Good value-for-money and serious rackspace-savers are Doepfer's Quad modules.
These modules offer four (-duh-) identical but individual modulation sources in one module.
My A-143-2 Quad ADSR is at the heart of my A-100 system.
With 4 envelope generators in one this is a very powerful module, and this is where the 3 individual gate outputs from my MAQ 16/3 come together.
Also see THIS post.
The Gate inputs of the units 2, 3 and 4 are normalled to the Gate input of unit 1, so Gate input 1 is connected to the switching contacts of the Gate input sockets fom submodule 2, 3 and 4 if no other input is connected.
With only one Gate signal applied to Gate input 1, it can be used to trigger all four sub-modules simultaneously.
A switch for each individual channel is available for switching between high, low and medium ranges.
All 4 sub-units have additional input sockets for Re-Trigger, but the re-trigger behaviour of the A-143-2 is slightly different compared to other envelope generators;
During the attack phase the envelope cannot be re-triggered or reset. (unlike the A-140 ADSR envelope, that envelope can be re-triggered while the gate is still open).
Each sub-unit also has three digital outputs (high/low) that sends a trigger signal at the End of Attack (EOA), End of Decay (EOD) and End of Release (EOR).
This is very useful if you want to daisy-chain the sub-modules to create more complex envelopes. (or even complete loops)
The envelope outputs are displayed with LEDs and the maximal envelope voltage (Attack/Decay reversal point) is about +8V.
I blogged about the Doepfer Mogli and gesture control earlier on this blog, but in 2007 it was already possible to control your A-100 with a Nintendo Wii Remote (or Wiimote) controller.
" This video is about controlling a modular synth with Nintendo's wiimote gamepad, using Doepfer A-100, Doepfer MCV24, Wiimote and computer.
Softwares used are Bluesoleil, Glovepie and Midi-ox.
This video is not an artistic demonstration but a technical explanation of this system (that can be used for making music ofc). "
Uploaded on Sept. 12, 2007 by YouTube user DamagedMeat
In 1993 Doepfer presented the Mogli MIDI Data Glove Controller, an alternative controller device that was based on a Nintendo Power Glove controller.
It had traditional NES controller buttons on the forearm as well as a program button and buttons labeled 0-9.
The complete Mogli set with Power Glove,
receivers, Mogli interface box and adapters
There were two ultrasonic speakers (transmitters) in the glove and you had to put three ultrasonic microphones (receivers) around your TV monitor.
The ultrasonic speakers took turns transmitting a short burst (a few pulses) of 40 kHz sound and the system measured the time it took for the sound to reach the microphones.
A triangulation calculation was performed to determine the X, Y, Z location of each of the two speakers, which specified the yaw and roll of the hand.
It could also sense the bend of the individual fingers, the only dimension it couldn't calculate was the pitch of the hand, since the hand can pitch without moving the location of the two ultrasonic speakers.
The Power Glove was originally released in 1989 and was in general a critical and commercial failure.
Partly because of the lack of accuracy and the availability of games (for it's original use with the NES)
The Mogli interface box, Power Glove and adapters
In 1993 Doepfer introduced an external box that could receive the glove's data and convert it into MIDI signals.
The name Mogli stands for 'Midi Output GLove Interface'
The original Mogli interface box was equipped with MIDI in and MIDI out, and it had a red 3-digit LED display.
The display was needed to program the unit (i.e.to assign different function to the fingers, to the X/Y/Z coordinates, to the rotating angle and so on).
After a calibrating procedure the glove could be used in different controller modes.
The 'Virtual Play' mode was maybe the most attractive mode, in which could make you play a virtual keyboard in the free space.
In Direct Mode you could assign any movement to any MIDI controller, other modes were Gesture Mode (converting sign-language to MIDI controllers) Vector Mode (position sensing only) and Manipulation Mode (for manipulating incoming MIDI with the glove).
Although i am not the world's greatest electronics-guy i do have a feeling that the original Mogli converter box could be easily transformed into a version that sends Control Voltage and/or Gate signals.
Original Nintendo Power Glove
If you can find one, it will probably just work just fine with one of Doepfer's MIDI-to-CV modules, but you might not get the most out of all the glove's many functions.
The price of the system was 598 DM (i.e. about 300 Euro) for the ready built unit including a Nintendo power glove.
The kit version was 448 DM (i.e. about 225 Euro) incl. Nintendo power glove.
