"Unbridled passion drives Paula Maddox as she finds her sound through synth creations.
Captivated by the perplexing synth sounds of the 1980s and driven to recreate the beloved melodies of her favourite songs, Paula Maddox has had a fruitful career in music tech. As a synth afficionado turned designer, Paula has been at the helm of many groundbreaking synth creations, and has also founded her own synthesizer company, Dove Audio. We spoke with Paula to learn more about her career as a trans woman in music tech, and how she infuses purity, integrity and love into her work."
"Built by the fabulous Paula Maddox of Dove Audio and Modal synth fame.
Great little synth, 2 Oscillators that have standard waves and also some PPG style ones, plus a sub Oscillator. 2 envelopes and a nice LFO.
The VCF and VCA is the Korg 2069 chip used in the DW range and also Paulas new MU VCF.
There were not many of these built but this is just sat feeling unloved due to lack of time.
There is no PSU or manual, however there is a full tutorial online. I lost the PSU in a house move a year ago and have not replaced so can not say it is working as I can not turn on, however it was fine before my move."
Note this is a project from Paula Maddox, the woman behind Modal Electronics and previously Vacoloco.
"The Waveplane oscillator is a new dimension in wavetable synthesis. It allows 6 dimensions of movement for the output wave being generated giving unprecedented amount of motion in a wavetable oscillator. It's designed to fit in your modular synthesiser, either in Eurorack format or MU format.
How Does it Work?
The oscillator generates four simultaneous waveforms and, at its simplest, it lets you seamlessly morph between four different waveforms using the X and Y controls. Along with the X and Y controls having CV inputs, each of the four waveforms has its own wavetable, providing you with 6 dimensions of movement for the output wave being generated, giving unprecedented amount of motion in a wavetable oscillator.
32 Waveforms
Each 'corner' wave has 32 waveforms which are arranged in wavetables. There are, of course, the usual suspects - sawtooth, sine wave, triangle wave and square wave. The remaining 28 waveforms are all newly created to mimic certain types of sounds, like vocal formants, distorted waves, metallic sounds and many more.
You can select the waveform for each corner; each corner has independent control voltages enabling you to create incredibly rich sonic textures.
Wave Inversion
You can also invert the waveforms on the right of the or at the bottom of the waveplane, this lets you create more rhythmical wavetable style sounds.
CV Control of Waveforms
We've added the ability to change all four waveforms independently using control voltages. Used in conjunction with a sequencer or multiple LFOs, this gives you an incredibly powerful sound source full of previously unheard of sonic power."
DivKid captured the following demo at this year's Brighton Modular Meet:
Dove Audio WTF Oscillator at Brighton Modular Meet 2018
Published on Jul 10, 2018 DivKidVideo
"Here's a patch from Paula Anne Maddox with her new WTF oscillator and company Dove Audio. It's a new unique take on working with waveforms and oscillators and will be launched on Kickstarter here - http://bit.ly/wtfvco.
This footage is from the Brighton Modular Meet on the 1st of July 2018. The event is held at the Attenborough Centre for the Arts at the University of Sussex. More information here - http://brightonmodularmeet.co.uk"
WTF stands for Window Transform Function and this oscillator gives the owner a new and unique way to morph between waveforms. It's designed to fit in your modular synthesiser, either in Euro-rack format or MU format.
How Does it Work?
Remember when you used to go to the dentist and the receptionist had a sliding hatch that would open and say "Mrs Smith to see the Dr in room 3 please"? Well this is much the same, the "front" wave is represented by the panes of glass on that window, the rear wave is the cheery receptionist.
As you slide open the window in the front wave the rear wave can be seen in that window. You can open and close this window with CV control.
Here's an example waveform.
This creates a totally new waveform that could, for example, start with a sawtooth, then change to a square wave part way through, then go back to a sawtooth for the remainder of the waveform cycle.
All this can be done with full CV control, allowing you to route your existing LFOs, EGs and sequencers to any or all of the parameters.
