Noise Lab’s modules have a look that is unmistakable; just that little bit of red on a faceplate sure goes a long way, and with the black and white, it takes me back to the early 80s when that color combination was all the rage thanks to Michael Jordan’s antics on the basketball court in his famous sneakers. Wrinkler MKII is the second incarnation of Noise Lab’s wavefolding module. Symmetrical and more streamlined than its predecessor, it boasts an all-analog signal and various filter modes and modulation options, making it like a souped up, specced out version of the West Coast classic circuit, with two different types of folders that are laid out in series.
Wavefolders work best with less harmonic information at the input (makes sense if the goal of wavefolding is to add harmonics, right?) so Wrinkler II has a filter at the input to help clean up more complex signals. It has three different types (one of them is 0, no filtering applied) and the other two are mysteriously unspecified in terms of their type or structure, but this just means you need to use your ears to decide what works best for you. There is a gigantic Fold knob with three available folding modes, A,B, and C, where A is for primary folding of up to seven folds (for the prototypical West Coast wavefolding experience). B is for secondary folding—for adding more folds—controlled by the Gain knob, which can also be modulated with external CV. Mode C is a clipping mode that squares off the top of the wave, creating sharp edges and sharper tones. This clipping mode is really interesting and took me into new wavefolding territory. I can’t say I’d never heard the sounds before—how do you differentiate one sharp, buzzy sound from another?—but I’d definitely not seen such harsh spindly waveforms on my oscilloscope by using this method before. MKII also has the Symmetry control, which determines where in the wave the folding takes place. This can have an interesting effect on the folding and the resulting sound, and this can be modulated with CV as well.
You’re able to mix the Dry input signal with the folded signal which is another nice touch, as are the two available CV inputs for modulating the foldings of Folds A and B. There is also a Feedback control, rounding out the features on MKII.
The dual folding capabilities of this module make me wonder how far down one could go with wavefolding. Triple folding? Quadruple? More? Eventually I’m sure you would just get some sort of colored noise, but the dual folding-action (it sounds like something a laundry detergent would brag about) when used in a subtle fashion brings a lot of interesting folding. You can get some really nice, soft detuning with a combination of subtle modulation using basic LFOs into both of the CV modulation inputs for the folders, nice for melody lines; drop your input signal into bassline territory and it’s instant magic for creating gritty bass lines that cut through a thick mix, and changing from one basic waveform to another at the input can yield dramatically different results, while still retaining the nuts and bolts that make it stand out.
Folding something through the first folder and modulating that wave with some sort of slow-ish moving periodic wave, and patching an audio rate signal into the Gain CV and you can get some nice AM-ring modulation. I used some square wave random LFO for this and that was pretty great. I realized though that I only liked really minute amounts of periodic (sine, square, etc.) waves for modulating any of the parameters, and really preferred things at audio rate or a random LFO, to bring about changing forms. A lot of the time I spent switching between modes and filter styles just to see what would strike my fancy. It was a lot more experimenting, hoping to stumble on to something, than it was determined, intentional patching. It was especially hard to guess outcomes when modulation amounts were cranked and I was using the aforementioned audio rate and random LFOs, which made for a lot of unique sounds. I also found myself patching a pulse wave into the Gain modulation for use as a VCA, to capture some chaotic noise bursts coming out of MKII. This often resulted in choppy, helicopter-y lines with a flair for formant-like qualities, and this was really exemplified when in C Mode, where the clipping squares the top of the signal.
Wrinkler II is fun to experiment with, with its myriad of ways to shape, shape more, and further shape waveforms. It’s definitely easy to lose one’s way—as I did many times—and I found that subtlety was the key. As I said before, it’s easy to just patch to the hilt and get into noise territory, which can be great, but it’s when I showed restraint—not my strong suit—that I was rewarded the most, especially when it came to basslines. As for basslines, MKII has become my de facto bassline generator ever since I racked it up. Either way, whether it's a sine, saw, square, or whatever, there’s nothing Wrinkler II can’t fold and manipulate into a useful buzzsaw, a squelchy howl, or the best bassline you’ve ever heard come out of your rack.

Price: $328

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