Random Video: Eurorack Techno: Stress Testing Doepfer's A-132-4 VCA by Skrapadelix

I found this one on YouTube, a very nice subtle techno track by skrapadelix showing off his A-132-4 VCAs and more...
Enjoy!

Video: Eurorack Techno: Stress Testing Doepfer's A-132-4 VCA

" I just got a new VCA (well 4 of them actually) in the shape of the Doepfer A-132-4.I'm really impressed with the size (6hp), value for money and the sound - snappy, loud and clean. Here's a test patch with bass, percussion, hats and stab each routed through a separate VCA - and no matter how hot the levels get, the A-132-4 takes it all like a champ.

Patch details:
Kick drum: Analogue Solutions DB99
Bass: Cyclebox II sequenced by A-149 into VCA channel 1
Percussion: Piston Honda sequenced from A-160/A-161/A-138c into VCA channel 2
hats: A-118 into VCA channel 3
Stab: Flame Talking Synth into Pittsburgh delay into A-124 Wasp filter into VCA channel 4
The whole mix routed through the TipTop Audio Z5000 cv'd by the A-143-1.
As usual everything done in the wooden box in realtime with nothing else added..."

Uploaded by skrapadelix

Doepfer Gifts - Full Disclosure

Doepfer mug-shot

Back in January i received an e-mail from Dieter Doepfer himself in reply to a few questions that i had in preparation for a new blogpost.

Doepfer customer service has always been good, and Dieter always tries to personally answer his emails the same day. 

He is always willing to help me out with my retro-product-questions.
Besides the answers to my questions, he also had another nice announcement.

" Hello Pierre,
that's really a nice collection of our history products. 

When I have the time I could scan all the old documents I still have.
I think this will help you to continue the excellent work.
As you agreed that we link to your page I'm willing to offer some compensation for your job.
Publishing these details will also help us because sometimes customers ask for something like that.
Let me know if you are interested e.g. in a free A-100 module or similar."

Thank you, Dieter

...and last week, my package finally arrived.

They sent me a beautiful black-and-white Doepfer mug and an A-149-1/2 Quantized/Stored Random Voltages combination,  great modules that were high on my wishlist.

Doepfer mug and A-149-1/2 combo

I am very thankful for these gifts, and i see it as a recognition for (over) three years of blogging about modular synthesizers here at PatchPierre.Net.

I also feel that i have to mention these gifts from Doepfer here, as some kind of disclosure.

I will (of course) write one or more blogposts about my new modules, and i will keep on bringing you all the Doepfer news in the future.

Not much will change by these gifts, but i will stay the Doepfer fanboi that i always have been...

Random Video: Like Forbidden Planet by Yoric Spick

I liked this new video on YouTube.
Sadly it hasn't got much info, but what I see is a nice Eurorack module, controlled by a wooden custom-made (DIY?) controller box with faders, buttons and a joystick.
The video is shot on a mobile phone in portrait-mode and the video isn't very sharp, but I like the sound-effects that are created...

Video: Like Forbidden Planet

" Jeu aux joysticks et faders inspiré par les techniques du GRM. "

" Play with joysticks and faders inspired by the techniques of GRM

Uploaded by yoric spick

BookTip: Vintage Guides from FutureMusic

'50 Great Second-hand Buys' and '30 Vintage Buys' by FutureMusic

I have been buying/collecting Future Music Magazine almost since the beginning, i believe it was in 1993 when i first discovered the magazine and bought issue #5 in a Dutch bookshop.

Back then it was a great magazine, i remember that it was around the top of the big retro-hype that was going on in the mid-nineties.

One of the main advantages of that was that every month it was filled with lots of reviews of interesting hardware, in contrast to what i see lately whenever i pick one up in the local bookstore.

50 Great Second-Hand Buys
Free with Future Music #18
April 1994

About half a year after I bought my first FM  issue I got myself a subscription, and I have enjoyed the magazine for almost a decade.

I even had a year subscription to the Dutch version of the magazine.

Not only did the Future Music come with a free demo-CD with every issue, sometimes the came with other extras, like these two little books for example.

The '50 Great Second-Hand Buys' booklet (64 pages) came with the April issue of 1994 and featured descriptions and (basic) technical specifications of 50 of the best second-hand music-buys around.
It also gave advice on what to look for and what your rights were when you were looking into buying second-hand gear.
It's weird to see how dated the info in the book now looks with the AtariST and Amiga hardware and software-tips...

30 Vintage Buys
Free with Future Music #37
November 1995

The other booklet (32 pages) '30 Vintage Buys' appeared 1 ½ year later.
It had quite some overlap with the other book, but was also very interesting for people who wanted to buy second-hand classic gear.
This one included 30 retro gear reviews (including 13(!) Roland products), buying advice, pros and cons of the equipment and a short fact file section for each item.