Features
32 Waveforms + Noise
There are 32 waveforms plus noise in the module and you can morph between any two. There are of course the usual suspects - sawtooth, sine wave, triangle wave and square wave. The remaining 28 waveforms are all newly created to mimic certain types of sounds, like vocal formants, distorted waves, metallic sounds and many more.
You can select the front and rear waveforms with independent control voltages enabling you to create incredibly rich sonic textures.
Tuneable Noise
The noise is tuneable, when you enable noise for the rear wave you can adjust the frequency the noise is generated at, allowing you to go from a white noise to a retro 8 bit game console style noise.
Advanced 'PWM'
You can also set the rear window to be a DC level giving you the ability to create PWM like sounds with any of the 32 waveforms.
Wave Inversion
You can also invert the rear waveform which adds a whole new level of sonic capability to the WTF oscillator.
Dual Window Mode
We've also added a 'dual' mode to the window function, so you can change between a single window opening and closing or a dual window.
CV Control of Waveforms
Finally, we've added the ability to change both the front and rear waveforms using control voltages, used in conjunction with a sequencer this gives you an incredibly powerful sound source full of previously unheard of sonic power."
"Old Nik says: "The MonoWave(X) is a early GEM from Paula Maddox... The unknown (to many) ancestor of the Modal Electronics 001/002! It's super! Think PPG Wave and Moog Model D had a baby, and that is the MonoWave(X)..."
Manufacturer Description:
The Monowave was the brainchild of UK electronics designer, Paula Maddox. Paula has been designing and building synths for many years as well as releasing her own unique music realized on her impressive modular creations.
Paula wanted to build a synth the roots of which lay in the PPG. Originally intended as a monophonic bass synth, the Monowave has uses beyond that.
The Monowave is a wavetable synthesiser with 256 waves available for each of the two oscillators. Each oscillator also has a sub-oscillator. The filter is a copy of the Moog filter, there are separate envelope generators for the filter and amplifier, and a simple LFO. The panel is very 'retro' and 'traditional' with knobs for every function and a simple display. Internally, the circuitry is all analogue (except for the digital circuitry used in the oscillators)... no wimpy DSP thank you very much - this is a 'real' synth!!
Paula has now released the MonoWave as GPL and has given me permission to release the PCB and a Component Kit for those that unfortunately missed the first, limited run.
The new MonoWave (X) is a rebuild of Paula's popular MonoWave I and is being re-released with her permission. The new design reduces the original multi-pcb design down to 2 pcbs.
In addition, the front panel design incorporates a 2x16 LCD Module (the original MonoWave only had a 1x16 Module) allowing software developers to extend the user-interface.
"Breakthrough modulus.002 takes British synth power polyphonically to world stage
BRISTOL, UK: breakthrough British electronic musical instruments manufacturer Modulus is proud to announce availability of modulus.002 — the first analogue/digital hybrid polysynth to have been designed, developed, and manufactured in the UK for four decades — as of July 10...
Even though the technology for mass-market synthesisers was patently pioneered in the UK in the leafy London suburb of Putney at the tail end of the Swinging Sixties, the last time that a polyphonic/multitimbral analogue synthesiser was designed, developed, and manufactured in the UK — actually within Wales — was way back in the late Eighties. It is with utmost pride, therefore, that Bristol-based Modulus has not only succeeded in bringing back that pioneering spirit to Blighty with the mighty modulus.002 but has admirably succeeded in doing so by creating an amazing modern-day musical instrument that truly represents one giant leap for ‘synthkind’ with a sizeable number of notable new features to its innovative name. No easy task in climatically cynical conditions during an era of increasingly shortened attention spans, synth-wise or otherwise. Been there, done that, bought the (Moog) T-shirt, some might cynically say!
Yet surely soothsaying is a better bet in this case? Why? Well, modulus.002 even sports some world firsts! So what makes modulus.002 tick, then, and what, exactly, is it that makes it so special in comparison to today’s commercial and ‘boutique’ offerings from other manufacturers, both bigger and smaller? Let’s look at some straightforward facts for starters...
