"The Frequency Shifter (red) is a powerful and experimental analogue processor. This standalone design springs from my Quadrature Sine and its Frequency Shifter Expander modular designs – all wrapped up with circuitry & features to allow it to fit snugly into more regular studio processing roles.It will transform your audio streams in otherworldly ways – clangorous, tonal, phased, stereofication and swoosh.
"Rhythmic patch on the BugBrand - all sounds coming from 2 X DRM1 + expanders + 1 X DRM2. No sequencer used ("melodies" are coming from divisions of the main clock into the matrix mixer)
#bugbrand #analogsynths #modularsynths"
"Fresh in from a high end smoke free recording studio estate we have a 2 row Eurorack size rack loaded with Blacet/Wiard modules. It has 2 GR-1209B joystick modules, as well as an EG-1, Mini Wave, Frequency Divider, Dark Star Chaos, and Noise Ring modules.
It has 2 Blacet PS-500power modules installed as well. Everything you need to get started in modular synthesis! All tested by our technician of 40 years.
Comes as pictured in the heavy duty road case and everything is in near mint condition."
"Spooky Serge! An Evil Pet! BugBrand Brutality! WARNING: STROBE EFFECTS!!
This piece was originally intended to be a halloween themed video but I couldn't get it done in time. lol
Using the @BugBrand Chirper for the main voice, controlled by the @prismcircuits1974 Hymenium and processed by @Endorphines Evil Pet. The undulating background is comprised of some classic Serge feedback patches, running through a Bastl Thyme+.
via BugBrand (For those in the US: check on availability with Noisebug per below)
"The 5FW design stems from ideas I used way back in the Old Blue days when I had the CTL1 Touch Panel - that design went through a few iterations during its 4 years of life, moving from just a control/preset device to incorporating some basic sequencing. Now I have taken it several steps further - expanding it out to 8 steps and increasing the control & sequencing options. The result is a powerful little hands-on sequencing hub!
It can link up with other clocking devices, especially the Sequence - indeed, I'm just beginning to investigate a joiner/expander for the pair that would allow the Control link to be easily switched on/off and also incorporate a handful of other useful functions.
In the meantime, the first modules are starting to ship - they can either fit in a larger system or sit in a 5FW case - perhaps an interesting addition to other banana systems!
US shipping & Tariffs:
There has been a fair bit of uncertainty because of new tariffs on shipments into the US (10% from UK vs 20% or more from most other places), alongside the ending of the De Minimis exemption for shipments under $800. Given that I send a fair amount to people in the States, these changes have proved worrying!
Thankfully I've been able to jiggle things around and have found that I can still send things easily & affordably - indeed, often including pre-payment of tariffs while not raising the overall shipping cost, and sticking with Royal Mail who have proved so reliable over many years of use.
Noisebug:
But, alongside these changes, I'm rekindling my prior work with the wonderful Noisebug store of Pomona, California. Just today I've sent a reasonable initial load - a couple of 1Frame systems, several mini-systems and a handful of red designs.
As you know, I've tended to work directly with people worldwide, but have kept in with a very few small & specific stores - Noisebug really fit the bill here for me! So if you've got requests, feel free to get in contact with them - or continue to nudge me direct ;)"
"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)
"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)
"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..."
"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."
