MODOR NF-1 : FILTER & FORMANT noodling

video upload by Freaky Tweaky

Formant Synth Dream

Update as of 9:26 PDT: I made a couple of minor updates in case you read it before then. Sorry!

A quick note on posts like this: I hope you enjoy them. If not, just skip them. When I first started the site I used to share my synth dreams but stopped. Personally I get a kick out of them. I won't share every one, just some of the stand outs. The last one stood out for the humor, this one stood out for the design of the instrument. It reminds me of different makers and their approach. As a maker, do you set out to design a synthesizer, an instrument, or both? Are you locked in by the tools, components, and paradigms of what makes a synth? In my dream both the musician and the maker (who never made an appearance BTW) didn't really know what a synth even was. The maker just designed an instrument and the musician just played it. This reminds me of Don Buchla's original designs and specifically the Buchla Music Easel. This was at the birth of synthesis as we know it. What's interesting is his designs weren't meant to be what they are commonly perceived as today. They were meant to be unique instruments, palettes for sound, hence the Music Easel. I heard even his modular systems weren't meant to be complete fixed instruments, they weren't meant to be mixed and matched. Think about that for a bit. They were modular in design, but they weren't meant to be modular in nature. They were meant to be wholly formed instruments. In the following dream the musician reminded me of Marc-Henri and Barry Schrader to an extent. Marc-Henri almost exclusively uses an Access Virus Ti as a music easel for his compositions. Barry Schrader started with Buchla and then moved to FM synthesis for his compositions. You can find an extensive interview with him here.


And the dream...

I had another synth dream last night. In this one I was at an ensemble event held in kind of a classroom/workshop/gym-type of open space at what felt like an old English or New England boarding school - lots of wood, flat tall ceilings, and windows along the length of the far wall. The ensemble consisted of maybe 18 people in a semi-circle with a small audience in front of them, mainly standing, which I was one of. The instructor had each member of the ensemble introduce their instruments. I was in front towards the left of the ensemble and noticed the last two instruments to be electronic desktop boxes sitting on a card table (synth gathering anywone?), both vintage and almost DIY looking in style. I remember thinking, "I know what these boxes are. They are synths! I can't wait to talk shop with the owners and check them out." Well the instructor starts going around the ensemble starting on the opposite side. Each member introduces their instrument and talks a little bit about them and their technique. There were some interesting brass-like instruments. I think there was one based on an alto trombone, but it was just a flat pipe and no horn at the end. Funny side note is my daughter is currently learning to play piccolo. She plays flute in high school band and decided to finally give the piccolo a try as a stretch goal. If you don't know what a piccolo is, it's a tiny flute for super high notes. She said there were tiny versions of most instruments including the trombone. I looked one up and sure enough there is. A tiny trombone not much longer than a foot exists. The instrument in my dream also bore a resemblance to the ribbon controller featured in the Nunomo QUN post, so I'm guessing that's where it came from - some bizarre mix of the two. Anyway, when the instructor/host got around to the last two instruments, it turned out the first was a theremin based synth minus the antennas. It was made of wood and looked vintage. It would have been interesting if not for the next box. That was something. It was black with white and silver sliders, levers, buttons, and knobs. It was a unique instrument custom made for the owner who knew the maker. The interesting thing was the musician wasn't familiar with synths and didn't even see the instrument as a synth. The maker also wasn't into synths. In the dream he was more like a luthier, more of an artist instrument maker than a synth maker. No offense to synth makers! :) Anyway, it was about the size of an EMS SYNTHI and was black with white levers and sliders and had a bunch of esoteric control blocks with non standard names/labels; similar to something like the Hartmann Neuron where controls are familiar but the names are completely different. For some reason it reminded me of a black Lassence uVentury, Modor NF-1, mixed with some MacBeth and Folktek in design, but again completely different. Again, this maker wasn't into synths. This was a unique instrument. After the talk was over the musician gave a little demo. The sound of it. It was like formant analog but the timbers coming out of it were rich and full, not thin or glossy like most formant synthesis. It sounded like nothing I've ever heard before. After the talks were over I walked over to it to check out the controls and design. I wondered if I could touch it and play with it a little and for some reason, as happens in dreams, I knew it was OK so I started playing with it. There was a thin ivory white reed-like lever about an inch and a half long that controlled a female formant timbre. It was amazing. There was an group of lever-type sliders that controlled a multi band formant filter block and I remember thinking, "Oh this is a filter!" There were envelop sliders and other familiar groups that I now forget, but there were a bunch of interesting controls on it that didn't quite match up to common synths. There were additional effects and shaping tools built into the design and everything just flowed like a natural instrument. Again it kind of reminded me in concept to a Hartman Neuron and Modor NF-1, with maybe a bit of Folktek, but it was more vintage and simplistic in design - just a sold black block with white and silver controls. It was definitely designed as a work of art instrument vs. a synth. Similar in concept to the Buchla music Easel as I mentioned in the intro to this dream above. So after checking it out a little and talking to the owner I realized I should take a video of it for the site! I got the OK to film it, pulled out my iPhone, and started trying to capture some of the controls and timbres it was capable of. When I got to that formant female slider it was gone! I couldn't remember what I did to get that sound and I couldn't find the control again. Damn dreams.... And as in many real world sessions I wasn't getting those rich timbres again. I got lost between timbres! I thought my readers would be disappointed in my programming chops for a split second, but then I reminded myself anyone into programming synths will understand and not care, so I kept tweaking. Well, right then, a foster kid boarding at the school distracted me and started talking to me. I hand gestured to him (no I did not flick him off) to hold off for a second because I was in the middle of filming the synth and trying to capture audio. He understood for like five seconds and started talking again. I asked him to give me a sec but he got upset and said I should be there more for people. I felt bad and wasn't getting anywhere with the instrument at that point, so I stopped filming to talk to him before he left.