As an analogue/digital hybrid keyboard synthesiser (using an aftertouch-enabled premium Fatar semi-weighted, five-octave key mechanism), modulus.002 provides 12 discrete voices of polyphony with full multitimbrality if so desired. As such, it features two NCOs (Numerically-Controlled Oscillators) per voice for exceedingly high resolution and stability with wide-reaching waveform selections, together with two sub-oscillators, individually (and uniquely) switchable from a traditional square wave to having the same waveform as the main NCO to effectively produce four oscillators per voice; a Modulus-designed 24dB/octave four- pole transistor ladder filter featuring some very unusual morphing or ‘polesweeping’ effects, enabling ear-opening transitions from 24dB/octave four-pole to 6dB/ octave one-pole filtering and anywhere in between; one LFO per voice as well as a global LFO; wide-ranging modulation options, all accessible directly via the front panel — no navigating convoluted and confusing menus; a pure analogue signal path from the oscillators right the way through to the combined XLR/TRS balanced/unbalanced outputs (with all 12 voices individually available for external processing via a dedicated D-Sub connector); two audio inputs enabling internal audio processing from the VCF onwards... and that’s only scratching the surface. Not literally, of course!
While all voice control parameters are accessible via a well-thought-through front panel that is both attractive and intuitive in use thanks to sticking to traditional synthesiser workflow, what lies beneath is really remarkable. Radically departing from the norm, modulus.002 is blessed with an unrivalled user interface based around a high-quality 4.3-inch screen with wide viewing angle. It is context sensitive, whereby the control parameter of any control knob touched by the user is immediately displayed onscreen. Synthesiser savants and audio aficionados will surely unite in their appreciation of the sonic depths that this well-specified speedy dream machine can deeply dive into!
Forget about an analogue renaissance here, however; let’s talk truly revolutionary design features for a moment. modulus.002 represents a unique approach to synthesiser design, taking traditional analogue circuitry combined with modern, reliable digital developments and marrying it all to a completely new control platform. Phenomenally, modulus.002 brings cloud functionality to a synthesiser for the first time! The Ethernet port means modulus.002 can be connected to a network to enable updates via the Internet — no more MIDI SysEx dumps to get you down in the dumps — and access to the modulus.cloud means user profile settings, sound patches, sequences, and other content can be easily replicated to a cloud-based server platform to enable rapid resynchronisation to another modulus.002, regardless of whether it is owned by the same user or a collaborator at a remote location. Let’s be honest here. We’re well into the 21st Century now, so why not provide modulus.002 users with data management features that are expected as the ‘norm’ in modern consumer technology devices, yet have hitherto eluded the electronic musician? Makes sound sense to the Modulus team, that’s for sure! And we’re sure it will make sound sense to modulus.002 users, too.
So what other notable modulus.002 features are worth making a song and dance about? An inbuilt MIDI-sync-able 16-track, 12-row, 32-step sequencer with 16 front panel-positioned step-time editing controls can give any hardware rivals already out there a serious run for their money. For sequences can not only be transposed dynamically while running but sophisticated so-called ‘mini arpeggiator sequences’ created using the arpeggiator’s Hold mode can be speedily saved as sequences for latter recall and editing using the sequencer. Moreover, modulus.002’s Animator allows any control to be sequenced, enabling complex filter transitions, waveform changes, and modulation matrix changes to be sequenced. Lest we forget, 12 ‘quick recall banks’ are accessible directly from dedicated front panel buttons. Build up set lists of presets, sequences, and animations, making modulus.002 a live performance partner par excellence.