The control box only (without the glove) was 398 DM (i.e, about 200 Euro)
A kit version of the box was also available for just 258 DM (i.e. about 130 Euro)
The unit was available from March 93 until December 1995, but Doepfer had to stop the production because the Nintendo Power Glove was no longer available.
Around 350 units were made in total.
Interesting fact is that the Mogli was also used by Kraftwerk (on 'Pocket Calculator' and 'Music Non Stop') during their concert at the Brucknerhaus in Linz/Austria on the occasion of the ARS Electronica Festival for Art, Technology and Society in 1993.
Okay, i admit that the technology of the Power Glove might be outdated by now, but the idea of controlling sounds/patches with the move of your hand will always stay an interesting subject.
Roland is famous for its D-Beam technology since 1998.
The A-178 Theremin Control Voltage module (or the discontinued A-179 Light Controlled Voltage Source) definitely do not offer all the functionality of a glove like this.
However, i do think we will see some kind of gesture-control-trend coming up this year with the recently announced Kinect motion sensing input device by Microsoft, that was already available for the X-Box platform but that will soon be available for the Windows platform too.
I wonder how soon the first interesting gesture-controlled modular synth-video's will pop up on YouTube...
Find the Mogli's user-manual (in German language only) HERE
Please let me know if you have an English version, or else check the start of my translation project (work in progress).
Okay, many of you already know this site, and i linked to it many times.
If you want to know everything about classic synthesizers, you should really check out http://www.vintagesynth.com/ before you look any further.
For over 15 years (since 1996) the Vintage Synth Explorer has been providing a fast and easy way to learn about vintage synthesizers.
Their library contains over 750 synths, samplers and drum machines, and is updated regularly.
They claim to be the world's leading synthesizer resource and have grown to include modern digital synthesizers, analog emulators, soft-synths, plug-ins, and other forms of electronic musical instruments.
On this site you will find detailed descriptions and reviews, pictures, audio and video samples, technical specifications, lists of famous users, links and more!
The A-165 Dual Trigger Modifier contains two separate and identical trigger modifiers for use with logical / digital levels.
In fact it works pretty similar to the A-175 Dual Voltage Converter, only this module works on Gates, Clock and Triggers.
Each half of this module enables signals, generated by the A-100, to communicate with other instruments (such as an external sequencer), or is simply used for reversing a trigger's polarity.
Whatever signal is patched into the input is inverted by the module, and fed out of the Inv. Out (inverted output) socket.
At the same time, a short trigger signal (of roughly 50 ms) is generated every time an edge of the trigger pulse is sensed (negative as well as positive).
This trigger signal is available at the +/- output.
Two LEDs show the level of signal available at the two outputs.
Because the original and inverted trigger signal are often both needed at the same time, it is possible to use these two inputs as a mini-multiple - using one of them to send the original trigger to another module.
If you are only looking for simple trigger inverters, you might want to take a look at the A-166 Dual Logic module which also has two simple inverters, only minus the +/- pulse that the A-165 has.
Simon Cann is a musician and writer based in London. He is the author of a range of music-related and music business-related books and published this book in 2005. (my copy is the revised 2007 edition)
The book is " a comprehensive, practical guide to sound design and synthesizer programming techniques using subtractive (analog) synthesis, frequency modulation synthesis, additive synthesis, wave-sequencing, and sample-based synthesis. "
Every function of a synthesizer gets discussed in this 278-page book, and the author shows practical uses for these building-blocks to make/recreate sounds.
The book is illustrated with many pictures and screen-shots from (software) synthesizers that i had/have never heard of, and that might be the only 'problem' that i have with this book.
In my opinion this book is a bit too much focused on Software synths and some of the sounds can only be created with these soft-synths.
For analog purists (like me) this can be a bit of a trouble, but nevertheless i enjoyed reading it and had fun trying out new patches.
I like the book a lot because it is stuffed with info, patch-ideas and other suggestions, but i advice beginners to start with the more basic synth-books. (check the BookTip section of this blog)
A new A-100 video that caught my eye today is this next one by YouTube user Frequenzverschiebung, simply called 'Doepfer A-100 Modular Madness 1'
" Random Doepfer A-100 patch, all movement controlled by two LFO modules (A-145, A-146) and noise, S&H (A-118, A-148), SSM2044 filter (A-105), ring mod (A-114), 2 VCO (A-110) and more.
Additional delay and reverb with software plugins ValhallaÜberMod and ValhallaRoom. "
