Monday, December 30, 2013

Buying a Modular Synth Video by Keyboard Magazine

A new video by Keyboard Magazine covers a lot of topics around buying a modular synthesizer.
If i am correct there is an article by Jim Aikin in the most recent issue of KeyboardMag to accompany this video...
Check it out at your local magazine-store...

Video 1: Buying a Modular Synth (part 1)
" 30-year Keyboard contributor and music technology guru Jim Aikin discusses what he learned buying his first modular synth rig, and shows us some of the modules."
Uploaded by keyboardmag1

Future episodes will be added to this post when available...

Sunday, December 29, 2013

DIY Eurorack MIDI-to-CV Converter by Stereoping

Today i discovered Stereoping and its interesting line of products.

Stereoping was founded by Gregor Zoll.
Since his graduate to a graphics designer he is selfemployed in 3D-computeranimation, programming and development of computergames.
As a sideline he always made lots of music and repaired, altered and – in the end – developed lots of musical equipment like drumcomputers and synthesizers.
Stereoping MIDI-to-CV
Converter
As his ideas got more concrete and his developments got more professional through the years, he started a business in 2013 for the development and worldwide shipping of innovative diy-assembly kits for musical devices.

If this business will develop as he hopes, his goal will be to offer complete out-of-the-box products in some years...

Stereoping produces 'DIY assembly kits for making magical music' and will be opening a webshop in early 2014, where he will be selling some of the products shown on their site.
Some modules will also be available as a DIY-kit...
They also have a special Eurorack section on their site with interesting stuff.

The latest product is this Eurorack MIDI CV Interface, a basic MIDI-to-CV converter which is really not that innovative, but still a good piece of work IMO.
I like the plain and simple design of the panels, and I'm looking forward to seeing more modules coming from this new company.

Video: Demo for my DIY Eurorack Module 'Midi CV Interface'

" Short and musically quite boring demo of the features of my Eurorack diy Midi-CV-Interface. In case you dont know: such an interface lets you integrate the analogue module system into the digital midi production set. It has - besides Pitch-CV and Gate - simultaeneous outputs for velocity and 2 controllers. It can learn the midichannel (and remember it) and be set to single trigger (held notes will not send another gate) or multiple trigger. It also has a potentiometer to set the glidetime (portamento). A switch lets select if all notes should be glided or just held notes.The latter gives kind of temporary glide like on the tb303. It also has 5 Volt outputs for midiclock and sequencer-start/stop (both not features in this video). More technical info on my homepage. Sorry for the bad video quality, forgot to disable manual focus."

Uploaded by stereoping

Modular Christmas Gif by Richard Devine

Okay... Christmas is already over, but i still want to share this nice Gif created by Richard Devine.
It totally brings out the (analog) Christmas spirit... ;-)


Find Richard Devine on Twitter at https://twitter.com/RichardDevine
or just at richard-devine.com

Friday, December 27, 2013

Intellijel Atlantis Dual Oscillator Subtractive Synth Voice Announced

Intellijel just keeps on surprising with cool new Eurorack modules
Today they announced the Atlantis, a Dual Oscillator Subtractive Synth Voice

" The Atlantis is heavily inspired by the architecture and sound of the classic Roland SH-101.
It has always been one of our favorite synths and we really liked how the seemingly limited architecture allowed for all sorts of creative and musically useful sounds to be easily generated.

Just like the 101 it is quick to dial in beautifully rich bass and lead sounds. 
However this module uses triangle core VCOs (based on the Dixie core) instead of Saw core which respond much more musically to FM. 
The modulation oscillator can be used as an LFO or VCO (audio rate) and both track very precisely over 8 or more octaves.

Intellijel Atlantis 

In the mixer section you can adjust the balance of the primary oscillators waveforms including a sinewave which is normalled to the EXT IN jack. 
You could also patch in one of the modulation oscillators waveforms into this channel and be able to operate the Atlantis as a proper two oscillator synth. 
There is a switch labelled “LINK” which enables the modulation vco pitch to be based as an offset of the primary VCO. 
This is useful when using it as a stacked dual vco or when you have the mod VCO acting as the linear FM source for the primary vco and wish to maintain the ratio.