And that was it! Everything felt right with the kid so that was good, but that instrument! It's gone forever...

Modor NF 1 digital synthesizer overview and sound demo

Published on Dec 25, 2019 Gearjunkies

"The Modor NF-1 is an 8-voice polyphonic virtual analog synthesizer desktop synthesizer, made in Belgium. It has a special formant filter, 448 presets and a nicely designed user interface. We think it is a really nice and special synthesizer, and we want to show you what is and what it can do in this video."

Modor NF-1 White w/ Rack Ears

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

via this auction

"Excellent blend of digital OSC combos, complex envelopes, LFO, and great sounding formant filter, chorus/flanger, and delay. Fast patch creation, and very controllable via Midi."

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-burn: Experiment in Sound Design

Published on Sep 4, 2019 Precarious333 Music

Modor Formant Filter

"Sound design experiment separating and processing a sound divided into hi/mid/low bands. Will make a good base to build around with heavy drums. I have Noise Engineering - Basimilus Iteritas Alter sequenced and modulated by Malekko - Voltage Block and Xaoc - Batumi.

A copy of BIM is running into Future Sound Systems - Spectral Devastator FIL3 highpassed with resonance and overdrive to create the highs.

Another copy running into TouellSkouarn - Sonveskañ adding distortion, then into Modor Music - Formant Filter filling out the mids. This turned out to be a pretty interesting combination. Sonveskañ is removing most of the high frequency content. 2 minutes in I use feedback on Sonveskañto create some accents. Formant Filter is stereo with different modulation to the left and right channels creating a nice dynamic stereo effect.

Then a third copy of BIM EQed down to just the lows running through overdrive to fill out the bottom end.

Recorded as 4 tracks into Ableton. EQ, compression, reverb, pan added in post."

Modor Noisy oscillator and Formant filter -Dark Vowel patch

Published on Aug 14, 2019

"Today I have a patch using Modor Noisy oscilltor and Modor-Control Filter, a bit of fun with Vowel using dark patch.
to this I added Black Dual VCF-Erica Synths filter for resonance which can be heard when lfo releases it from time to time by opening the filter .. but all the sound comes from Noisy VCO and Control filter. for this I used a little reverb from the Black Hole DSP module from Erica Synths and changed the filter format to the vowel some time, a slight addition of noise from the Noisy oscillator also causes the filter control to process the noise itself, which seems to create a rather dark effect.

