A Recipe For Chaotic Beauty | Modular Classroom | Episode 04

video upload by Cinematic Laboratory

"This series is a bit more advanced than usual, but this does not mean 'difficult', it means 'low level'. I will revisit Rob Hordijk's Benjolin and Blippoo Box again, not to recreate them, but to understand its components a bit more so they can be used elsewhere. We'll build a Twin Peak filter with Blades and Blinds (or any duo filter with a polarizer), a Comparator with Maths - which can make amazing new sounds using any two VCO's, I'll revisit the Rungler with Marbles and finally I've been looking for ways to detect equality between two voltages so we can generate a trigger or gate. I am not aware of any comparator that has an '=' output, but I figured out a way to approximate it with Maths.

I've been using ChatGPT as a research tool and it came up with the Twin Peak recipe after scrutinizing documentation on the web. But it also claimed that using Maths for equality detection would not work, because EOC is documented to be 'end of full cycle'. We already figured out in Episode 01 of this series, that EOC is always ON, and off when a RISE is in progress. This is needed to do quadrature functions, bla bla bla, but the point is that AI can be misinformed. Regardless, AI has reached a point where you can actually discuss patches and ChatGPT knows a LOT of modules, options, techniques and alternatives. So how do I know so much? I don't. It's co-creation.

Even though this episode features a lot of chaos, I tried to find the cool textures that make the Blippoo Box so entertaining, and figure out why the Benjolin is so untameable (may I say annoying?)

00:00 Introduction
00:51 Blippoo Box emulation for the Meng-Qi Wingie 2
05:02 Patching a Twin Peak filter with Blades and Blinds
08:03 Patching a Comparator with Maths
12:34 Patching a Rungler with Marbles and any VCO
14:43 Blippoo Box S&H and equality detection with Maths
18:45 Final Thoughs and a dual Benjolin / Marbles (multi-track) Jam."

Macumbista Butterfly Benjolin

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

via this Vemia listing

Click the auction link on top when you get there for additional listings.

You can find demos in previous posts here.

Here’s a barely-used Butterfly Benjolin from Macumbista’s new “RM” series of Benjolins: a pair of Rob Hordijk’s oft-copied Benjolin synthesizers in a distinctive cigar box enclosure, made under license and with several improvements by Macumbista Instruments and Frog Leg Synthesis. The most obvious enhancement is the ring modulator now standard in Macumbista’s Benjolin designs, which greatly expands the timbral possibilities. XOR-ing signals can be a nice substitute for RM in a pitch, but it’s great to have the real thing and really dial your sounds in. Patching two ring modulators in series opens up some wild sounds. Within its deceptively simple architecture, you’ll find ample opportunity for sound design, strange loops, and a fair bit of chaos. I’ve just never had the *grá* for R2R/digital shift registers/runglers that so many of my peers have. I gave it a chance, and now I’ll let it go to someone similarly curious, or to one of those obsessives out there. If you’re curious about these, there are loads of videos about the Benjolin on YouTube that will give you a sense of what it can do. There aren’t many videos of the “Butterfly Benjolin V4,” which has the ring modulator and additional enhancements, of which this is a lovely example. Here’s the manual for Macumbista’s new “RM” line of Benjolins: https://macumbista.net/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/Benjo-cheat-sheet-1.2-mid.pdf The Butterfly is two of these in a single enclosure with shared power supply, common 0v, etc. Shipping from Berlin, Germany. It will ship with a 12v line-lump power supply in sturdy packaging."

CLICK FOR MORE »

Macumbista Butterfly Benjolin + Dual AM/RM | Low-gain Electronics

video upload by LowgainElectronics

"Updated my v4/5 Butterfly Benjolin to include one of my Dual AM/RM modules. On the left Benjolin i wired it as per Macumbista’s new ring mod block diagram. With the dual AM/RM circuit you can have the modulator do either ring modulation or TZ amplitude modulation. So that makes for some fun. On the right side I wanted to keep the second AM/RM isolated so you can plug in anything you want to it. Far right side has X/Y inputs. Middle has output and mode switch (AM/RM) and i swapped the external input to the filter to a switching jack and wired a banana back to the normal so you can patch anything banana format into it as well. Internally the external banana jack has a trim pot to adjust the gain amount."

An Experimental “Bent by Design” Synth Voice // 3 Patches with the Trepenator from ZLOB

video upload by DivKid

"Here we have the TREPANATOR from ZLOB, which is an experimental "bent by design" synth voice. It's inspired by Rob Hordijk's Benjolin and ZLOB remaking similar ideas with their own modules and circuits. There's two oscillators, a multimode filter, many feedback points, oscillating 3 band EQ and more in this highly interactive and wide ranging abstract voice and instrument.

