Modular Music Thingies

At the end of 2022, I took part in a giveaway organised by Thonk, an online shop for modular synthesizer products. The goal was to raise money for a charity for Pakistan. The prize was a Plinky, an out of the ordinary synthesizer with a very peculiar interface.
Thonk also had the good idea to include 2 modules from Music Thing Modular.
I was lucky to be among the 4 people who won this giveaway. And I am now the proud owner of these two modules: Startup and Twin Drive.

Unboxed

Startup includes a clock generator in the upper part, with a tap tempo and a split control.
The lower part is an audio mixer. The mixer has no knob. Instead, relative volumes are set by patching : loudest on top, quietest at the bottom, one stereo input. Finally, there are two stereo headphone outputs. I would have preferred two mono outputs, but here we are.

Twin Drive is a double overdrive with nice incandescent overdrive bulbs.

They have a temporary place in the rack, because they were not in my plan. But I'm not going to leave such fine modules on a shelf.

Twin Drive

Startup

Avalanche

I bought this module kit from Mammouth Boutique before the shop closed. So it's been a while.

I finally put some time into it at the end of 2022 to start building it.

Finished Avalanche

 

The kit

Avalanche is a rather imposing module with 42 HP (21 cm long). It consists of 8 oscillators with a filter, an envelope generator, an internal clock, a sample&hold and an effect processor.  The latter is based on an FV-1 SMD chip and is pre-soldered onto the board.

It's semi-modular, so you don't need any cable to produce a sound. But you can take advantage of the random generator or the envelope to play with the pitch or the cut-off frequency of the filter.

The kit is flawless like the previous ones from Mammouth Boutique.
There is a single PCB with the electronics on one side and the numerous controls on the other. The black front panel is very classy although a little cryptic.

Since I assembled it after closing the shop and the website, I had no way to download the assembly manual.  I had recourse to the designer who kindly answered me. Considering the complexity of the kit, I couldn't see myself starting the assembly without the electrical diagram in case of a problem. The future will show that I did the right thing.

The construction is done without any particular problem.  
As usual, slowly, methodically, in small sessions. The parts are well distributed in the various bags.  The sorting of resistors, capacitors and transistors required a little attention because of the quantity, but nothing too important.

Fortunately I had the manual. Details like cutting a tab off the 2N4401 or the direction of the switches would have gone over my head. The exact nomenclature of the capacitors was also welcome.

A side

B side

My synth suitcase is almost empty.  It is now used to store the modules that no longer fit in the Mantis. It will do the job well.
At the first power up, the oscillator LEDs light up correctly.  But no sound comes out. From the demo video, I knew that the clock should work.  But it doesn't.  

Crude 5V converter

A glance at the electrical diagram shows me that the audio output is connected directly from the FV-1 circuit, powered by 3.3V from the 5V power supply of the rack ... not present in my synth case: the small Doepfer power supply module bought at the time only outputs -12V and +12V.
So I decided to make the easiest and least efficient voltage converter possible.  With the components I had in my drawers and a piece of board, I made a circuit based on the LM7805 voltage regulator.  Super inefficient: more than half of the power will be transformed into heat; but ready in less than 30 minutes. Given the low power requirement, I doubt it will heat up enough.  The radiator is only there for the principle and the decoration. If you are looking for a serious solution, I suggest this innovative solution from Klavis: NoDrain.

Once this is in place at the bottom of the case, the module lights up cleanly and works the first time.  Happy.

Alive

Jay F. · Test Avalanche

My last Mutable Instruments

The curtain has fallen.  Since December 2022, Mutable Instruments has ceased its activities. It had been a while since Emilie had announced that she was stopping. No one is taken in by surprise.

As stocks are running out, I found this last module second hand.

MI Veils 2020

I enjoyed the previous version of this quadruple VCA.  The 2020 version offers the same features in a smaller footprint and a nice look. I've fallen for it. This will probably be my last Mutable Instruments module. Thanks for everything Emilie.

Some Drums, Some Bass

Here is a short sample of what you can do with Ornament & Crime (OCP) module. I know, I was not very prolific producing music these past months.

Here goes.

