The Joy of Weird Little Gear Setups: Crum Drum & Freaq FM Demo

video upload by mylarmelodies

"Being a demo of two freaky little generative FM grooveboxes you can buy (or DIY!) from Thonk.co.uk - but also a celebration of all weird little drum machine and synth setups."

CHAPTERS

00:00 All one needs to have fun
01:24 Crum Drum
06:13 Freaq FM
10:16 Both Together: Woof!!
12:25 Full 1992 Head Nod
13:44 It's fun to make small gear setups
15:05 A final FM jam

Synth East 2024 - Synth and Modular festival in Norwich

video upload by

"Synth East is a festival of synths and modular in Norwich from Friday the 23rd of February to Sunday the 25th. Brought to you by the Norwich Arts Centre, Electronic Sound Magazine and Molten Modular.

Tickets are available for each event separately. There's a discount if you order the Saturday Expo and evening gig at the same time.

Friday: Subotnick documentary [trailer here], Adam Buxton interviews Steve Davis and music from Luke Sanger.

Saturday daytime: Synth Expo with performances

Saturday evening: Blancmange, Ultramarine and Molten Modular

Sunday: DIY Workshops from Thonk and Befaco.

http://www.syntheast.com"

Update: press release follows:


"Pouring from the heart of Norfolk, hosted by the Norwich Arts Centre, curated by Electronic Sound Magazine and run by Molten Modular, Synth East is back. After a devastatingly successful 2023 show the sold-out Norfolk-based festival of synthesizers returns in 2024 but this time it's been widened into a full weekend experience.

The all new Friday evening Synth East event is curated by Electronic Sound Magazine and kicks off with (possibly) the UK premiere of a documentary on electronic musician Morton Subotnick, who at 90 years old, is known affectionately as the Father of Techno. It’s called Subotnick, Portrait of an Electronic Music Pioneer by Waveshaper Media who brought us the intoxicating 2014 documentary, I Dream of Wires.

Following the film we have writer, broadcaster, comedian and musician Adam Buxton chatting with Synth East alumni Steve Davis about music, life and modular synths. Finishing off the evening we have an ambient set from modular musician Luke Sanger as we relax into some beers in preparation for what’s to come for the rest of the weekend.

Saturday’s Synth East Expo is a carnival of control voltage, a festival of synth sounds and a party of epic performances. Dozens of manufacturers will be filling the Arts Centre with synths and modulars to give you an opportunity check out their marvellous machines and bask in the glow of synthesiser technology. You’ll be able to chat with the makers about the gear and even have a personal demonstration. Simply walking through the auditorium in the company of such exciting gear is completely thrilling.

Throughout the day we’ll be having some performances from local artists Hardwired and Tristan Burfield before we once again embark on the awesome modular experiment of the all-star patch off. This year, joining Robin "Molten Modular" Vincent, Steve Davis and Gaz Williams will be Mylar Melodies, Nina Richards, and Jason Jervis. These are unique, improvised performances that you’ll never see anywhere else.

Saturday night’s synthesiser explosion features the 80s synth legends Blancmange who have kindly agree to fit us in before their extensive Everything is Connected: The Best Of Blancmange tour of the UK. Supporting Blancmange we have eclectic electronic music duo Ultramarine featuring Ian Cooper and Paul Hammond. And in the warm up slot is our own Robin “Molten Modular” Vincent and a special guest.

On Sunday we are hosting some Eurorack DIY workshops presented by Befaco and Thonk. They will be held at Electronic Sound HQ at Capital House over a few hours. The idea is that you buy a ticket for the workshop and then order the kit that you hope to build directly with Befaco or Thonk.

Synth East 2024 runs from the 23rd to the 25th of February. Each event is available as a separate ticket and there's a bundle deal on buying the Saturday Expo and evening performance together.

Our intention is to revel in the world of synthesizers, modular and electronic musical boxes. We want to explore sound through performance, discussion and hands-on interaction. It's a lot of fun and open to anyone with an interest in bleeps, tones and noises."

Why We Bleep with Synclavier Digital

video upload by mylarmelodies

"The story behind the creation, collapse and rebirth of the greatest sampler of all time, featuring Cameron Jones and Craig Phillips of Synclavier Digital. 🎙✨ // Please consider supporting production of Why We Bleep on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/mylarmelodies

THANKS TO SPONSORS
▶︎ https://www.signalsounds.com/ - for all kinds of gear
▶︎ https://www.thonk.co.uk/ - for easy synth DIY, new customers can take advantage of the offer code before October 31st 2023.
If you enjoyed this episode, please share it!