Plain and simple? Far from it, it seems! So who better qualified, then, to explain the whys and wherefores of taking a truly thrilling synthesiser design from the drawing board to an equally enthralling production-ready product launch like this in under a year than company co-founder and principal designer Paul Maddox, a top-tier talent with proven production pedigree, best known within the synthesiser industry for his well-received MonoWave, a limited-run, 19-inch rack-mountable, MIDI- controllable monosynth inspired by Germany’s legendary PPG Wave series — arguably amongst the most coveted high-end synthesisers of the early Eighties — featuring two digital oscillators with 256 samples per waveshape and an analogue 24dB transistor ladder filter, as well as his more recently-released VacoLoco range of ‘pocket synth’ designs. Do tell. Why now? Why the big step up to the brave new world of modulus.002? Muses Maddox: “This came about because I’ve had a long-held dream to build a polysynth since I was knee high. I’ve nearly got there several times, but it was a golden opportunity in July last year when my business partner, Philip Taysom, and myself sat together and said, ‘Now is a good time to do it.’ Both Philip and myself are passionate about synthesisers, and we feel that the synthesiser market has been neglected for a long time in terms of high-end, pro — in quality and feel — instruments. I quite often equate this to a PRS guitar. There is nowhere in the synthesiser industry that I’m aware of where you can go and buy the equivalent of a PRS. That’s what we’re aiming at — top quality, top to bottom.”
So there you have it, folks. With top-quality components sourced and designed throughout its robust, road-ready construction coupled with upmarket design flourishes like leather-bound end cheeks — quite possibly another world first, modulus.002 is a fighting force to be musically reckoned with. British synth power is alive and kicking, and Modulus has just fired its impressive opening synth salvo that more than lives up to its Machines for Musicians tagline. It’s aim is true, so watch this space...
modulus.002 is available to purchase for £2,995.00 GBP (plus VAT). EU pricing — correct at time of writing — is €3,795.00 EUR (plus VAT). US pricing — correct at time of writing — is $5,200.00 USD (plus local sales tax). Contact California-based agent Geoff Farr (geoff@modulusmusic.co.uk) for all United States sales enquiries. All other enquiries relating to the rest of the world should contact info@modulusmusic.co.uk.
Feel free to visit www.modulus.me for more detailed modulus.002 information"
Update: Full specs & press pics:
modulus.002 provides twelve discrete voices of polyphony with full multi-timbrality if desired
Two oscillators per voice with two sub oscillators, which can be switched from being either traditional square wave to having the same waveform as the main oscillator – in effect making four oscillators per voice
Analogue / digital hybrid architecture uses NCOs for very high resolution, and very stable oscillators. Over 50 different waveforms, ranging from classic analogue sounds to more unique digital shapes
modulus designed 24db per octave four pole transistor ladder filter, with some very unusual morphing characteristics or ‘polesweeping’, enabling transition from four pole through bandpass to one pole 6db per octave, or anywhere in between
Two LFO’s, one per voice and one global
Extensive modulation options, all accessed directly from the front panel – no menu options!
modulus.002 features a range of sequencing options – a built in 16 Track, 12 row, 32 step sequencer with 16 dedicated step time editing knobs on the front panel and MIDI sync capabilities. Sequences can also be transposed dynamically while running
A very highly featured arpeggiator with a wide range of different modes, including modulus ‘hold’ mode, enabling arpeggiator-based sequences to be created
The modulus Animator, which enables any control parameter on the modulus.002 to be sequenced, enabling very complex filter transisitions, wave form changes and modulation matrix changes to be sequenced
Superb UI, a great departure from the norm of synthesisers, featuring a very high quality 4.3″ screen with wide viewing angle, display is context sensitive where the control parameters of any control knob that is touched by the user, is immediately displayed
Twelve ‘quick recall banks’ are accessible directly from the front panel, enabling performing musicians to get rid of their set sheets and build set lists of presets, sequences and animations, all quickly accessible from dedicated front panel buttons. Up to ten banks of quick recalls can be created, making live performance a doddle
VCF and VCA envelope generators
Four Key Modes – Poyphonic, Monophonic, Unison and Stack
Very high quality construction, uses a premium FATAR semi-weighted five octave key mechanism with aftertouch
All voice control parameters are accessible from a well designed and intuitive front panel, that follows a traditional synthesiser work flow
Pure analogue signal path with combined XLR/TRS sockets for balance / unbalanced outputs. Further, each of the twelve outputs can be brought out individually via a dedicated dsub socket
Two audio inputs enabling audio processing from the VCF onwards plus external MIDI in and out
XY joystick and Sustain and Expression pedal inputs for performance controls – any control parameter can be assigned to any joystick axis (X+, X-, Y+, Y-) by pressing the dedicated front panel selector button
Ethernet port to connect your modulus.002 to your network and enable updates via the internet (no more midi sysex dumps) and access to the Modulus cloud features
Teaser pic via modulusmusic.me where you'll find a couple of audio demos. Just look at it. Reminds me of a John Bowen Solaris, meets Synton Syrinx with a touch of Oberheim OB-12. Modulus is from Paul Maddox who brought us the Monowave. See the Modulus and Monowave channels for previous posts. We knew something was coming. This is the first glimpse. Some things you can clearly see from the pic: 5 octave keyboard, tons of knobs and sliders including two rows of knobs on the lower right that can be indicative of an onboard sequencer, and a display with what looks to be a larger data knob to the lower right. Unless the PWM demo has been multi-tracked, this will be polyphonic.