Jay F. · Some Drums Some Bass

 

OCP euclidian rhythm params

This five-track piece was recorded on a single session.  No detailed patch today but a light description with the links to the modules I used.

Ornament & Crime with the Pique application generates the three envelopes for the drums using the included euclidian rhythm patterns. 

Kick is Ripples filter pinged and modulated by OCP envelope number 1.

Light clap is a sine wave ringed modulated with white noise in A*B+C with OCP envelope number 2.

Hi-Hat is pink noise mixed with triangle into Erica Synth high-pass filter with OCP envelope number 3.

Patterns for clap and hi-hat are controlled via control voltage, hence the variations.  Clap is controlled via sequencer, hi-hat density is controlled by a random source.  

The synth setup

Swoosh effects is white noise into Rings into Beads, with Tides and other sources as modulation.

Bass, clock and sequencer from Novation Circuit Mono Station.

Sources of modulations : Sloth Chaos, Rampage, Turing Machine and Sample&Hold.

Some effects courtesy of Line 6 HX Stomp.

DAW : Reaper.  Additional effects on Hi-Hat include a dotted 8th note delay. Other effects: stereo diffusion, compressor on drums and bass, some reverb on drums, tons of EQ.

New Year. New Challenge.

Ornament and Crime is one of the Eurorack modules constantly recommended in modular synthesizers forums, along with Math from Make Noise, Batumi from Xaoc or Clouds from Mutable Instruments.

If we add that it is basically an Open Source project, that it exists mainly as a kit and that there are several variations of the firmware, it goes without saying that I needed one. 

Front side

I decided on the Plum Audio version, a kit available from the Thonk online shop.   This improved version has input control in the form of attenuverters with LEDs, output voltage adjustment and a front panel USB connector.  

Let's avoid the financially painful episode of a post-Brexit purchase from a UK site and let's get to the point.
 

The kit

Ornament and Crime is a polymorphic control voltage generator.  It has four modulation inputs, four trigger inputs, four outputs and a micro-controller to handle them all.  

Bob cheks solder quality

The micro-controller is a standard Teensy 3.2, with an ARM Cortex M4 on board.  It comes pre-loaded with the official firmware.  
Depending on the firmware application, the module can act as an analogue shift register, sequencer, arpeggiator, envelope generator, quantizer and so on.  Hemisphere, one of the alternative firmwares, even offers to choose 2 modes simultaneously from a choice of about 60.

It was the four independent envelope generation function that made me decide that the module was useful for my usage, but I will experiment with the other modes of course.

 

micro USB parts.
Bob for scale

In the article about the Befaco Rampage, I wrote that the kit was not for the faint of heart.  However, this version of Ornament and Crime is two divisions above.  Not only is the density high, but there are some tough parts, such as the OLED screen, the micro-USB connector and the "pogo" pins (aka spring-loaded pins) under the micro-controller board.
 

 

 

 

 

Bob cleans up

The kit is very well thought out.  The two PCBs are well designed and very clear with the part number and value of each component clearly indicated.  The bags are organised according to the progress of the kit. The contents of each bag are listed on the label. The documentation is accessible via a QR code on the box.  It is minimalist and refers extensively to explanatory videos, which are very practical, but sometimes a little fast.

Despite the density and number of components, the assembly went smoothly given the quality of the kit.  As usual, I did many small sessions, methodically, calmly.  It was demanding but in the end I didn't have to correct anything.

 

Back side

The only anecdote worth mentioning is that the documentation asks to pay particular attention to the orientation of the bicolour red/green LEDs and indicates that some kits have been delivered with reversed LEDs (red instead of green and vice versa).  I did a quick check with other LEDs I have and concluded that this be the case.  I decided to solder only one of the 8 diodes legs before a final check.  Once the front panel was assembled, the test clearly showed that my diodes were the right kind and therefore assembled backwards.  Unsoldering everything, turning the LEDs over, re-soldering...
If I had been really smart, I would have tested with *one* diode *before* placing the front panel. 
 

User Interface board.
LEDs are reversed.