If you are interested in vintage gear, these two books together are nice collector's items, but the info in it was rather limited and at some points very dated.
If you need more details on older equipment i suggest you read other books like the 'Keyfax Omnibus Edition' by Julian Colbeck or Peter Forrest's 'The A-Z of Analogue Synthesizers' (out of print) for example.
These books offer much more in-depth info, and cover much more instruments.

Also check out my other BookTips

Most Wanted VII: A-1?? Speech Module

Time to get one of my earlier segments off the shelf.

Since i first started to write this blog, i have posted quite a few 'Most Wanted' posts about modules i would really like to see being made by Doepfer.

In some cases i even did some predictions and/or wild guesses which proved to be not that far from what has come out of the hands of Doepfer lately.

For example... Take a look for example at my blogpost from December 2010, and compare it with the details on Doepfer's forthcoming A-190-8 MIDI-to-Sync Interface module.

A-1?? Speech module,
announced in the 2008 Doepfer brochure

I really wish i could tell you more about this one too, but i can't...

The A-1?? Speech Module was first mentioned in the 2008 A-100 brochure, as a 'synthetic human voice moduled controlled by CV/Gate or MIDI' 

I often wondered what this module would be like, and I have been waiting for more info about it ever since.
My hopes were that it would be a module with a SpeakJet chip inside, just like FLAME's Talking Synth, a module that has always intrigued me...
The variety of the SpeakJet chip ranges from speech-like sounds and synthetic robot voices (as well as beeps and alarms), to retro-style sci-fi sounds.
Due to the structure of the Speakjet (with its complex sound synthesizer, preset sounds and serial interface) it offers an impressive range of possibilities. The SpeakJet is not sample based as you might think, it has its own sound engine.

Video: Speakjet Chip Demo Mode

" In this video I demonstrate the Speakjet chip in demo mode in which you can hear all the pre-loaded vocal and sounds that the chip outputs in demo mode.
FYI: I used the mic connection instead of the 120ohm speaker that they recommend since you can barley hear the chip(in demo mode w/o an amplifier)!"

Uploaded by sergiolcjr

To be honest, i don't even care what speech-chip the A-1?? will have inside, the thought alone of bringing synthesized speech into a Eurorack modular is a good thought.
In my opinion it is hard enough nowadays to invent original and new truly analog modules, so i would welcome the use of more digital chips and circuits integrated in a CV/Gate-controlled modular environment.

Sadly enough, this module disappeared in all later Doepfer brochures.

I will investigate this further and post more about this module later... i hope... ;-)

A few days after posting this Dieter replied to my blogpost;
" The response to the announcement of the speech module was very poor.
And as there is already a similar module available from another manufacturer (Flame Talking Synth) we decided to stop this development and focus on other new modules." 

Find all my earlier 'Most Wanted' posts HERE

Modular Checker by Ladik

Now here's an interesting looking Eurorack test-tool...

Ladik (from the Czech Republic) has now produced a nice device that you can plug into any mini-jack-socket to check if there is any voltage output (positive and negative)

They look quite robust and they are made out of a Quality REAN (Neutrik) connector and has a bright bi-colored LCD (positive = red, negative = green) that starts glowing if it registers a signal of approx 2 Volts.

He hasn't listed them on eBay yet, but expect to find these soon HERE

Video: "Checker" for modular Eurorack synth

"Is an signal in this hole?
3,5mm jack (Rean by Neutrik)
Just checks if in a madular jack is positive or negative voltage over 2 volts."

Video uploaded by RuprechtM

Random Video: The Doepfer A-160 Clock Divider As Sequencer

I only recently found out that someone on MuffWiggler has created an impressive list with all kinds of Eurorack video tutorials. 

This list is being updated regularly, because i also see some of my own recent videos in the Doepfer section of the list.

One of the more interesting videos i stumbled upon there was a year-old video by hiawogice from YouTube that shows the use of a Doepfer A-160 Clock Divider as a nifty little stand-alone sequencer module.

Module A-160 is a frequency divider for clock/trigger/gate signals, particularly for rhythm uses.

At the outputs, you have access to the sub-divided clock signals, from half the clock frequency down to 1/64.
The Clock Divider can be used in combination with the A-161 Clock Sequencer to produce stepped sequences with a length of from one to eight events.

This video shows you can also have a lot of fun without the A-161 module...

Video: Doepfer a160 sequence

" demo of a fun, simple concept: clock divider as sequencer. sorry for camera mic audio quality"

Uploaded by hiawogice