Like the Benjolin that inspires it, the Trepanator excels and abstract, organic and interactive self influencing textures, sounds and rhythmic ever evolving loops. In this video there's mud burping, swamps in space caves, aquatic bubbles, harsh noise, unique techno percussion and FX and plenty more.

Info, manual and more // https://zlobmodular.com"

"The Trepanator is a 14hp analog “Bent by Design” experimental instrument featuring a Dual VCO, Difference Rectifier, 3-band EQ, Sample/Track and Hold, and SVF(state variable filter) all built into one nonlinear module. Its origins trace back to a love for Rob Hordijk’s Benjolin and patching a similar pseudo chaotic feedback-based instrument from scratch using all Zlob modules.

Although not based on Hordijk’s circuit or signal flow, it uses a similar architecture of dual voltage controlled oscillators, an “interference pattern generator,” a state variable filter, and internalized cross-patched feedback. Instead of a Rungler and comparator the Trepanator uses a sample/track and hold with slew, a difference/rectifier circuit(based on NLC), and a self-oscillating 3-band EQ. Utilizing this excessive feedback between the VCO’s, EQ, S/H, and SVF, creates a completely new instrument for discovering abstract electronic sounds. The Trepanator is a highly interactive, unpredictable, and an immediate instrument capable of a huge range of organic and sounds from: snarling, plucking, bubbling, screaming, gurgling, hissing, grunting, pinging, and quacking, to machine like rhythmic loops, circuit bent broken modem sounds, no-input mixer screeching, intermittent short wave radio fizzling, and full on Harsh Noise Wall all within the touch of a fader or a small knob turn without any external audio or any control voltage in."

Life’s a Blip! // Biyiblip // Blippulator

video upload by NOISEBUG

"The Blippulator is now available at Nosiebug

https://www.noisebug.net/products/biy...

Meet blippulator, the quirky offspring of Rob Hordijk’s legendary designs, blending the heart of a Blippoo Box with the chaotic energy of a Benjolin.

Born from the mind of Hordijk's sonic explorations and further refined by Biyi, Blippulator takes everything we love about these classics and adds a fresh twist.

At its core, blippulator features extensive CV control, letting you dial in and modulate key parameters like the pitch of its two oscillators and the cutoff frequencies of its dual resonant filters. These aren’t just any filters—they’ve got that twin-peak magic that Hordijk fans will instantly recognise, adding a complex, organic edge to your sound.

One of blippulator’s coolest tricks? You can select any two arbitrary signals to create a custom PWM waveform, adding a layer of flexibility and unpredictability to your patches. Whether you’re controlling it from a Eurorack system or another external device, the 0-5V CV inputs and outputs make it a breeze to integrate into your setup. The panel is user-friendly, making it easy to get hands-on with your sound and improvise live.

And just when you think you’ve got it figured out, blippulator’s got a few secret weapons up its sleeve to keep things interesting in your performances. It’s a powerful tribute to Rob Hordijk’s genius, honouring his designs while pushing them in new directions, making it a must-have for anyone who loves modular synthesis and sonic exploration.

Blippulator is more than a synthesizer—it's a celebration of the past and the future of sound design, with a nod to one of the most innovative minds in the field. Plug in, experiment, and let it take your performances to the next level"

SCJS#41 - TREPANATOR: 1RST DATE

video upload by FL3SHB4CK

"**BEWARE OF BLOOD AND BONE FRAGMENTS PROJECTION**

Freshly built kit. Zlob Modular TREPANATOR is a 'bent by design' module, inspired by the great Benjolin from Rob Hordijk, but quite different.
First encounter with this thing, with just a bit of white noise into the filter, it was WILD!

‪@zlobmodular‬"

Nekyia Circuits - Obsidian(Complex LFO), Opal (Attenuator/Mixer), & Mezcal (Utility)

video upload by Robots Are Red

00:00 - Intro
01:30 - Opal Walkthrough
02:38 - Mezcal Walkthrough
05:45 - Obsidian Walkthrough and Demo
16:21 - LFO on a Synth Voice
22:13 - Triggering
27:58 - Pseudo-Benjolin

RoaF Modular - Welcome | Generative Modular Synth Ambient

video upload by ChiaroBen

"Played some more with the ALA Monsoon this time - a drone from Moog Mavis is recorded into Monsoon after some wavefolding, and then put through some heavy reverb. A heavily (self-)modulated Maths is opening the VCA channel. The melody comes from ALA Beehive into the Void algorithm from TTA Zverb, while the aux out goes through ALA Benjolin (with the filter being modulated bei Benjolin's Rungler) and into pico DSP's delay.
The v/oct from ALA Steps quantized by Shakmat Bard Quartet, with the harmonies switched by RitS QUA through Noise Engineering Vice Verga. I used the trigger input on the Beehive for the first time, with the ochd expander providing the triggers.

Remember - music is powerful.

