MATRIXSYNTH: BugBrand


Showing posts with label BugBrand. Show all posts
Showing posts with label BugBrand. Show all posts

Wednesday, March 26, 2025

BugBrand Introduces the Weevil 20/25


video upload by BugBrand

"A new Weevil to celebrate 20 years of BugBrand - the first regular production since 2015 and perhaps the first 'cased' version since around 2008!

Thanks to everyone who sent in pics of their old Weevils!"


via BugBrand

"I'm excited to present the new Weevil to mark 20 years of BugBrand and Weevils - it's the first regular production since the 2015 BoardWeevil and, I think, the first 'cased' design since 2008! Quite a change from the old cigar boxes of the early days ;)

The main listing for the 20/25 is here - I'm doing a run of 50 for now, which will be built up in batches of 10 over the coming months. The 2nd batch should appear in early April.

The overview video features a load of pics of old Weevils after the callout last time -- thanks so much to everyone who sent in pics & memories, it meant a lot to me 💚💚💚

Next week I'll do another mailout to mark the actual 20 years - stay tuned!

All best! Tom"

"Weevils were the first designs I made as BugBrand and, between 2005 & 2015 I made a whole slew of them – you can see some on the Weevil Archive page. So it seemed apt to make a special one to mark 20 years – the first regular production for 10 years and the first ‘housed’ one since perhaps 2008!

The core is a simple little circuit I found in a library book – a cymbal sound synthesiser made of some CMOS 4000 series logic gates to make squarewaves that are quasi-ringmodulated together. Back in my early days I was doing a lot of circuit bending, so I tried out adding power starvation and body contacts and discovered a deep & chaotic sonic world. This Weevil Heart has stayed pretty constant over the years while I’ve played extensively both with the surrounding circuitry and how to present an instrument. For example, the STEIM Cracklebox was always an inspiration as an almost acousitc electronic instrument that had to be played in a truly experimental manner. It has really been a case of iterative refinement and the developments nicely highlight how my build techniques have evolved.

The 20/25 Weevil is really quite similar to the last BoardWeevil of 2015 – we’ve got the 3 Oscillators, 2 RingMods and State-Variable Filter – but I wanted something cased so took the existing modular boxes and fashioned a new PCB frontpanel with accompanying side-cheeks that could hold a speaker, battery box and line output. Smart!

For further details, have a read of the Instruction Sheet & refer to the Block Diagram – but really the best way to learn is to dive in and experiment!"

Tuesday, March 04, 2025

BugBrand 2Frame Modular Synth System

Note: Auction links are affiliate links for which the site may be compensated.


via this listing

"2Frame with the following modules (SynthVoice plus extras):
Compact VCO x3
Quad Sine
2130 VCO
Phaser
Dual Mixing
Dual Envelope
DC Mix
Multiplier
Dual Filter
Dual Amplifier
LPG
PT Delay

Also includes:
Two packs of BugBrand banana cables in two lengths.
Blank panels
Power brick (not pictured)

All bought new 2020–2021 direct from BugBrand."

Thursday, January 09, 2025

A Colourful Modular Synthesizer // Who & What is BugBrand?


video upload by DivKid

"Some time ago around a visit down to Bristol I got the chance to go and see Tom from BugBrand (again, first visit linked below). The then new Phase standalone box and Phaser module were out on show so we had a listen and chat about them but spoke more generally about who and what BugBrand is, how Tom works and the development of the equipment he builds."

Bananas, Synths & Studio FX - An interview with Tom Bugs of Bug Brand [posted here]

**TIMING INDEX // CHAPTERS **

00:00 Intro
01:15 Who & what is BugBrand?
09:11 Modular synths as limited creative instruments
14:47 Phaser & product development
23:25 How BugBrand operate (differently)

Friday, December 27, 2024

12.05.2017 BugBrand Modular - Live Setup


video uploads by batchas

"I remember testing some minimal live setup back in 2017. Exploring diverse rhythmic territories."

Monday, November 04, 2024

BugBrand Generative Groove


video upload by d4nnyp

"Generative Patch on the BugBrand modular trying out a couple of new modules."

Tuesday, October 01, 2024

Sounds of the Weevil Voice - BugBrand Modular


video upload by BugBrand

"A set of snippet sounds straight from the Weevil Voice.
Gnarly & noisy, rhythmic & raw!
[also rough & ready ;) ]"

Saturday, September 14, 2024

BugBrand - Weevil08

Note: Auction links are affiliate links for which the site may be compensated.


via this listing

Additional NOISEBUG Listings

Sunday, August 25, 2024

Bugbrand DRM2 Drum Module w/ Original Box

Note: Auction links are affiliate links for which the site may be compensated.


via this listing

"In Mint, Brand New Condition. See images.