More info about Modor eurorack modules here : http://www.modormusic.com

Noisy Oscillator module is and oscillator that mixes two signals: a 'regular' wave (sawtooth/square/triangle) and a 'tonal noisy' wave. This adds a special noisy layer over the sound, that adds 'air', grit or dirt, depending on the combinations you make. The MOD parameter acts on the noisy waveforms:

Sonar Noise: a white noise filtered by a resonant bandpass filter, with 1V/oct tracking of the filter frequency. The MOD parameter controls the resonance.
Wind Noise: white noise filtered by a comb filter, with 1V/oct tracking of the base frequency (delay). The MOD parameter controls a 6dB/oct hipass filter.
Arcade Noise: LFSR noise source as can be found on the SID soundchips (Commodore) or Sega Arcade games. The MOD parameter controls again a 6dB/oct hipass filter.
The noisy wave can be set equal, or 1 or 2 octaves above the regular wave.

The module has two voices, with their own set of CV and output connectors. This can be used to play in a full 2-voice polyphony, or in a 2-voice unison. The outputs can be separate, using both output connectors, or mixed, using only the connector of the second voice.

Next to the 1V/oct pitch CV, the module offers CV control over pitch (FM), the MOD parameter and the sound level:

FM CV: pitch control normalled to 0V, attenuated with the FM knob (+ and -). This allows for Frequency Modulation up to the lower audio range. It's of course a digital module, so higher frequencies can start inducing aliasing and digital artefacts.
MOD CV: CV control for the MOD parameter, normalled to 0V and attenuated with the CV AMT knob (+ and -).
LEVEL CV: CV control for the sound volume, normalled to 7.5V. With this CV control you can omit an external VCA stage if you want.
The CV signals of the second voice (upper row of connectors) are always normalled to the signal of the first voice (lower row), so you can use a single LFO for some FM vibrato or tremolo on both voices, for example. Only the V/oct connector of the second voice is normalled to the first voice with an extra addition of a fixed voltage that can be set using a trimmer at the backside of the module. This way you can use the 2 voices to play in unison with a fixed pitch separation you can set on the backside.

Modor's Formant Filter is a special filter that does a kind of 'vowel morphing' between three vowels. The big central FORMANT control is responsible for that, and on the Eurorack module there's of course a CV control (with attenuation) on this parameter.

You can imagine a formant filter as a set of parallel bandpass filters, picking up and amplifying a set of small frequency bands. For example, with these frequency bands around 750Hz, 1200Hz and 2800Hz, you get the sound of an 'A'. So far, nothing special. There are more formant filters around composed of a set of parallel bandpass filters.

It gets more interesting when you're able to 'morph' between different sets of those formant frequencies. Behind the central FORMANT control, there are 3 of those sets of frequencies. One at full left, one in the middle, and one fully right. So you can for example morph between A-E-O. Or U-I-E. Or AO-UI-EU. Or ...

That's what it does: morphing between different sets of formant frequencies, and that's why it sounds a lot more genuine vowelish than many other static bandpass combinators.

There are 10 preset vowels, that can be selected with the VOWEL button: A-E-O-I-OE-U-EI-EU-AO-U-UI. The vowels of the Dutch language... :-)

The 1-2-3-4 controls on top give you the possibility of composing your own vowels by manually adjusting the frequency bands."

Modor Eurorack- Noisy Oscillator/Comb Filter first impression

Published on Jul 5, 2019 Dziam Bass

"Hi Guys.
Today was a little crazy day but I managed to record one small movie with new modules from Modor this is some spontaneous movie but like now this modules.
To Noisy Oscillator and Comb Filter (effects like chorus and flanger)
basically I was having a little fun with it but I decided that this small sequence is fine to even show some sound of these great modules.
These modules are single-ended sections from the famous Modor NF-1 polyphonic synthesizer.
basically it's the VCO section and the second section of the effects. it also has a Formant filter but it was not used in this movie."

Modor Noisy Oscillator, Comb Filter & Formant Filter // Synthfest 2018

Published on Oct 29, 2018 DivKidVideo

"The NF-1 from Modor always has me gassing for some digital synth action and it's great to see them enter the eurorack market too. The Formant filter is out now but Modor also had the new Noisy Oscillator and Comb Filter on show at Synthfest so here's a quick demo with a few sounds from the new units."

