AE Modular: budget analog modular synth

NightMachines · 2019-09-01T08:43:27.009Z

There is a new compilation out with tracks from the AE Modular community. It’s called Aether Waves Vol. 1 and I think it serves as a good demonstration of what one can do with the format.

All proceeds go to charity

license · 2019-11-13T06:08:57.026Z

I’m wondering if I should start with AE instead of jumping directly into Eurorack. There’s obviously a lot less variety, but it just seems more “punk rock” and DIY-friendly and a whole different, cheaper, lower-pressure kind of fun. At the very least, if the delay is decent for Karplus-strong or (on the other side of the scale) rhythmic looping, there’s definitely some fun to be had there. It seems like it interfaces nicely with Axoloti as well.

barrford · 2019-11-13T08:22:50.274Z

I’d advise starting with Eurorack, mostly because it will be around forever as a format.
I hope AE Modular is also around forever, but it is reliant on a single manufacturer, rather than the multitude with Eurorack.
Eurorack is also very DIY friendly, it’s mostly small companies and can be as “punk rock” as you like.
You can make your own case, even out of cardboard!
You could make every module you like, either from a kit or design your own! Making the modules from kits is very easy, you just need basic soldering skills and the ability to follow instructions.

TheTechnobear · 2019-11-16T17:08:39.767Z

AE is considerably cheaper than eurorack, and the unipolar 5v makes it extremely easy to diy for… also the cheaper investment made me feel less nervous about damaging other modules.

That said … if you know you are also going to go into eurorack anyway, then it’s money that you could put towards that.

AE is particular good if your not sure if modular is for you or not, and want to test the waters.

I wouldn’t worry about ae longevity it seems to be very popular and tangible waves have been expanding ever since it was released in Kickstarter a few years back.

NightMachines · 2019-11-29T21:56:08.872Z

I agree with @TheTechnobear.

Actually, since I bought my AE Modular I’ve downsized my Eurorack from over eight rows to only two, because the AE (and DIYing for it) satisfies me so much. I might even get rid of all my Eurorack and just keep the AE and my CGS Serge for my modular synth cravings.

I know it’s probably not a very common situation, but that’s how it went for me somehow I’m also not worried about longevity, because the AE Modular I have doesn’t spoil. As long as I don’t break it, it’s there doing its job and we already have lots of modules to choose from, with still more being developed and released regularly.

NightMachines · 2020-02-26T08:08:29.819Z

Just wanted to share some new videos about the AE Modular. The format recently got new and improved patch cables and the long awaited ALGODRONE Granular Bytebeat module and SOLINA String Machine are out now

squim · 2020-02-26T17:57:42.020Z

Hope these are still available next year! I’ve committed to not buying any new gear and this news is making it very difficult!

NightMachines · 2020-02-28T13:57:13.720Z

Haha! Yeah, I also hope that they’ll be around for long So far everything looks great with tangible waves. Robert has two employees now and module development seems to continue as strong as ever. There will be two new bread and butter utility modules coming up, a polarizing mixer and a dual attenuverter/offset module. Also, there is a Ginkosynthese Grains port now available in the store, which is compatible to the programs of the Eurorack module, but also has an additional input and output which you can access, if you want to code stuff just for the AE Modular Grains. Aaaand more Mutable Instruments ports are on the way too.

NightMachines · 2021-03-17T20:36:53.004Z

We recorded our first podcast last weekend

EDIT:
The new DRONE38, DRONX and VACTROL PHASER modules in the wild

I also built myself a USB adapter for this small drone rack, so that I don’t need to spend one module space for the POWER module, which takes a 9V input and converts it down to the internal 5V. With the USB adapter I can now connect a 5V USB powerbank directly to the link pins on the top or bottom of the case and feed the bus boards 5V directly. Seems to work well so far.

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EDIT - 7 months later:

Once again the AE Modular community has released a charity compilation Three hours of AE Modular synthesizer music, made by the folks at forum.aemodular.com! All money goes to “Musicians Without Borders”! Check it out

red_earth_cat · 2022-07-26T01:54:32.248Z

I really think AE Modular is great. My low musical ability couldn’t justify Eurorack levels of expense. The AE format is growing, but it is clearly not as mature as the Euro ecosystem. This means I have had to put in more effort to create an instrument I love using, but also AE Modular as a format invites that level of engagement, so it has been a joy. One of the critical pieces in my setup is a very rough DIY Arduino trigger/gate-to-MIDI interface, and the complexity involved in pulling that off is minimal—the hardware is just a nano clone, perfboard, a patchwire socket, some resistors, and a power header, and the firmware is very straightforward. Power is easy because everything is 5V, so I don’t have to do level-shifting of any kind.

