Korg DW8000 - A Classic 1985 Hybrid Digital+Analog Synth - Demo and Review

Published on Jan 11, 2020 Extralife

"A demo and review of the Korg DW8000, a hybrid polysynth from 1987. It combines sampled-wave DCOs with analog filters and unique six-stage envelopes for a stunningly capable and versatile keyboard synth that remains highly usable today. Its somewhat clunky interface is improved a great deal by the addition of a Stereoping controller. In this video I share some of my favorite patches and features as well as my thoughts on how this synth compares to the others today."

Korg Monotron CV Input Mod (Eurorack Control Voltage hack)

Published on Sep 21, 2019 Extralife

"Hello friends! I'm back in California and back in action. First off the hop is a travel kit project to convert CV (control voltage) signals to Monotron-compatible pitch/gate signals. If you have a Monotron (the cheapest analog synth on then market) you can use it to add a complete synth voice to your eurorack system!

The schematics and PCB layout for this project are up on my github page:
https://github.com/matthewcieplak/mon...

This work is partially based on DINSync's 2010 monotron CV mod:
http://www.dinsync.info/2010/06/how-t..."

Super Sixteen is Fully Funded!!

Extralife

"Thanks so much to everyone who made this possible! Incredibly excited to get started making modules.
https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/...

In a surprise last-minute push we managed to get nearly 100 new backers in 48 hours get over the kickstarter threshold at the very last minute. I'm as pleased as I am surprised at this result.

In this video I also show off a bonus feature, black PCB front panels! Send me a message on Kickstarter if you pledged and would like one of these instead of an aluminum panel with black text.

I also discuss kits and sourcing some harder-to-find components. I hope to make an announcement about parts kit availability soon - please let me know if you're interested as it will help me judge how many kits to stock."

DIY MIDI Patch Storage box for Yamaha Reface CS

video upload by Extralife

"I love the Yamaha Reface CS but its Achilles' heel is its inability to remember patches or presets. I created a device to solve this by storing the control change values and re-setting them over MIDI, using Arduino nano and a custom interface PCB.

The source code and PCB files are available here:
https://github.com/matthewcieplak/ref..."

Simple Circuit Bending on a Studiologic Numa Compact 2

video upload by Extralife

"I got a new keyboard! The Studiologic Numa Compact is a great combination stage piano/synthesizer that has bi-timbral voicing, 4 simultaneous built-in FX plus reverb, and studiologic's great organ emulations. The only issue I have with it is that the filter control is very fiddly, being located on a spring-loaded joystick. This simple hack installs a potentiometer and switch on the front panel to allow fine control of the filter frequency on all patches."

Making an Analog Eurorack Guitar Synth with a 1970's Ultra-Fuzz Circuit

video upload by Extralife

"I've been exploring some guitar synth sounds using the hard sync input on my VCO, but this has some issues with tracking stability and major noise problems. I solved this be re-building the classic Craig Anderton Ultra-Fuzz circuit from 'Electronics Projects for Musicians' in a eurorack format, which is a comparator-based fuzz that outputs a proper square wave rather than a clipped sinusoidal one. This provides much better tracking and dynamics and lets us get those classic screaming hard sync synth sounds out of any guitar.

Ultra-fuzz modernized schematic: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1FQu9...

Read Craig Anderton's post on updating schematics from EPFM: https://craiganderton.org/electronic-..."

DIY Mutable Shades (or How to Patch Sidechain Compression for Eurorack)

video upload by Extralife

"In this video I build a Mutable Instruments Shades triple attenuverter module for my eurorack system. I'm using it in combination with a doepfer envelope follower and a VCA to create a sidechain compressor for my synth bass and drum machine setup.

In this video I build the "Shane" PCB from modular-addict, but as you'll see I found it unsatisfactory from a layout and documentation perspective. I think a better alternative is the 'Mutated Shane' pcb v2 from Pusherman, which looks to have been updated a little bit: https://pushermanproductions.com/prod..."

Designing A Eurorack Sequencer Part 8: New panel, Patch memory, Performance effects

Published on Nov 18, 2019 Extralife

"In this installment we fabricate a new front panel for the Super Sixteen using the toner transfer process, and then take a spin with some of the new advanced features it sports, like patch memory, scale selection, swing timing, and a gang of performance rhythm effects."

You can find previous videos in the series here.

Dialectixx - "Night Trader" live modular synth performance

video upload by Extralife

"'Night Trader' is the new single from DIALECTIXX, the new modular synth disco duo from San Francisco. Stream on Spotify here: https://open.spotify.com/track/5Sbt1b...

Written and produced by Dialectixx - Topic .
Check out our first single 'Limited Liability' and follow us here:
https://soundcloud.com/dialectixx/nig...
https://www.instagram.com/dialectixx/
https://www.tiktok.com/@dialectixx

Full length LP forthcoming May 2023!

Single out now on Girlfriend Records.
https://girlfriendrecords.bandcamp.com"

Building Mutable Instruments Braids / Learning Hot Air Soldering

Published on Mar 11, 2020 Extralife

"I need to learn SMD soldering so I picked up a PCB and parts for the classic eurorack digital oscillator, mutable instruments' Braids by Emilie Gillet. This version has been superseded in some ways by Plaits but I quite like the look of this one regardless.

I tried out a couple different soldering techniques including classic tack-and-place with the iron and lead-free solder paste with a hot air station. The paste wasn't super easy but maybe leaded paste is better for DIY work. Along the way I fried a couple components and had to troubleshoot so I tried to give some insight into how I track that stuff down and fix it.

The module sounds great! I needed to upgrade my case power supply after this build but that's massively improved with a separate digital power rail.

Music used in this video: [active links on YouTube]
South London Hifi - Sunrise Drive - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vZ97i...
Silent Partner - Blue Break - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=82WS2...
Birocratic - Memory Card Full - https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=A56YTM7...
Mylar Melodies - Musik Von Melodies - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JmZgy..."

DIY reclaimed wood "eurorack" synthesizer case

video by Extralife

"In this video I built a super-simple all-wood eurorack synth case using only hand tools and reclaimed materials like pallet wood. I think it came out pretty well but the dimensions could've been improved - I will post updated plans shortly."