The filter section is a Roland style cascaded 4 pole multimode filter with LP, BP and HP modes. 
The LP Boost switch engages a special mode useful for the LP that produces a much fatter and prominent sound that is not drowned out by resonance (unlike the original SH-101). 
The filter self-oscillates to produce a very clean sine wave which also tracks 1V/Oct. Between the Mod VCO, Primary VCO, Sub Oscillator and resonating filter it is possible to layer up to four different pitches at one time.

The envelope section is an ADSR with a dual range switch. 
It also can be set to a looping mode which can be gated on/off externally.
The output VCA feeds into a two level output clipping circuit that you can use to get a much ballsier/dirtier sound.

Main features:
Modulation VCO: triangle core with Hard Sync and Link switch to connect pitch to primary
Primary VCO: triangle core with Hard Sync, Octave switches, Linear/Exp FM and PWM
Global modulation bus with four VCO waveforms, noise and S&H options
Cascaded 4-Pole multimode filter
Looping ADSR with range switch, manual gate, and external level (velocity) control.
Three position output clipping circuit
27 jacks for creative and complex patching options
Header on back of pcb that allows it to be linked (normalled) to the Intellijel Metropolis sequencer
Skiff Friendly

Summary of enhancements over the SH-101 core:
Triangle core vcos (with far better tracking and Hard sync) instead of saw core
Primary vco has linear FM (not just exp)
MOD Vco can be linked to the primary VCO pitch CV.
Modulation oscillator switchable from LFO to VCO
Filter is multimode, 2/4pole switchable and has a special LP boost mode
Filter allows for selection of inverted ADSR mod source
Filter tracks 1V/oct
Mixer section includes and external source which is normalled to a sinewave
Filter has built in soft clipping
Envelope has looping option, re-trigger and selectable time range
Output VCA has two stage clipping circuit
External clock input for the S&H
Patch points for every synthesis section"

Video: Intellijel Atlantis


More info at http://www.intellijel.com/eurorack-modules/atlantis/
Available to purchase on January 1st 2014

Thursday, December 26, 2013

Let me show you my rack... by @Flixxx

Felix from Germany (@Flixxx) was asked to make a video of the Eurorack gear that he uses to make his music and videos.
Here's his narrated studio-tour...
Don't forget to check out the other links below the video for more interesting stuff.

Video: Let me show you my rack ...
" I was asked to show my Eurorack. Here you go.
Please show me your's and subscribe for more videos: http://www.youtube.com/subscription_c...
If you have any questions, post them as a comment below :) Thanks for watching!

____MY EURORACK MODULAR SYNTH ON MODULARGRID.COM:
http://www.modulargrid.net/e/racks/vi...
____MY WHOLE SETUP EXPLAINED:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L7yb2r...
____MY OTHER EURORACK VIDEOS:
Doepfer Clock Divider as Sub-Oscillator:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p5FnhF...
Make Noise Function as Sub-Oscillator:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jKtQ-_...
Turing Machine as VCO:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uoNGHV...
Circuit Abbey Invy as Waveshaper:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FCr5xn...
Intellijel uVCF as Saw Wave Oscillators:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_e92Yi...
____LeBEAT GRAPHIC DESIGN (who painted my case):
http://lebeat.de/

____TIMECODES FOR EACH MODULE:

1:03 Doepfer A-160 Clock Divider & A-161 Clock Sequencer
1:31 Rebel Technologies Stoicheia
1:54 Doepfer A-162 Dual Trigger Delay
2:02 DIY OR Gate based on Doepfer DIY Page (http://www.doepfer.de/DIY/a100_diy.htm)
2:29 Doepfer A-151 Quad Sequential Switch
2:50 Doepfer A-180 Passive Multiples
3:07 Make Noise Function
3:25 Doepfer A-142-4 Quad Decay
3:36 Doepfer A-132-2 Dual Lin/Exp VCA
3:46 Doepfer A-132-4 Quad Exp VCA
3:58 Doepfer A-138 Exp Mixer
4:13 Din Sync Modseq
4:39 Music Thing Turing Machine & Pulses Expander
5:06 Doepfer A-175 Dual Voltage Inverter
5:17 Circuit Abbey Invy Attenuverter
5:37 Intellijel uScale Quantizer
5:50 Intellijel Dixie I VCO
6:09 Noise Engineering Ataraxic Translatron VCO
6:28 Intellijel uVCF
6:46 Doepfer A-125 Voltage Controlled Phase Shifter (Phaser)
6:55 Flame FX6
7:07 Flight of Harmony Plague Bearer v4
7:22 Flight of Harmony The Sound of Shadows Delay
7:45 Manhatten Analog mix
7:58 DIY Quad CV/Gate Generator
8:29 DIY Switch It/Push It
8:53 Doepfer A-183-1 Dual Attenuator
9:07 The Voice Of Saturn VCF
9:27 MFB OSC-02 Triple VCO
9:48 Monotron Blind Panel
9:57 Koma Kommander
10:23 Anyware Tinysizer Modular Synth