MORE ON SYNCLAVIER:
▶︎ Synclavier Digital: https://www.synclavier.com/"

Replica Buchla 100 series modular synth: LA67 Mort’s Barge

video upload by Tom Churchill

"This video is about Mort’s Barge - a replica mini-system of five Buchla 100 series modules that were used by electronic music pioneer Morton Subotnick in the mid-1960s. I recently built the 4U DIY modules from LA67, and in this video I walk through the features and create a few patches that show what they’re capable of.

My build notes are here:
https://www.modwiggler.com/forum/view...

Find out more about the Mort’s Barge DIY set on the LA67 website:
https://www.lasesentaysiete.com/mort-..."

You can find additional posts featuring Mort's Barge here.



Notes and pics via Tom Churchill's post on Mod Wiggler:

"I thought I’d share a couple of things I learned along the way which maybe aren’t immediately obvious from the BOMs alone, in case anyone else is planning to tackle the build and is looking for some tips.

Some of this stuff has no doubt been covered earlier in the thread, so apologies for any repetition. Also, a lot will probably be obvious to experienced builders, but I’m definitely not in that category yet, so for anyone else (like me) who’s only built Eurorack kits previously, maybe isn’t super-familiar with circuit theory and component sourcing, it might be useful.

Enclosure:
After I ordered the panels and PCBs from LA67 I contacted Julian at The Beast to ask about his 6U Buchla boats. As luck would have it he still had a couple of the special boats he supplied to LA67 for the pre-built Mort’s Barge systems, with matt black coating and pre-drilled holes for power inlet, power switch and grounding banana socket, so I snagged one.
I added some rubber feet to allow a bit of clearance for the screws I used to mount the PSU PCB (see below) and to avoid the underside getting scratched.
For mounting the modules, I bought a pack of 20 M3 speed fasteners (aka captive nuts, aka Tinnermans) from eBay, and secured the modules using M3 6mm screws with plastic washers.
Power:
The PSU PCB doesn’t require any caps and you just need to solder one bridge as marked. (This is now clear on the Mort’s Barge PSU BOM, but it wasn’t at first.)
I mounted the PSU PCB on 8mm M2.5 standoffs via the pre-drilled holes in the bottom of the boat.
I added a 2.1.mm DC inlet and wired a 20mm round rocker switch in series.
I added a single banana socket connected to 0V to provide a ground for any other cases I might want to use with it (and for connecting to Eurorack - see below).
For the AC-DC converter I just used a standard 12V 2A wall wart I had lying around, with a 2.1mm centre positive barrel connector.
I used the 2-pin Molex connectors as per the BOM to distribute power to the individual modules (with the power cables hard-wired to the individual module PCBs)
Component sourcing:
I combined the individual BOMs for the five modules into one master BOM, ticked off what I already had in stock (mostly resistors), then ordered any other required resistors, trimmers, pots, 2N3904/6 transistors and various bits of hardware from Tayda; caps, specialist transistors, diodes, switches, knobs, lamps etc from Mouser.
I’m in the UK and banana sockets worked out slightly cheaper from Thonk, so I ordered those there. I also bought the necessary matched transistor pairs from Thonk to save time (I don’t have the tools or experience to match them myself!)
Changes:
This might be sacrilege to Buchla purists but I went for Switchcraft 3.5mm sockets instead of Tini-Jax - I already have lots of 3.5mm patch cables and it makes for easier integration.
The 910p film caps on the BOM are huge - 10mm lead spacing - and expensive. I ordered them before I realised this, and with a bit of leg straightening/bending they do fit fine in the 158 and 180 boards, but I replaced them with these much smaller and cheaper 1n mylar film caps for the 140 - https://www.switchelectronics.co.uk/1nf ... apacitor-5 - and they work just fine.
The BOM has since been corrected, but slightly annoyingly at the time I was ordering, the part code for the Dialight lamps in the 123 was out of date, so the ones that arrived in my original order were the wrong size. I had to do a separate order for the correct parts, 609-1122-130F. These aren’t cheap, so double check that you’re getting 9mm ones!
On the 158 BOM, there’s a suggestion to use 1n5 instead of 47n for C11 to reduce saw wave distortion. I put sockets in for that and tried both - the 1n5 definitely gives a much cleaner saw so I’ve stuck with that. I also left out C8 as suggested to improve sine shape - I didn’t try it with it included but the sine is definitely a good shape without so I’ll stick without it.
General tips:
I built them in the left to right order they’re shown on the LA67 photos - 158, 110, 180, 140, 123. It was pretty easy to test this way.
Calibration-wise there’s not much to do - the trimmers on the 158 adjust the sine shape and upper and lower frequency limits; use the 110 trimmers to minimise clicking with a raw trigger in; the 140 trimmers set the upper and lower period (I haven’t really touched these)
For the wiring, I soldered pins to the PCB and used a bunch of F-F Dupont jumper wires, cut in half, so if I ever need to take the board off I can simply pull these off and don’t need to desolder anything. For the multiple outputs I mostly just used old resistor legs to bridge them.
Integrating with Eurorack clock is easy - both the 180 and the 123 respond to triggers as low as 5V (e.g. from Pam’s). I don’t use a format jumbler, just a 3.5mm to two bananas cable, with the ground banana connected to the spare ground I fitted near the power switch. I don’t think I’ll ever bother trying to send CV from Eurorack but this way I can at least clock it to the rest of my system if I want to, and maybe even play around with some more complex rhythm patterns.
Anyway, hope that’s handy for someone - I’ll share a bunch of patches on YouTube soon!"