This music is published under a Creative Commons license. You may use samples, cover, and transform parts or the entirety of it without my explicit consent, as long as you credit me and release your work under a Creative Commons license as well. Commercial use is allowed. But don't just reupload this untransformed.

Thank you."

RoaF Modular - Carol of the Oscillators | A Modular Synth Patch

video upload by ChiaroBen

"A variation on Carol of the Bells - the main 4 note melody always struck me as very melancholic for a christmas song, and I've been fascinated with it for a while now. This is my spin on it.

Pico VCO is playing the melody, while ALA Beehive is providing a bassline. Coloured noise into Benjolin as a texture filler, and sometimes little drum hits, which are also coloured noise from Pico Noise.

The melody gets put through Pico DSP delay, and then TTA Zverb - the Shimmer Pitch Adjust is one of my favourite reverb modes on that module.

Pitch info comes from Mimetic Digitalis, which gets put through Shakmat's Bard Quartet for quantization. Channel 2 provides the bass, with four different notes switched by the harmoy, which comes from RitS QUA's attenuaters put through Trace, swept by øchd expander.

Noise Engineering's Kith Ruina provides distortion for the bassline, and sometimes breaks up, which caught me by surprise, but I like to record my patches with errors and all, instead of slaving over a perfect patch every time - generative music is unpredictable in places, and that's what makes it organic.

Switching the bass notes with Vice Verga instead of Trace would've probably been less disruptive, but I decided against rerecording and keeping the track as is.

Happy Holidays, everyone. Remember - music is powerful.

This music is published under a Creative Commons license. You may use samples, cover, and transform parts or the entirety of it without my explicit consent, as long as you credit me and release your work under a Creative Commons license as well. Commercial use is allowed. But don't just reupload this untransformed.

Thank you."

Meet the BLIPPULATOR - KAOTIC BLIPPING SYNTH

video uploads by biyiblip

From the maker of Gibber.

Playlist:
1. BLIPPULATOR - KAOTIC BLIPPING SYNTH
2. PATCH EXAMPLES FROM THE BLIPPULATOR USER MANUAL
3. BLIPPULATOR UNBOXING

"Meet blippulator, the quirky offspring of Rob Hordijk’s legendary designs, blending the heart of a Blippoo Box with the chaotic energy of a Benjolin.

Born from the mind of Hordijk's sonic explorations and further refined by Biyi Amez (BIYIBLIP), Blippulator takes everything we love about these classics and adds a fresh twist.

At its core, blippulator features extensive CV control, letting you dial in and modulate key parameters like the pitch of its two oscillators and the cutoff frequencies of its dual resonant filters. These aren’t just any filters—they’ve got that twin-peak magic that Hordijk fans will instantly recognise, adding a complex, organic edge to your sound.

One of blippulator’s coolest tricks? You can select any two arbitrary signals to create a custom PWM waveform, adding a layer of flexibility and unpredictability to your patches. Whether you’re controlling it from a Eurorack system or another external device, the 0-5V CV inputs and outputs make it a breeze to integrate into your setup.

The panel is user-friendly, making it easy to get hands-on with your sound and improvise live.

And just when you think you’ve got it figured out, blippulator’s got a few secret weapons up its sleeve to keep things interesting in your performances.

It’s a powerful tribute to Rob Hordijk’s genius, honouring his designs while pushing them in new directions, making it a must-have for anyone who loves modular synthesis and sonic exploration.

Blippulator is more than a synthesizer—it's a celebration of the past and the future of sound design, with a nod to one of the most innovative minds in the field.

Plug in, experiment, and let it take your performances to the next level.

How to get one?
Write an email to: biyiblip@gmail.com

Check and dowload the Blippulator user manual here:

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1JqsN...

biyiblip - happy people synths."

Note: previously biyiblip posts had the Biyi Amez label. Moving forward they will have the biyiblip label. Click the labels below for more.

The Sequencers of 2024

video upload by Omri Cohen

"You can find these patches, along with many others, available on my Patreon page - / patches-from-of-117758937"

00:00 - Introduction
00:13 - ArpSeq
04:38 - Morpheus
07:44 - Benjolin
10:04 - CV Funk
13:25 - OrbSeq
15:15 - Misc

SCJS #31 HALLOWEEN IS DEAD

video upload by FL3SHB4CK

"#halloween
Small Case Jam Sessions #31
Bass, distortion, noise and bells!
Bean Jelly (Benjolin like), 100 Grit, nRings, Battering Ram, noise
4U 50hp recorded live into Syntakt reverb and delay"

Zlob Modular Introduces Trepanator Rob Hordijk Inspired Eurorack Module

video upload by Żłob Modular

preorders open now

will be available as a DIY kit, PCB's, or fully built Halloween 2024
more info at
zlobmodular.com

The Trepanator is a 14hp analog 'Bent by Design' experimental instrument featuring a Dual VCO, Difference Rectifier, 3-band EQ, Sample/Track and Hold, and SVF(state variable filter) all built into one nonlinear module. Its origins trace back to a love for Rob Hordijk’s Benjolin and patching a similar pseudo chaotic feedback-based instrument from scratch using all Zlob modules.

