The Bends is a four channel averaging matrix. A voltage source. A voltage manipulator. A hub of voltage interaction. A voltage-controlled cross-mixer. A space for your signals to bounce off of one another.
Among other things, The Bends can be used to:
• Combine CV signals, resulting in multiple different simultaneous outputs based on their intersection / interaction
• Control the mix of audio or CV signals with CV
• Control the routing of signals with CV
• Provide positive and negative fixed offset voltages, and manipulate those voltages with CV
• Attenuate and / or invert audio or CV
• Control the offset of a signal with CV
• Control the amplitude of a signal with CV (similar to a VCA), including "ducking" (inverse VCA behavior)
• Turn triggers into snappy lil’ percussion envelopes
• Confuse your friends when explaining your patch
It’s also possible to combine several of the above functions in such a way that turning the knobs on The Bends controls complex and simultaneous results throughout your patch! Though it can be a link in a relatively linear flow of audio or CV, The Bends shines as a central hub of a CV web, where a large number of control voltages interact with each other, but can all be manipulated or reduced to nothing by twiddling The Bends’ four knobs.