TiNRS Wobbler 2 Complex LFO, Apollo View Allscillator and Prototype FX

video upload by Making Sound Machines

"Finally carving out some time to play with a couple of brand new eurorack synth modules that have arrived at our doorstep!

Our friends at This is Not Rocket Science have finished their Wobbler 2, successor to their original Wobbler complex LFO, and it's a module that keeps on giving. It lets you seamlessly morph between a number of inventive waveforms, like self-phasing, twang and pendulum, and shape, attenuate and invert the result on two outputs.

And equally exciting is Apollo View Modular’s awesome Allscillator, a great sounding analog oscillator that offers a number of cool waveshapes like Shark fin and PWM Saw, and modulation options like soft sync. Best of all it's available as a DIY kit from Thonk which means with some soldering skills you can build your own!

We took the opportunity to test both modules with prototype circuits of some of our upcoming modules, a line of analogue shaping, saturation and distortion FX modules that will be available prebuilt and as DIY kits - more on that soon!

In this patch, we use our Stolperbeats drum sequencer to sync TiNRS Wobbler 2 to a septuplet shuffle. It is delivering triggers to a prototype of our drum voice on kick and snare, as well as Befaco's Burst for a sneaky delayed upbeat into a zap, all with some crunchy proto FX for good measure.

Allscillator provides the waveforms patched through This is Not Rocket Science's Switch utility. From there the audio is routed into our prototype FX, modulated by Wobbler 2's self-phasing LFO and phase shifted to produce the stereo effect. Finally, we use TiNRS' Ardabil to scale and offset CV for some extra frequency control.

#TiNRS #Wobbler #eurorack

This is Not Rocket Science - @thisisnotrocketscience3942"

Thonk - Music Thing Modular - MOVE

video upload by Thonk Synth DIY

"Motion detecting module – Limited Edition of 100 full diy kits only"

Available at Thonk

LMNC Euro Filter and VCO demo!

video upload by Synth Diy Guy

"Join me as I explore the Look Mum No Computer Performance VCO and GRR Filter from Thonk that I just built!
Get yours here: https://www.thonk.co.uk/"

LMNC Grr Filter - Build video


"Thonk sent me this cool kit to build!
Get yours here:

https://www.thonk.co.uk/shop/lmnc-111...

Stay Noisy!"

LMNC Performance VCO Build


"Thonk sent me this cool VCO with a built in tuner to build! Get yours here and come build it with me!

https://www.thonk.co.uk/shop/lmnc-122...

Stay Noisy!"

CLICK FOR MORE »

Music Thing Modular - Easel PROTO | Easel Clock

video upload by Thonk Synth DIY

Music Thing Modular - Easel Clock


"Buy Music Thing Modular products for the Buchla Music Easel here - https://www.thonk.co.uk/product-categ..."

Music Thing Modular - CONTROL

video upload by Thonk Synth DIY

"BUY CONTROL HERE - https://www.thonk.co.uk/shop/mtm-cont...

Control is four big finger-friendly knobs for precise & playable tweaking from Music Thing Modular designed by Tom Whitwell, he writes:

After spending a lot of time working on smaller and smaller projects, I realised that many Eurorack synths were missing something critical: controls that are big enough to be fun.

Control is an absurdly simple module: Four big knobs that output voltages. Connect those voltages to modules, and you have high-precision, intuitive control. Connect those voltages to several modules, and you have interesting, repeatable confusion.