Update: I forgot to mention, Paul Maddox is also the man behind VacoLoco. It looks like vacoloco.net now redirects to the new modulus website, but you can get in the back door here, and of course a bit of VacoLoco synth history is archived here on MATRIXSYNTH. See the VacoLoco channel below.
"Hey guys, show some support to Paul Maddox for the rebirth of his synth company Modulus Music. Paul's the man behind the Monowave wavetable synth and the awesome little VacoLoco boxes. Excited to see what he's working on!"
The Modulus name was in use by Paul Maddox with the Monowave as seen back in 2007 in this post.
Paul initially announced the new company on March 7th in The MATRIXSYNTH Lounge as well.
I was going to hold off for a post until products where announced, but decided to put something up now. I can't wait to see what Paul comes up with next. You can see the vacoloco channel below for his latest up to now.
"Cover of the Theme tune for 'Sledgehammer' by Danny Elfman.
Zira is doing all the synth parts (multi-tracked)
JuJu is doing the drums! www.VacoLoco.net"
"Don't forget Zira is available now, but only whilst stocks last (I only have a limited number of the VCF chips) from http://www.vacoloco.net/order.shtml"
"I’ve tested and setup the next batch of Zira synths, I’ve got one that needs some TLC, but there are 19 ready to go.
I’ve listed the red ones separately, so you have a choice, but remember there are only 4 red ones!
The cost is the same as before, £250 plus Postage and Packaging to your country (£12 for UK, £17 for EU, £20 for the rest of the world). Postage includes insurance and tracking number.
"20 brand new, fully assembled, shiny Ziras. I just have to test them and set them up then they’ll go on line.
we’ve tried something new, we’ve got four Ziras in a transparent red perspex. These will be available on a first come first serve basis when they go on sale."
little dirty jam with: my brand new "Sonic Potions LXR" diy drum machine dsi evolover vacoloco gorf -> novation bassstation rack -> BassKick+ all into the mixer where a little reverb was added. thats it :)
"VacoLoco will be at Synth DIY UK 2013 on Saturday the 27th of July. This’ll give you a chance to have some hands on time with Zira, GorF and maybe a sneak preview of things in the making.
The event is free so why not come along and meet some of the UK Synth makers!
"Want to beta test GorF-XL? I have one GorF-XL beta unit left, if you’re interested contact me, you’ll need a Doepfer power bus with +12v, +5v and -12v power rails. You’ll also be expected to help write the user guide and contribute to finding bugs. There is a cost, but it’s basically the cost of the parts and postage."
"I’m pleased to announce that GorF is now available as a fully assembled and cased version.
GorF has had a bit of a facelift too, it has a new case which now completely encloses all the parts. This includes the rear which was previously exposed.
I have a few of these to sell, which can be purchased from my web page by clicking on the buy link. I also have two without cases to sell for a reduced price.
My intention is now to move away from selling kits and begin selling fully assembled, ready to use, products so you no longer need to risk burning your fingers to get one of the best sequencers on the market. http://vacoloco.net/synths/gorf/"
"A very quick taste of some of the new features in GorF.
Including note skip, gate length and the improved user interface.
Here GorF is in my modular and is providing CV and Gate outputs, with the velocity routed to filter cutoff."
