New Podcast: Why We Bleep by Mylar Melodies

I've been a long-time fan of Mylar Melodies. and his (Eurorack) video-productions, and yesterday he released the first episode of a brand new monthly podcast interview-series.

The new show is called Why We Bleep, and in it he meets electronic music makers and the people who make their equipment.
He explores their experiences, their processes, and see what can we learn from them.
"The show is inspired by an eternal struggle to get better at making music. To better understand the mysterious, unique and amazing people behind the equipment and music that we love. And to better understand where music making might be going.", according to the creator.

The podcast is available on iTunes, YouTube, and HERE on his site, and takes the form of a conversation recorded in-person, and also captured on camera where possible.

The first episode starts with meeting @musicthing Tom Whitwell, from Music Thing Modular, open source electronic musical instruments: http://musicthing.co.uk/modular/

Next episode will be Justin Owen of Abstract Data, Abstract Data designs & manufactures electronic musical instruments & effects in Eurorack Modular and Desktop formats.

⏵Video: https://youtu.be/N18ro8nxXI4 

⏵Subscribe on iTunes: https://itunes.apple.com/gb/podcast/why-we-bleep/id1338201154 …

Website: http://www.whywebleep.com

MusicThing Modular Spring Reverb by Tom Whitwell

MusicThing Spring Reverb
Module

Tom Whitwell, known to many as the man behind the MusicThing blog, his Turing Machine- project (plus expanders) and various other syth-related projects, has cooked up something new again.

His latest Voltage Controlled Spring Reverb module is a eurorack spring reverb module that has a circuit that is inspired by a few other synth designers.

The end result is a spring reverb module with a few interesting extras... 

For example, this design features a voltage controlled vactrol crossfader that you can also use independently.

In the following videos Tom shows us what the module can do.

Video 1: Music Thing Modular Spring Reverb

" Spring reverb module for Eurorack modular synths. Audio is slightly out of sync with video, sorry. Full details below...
Controls: Top knob is reverb level.
Right hand smaller knob is Tilt, a simple hifi-style tone control that changes the colour of the reverb.
Left hand smaller knob is Control, an attenuverter control for the incoming CV. 12 o'clock = no CV, clockwise = increasing CV, anticlockwise = inverted CV.
Patch: DPO sine waves sequenced by Turing Machine and Wogglebug. Gated through QMMG, envelopes from Maths. The CV input makes 80s-style gated reverb and pseudo-reverse reverb possible.
For this demo, using a 9EB2C1B full sized reverb tank. "

Video 2: Music Thing Modular Spring Reverb Crossfade Mode

" The MTM Spring Reverb contains a vactrol crossfader that you can also use independently. Here, it is crossfading between the DPO Final and Square outputs.
The module can be built with either a Silonex or a VTL5C3 vactrol. The VTL5C3 sounds smoother for this use, with a slower response that can be 'pinged'.
Video and audio are slightly out of sync, sorry. "

This is again an open hardware project – all the project files (Eagle CAD projects, Gerbers PCB files, a Mouser BOM and Illustrator/PDF front panel designs) will be available soon on his web-page, covered by a Creative Commons Attribution Share-a-like license, which allows for commercial use.

Update 26/10: Documentation and schematics now available via http://musicthing.co.uk/modular/?page_id=579

If you want to find out more about this module check out the Spring Reverb Research Notes for the background story or listen to the Spring Reverb Audio Demos and don't forget to follow Tom on Twitter for future updates.