____MORE LINKS:
SUBSCRIBE TO MY CHANNEL:
http://www.youtube.com/subscription_c...
GET MY ELECTRONIC MUSIC AT BANDCAMP:
http://nightmachines.bandcamp.com
FOLLOW ME ON TWITTER:
http://twitter.com/Flixxx
MY OTHER YOUTUBE CHANNEL:
http://www.youtube.com/flx04part2 "

Sunday, December 22, 2013

Modular Wild presents PATCH IT - "The Gargantuan Patch"

A new PATCH IT series by Raul Pena started today.

Video: Modular Wild presents PATCH IT - "The Gargantuan Patch" (Part One)

"The Gargantuan Patch"- This segment explores Eurorack Modular patching on a 9U Monorocket System. Part One of Four.Sound and Video by Raul Pena."

Video: Modular Wild presents PATCH IT - "The Gargantuan Patch" (Part Two)
"The Gargantuan Patch"- This segment explores Eurorack Modular patching on a 9U Monorocket System. Part Two of Four.Sound and Video by Raul Pena."

Video: Modular Wild presents PATCH IT - "The Gargantuan Patch" (Part Three)

"The Gargantuan Patch"- This segment explores Eurorack Modular patching on a 9U Monorocket System. Part Three of Four.Sound and Video by Raul Pena."

Video: Modular Wild presents PATCH IT - "The Gargantuan Patch" (Part Four)
"The Gargantuan Patch"- This segment explores Eurorack Modular patching on a 9U Monorocket System. Part Four of Four.Sound and Video by Raul Pena."

Doepfer A-190-8 Midi/USB to Sync Interface Now Available

At the end of the year, Doepfer finally announced that the A-190-8 Midi/USB to Sync Interface is available starting today.
A-190-8 Prototype

Basically this module divides the incoming MIDI or USB clock messages into smaller steps.
You could look at the A-190-8 as a modular version of the MSY2 MIDI-to-SYNC Converter.
It was already announced in December last year, and besides the normal MSY2 functions this module also features multiple simultaneous outputs and added USB support.

Here are the most important features of this version of the module:
- Midi input (recognizes only Midi realtime messages clock, start, stop and continue)

- USB input for Midi via USB

-Clock outputs:
96: outputs the Midi clock 1:1 (96 pulses per measure/ppm or 24 pulses per quarter note/ppq)
32: outputs the Midi clock divided by 3 (32 pulses per measure/ppm or 8 pulses per quarter note/ppq)
16: outputs the Midi clock divided by 6 (16 pulses per measure/ppm or 4 pulses per quarter note/ppq)
8: outputs the Midi clock divided by 12 (8 pulses per measure/ppm or 2 pulses per quarter note/ppq)
1: outputs a pulse at the start of each measure

- Other outputs:
Start: outputs a pulse at each Midi Start or Continue message or generates a gate signal that remains in the high state until a Midi Stop message occurs (selectable via jumper)
Stop: outputs a pulse at each Midi Stop message
Reset: outputs a pulse at each Midi Start message that follows a Midi Stop message

- Wait control input, can be selected by means of a jumper between Gate function or Switch function: in - Gate mode the positive edge of a gate signal is used to init the Wait state, in Switch mode an external switch that connects to GND is used to init the Wait state (equivalent to Switch-Trigger)

- Wait button / Wait control input: Whenever the Wait button is operated or a positive voltage is applied to the Wait input the module waits for the next measure start until the clock signals are generated.

- LED displays for clock, "1" and start (display of Start depends upon the chosen Start mode, see above)
output voltages can be selected between +5V and +12V by means of an internal jumper (for DIN Sync applications +5V has to be used !)
firmware updates via USB (provided that there will be updates available)