The impetus behind this is that I love generating and manipulating gates in AE Modular, but I find things like tuning oscillators and dialing in precise pitches on a sequencer (especially with the tiny standard in AE modules) to be tiresome. So I do all of the fun, spontaneous clock dividing/logic/burst generation in AE modular, then convert the triggers/gates into midi note-ons, and send those to a pisound over USB, where they clock Supercollider patterns. I then send MIDI over USB from those patterns to two Grains modules (and some other supporting synths). AE Modular has a port of Grains, and I adapted wavegrains and trishape firmwares to be MIDI-controlled. No oscillator tuning required (I do work with conventional Western tuning, so that is a feature for me). The supporting synths are characterful and have a similar lo-fi aesthetic to the AE system: a Bastl microgranny 2 and a megaMIDI (by Aidan Lawrence) for chords etc., plus a Volca Drum.

A sound example is here: (Reductionist Earth Catalog on Instagram: "Slew detecting #sloth cv going up or down, in the fifth mode of limited transposition #aemodular #supercollider #tangiblewaves #arduino"), and here is my GitHub: (GitHub - reductionistearthcatalog/AE-GRAINS-MIDI: MIDI-controlled firmwares for the GRAINS module in the AE Modular format by Tangible Waves). I still have a long list of things I’d like to implement and improve. If folks are interested, I could start a new thread to document things more, or add to an existing thread that makes sense. Maydonpoliris over on the AE Modular forum has expressed an interest in trying out the MIDI-controlled Grains firmwares using a DIY Norns. I don’t have one, but would be interested in learning about how it works and if I could set up some kind of a development environment for Norns apps on my Pisound. There is a fair bit of command-line plumbing to establish the various USB MIDI connections, and I’d like to make it more robust and available on other platforms.

tekknovator · 2022-09-03T14:01:30.891Z

This video of Keurslager Kurt really makes it hard to resist. The size, the powerbank, the performance. It all adds up to a beautiful story. Eurorack always made me balk at the money and space requirements, but If I get a tax return, it will be invested into an AE system

squim · 2022-09-03T21:02:29.438Z

My ornament and crime module is on the way! Getting super psyched. Was considering a second one but it looks like they are sold out. I’m getting to the point where I might need another case.

hardworking · 2022-09-03T23:15:42.281Z

It’s a great format and a great community too! AE seems to have been really coming into its own in the last couple of years, lots of interesting modules expanding the possibilities of the system, including many from 3rd party makers.

squim · 2022-09-09T01:10:26.632Z

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This set up is bringing me a lot of joy right now!

red_earth_cat · 2022-09-09T18:20:01.766Z

Looks like you have Grains and a Norns shield there! Would you be willing to try out a USB-MIDI controlled grains firmware with the norns? Maydonpoliris over on the AE modular forum was curious about it but I couldn’t give him many pointers. It would involve running ttymidi on the Norns and selecting it as a virtual midi output. I describe some of my process for setting it up and I link to my github over on the AE Modular forum: USB-MIDI control of GRAINS using MIDI library | AE Modular

squim · 2022-09-09T22:04:40.536Z

I’d be willing to give it a try. I’m intrigued. Might take me a bit of time to get to it though!

red_earth_cat · 2022-09-09T22:35:20.822Z

Cool no rush, just curious if it would work! Thanks!

squim · 2022-09-10T17:20:42.268Z

Just in case anyone has solutions. I tried this and it didn’t work. I was able to install ttymidi. I executed commands via ssh that seemed like they connected to norns “virtual device” then I selected that as the midi device on norns itself. I wasn’t able to get any response from grains though.

red_earth_cat · 2023-05-12T18:02:02.199Z

Some cool AE modular stuff debuting at Superbooth this year. I will let the creators share when they are ready! If you are curious, search Instagram.

tekknovator · 2023-05-13T00:03:10.206Z

Got a really nice introduction to the system on Superbooth. Also getting a feeling for the actual connectors was really enlightening. It does not feel as flimsy as expected. Al one of the guys at the booth had a case made of cardboard, and it was really capable of a lot creative techniques.