The first two channels (top two knobs) are also attenuators if something is plugged into the leftmost sockets.

The voltage on each channel can be 0–5v (middle), 0–10v (up), or -5v to +5v (down). When using a channel as an attenuator, keep it in 0–5v or you’ll get weird gain or offset (which you may want).

There are two extra outputs. Change outputs just the changes as they happen. If a knob is turned quickly to the right, it will output a little burst of positive voltage. If a four-handed performer turns all four knobs quickly anti-clockwise, it will output a chunky pulse of negative voltage. Patching Change into an input creates a primitive clock.

Diff is a difference rectifier, inspired by NonlinearCircuits, but with a slightly different circuit. It compares the difference between 1&2, and between 3&4, and finally outputs the difference between those two differences. The aim was to create a bumpy, unpredictable voltage between 0 and 10v. It’s not random, but it’s not easily predictable, either.

Each knob has its own bi-colour LED to provide visual feedback on how much voltage is being output. There are also LED indicators for the Change and Diff outputs.

And that's just about it. The circuit isn't designed to be super precise. It works best when you patch into a bunch of points in a complex patch, then just sit back, listen, and make small (or big) movements with the knobs.

The pots themselves are a bit special: high quality TT Electronics P260T – as used in SynthTech modules.

Website: http://www.thonk.co.uk"

Prok - Eurorack Drum System

video upload by Thonk Synth DIY

"Prok drums are compact, expressive, morphing percussion modules. Synthesis not samples!

They have a 12-bit Lo-Fi crunch with virtual analog patch morphing.
There is a free software editor that lets you edit and create new patches live.

Available now from Thonk, save 20% when you buy the full bundle deal.
https://www.thonk.co.uk/shop/prok-bun..."

http://www.thonk.co.uk

Offgrid Shuffle in Eurorack: LoFi Hiphop with Stolperbeats

video upload by Making Sound Machines

"Here's a modular lofi hiphop patch that came out so leftfield it was too fun not to share! It's built around #Stolperbeats and Befaco's fantastic Percall Quad Drum VCA, with Stolperbeats sequencing the shuffled gates and a wooden baseboard amplified and routed through our #TausenddB and #Multiplikand patched as a texture control.

Stolperbeats, 'beats tripping over themselves' in German, is our upcoming drum trigger sequencer designed to create shuffled beats influenced by artists like Flying Lotus, Hiatus Kaiyote and J Dilla. We really love those beats and used to reconstruct them for our tracks in the DAW, so we ended up digging deep into the techniques how real-life drummers like Questlove from The Roots or Perrin Moss from Hiatus Kaiyote play these shuffles.

This patch is almost a little hack as it uses Stolperbeats' clock outputs as a musical signal. Subdiv outputs the swung clock or a related set of tuplet subdivisions, perfect for syncing up cartesian sequencers like Make Noise Rene that advance one step per clock tick. Sync plays a straight unswung metronome ranging from once every four bars to 24 ppq, great for keeping a Delay or LFO in time.

Here, Stolperbeats' clock signals are patched to trigger Percall's VCA envelopes, shaping the sounds picked up from the board with piezo contact mics, and creating groove from the offset flams of the shuffled and straight clocks. Enrica is performing the drum rolls by changing the subdivisions on the fly. It's all held together by the lovely blips from Winterbloom 's Juno-inspired DCO Castor & Pollux on kick and a Patching Panda Hatz patch on snare duty.

We'll be showcasing this setup tonight at Muelheim Modular's lovely synth shop in Köln Mülheim. It's part of Mülheimer Nacht 2022 so if you're in Cologne, swing by and say hi! You will be able to try out the patches and modules hands-on. If you want to build our synth #DIY kits, we're hosting a workshop at Superbooth in Berlin, 13.05.2022, 17:00. If you are unable to make it to Berlin, kits are available at Muelheim Modular and Exploding Shed (EU), Thonk (UK) and dsp.coffee (US), or visit our website and mail us directly."

Olivella Modular Imágenes Stereo Filter : Building the full kit

video upload by Synth Diy Guy

"Today we build my favorite Stereo Filter ever! And the first module I've ever seen come out of Argentina :)
Top notch design, fun build, great sound and features.
Find out more here: https://www.olivellamodular.com/image...
Buy it here: https://www.thonk.co.uk/shop/olivella...
And check out my demo video too!

Music by Quincas Moreira, available royalty free from the Youtube Audio Library.

https://www.patreon.com/quincas
https://www.quincasmoreira.com/

Stay Noisy!"

