The Secret World Of Modular Synthesizers - SOS

Sound on Sound just published their recent Eurorack modular article to the SOS website. If you missed the original print article, here's your chance to check it out. Follow the link below.

The Secret World Of Modular Synthesizers

Accutronics Spring Tanks

The wonderful sound of springs.

CD Turntable >> Control Voltage >> Modular

This never occurred to me, but it makes perfect sense as an alternate controller for modular perfromances. The CDJ is communicating with the modular synth in the background via control voltages that were burned onto CD. This should be fairly easy to setup with Traktor, S2, X1, or F1 as the control interface and should produce some really fun and bizarre sounds.

CVTT01 from VoltageCtrlR on Vimeo.

And with vinyl as well:



Check out this Muff Wiggler thread for more information about the process.

Tiptop Audio - Trigger Riot Patch Sheet

I recently picked up the Tiptop Audio Trigger Riot which has been tons of fun and slightly confusing at first. There is so much happening under the hood that it is easy to get lost while adjusting parameters. In attempt to keep myself organized while fumbling around I came up with a simple patch sheet for jotting down ideas that would be easy to use.

The links below are for the Google Documents version and the original Excel file. If you decide to print these out, make sure the printer is set to print the file as profile so all details will remain on a single sheet of paper. Nice and tidy!

Google Document

Excel Document

The Synth Patch >> Toppobrillo DIY

The Synth Patch was created to provide support for existing as well as future Toppobrillo DIY projects. The first item they are offering is a parts kit for the Buchla 281 Dual Function Generator. This kit includes all PCB-mounted components other than switches, potentiometers, LEDs, and jacks since these items would be format/build specific. Everything is organized and tagged to help DIYers with identification. If you would like more information about the project, check out the DIY page on the main Toppobrillo site.

In the future, they will be adding kits for the Triple Wave Folder and other projects that are still in development.

Quantimator Restock @ Control

The Quantimator is back in stock at Control in New York.

Toppobrillo Multifilter

Here's a few videos describing the Toppobrillo Multifilter. These are from Rual Pena's site: Modular Wild. He has posted lots of useful information describing the functions and features of various Eurorack modules.

Bay Area Modular Meet - SAE, San Francisco - 07/14

Come out and see what's going on in the world of synthesis. Please see the Facebook Event or Muff Wiggler thread for more information.

SAE
450 Bryant Street #100
San Francisco, CA 94107


View Larger Map

Bay Area Synth Meet 01.28.2012

Another set of modular tweaking while at 924 Gilman.

Bay Area Modular Meet - 924 Gilman St - 01/28

Documentary: I Dream of Wires

Just a friendly little reminder that the I Dream of Wires documentary is still in need of funding to offset the costs of creating this film. If you enjoy modular synthesis or synthesizers in general, any help would be greatly appreciated.

Modular: Toppobrillo Multifilter Demos

A few Toppobrillo Multifilter demos popped up over the weekend. Take a listen and add your comments to the Soundcloud pages.

Toppobrillo Multifilter AFG Saw Demo


Multifilter Notch Sweep Demo


PingPong


Multifilter Lowpass Demo


Multifilter Bandpass Demo


Multifilter VCG demo


Multifilter FM

Trash Audio Synth Meet - Los Angeles 09.10.2011

Fun times this weekend in LA. The venue was packed which lead to plenty of great conversations and plenty of new Eurorack modules to check out.



Bay Area, I think it may be time to get another one going.

Bay Area Synth Meet 05.08.2011

Here are a few photographs from the Bay Area Synth Meet in Berkeley that was on May 08, 2011. Over the next few days I will continue to update the Flickr set as time permits.

Bay Area Synth Meet - Sunday May 8th

More information can be found in this Muff Wiggler thread.

Modular: Quantimator Scales

Bret posted another Quantimator test video. Check it out:

Modular: Quantimator Prototype #3

The third Toppobrillo Quantimator prototype was brought to life today. Between Bret, Josh, and myself we should be able to narrow down all of the bugs fairly fast. Let the bug squashing begin! Now the hardest part is going to be resisting the urge to write music. The Quantimator is really musical as soon as it is plugged into a patch and naturally it wants to be used in that context. It makes me want to play with it and not test for firmware issues. Hmm, I guess making some demos would be a way of working while playing.

So anyhow the image above is an arpeggio patch using the Quantimator with a Fonitronik Sequential Switch. The switch cycles between three notes which are output to an oscillator's pitch input. Modulating the chord selection with a control voltage adds a slight variation to the arpeggio.

Modular: Quantimator Progress

The Toppobrillo Quantimator is coming along nicely. The image above is one of the prototypes that we are using to test out the firmware prior to the production run. We used Pro-Modular for the prototype panels and they came out really slick looking. More information soon.The video below is of Bret testing the module out with the MakeNoise Pressure Points and the MFB OSC-02 Triple VCO.

Modular: Steiner Triple Envelope Generator

Almost done! This is the Analogue Realities recreation of the Steiner-Parker Triple Envelope Generator. Currently I have a few more wires that need be connected to the front panel components and then I'm ready for the first test. So far the build has been fairly easy since the project's documentation is really thorough. Looks like next week I'll have enough time to finish up the build which is great because I'm really looking forward to trying this module out.

More information about this module can be found at the Steiner Synthasystem website.

Modular: iPad/iPhone to Octomod

This a quick and easy patch I created in Pure Data to interface an iPhone or iPad to the Octomod. There are eight sliders that adjust the control voltage being output from the Octomod.

The Pure Data patch and TouchOSC layouts can be found here.