I’ll be hosting a DIY workshop at the Pulse Modular Music Fest where you can build the VCF-1 from kit. Entrance for the event is 10€, the workshop is an extra 25€, which includes the kit (PCB, Front panel and all components) So if you’re in the area, don’t hesitate to come and participate, there are plenty of fun things to do.
More info: http://pulsefestival.be
Tickets: https://www.nostamusic.be/agenda/pulse-modular-music-fest/
I’ve been asked if I could do a workshop about synth building. While there are no solid plans to do so yet, I was thinking about what to build during such a workshop. It would be cool to have something to take home you’ve build yourself during the workshop, and even better if it was actually useful. While I was thinking more along the way of simple CMOS based noise-making machines, I was asked whether a filter would be possible. People like filters and if it could be CV controlled, it could be useful even for more advanced synth enthousiasts.
(edit: a workshop has been planned @ the pulse modular music festival in Opwijk, Belgium on 15/06/19)
Continue reading “VCF-1 – Vactrols”
This one is a re-build of one of my first ‘designs’, if you can call them that way. Nevertheless, It’s a percussive module designed for all kinds of metallic sounds; cymbals, hihats, gong, bells, plate hits, cowbells, trash cans, … you name it. Since I’ve build the first one I’ve been using it in every song since. It’s actually a very useful and versatile percussion module. At that time however I didn’t really had the habit of writing down schematics, I just soldered things together until it worked. Yet I wanted to revisit this module again because I could use a second one and I also wanted to iron out some of the quirks my initial build had as well as add a few features I regret not having on the first module. So I kinda started over, this time taking notes though.
It was totally unintentional, but in the mess of old broken gear I stumbled upon the remains of my very first guitar amp. It was a Hohner SP55 I bought 2nd hand somewhere in the 90ties. A pretty unremarkable transistor based amp which never really tickled my pickle so to say, and on a day I fried the output amp and it ended on the pile of discarded gear. It had a useful reverb though so I scavenge the springs out of this thing and see if I could make myself a nice spring reverb for use in the studio and/or modular.
I’m slowly working towards a project, it’s still not ready to be disclosed though, but it needed a dual rail power supply. I’ve always bought Doepfer DIY kits for my Eurorack needs, but I needed a +14V/-14V for this project. Since I could use an extra +12V/-12V supply as well for future Eurorack work, I decided to build a power supply with variable voltage regulators so it could handle both.