All included, as shown: Module, Cables, Power, Packaging"

Tuesday, June 25, 2024

28 10 18 BugBrand Modular System 02x


video upload by batchas

23 09 18 Bug & Buch & SLab

video upload by batchas

Wednesday, June 19, 2024

BugBrand Save Jamaica Street Studios Weevil


video upload by BugBrand

"In June '24, Jamaica Street Studios, Bristol, raised over £100k to buy their building as a community asset! As a near neighbour, with friends in the studios & being a strong believer community ownership, I've made a batch of 12 JSS Weevils to help!
They're screechy & experimental buggers ;)
I made many different Weevils early in my BugBrand days - they're a simple circuit with circuit-bent features - power starve & touch plates."

BugBrand Weevil Module


video upload by BugBrand

"A basic walk-through of the new Weevil module for BugBrand Modular.
1) the individual oscillators, then RingMod1 + Power Starve behaviour
2) processing a static VCO
3) then using a rhythmic gate into the audio input
Support from Penrose plus, off camera, a CVCO & the ever present DDSR.
--- https://www.bugbrand.co.uk/product/we..."



via BugBrand

"Back in the Old-Blues days, I tried to port the Weevil design into the modular format but it was a challenge.. The circuitry of the regular Weevils is really very simple & the chaos comes from circuit-bending (an unconventional approach!) – the difficulty was how to add voltage-control features to this simple circuitry (modular approaches are quite a bit more involved). So while I did a design back then which was enjoyed by bug-users (SYN1 Weevil), I never thought it quite captured the chaotic sonic worlds of the ‘true’ Weevils.

For a few years I put the Weevils to bed, but have recently come back to thinking on them – so, looking again at modular approaches, I’ve come up with something that I feel works things a bit differently and, while it still feels a bit different from more regular/simple Weevils, it offers a whole host of chaos & noise.

See the block diagram!

First off we have the power starvation core – this unfortunately couldn’t viably be voltage-controlled. Turn the Starve dial fully clockwise for regular/full-power usage. When starved, everything goes a bit nuts, everything interacts & we get to much more noise-based areas, though note that all outputs pass through circuitry to ensure they remain ‘full-strength’ (all are 0V to +10V). There is also a Stable switch which adds a little smoothing – it isn’t exactly stable, but it is more-so/different.

There are two voltage-controlled oscillators ranging from c.0.5Hz to 20kHz from the front panel (they can go slower with external negative CV). There are CV inputs with depth controls & polarity/mute switches for each Osc plus a CV Both input which affects both Oscs. The Oscs track 1V/Oct reasonably well, but are not temperature compensated, nor do they have the best high-frequency tracking. The two Oscs interact a little, especially so when starved. Each Osc has an independent banana output + LED indicator.

The basis for Weevils was a simple cymbal noise-source generator which quasi-ring-modulated square waves together for richly (en)harmonic tones. Here we have a first RM combining the two Oscs, followed by a second which mixes RM1 with an external signal which has passed through a drive/squaring circuit so that it matches the Weevil-core (inc. starvation). This audio input is quite level dependent so do play with the Drive control – you can also input gates/clocks/etc. to the input which can generate some interesting behaviours when using Starve. Note that without an input signal, the output of RM2 will appear quiet (ie. it isn’t silent, but it isn’t regular amplitude).

All in all, the Weevil Module is inherently quite chaotic compared with my other module designs – that is, I feel, its strength & interest! Experiment, feed different signals in, feed outputs back into CV inputs, etc."

Saturday, May 04, 2024

05.02.24 Mos-lab 2500 & Kesako Player [Excerpt 01]


video upload by batchas

"1st excerpt of a jam session with the Mos-lab 2500 and my Kesako 'Player & Reverb' after installing and testing the last revision of the pin matrix prototype. The wooden case is also provisional.
I made a panel to adapt Buchla modules and also BugBrand modules in the 2500 system."

Wednesday, March 27, 2024

BugBrand Introduces FilterQAmp - Filter, Amp and Decay Envelope Module in Frac Format

"


via BugBrand

"The FilterQAmp (FQA) combines a 2-pole State Variable VC Filter with a Linear VC Amplifier and an inbuilt variable-decay Envelope Generator. It is capable both of processing and, when the filter is self-oscillating, generation of synthesised sounds such as drums.

The VCF section contains a State Variable Filter (similar to my other designs) – this offers switchable Low or High Pass responses and covers the full audio range. It is temperature compensated & tracks 1V/Oct accurately. The Resonance/Q is voltage controlled with a linear response up to self-oscillation – this creates a pure sinewave, useful for synthesis.

The VCA is linear in response and takes the Low/Hi-pass output from the VCF section. It can either be set, via rear jumper, to a clean response (gain from 0 to +1) or saturation (gain from 0 to +1 then +/-5V zener clipping beyond – unity at approx 10 o’clock rotation).

