"Our 4hp t01 VCO is a fully analog high quality voltage controlled oscillator. It easily tracks over 8 octaves, and has a triangle core with excellent Linear FM.
PWM, Hard Sync, LFO mode, Octave switch and 4 outputs too and all at very competitive pricing. Available now at Thonk.
Out of sight in this video are some looping envelopes from a Vostok 'Fuji' which is modulating the amount of FM or PWM etc. There is a 4MS Looping Delay module at moments to add some nice echoes, a Vostok 'Ceres VCA is generally present before it hits the camera. A Kassutronics quantizer is used now and then for tuned melodies."
This easy to build high quality Thonk VCO is a 4hp DIY eurorack analogue oscillator module. 8 octaves of tracking, Linear FM, PWM, LFO mode, octave switch and hard sync – all at competitive pricing. Designed in-house at Thonk.
The t01 VCO from Thonk Synth is a 4HP Eurorack analogue oscillator with triangle-core. This compact VCO packs in plenty of features including LFO mode, octave switching, hard sync and linear FM.
The t01 can track up to 8 octaves and has dedicated Sine, Triangle, Saw and Squarewave outputs (10Vpp). The pulse-width of the Squarewave can be modulated via CV and there are separate coarse and fine pitch controls for easy oscillator tuning.
The VCO core is based on the super stable SSI2131 chip from Sound Semiconductor. This module is part of a new range of DIY Eurorack designed in house at Thonk HQ.
"WORNG Electronics LRMSMSLR Mid-Side Encoder-Decoder Eurorack Module 'Thonk' DIY KIT Build Steps and Test Patch Video (2018)
Mid/side processing is extremely useful and common practice in mixing and mastering. It allows you to process the Mid Content and Side content of your stereo signal independently. For example, in the patch I used to test my WORNG LRMSMSLR DIY KIT purchased from thonk.co.uk I use the LRMSMSLR Eurorack Module to add AJH GEMINI 2412 Filtering to the Mid content of my stereo signal and only to the Mid Content. At the same time I am adding Fuzz Distortion only to the Side content of the stereo signal by sending the SIDE signal through the Retro Mechanical Labs Electron Fuzz Custom EFCCV Eurorack Module
But that’s just the start, there is a lot you can do with the ability to press Mid and Side content of a stereo signal, the WORNG LRMSMSLR is an extremely useful tool opening up a lot of creative doors.
"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
"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."
A kit for a Eurorack passive triple attenuator module (4hp).
A very simple and very useful Eurorack DIY kit. Below you’ll find links to very thorough build instructions written with synth DIY beginners in mind. This module requires no power from your busboard or prior electronic knowledge, it’s completely passive.
Each of the three attenuverters can be set to either a linear or logarithmic response with a jumper on the back of the PCB. Linear is more user friendly for CV attenuation, Log for audio signal attenuation.
Build time: 20-60 mins depending on experience.
Everything is included to make and rack the pictured module, even the solder. You just need a soldering iron and a pair of side cutters to finish the build.
Panel – 4hp – Anodised Aluminium with industrial Alu-Print legend
Knobs – Davies 1900h clones
Alpha 9mm pots
Thonkiconn jacks
Solder (a generous amounts for beginners)"
Superbooth 2018 - Dannysound Cali OSC & Thru Zero EN129 OSC with Thonk Published on May 8, 2018 DivKidVideo
"Steve from Thonk takes us through the two new Dannysound west coast / Buchla style oscillators at Superbooth 2018. There's the Cali OSC based on the 258 with some new features and also the Thru Zero EN129 which is similar to a single oscillator from the famous 259 dual complex oscillator. There's more features and options, great sound and of course it will be DIY first and foremost."
Note this is the first post to feature Dannysound. Superbooth video above and one from Thonk on the Cali Oscillator:
"The Cali oscillator is a new and improved version of the classic Buchla 258 waveshaping linear FM oscillator with an additional pulsewidth modulated output.
The oscillator features the classic Sine to Square and Sine to Saw wave shaping with dedicated CV control. The Cali Oscillator differs from previous versions of the 258 in that it has a 3-way position switch rather than 2-way. This new middle position features a bonus waveform that will shape from a pulse into a kind of triangular trapezoid shape. The shaping control is more unpredictable in this middle position – it can be thought of as an extra bonus waveform!
There are dedicated inputs for linear and logarithmic FM and the Cali also adds a Pulse output with it’s own width control and PWM CV input. The behaviour of the pulse output can be affected by the position of the waveform switch and wave shape control.
The module features Coarse and Fine frequency controls and an LFO mode, LFO range is accessed via an LED pushbutton that also acts as the LFO speed indicator – the button will light up when the waveform moves through its positive cycle.
Features:
* Sine to Saw/Square Waveform Output with CV over wave shaping
* Pulse output with voltage controlled PWM
* Linear FM with attenuator
* Logarithmic FM with attenuator
* Bonus ‘trapezoid’ output
* Coarse & Fine controls with LFO mode
* Genuine Rogan USA knobs (Hex keys included)
* All Through-hole build – no SMD components!
* Width: 12HP
* Depth: 42mm"
"The EN129 Thru Zero Oscillator is an all analog triangle-core VCO specialising in frequency modulation. Analog thru-zero FM modulation produces a wide array of timbres particularly useful for bell like or percussive sounds. Frequency modulation can be precisely dialled in thanks to a dedicated input attenuator and v/oct offset control. Logarithmic FM is also available via it’s own dedicated input with attenuator and both FM inputs have an LED to indicate incoming voltages. Simultaneous analog wave outputs include: Sine, Triangle, Sawtooth, Square and Pulse wave with Pulse Width Modulation. The PWM control goes to zero at either end of it’s range, which is very useful for creating rhythmic sounds with voltage control. Furthermore the PWM control doubles up as waveshape modulation for the Sawtooth wave – gradually altering the waveform until it shifts half a cycle. The EN129 features Coarse and Fine frequency controls as well as an LFO mode. LFO range is accessed via an LED pushbutton that also acts as the LFO speed indicator – the button will light up when the waveform moves through its positive cycle.