Imágenes Stereo Filter Demo

video upload by Synth Diy Guy

"A deep dive into my favorite Stereo Filter ever! And the first module I've ever seen come out of Argentina :)"

Note this is the first post to feature Olivella Modular.

Music Thing Modular - Mini Drive - How to patch it!

video upload by Thonk Synth DIY

Buy Mini Drive HERE - https://www.thonk.co.uk/mini-drive

Additional Mini Drive posts

Free Prok VCV modules for all Prok hardware owners

video upload by Thonk Synth DIY

"Do you own hardware Prok modules? Would you like to get the Prok modules for free in the VCV software? Follow these steps:

1) Install the VCV software on your computer and register a VCV account - https://vcvrack.com/
2) Install the Prok Drum Central software - http://prok.co.uk/pages/apps/
3) Open Prok Drum Central, connect Prok hardware via USB and hit the VCV button - Follow onscreen instructions.

https://www.thonk.co.uk/prok"

Pepper, a DIY Eurorack module for Bela.

video upload by Bela Platform

You might recall Pepper from this post back in 2019.

"Pepper is a DIY Eurorack module for synth builders. It’s the easiest way to get Bela into your synthesiser case and once assembled will give you a fully programmable module. Code synth patches using C++, Pure Data, Supercollider and Csound

This video gives an overview of the module and demos some of the default patches which come with the board. This includes:

Start 0:00
Module overview 0:10
Tape-style Delay 1:08
Wavetable Drums 3:33
4 Channel Looper 6:09
Vocal Synthesis 9:22
1st Principles Drum Machine 11:50
Dual Inharmonic Oscillator 15:18

Pepper is available now as a PCB and Faceplate kit from our shop (https://shop.bela.io/collections/modu...) or as a full DIY kit from Thonk (https://www.thonk.co.uk/shop/bela-pep...)."

"PEPPER is a DIY kit for hardware enthusiasts who love Bela, modular synths, and building things.

PEPPER consists of a bare PCB with matching faceplate, as well as an additional faceplate for USB breakouts. There is a list of common through-hole components for you to source, and we provide an in-depth, illustrated build guide. Once assembled, attach your Bela board (sold separately) and start prototyping and experimenting with Bela and your modular synth. Both faceplates are matte black with luxe gold print or, if you prefer, white print on the reverse.

Your PEPPER DIY kit includes:

Bare PEPPER PCB, ready for assembly
A matching faceplate and USB breakout faceplate, both made of matte black PCB with gold surface finish (and matte white screen print on the reverse)
Once assembled, PEPPER is 18HP wide and adds the following to your modular setup:

Stereo audio I/O
8 CV inputs (up to 4 can be swapped for trigger ins)
8 CV offset potentiometers (normalised to analog inputs)
8 CV outputs
4 buttons
10-LEDs

CLICK FOR MORE »

Dannysound Multimode Ladder Filter Demo & Build Videos

video by Synth Diy Guy

"The chunk and the cream of a moog-style ladder filter with bass compensation :)
Video sponsored by Thonk.
get your here: https://www.thonk.co.uk/shop/dannysou...

https://www.patreon.com/quincas
https://www.quincasmoreira.com/

Stay Noisy!"

Dannysound Multimode Ladder Filter: Build and Calibration

Dannysound Looping VC-ADSR Demo & Build Videos

video by Synth Diy Guy

"Snappy and beautiful, this ADSR takes me for a ride :)
Video sponsored by Thonk
Get yours here: https://www.thonk.co.uk/shop/dannysou...

https://www.patreon.com/quincas
https://www.quincasmoreira.com/

Stay noisy!"

Building the Dannysound Looping VC ADSR

Music Thing Modular Mini Drive!

video by Synth Diy Guy

"A cool incandescent lamp based overdrive from Music Thing Modular! Super easy kit to build and sounds awesome :) Get your at Thonk!: https://www.thonk.co.uk/​

My Website: https://www.quincasmoreira.com/​
My Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/quincas​

Stay Noisy!"

Music Thing Modular CONTROL - Build Video

video by Thonk Synth DIY

"Tom Whitwell takes you through how to build the MTM Control module.

Buy Control here - https://www.thonk.co.uk/shop/mtm-cont...​"

CONTROL - Music Thing Modular´s premium knob experience

video by Synth Diy Guy

"The perfect knobby controller :)
Build guide and demo

Get your kit here: https://www.thonk.co.uk/shop/mtm-cont...​

My Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/quincas​
My Website: https://www.quincasmoreira.com/​

Stay Noisy!"