The Quad Peak Animation System – or QPAS from Make Noise – is an interesting new look at stereo filtering, what can be done with four filters, and how to manage them. The idea isn’t to give you individual control of every parameter of each filter, but rather it’s a take on how four filters can work together as a whole, whether in mono, or preferably in stereo, to form a playable instrument. 

Aside from having “regular” state variable low pass, band pass and high pass outputs, it introduces what Make Noise call a “smile pass” filter” – designed to enable resonant peaks without filtering the fundamental and its harmonics. 

It also comes with two mystery wildcard inputs which Make Noise don’t explain, so we’ll try and figure out together what they do… as well as take a look at QPAS’s very interesting implementation of non-self-oscillating yet ringing filter resonance.  

Here’s the full video, time line below: 

0:00 Intro  

1:40 Sweep on saw  

2:40 Sweep on noise  

3:20 Filter modes  

4:55 Mono/stereo  

5:50 Resonance and peaks  

8:20 The build in VCA  

9:20 Radiate controls  

10:25 1v/oct control of the filter?  

11:20 What is !!¡¡ ??  

13:40 Peaks on various audio loops  

15:10 FM fun  

17:20 Summary