GFI Clockwork V3 And Specular Reverb V3 With Modor NF-1m

Published on Aug 8, 2018 Perfect Circuit Audio

"The GFI Clockwork V3 and Specular Reverb V3 are stereo delay and reverb pedals with 7 algorithms each. We used the Modor NF-1m synthesizer as a sound source, this digital synthesizer has analog style routing with a formant filter as well as a regular filter. The Clockwork's delay algorithms have some standard digital, analog and multi-tap styles as well as some interesting diffusion and ambient delay types. The Specular Reverb algorithms include standard sounds as well as some more unique sounds like a vocal reverb mode.

Clockwork V3 available here: https://www.perfectcircuitaudio.com/g...

Specular Reverb V3 available here: https://www.perfectcircuitaudio.com/g...

Modor NF-1m available here: https://www.perfectcircuitaudio.com/m..."

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Supporting MATRIXSYNTH members get %10 off at Perfect Circuit Audio!

Modor Comb Filter and Formant Filter - Superbooth 2018

Published on May 7, 2018 Sound On Sound magazine

"Modor have adapted the formant filter from their NF-1 synth for the Eurorack format and introduced a new Comb filter as well. We take a listen..."

Modor NF-1 Digital Polyphonic Synth

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

via this auction

"Fabulous Modor NF-1 digital DSP synth Very light studio use- sounds incredible! Sounds better than other virtual analog synths- classic structure of VA synths has 3 fully independent oscillators,10 waveforms, 12dB/oct switchable resonant filter, Formant filter with 3 morph vowels extensive effects section Mod section -incredible machine!"

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Modor NF-1 Digital Synthesizer

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

via this auction

"The Modor NF-1 synth is a digital DSP synth very comparable to the classic Virtual Analog synths, but Modor is moving further on from this point. We use the classic structure of VA-synths, with oscillators, filters and effects, with parameters that can be modulated using LFO's and envelopes. But every element has been rethought and reinvented. In a digital way.

The NF-1 has a classic 12dB/oct resonant filter, but we are also giving it a versatile formant filter, never seen in hardware before! It does make classic sawtooth waves, but we're also including a lot of other brand new modulatable noisy waveforms! It has a classic delay effect, but we make every parameter editable to give way to special unexpected effect types! And so on..."

CLICK FOR MORE »

Modor Formant Filter In Eurorack Format

Published on Jan 8, 2018 Perfect Circuit Audio

"This video shows the Modor Formant Filter eurorack synthesizer module which is based on the Formant Filter from the Modor NF-1 standalone synthesizer. Formant Filters create sounds similar to human vocal sounds. The Modor version allows you to use preset formants or to tune in your own and then save them.

Available here: https://www.perfectcircuitaudio.com/m..."

Supporting members of MATRIXSYNTH get %10 off at Perfect Circuit Audio!

Modor - New Eurorack Formant Filter // Synthfest 2017

Published on Nov 25, 2017 DivKidVideo

"I think this went largely missed by many at Synthfest but the new Modor eurorack modular formant filter sounded great! Stereo formant filter coming from their NF-1 synth in modular ... yes please! Looking forward to seeing how this develops."

via Modor Music

"We received the question quite a few times: 'When will you break up the Modor NF-1 in Eurorack pieces? Well, we 're not going to build Eurorack modules for everything there is in the NF-1, but we tought our formant filter is that special and unique we can't leave the modular world deprived of it ... :-)

So, here we are: Modor's Formant Filter in a Eurorack Module!

Modor's Formant Filter is a special filter that does a kind of 'vowel morphing' between three vowels. The big central FORMANT control is responsible for that, and on the Eurorack module there's of course a CV control (with attenuation) on this parameter.

You can imagine a formant filter as a set of parallel bandpass filters, picking up and amplifying a set of small frequency bands. For example, with these frequency bands around 750Hz, 1200Hz and 2800Hz, you get the sound of an 'A'. So far, nothing special. There are more formant filters around composed of a set of parallel bandpass filters.

