNITS IN THE CHAIN. PARALLEL AUDIO ROUTING IN THIS CASE PROVIDES STEREO, QUADRO & MORE PHONIC FILTERING, EQUALLY TUNED AS ONE HUGE MONSTER FILTERBANK. SERIAL AUDIO ROUTING OF 2 FILTERBANKS WILL GIVE ALREADY 48 DB / OCTAVE SHARP CUT-OFF EDGES. 3 FILTERBANKS PROVIDE YOU WITH AN UNIMAGINABLE 72 DB ANALOG FILTER, AND AND SO ON. CHECK OUT THE SCARY POWER OF THE ULTIMATE LINK FEATURE!
REVOLUTIONARY ASPECT OF THIS FUNCTION IS THAT NEVER BEFORE HAS THERE BEEN ANY SIMILAR SYSTEM WHICH ENHANCES "ON THE SPOT" HARMONICS AND CREATES NEW HARMONICS WITH FAT ANALOG CIRCUITS. A WHITE LED INDICATES WHEN THE TRACKING SYSTEM IS "LOCKED ON".

HIGH PASS CURVE

BAND PASS CURVE

LOW PASS CURVE

LOCATED IN THE LFO SECTION, IT ALLOWS SAWTOOTH WAVE SHAPE OR AR RETRIG : THIS FORCES AN LFO RESTART FROM THE AR TRIG, WITH PUMPING GROOVES AS UNAVOIDABLE RESULT.

WWW.SHERMAN.BE

SHERMAN PRODUCTIONS - STATIONSWIJK 73, B3272 TESTELT, BELGIUM - FAX 00(32)13.784921 - EMAIL: INFO@SHERMAN.BE
FILTERBANK GRAPHIC DESIGN BY DAAN. WWW.DAAN.BE
AUDIO SIGNAL CONTROL VOLTAGE AUDIO & CONTR. VOLT. LINK SYSTEM MIDI CONTROLLABLE