Features:
Thru Zero linear FM
Logarithmic FM
Zero to zero pulse width modulation
Sawtooth wave shape modulation
Simultaneous outputs for: Sine, Triangle, Saw, Pulse & Square
Coarse & Fine controls with LFO mode
Genuine Rogan USA knobs (hex keys included)
All Through-hole build – no SMD components!
Width: 12HP
Depth: 43mm"
"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:
"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
"David from Bubblesound takes us through the current range of DIY kits and also introduces us to 5 brand new kits coming soon: Pan, 141 ADSR, VCOb, SEM20 & uLFO.
"Join us while walk you through soldering the brandnew #Plinky touch surface #synthesizer! It’s designed by mmalex, both standalone and #Eurorack compatible and available as a full #DIY kit through Thonk.
Plinky looks and sounds amazing - it's a fullblown stereo synth voice with lush reverb and delay, which can function as a standalone desktop box or built into the rack. Its CV control and audio line in allows it to double up as a touch controlled effects processing box.
So follow along as we guide you step by step through the electronic components and soldering techniques needed to complete a happy, gleefully bleeping Plinky. We've include chapters with this video, so you can easily skip between sections, re-watch or pick up where you left off.
00:00 Introduction 01:39 What's in the box? 02:56 Required tools 03:40 Remove the PCB assembly rails 04:10 Solder headphone and line-in 05:38 Secure the USB port 06:29 Solder inter-board connectors 07:32 Eurorack Power 08:32 Trimming the pin headers 09:31 Preparing the OLED Screen 10:31 Placing Sockets and Pots 11:20 Placing the green Thonkiconn 11:33 Placing the black Thonkiconn 11:59 Placing the trimmed pinheaders 12:33 Placing the front panel 12:54 Temporarily fixing the front panel 13:40 Pull out encoder 14:01 Soldering the Thonkiconn 14:51 Soldering pots and encoder 15:48 Soldering the OLED display 16:10 Soldering the SMT pin headers 17:00 Finishing the connectors 17:48 Main board is done! 17:55 Preparing the LED pads 18:49 Placing and soldering the blue LEDs 20:22 Placing and soldering the white LEDs 21:23 Place front panel 21:41 Check your LEDs 22:28 Fix the panel with hex nuts 22:43 Place the washers and nuts 22:57 Put on the T18 shaft caps 23:09 Installing Plinky in Eurorack 23:56 Pocket Operator style case 24:57 Installing Plinky in Aluminium case 25:46 Updating firmware 26:41 Touch calibration 27:22 Ready to play!"
"Fellow MATRIXSYNTHers and solder monkeys! I am pleased to say that the Mutant Clap module is now a DIY project. So here's some cool artwork by Hannes to entice you.
The Mutant Clap DIY project is finally in stock!
You can now purchase PCBs and panels to build your own Mutant Clap module. The Mutant Clap is capable of generating dynamic handclap sounds, as well as other sounds you've never heard before. It is the third installment in the Mutant Drum series, with more to come soon!
1. Bristronica 24: MyVolts The Silent Alchemist Nears Shipping
We caught up with Caroline who gave us the latest update to the *Silent Alchemist*, a versatile power hub designed for musicians. Featuring five isolated USB-C outputs and a high-wattage sixth output capable of delivering 100 watts, the device can power a Mac with the remaining outputs providing 20 watts each. Its independent circuits ensure noise-free operation, catering to a variety of devices including the Dreadbox module and Sysmo slope generator.
The Silent Alchemist uses innovative step-up power tips to convert USB-C input to the correct voltage for various devices. There's also new feature: an uninterruptible power supply allowing seamless transition between wall and power bank sources. Also introduced were updated cables, such as silver candy cords and floating ring TRS to TS cables, expanding connection flexibility. The Silent Alchemist is expected to be available in December with a competitive pricing strategy.
At Bristronica 2024, we caught up with the creator of the *ML2M*, who introduced us to the latest version. The ML2M is a compact Eurorack module with Wi-Fi capabilities, allowing seamless synchronization with Ableton Live, Bitwig Studio, and iOS music apps using Ableton Link without the need for cables. It either connects to an existing network or creates its own, ensuring robust sync even in environments with unreliable Wi-Fi. The module, which retains its 2HP size, now features MIDI integration through TRS jacks. Users can access a web interface to configure each output for different clock divisions and reset triggers, making setup straightforward and flexible.
Alongside the ML2M, there's also the Missing Link Junior. This desktop version offers the same functionality but in a box format, complete with MIDI and CV clock outputs. Both products are now accessible, with a starting price of $250.
At Machina Bristronica 2024, we caught up with Arran from @archaea_modular_synthesis who presented the *Exchange Module*. This programmable patcher, a year in the making, evolved from its early prototype stage to a fully functional module. Arran explained how the Exchange can route synth voices via a beam controller and three exchange modules installed within the skiff, allowing for versatile patching. Operating like a matrix patchbay, it enables users to select inputs and outputs with the push of a button, create presets, and chain multiple modules for synchronized patching.
Communication between the modules occurs over the Eurorack power bus as well as over MIDI via the USB-C connection. The Exchange maintains analog integrity, ensuring there’s no conversion latency. The forthcoming release expected in late November 2024, includes a USB-driven editor for enhanced control capabilities.