It gets more interesting when you're able to 'morph' between different sets of those formant frequencies. Behind the central FORMANT control, there are 3 of those sets of frequencies. One at full left, one in the middle, and one fully right. So you can for example morph between A-E-O. Or U-I-E. Or AO-UI-EU. Or ...

That's what it does: morphing between different sets of formant frequencies, and that's why it sounds a lot more genuine vowelish than many other static bandpass combinators.

There are 10 preset vowels, that can be selected with the VOWEL button: A-E-O-I-OE-U-EI-EU-AO-U-UI. The vowels of the Dutch language... :-)

The 1-2-3-4 controls on top give you the possibility of composing your own vowels by manually adjusting the frequency bands."

Modor NF-1 Digital Polyphonic Synthesizer

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

via this auction

"This is a spectacular and innovative synth, with unique waveform options, complex envelope modulation, formant filter, and an extensive and flexible FX section. This all in addition to the usual building blocks of any great synth, which this also excels at."

CLICK FOR MORE »

Modor NF-1 interview Demo Cuckoo Exploring

Published on Apr 2, 2016 cuckoomusic .

"Support CUCKOO here: https://www.patreon.com/cuckoomusic
Modor: http://www.modormusic.com

One synthe that captured my interest was the Modor NF-1. A very digital synth with handy envelopes, a bit different sounding noises and a beautiful formant filter. I had the opportunity to talk with the creator of the synth, about the process of turning his hobbies into a real project, and singlehandedly coming up with this synthesiser. Also taking it for a spin in the end myself, exploring different aspects of the synth. I found it to be lush, sharp and lovely. It's taking advantage of the digital heritage in a very charming way, while also being able to go a bit wonky :)"

Modor NF 1 Digital Polyphonic Synthesizer Demonstration song

Published on Aug 13, 2015 David Morley

"A tune made entirely on the Modor NF-1 Synthesizer. The only extra stuff was a Reverb. Not aiming for a Grammy with it (pretty chilled and typical) but hopefully it shows somewhat how flexible the Modor NF-1 is. The Modor NF-1 is a Digital Polyphonic (8 voice) synthesiser from Belgium. It has 3 Oscillators which have classic analogue style waveforms as well as Additive and FM synthesis. A multimode filter, a Formant filter, 4 envelopes, 3 LFO etc etc. It;s a very powerful synth.. In another video I will go through the features one by one. Hope you enjoy."

New Modor NF-1 8 Voice Hardware Synth Now Available

You might remember the Modor NF-1 from the announcement post here. It looks like the NF-1 is now available for order at € 995 (roughly $1090).

A quick recap:

"The Modor NF-1 synth is a digital DSP synth very comparable to the classic Virtual Analog synths, but Modor is moving further on from this point. We use the classic structure of VA-synths, with oscillators, filters and effects, with parameters that can be modulated using LFO's and envelopes. But every element has been retought and reinvented. In a digital way.

The NF-1 has a classic 12dB/oct resonant filter, but we are also giving it a versatile formant filter, never seen in hardware before! It does make classic sawtooth waves, but we're also including a lot of other brand new modulatable noisy waveforms! It has a classic delay effect, but we make every parameter editable to give way to special unexpected effect types! And so on ..."

New Modor NF-1 Hardware Synth in the Works

"The Modor NF-1 synth is a digital DSP synth very comparable to the classic Virtual Analog synths, but Modor is moving further on from this point. We use the classic structure of VA-synths, with oscillators, filters and effects, with parameters that can be modulated using LFO's and envelopes. But every element has been retought and reinvented. In a digital way. The NF-1 has a classic 12dB/oct resonant filter, but we are also giving it a versatile formant filter, never seen in hardware before! It does make classic sawtooth waves, but we're also including a lot of other brand new modulatable noisy waveforms! It has a classic delay effect, but we make every parameter editable to give way to special unexpected effect types! And so on ...

Yes, it's digital and we're proud of it! We are making a very hands-on, laborious new synth having plenty of knobs and switches right on top of it to shape any sound parameter thats in it. Nothing to look up in menus!"

Demos at Modor Music

Specs for the archives:

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