Once assembled, the module still needs to be calibrated.  The firmware guides all along the way but it is quite tedious to measure the 50 or so calibration points.  It took me almost an hour, including the time when I had to remember how to use the measurement ranges on my multimeter.  Fortunately, this is a one time thing.

Now I just have to get used to the beast.  We are far from the "one function per button" philosophy of analogue modules. Since this is a geeky project, parameter pages abound in each firmware application. 

Module is alive. 
Testing various options of the envelope generation.
The screen refresh is visible in the picture.

 

ModWiggler Odd Meter Remix Challenge

I'm no stranger to participate to some Internet forum challenges or contests.  Some of them are being illustrated in this very blog.  I participated in about ten One Synth Challenge sessions, some other KVR contests and more than my share of Audiofanzine contests.  Lots of these can be found in this Soundcloud playlist.

But this was different.

Some admins from the site ModWiggler decided to have a contest between them to create an odd meter track.  The challenge here was be to ‘remix’, or ‘re-mangle’, or ‘reimagine’ the winning track (whatever that means) and use at least two of the provided multitrack files in some sort of manner. 

The principle gear used must be modular or semi-modular and patchable with pins or cables. 

It was fun and I learned a lot. I had to do things I was not used to. Performing a track and not arranging clips in my DAW being one of them.

Synthesizer in action with both sequencers

Mixing section with the old synth suitcase

I assembled and looped the two files I selected on a computer and kept them in synch with the sequencers as best as I could.  They can be heard untreated at least once.

I really stretched myself here. Literally, as I brought another table to support the mixer and my old synth suitcase.
I went out of 3.5 mm to 6.35 mm adapters.
I used modules that I previously stored because they couldn't fit in my main rack.
I allowed myself to have the kick drum out of modular but I used an analog mono synth anyway : a Novation Circuit Mono Station.

 

 

My main concern was sequencing. I do not own a lot of sequencing capacities. I used my Korg SQ-1 as well as the main sequencer and the third auxiliary sequencer on the Mono Station. The later has the possibility to directly output control voltage and gates signal to a modular synthesizer.

Anyway, I'm not used to use only the modular and to mix outside the box. For the sake of the challenge, I refrained from arranging and mixing in my DAW, so the mixing took place inside my good old Berhinger MX802. It's written 'eurorack' on the faceplate, so that counts I guess.  

Only treatments in DAW are a bit of EQ, compressors and a limiter.
To be fair and accurate, I did a little copy-paste to correct a technical issue at the end. The issue is present somewhere else on the track but it was too loud and clear on the ending.

So enjoy :

gen-xtargetmarket · RRC116

Full documented patch :

Facing the Tides

 Tides was the new module I slipped in the new case.

Tides unboxed

Now that I have more space in my case, I reckon I can accommodate another Mutable Instruments module.
Some might argue that this was the main reason to get the new case in the first place.

Cause or effect ?  Whatever.
 

The Mutable Instruments modules in the rack.  Tides on top.

Mutable Instruments Tides checked a lot of boxes.  

I felt I needed more modulations.
Tides is a LFO and an envelope generator at the same time.  Waveform parameters like shape, smoothness and slope are modifiable via control votage.  So there are a lot of waveforms available.  The module accepts an external clock as well.
It has multiple outputs and, depending on the mode, they are either different shapes, different amplitudes, different times or different frequencies.
Frequency range can go up into audio range, making this my third VCO.

In action

 

In the following piece, Tides plays the role of LFO, envelope generator and oscillator.  I have displayed the patches to demonstrate how it is done. 

Jay F. · Facing the Tides

The first part is a four-track drone. Each animated by a dedicated LFO from Tides in « different frequencies » mode.  Lots of effects (from Reason rack) added in the DAW (Reaper) as well.
Then two « bass » tracks played with the Korg SQ-1.  Tides is now the VCO.  Same patch, different settings.  The variations are either the Ripples filter frequency or the shape and smoothness parameters from Tides.  These have a dramatic effect on the sound obviously.
Finally, Tides serve as one of the Attack-Decay envelope from the drum part.

A bit of cut-paste in a sequencer and voilà …

The patches...

The four-part drone waves :

Drone

 The basses :

Bass

The drums : kick, snare, hihat :

Drums

HiHat