The Filter, Q and Amp sections each have a CV Modulation depth control with switchable polarity (centre off) – the Filter has an additional 1V/Oct control input. In addition there is a simple variable-decay Envelope Generator which can be fired either with the manual Trig button or via the Trig input – this has a comparator so triggers on any signal over c.+1V. Decay time is variable between approx 15mS and 3Secs with an amplitude of 0 to +10V. The envelope is internally routed to modulate the Filter and Amp sections via individual depth controls – it could be manually patched to QCV with a 0.75″ shorting bar or cable.

When Q is set to full, the self-oscillating filter makes good sound generator – it can also ring when set below self-oscillation & fed with sharp edges such as gate signals. A basic drum synth can be achieved with self-oscillation and the decay envelope opening the VCA – try varying how much the envelope modulates the filter cutoff too. You can feed the main output back to the FCV input to self-modulate, resulting in an interesting peaky waveform."

Sunday, March 17, 2024

Buchla 252e + BugBrand


video upload by Precarious333 Music

"Just got my 252e back after repair. Running through some tests to refamiliarize myself with the features. This is just a simple test with 252e sequencing 4 voices. Two are using the VCOs from Buchla 259e Twisted Waveform Generator with one through Vedic Scapes 13700 band pass filter. Then there is a kick from Bugbrand DRM2 and a drone into glitchy high hat using Bugbrand Synth Voice modules. Used lots of off-grid timing on 252e to make it a bit wonky.

The bass is 259e principal oscillator with RED cells coming from the 8 and 16 rings. The band pass voice is 259e modulation oscillator sequenced from the GREEN cells of the 6, 8, and 16 ring so some triplets in there from 6. Kick is BLUE cells from the 16 ring. High hat is ratcheted by the subdivided pulses from rings 8 and 16. Using a mixer to mute/unmute off screen to the left.

Recorded as 2 tracks into Ableton Live. Compression and FXs added in post."

Tuesday, February 20, 2024

Electro track live mixed in analog studio


video upload by Peter Maas

"Letting the analog synthesizers blast in dopplereffekt/aux88 style. TR808+TR606 beats, Korg MonoPoly bass, Minimoog, PS3100 pads, TTSH ringmodulator sounds and much more fancy stuff. Video annotated with more explanations."

Monday, February 19, 2024

Boolean Logic Latched - Patch 01 BugBrand DRM2 Drums


video upload by Precarious333 Music

"Magnetic Freak's Boolean Logic Latched is a Buchla format module featuring a clock divider and 7 logic circuits with switchable mode functionality and unique latching capabilities. Logic is hard to find in Buchla land, and as a fan I'm happy to announce its arrival. This simple patch barely scratches the surface of BLL's potential. It's more an introduction to the most basic uses of logic gates. But make no mistake, Boolean Logic Latched will be at the center of every patch I make from this point on. Intended as a companion module to Magnetic Freak's Gaussian I will endeavor to explore that companionship in videos to come. Time is short but the potentials are endless. Thus is life.

In this patch I'm using a clock from Buchla 246 into BLL's clock divider, then combining different divisions to trigger a kick/snare duo created by two of BugBrand's fantastic DRM2 analog drum voices. Simple origins lead to complex results. Everything you hear stems from that single clock input. I'm only making use of 3 of BLL's 7 logic circuits, none of its latching gates, so just a fraction of its capabilities.

Recorded as 2 tracks into Ableton Live. Compression and effects added in post."



Pic & details via Noisebug

'This is clearly the companion module of the Gaussian to generate rhythmic patterns and much more. It can nevertheless be used alone to build up complex IDM (Intelligent Dance Music) rhythmic patterns from a single ticking clock. Two stages of Boolean logic operators are cascaded allowing all kinds of operations between the incoming signals.

The latching function let you use a dedicated clock to latch the status of all gates on the arrival of a trigger signal up to the new one (or using the push button). It could be used to re-synchronises random signals. This module is fully analog and can work up to audio rates with no latency.

These modules are only produced in very small batches for connoisseurs."

Sunday, February 11, 2024

02 10 24 BugBrand & Scrotum Lab


video uploads by batchas

Playlist:
02 10 24 BugBrand & Scrotum Lab
02 10 24 BugBrand & Scrotum Lab (02)
02 10 24 BugBrand PT Delay feedback

No external effects added.

Saturday, January 27, 2024

01 27 24 BugBrand Modular & Scrotum Lab


video upload by batchas

Friday, January 26, 2024

01 26 24 BugBrand Modular & Scrotum Lab


video upload by batchas

Sunday, January 21, 2024

Scrotum Lab Superfuzzy & Ace Tone FR-6


video upload by batchas

"Very first test with fuzz prototype."

Scrotum Lab Superfuzzy & Radio Music

video upload by batchas

"Very first test with fuzz prototype. Audio from Radio Music 'Telharfauxnium' Alt-Firmware."
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