Although not based on Hordijk’s circuit or signal flow, it uses a similar architecture of dual voltage controlled oscillators, an “interference pattern generator,” a state variable filter, and internalized cross-patched feedback. Instead of a Rungler and comparator the Trepanator uses a sample/track and hold with slew, a difference/rectifier circuit(based on NLC), and a self-oscillating 3-band EQ. Utilizing this excessive feedback between the VCO’s, EQ, S/H, and SVF, creates a completely new instrument for discovering abstract electronic sounds. The Trepanator is a highly interactive, unpredictable, and an immediate instrument capable of a huge range of organic and sounds from: snarling, plucking, bubbling, screaming, gurgling, hissing, grunting, pinging, and quacking, to machine like rhythmic loops, circuit bent broken modem sounds, no-input mixer screeching, intermittent short wave radio fizzling, and full on Harsh Noise Wall all within the touch of a fader or a small knob turn without any external audio or any control voltage in.

For more info consult the manual and signal flow chart.
RIP Rob Hordijk

Ambient from scratch with the Benjolin Oscillator

video upload by Omri Cohen

"You can find this patch, along with many others, available on my Patreon page - / patch-from-video-112622740"

00:00 - Introduction
00:30 - Chords
08:58 - Sequence
15:56 - Bass
20:19 - Glitchy percussion

Additional resources: https://www.patreon.com/omricohen

Techno from scratch with the Benjolin Oscillator

video upload by Omri Cohen

"The patch from this video, together with patches from many other videos, is available on my Patreon page - / techno-patch-110398815"

00:00 - Introduction
00:26 - Bass line
08:20 - Kick drum
13:35 - Saturation and compression
15:18 - HiHats
21:10 - Melody
26:06 - Effect

Additional resources: https://www.patreon.com/omricohen

808 CHAOS

video upload by FL3SHB4CK

"Buchla 258t + NLC 8bit Cipher into Schlappi Engineering 100 GRIT = pseudo Benjolin, driving Shakmat Battering Ram + XODES AHH + ASD = pseudo 808 = 808 CHAOS
recorded live into Syntakt reverb
Happy 808 day!!"

It's a Rungle outthere | Cybernetics EP02 | From Benjolin to Blippoo Box

video upload by Cinematic Laboratory

"The Benjolin is a powerful module. For many, it's a chaotic noise source, which was exactly the point of the design. The Blippoo Box is less chaotic, more musical and designed as an experimental instrument. It's more a Pandora's Box. Both have the Rungler in common. It refers to a shift register circuit, but also to the 5U module that includes two VCO's and is not unlike the Benjolin's chaotic core. I do not own a Blippoo Box for obvious reasons (it's now priceless) but I do love my Benjolin. It's going to be a noisy video where I'll try the Rungler concept on Marbles and XAOC Leibniz.
Marbles is a cool extension to the Benjolin, and the Benjolin can also be a great conventional complex VCO.

Rob Hordijk designed the Rungler module (and circuit) to cover the space between a fundamental sinewave and the total chaos of white noise. A creative source of designer noise to enrich your patch. And wow, what a designer he was."

Museum Variety Pack - Sample Pack - Obsolete Soundlab

video upload by THIS MUSEUM IS (NOT) OBSOLETE

"Purchase here: https://this-museum-is-not-obsolete.c...

The Obsolete Soundlab Presents -The Museum Variety Pack

A variety of sounds from around the museum, everything from apple II drum samples to relay sequenced drum beats. Do your worst!

All sounds featured in the video are included in the pack.

#benjolin #samplepack #diysynth #sounddesign

Sample Pack Includes:

200+ Sounds

All Samples are 48Khz 24bit

All proceeds go towards maintaining and improving the museum."

Substance - Live Psy-Doombient Industrial Synth Drone - TTSH & Eurorack

video upload by Abre Ojos

"75bpm Psy-Doombient Industrial Synth Drone TechNoise Ritual
Live hardware jam with TTSH (ARP2600) and Eurorack modular

Eurorack Modular

Endorphins Queen of Pentacles
ALA Atom
Erica Synths Dual Filter
Doepfer Joystick
Benjolin
Pams New Workout
Monsoon in OliVerb mode

Video processed live through Resolume

Shot with GH5 MKII

Dark ambient audiovisual stuff: https://abreojos.net"

After Later Audio Benjolin V2

video upload by Synthguru

"After Later Audio Benjolin V2
just a little live take of this mighty Eurorack module!
Reverb and Delay added"