Modular synth madness

Well, here's two thirds of the synth. 

There's another cabinet (same size as the left one) out of shot. The left and right cabinets are part of a multi sequencer section with eight sequencers driving six oscillators. That's all effectively done. These Tangerine Dream away. The central cabinet (work in progress) has eight oscillators and will soon have a master sequencer onboard which clocks the others. Still got to build the case and power supplies for that. 

Coming along. 

Oh dear, it's 220v. ;-)))))

Truth be told, I am actually thinking of selling it !! Then I can build another one. ;-)))) This probably explains why I've hardly recorded anything in two years, been too busy with a soldering iron. At some stage, I'll do a gig with it, mainly for my own amusement, to be honest. 

Doing some Eurorack designs at the moment, been messing about with some stuff in Eagle - electronic design software. 

Thanks, but !!! No, I'm no expert !!! You should have seen one of my designs from yesterday, if I'd actually not checked it before building it, it'd have caught fire when I switched it on. ;-)))))

Alas, Kenny, it's no longer man portable. ;-) At the moment, it's stuck in a box bedroom in Macclesfield. Being a non driver, it'd be a bit difficult to cart it around the UK. 

So would I. Macc is a musical desert, though. ;-)

The problem with doing any electronic music is that people equate it with "electronic dance music". Anyone dances at my gigs, Security can throw them out. ;-)

Absolutely, Kenny. I'll have to have a listen to your stuff but I've been known to do 37 minute tracks. ;-)

https://brotherhoodofthemachine.bandcamp.com/track/hin-und-zuruck-3

This is a jam session using two modulars - completely live. 

https://brotherhoodofthemachine.bandcamp.com/album/modular-synth-jam-1-free-download

The problem I've found is that, if you're a mix of Tangerine Dream and Hawkwind, those fans like Tangerine Dream and Hawkwind only (no matter how bad the albums are). There are fans and fanatics and both bands tend to attract fanatics who'll only buy something with the right name on it. Not bothered about making a profit or even some money, but people actually turning up at gigs would be the bare minimum expectation. And it's so risky and logistically difficult that I tend to dismiss the idea as a very long shot. 

Edited by flyingveepixie - October 18 2018 at 07:52

Aha ! Just found a conversion kit which makes a standard Chinese DSO150 oscilloscope Eurorack compatible. Right, three of these, then. ;-)

Let there be Blinkenlight.

I think we're nearing completion. Well. "Nearing" being "complete by Spring 2019". 

I say "nearing" as the main case is reaching ludicrous proportions.  For example, this is 8% of the synth internals. (Bit complicated). One and a half rows here. 

At the moment, the two side cabinets are 9U in height and contain the eight sequencers, and 6 oscillators and filters, amps and output modules between them. So that's 18U. These are automated - there's a clock signal out from the main cabinet sequencer, this drives the others (at variable speeds using clock dividers and multipliers). Everything stays in sequence. So that's the automated bit of the setup. 

The main cabinet contains, at the moment, six oscillators and there will be another three going in. I also might build another one. So. 9-10 oscillators in the master cabinet. There are "god knows" how many filters. There's a master sequencer going in there which runs in the background. This can be switched on and off (flick of a switch) which means you can solo away and then switch the master sequencer to live. 

The key to building a workable modular synth is to have as many utility modules as possible, which allow you to massively change the sound. This is really complicated to plan out (there are websites which let you design modulars, such as Modulargrid) and to get a workable version is the result of much fiddling and experimentation. So it'll organically change. 

Got a 20U flight case design ready to order from a local company - I have to add power supplies and bus boards (which I might build myself) - then there's internal case wiring and testing, the modules go in in racks, everything still has to be calibrated but..... the end of the tunnel is in sight !!