#102

I thought Tom was going to make some new 1X’s for those who «just» have a DRM1?

#103

1x’s are definitely coming, not sure how soon though I think there are other priorities that need to be cleared first.
DIY expander is easy, I did a 1fw for my DRM1 - added the switch to separate the trigger for the filter side, a trigger input for that, a filter input, and noise/tri/sqr outputs. It’s a piece of cake with the headers on the back. You can see it next to my DRM1 in this pic

I repurposed the panel from my old DIY Chirper expander - the 2 blue sockets under the switch aren’t connected. Just get yourself some MTA100 connectors in the right sizes and the wiring tool - super simple.

2 Likes
#105

Took a little inspiration from @dermo’s “16FW build guide” with Tom and been having way too much fun with this combo…

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Drilled out the side-panel mounting holes on the 3FW so I could bolt it to the side of the Chirper, added a banana jack for 0V and away we go! This plus a TR-606, PT Delay and Boss RV-3 is pretty much all I’ve been using for the last week…

Just need to deal with that small alignment issue… :face_with_raised_eyebrow:

6 Likes
#106

Built a 4ms rcd and rather bodged a mounting job behind a 1fw blank (thanks again @sandy!)
Also got the Quad Divider from Tom this morning… slowly making the transition to full blue in the boot frame, eventually all the reds will move to their own frame.

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Since the sale of the DRM2 I came to the conclusion that the red sound generating instruments aren’t really for me, while they are beautifully ergonomic and possess a distinctly understated power, I haven’t been able to use them fully within the modular system - either massively underusing their capabilities or focusing so much on them I neglect the rest of the system and become frustrated. The workflow of a modular function block approach is ultimately more satisfying to me right now, and I’m far more excited about using and expanding that than anything else. Of course if I had the cash I’d go both routes :laughing:

Got a few more bits to DIY and looking forward to joysticks, logic panels and signal routing :slight_smile:

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#107

That look great! RCD is genius… I forgot that was available as a DIY. Hmmm…

QDiv looks like a killer, that’ll probably be what convinces me to break down and get a DDSR too.

Same!

1 Like
#108

You’re welcome :slight_smile:

The stuff Tom is coming out with or has planned at the moment is largely what’s missing from my system - switches, division etc. And the move to a more modular approach again makes me happy.

I’m going to hold off buying anything for a while as my system desperately needs rearrangement and I want to see the final fruits of Tom’s work before making any decisions. Oh, and I am out of space so it would mean a new frame probably.

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#109

Good thinking. I have a pretty clear idea of what I want to add to my system - 2 joysticks, logic + active switches, diode directors, a more linear sequencer, a noise source and a s+h. Probably another oscillator voice. Writing that all out it seems like way more than I thought :flushed:

#110

Such a beautiful system you’ve got there!
How do you like the Quad divider so far? Mine is on it’s way in the post, but I guess it’ll be a weeks time until it arrives…

#111

as much as i am excited to see tom get into designing and building blue modules again i’ll be most excited for any new sound generation / shaping modules. there is chirper and drm2, of course, but i’d love to see a new take on ring mod / wavefolder / freq shifter / distortion (if anybody has ring mod / lpg for a trade let me know!)

#112

Oh man, quad sine / frequency shifter would be unreal! It’s so unlikely I’d get an old blue version I try not to think about it too much :grin:
As far as I can tell Tom has/had a vision for multiple complete frames - the synthvoice, the clocking frame, a sequencing frame and ‘pt’ frame for ‘effects’ like delay (chorus/flange), frequency shifters, s+h, ring mod etc etc.
As far as I can tell that last frame is the lowest priority currently, it’s probably the one that interests me most too, but I understand the logic of completing the other two before hand. Those that have the synthvoice only were confined to drone- type composition before these clocking style modules started arriving, once the rhythms are sorted the melodies can follow, once the melodies are achievable the processing can enhance the whole lot.
That may well no longer be the case though! The re-introduction of joystick modules doesn’t really fit into any of those four. Just happy and excited he is continuing to create and release things at a steady pace that’s also slow enough for me to save up between releases. :slight_smile:

1 Like
#113

It’s great, nice and playable compared to the more common multi output style divider. While I found the latter is an excellent driver / central hub for a system, it is pretty static and awkward to change on the fly. Quad divider adds that nice performative functionality :smiley: I almost feel like a second one would be useful to feed the reset inputs of the first!

#114

I honestly can’t remember if I’ve ever seen one of these for sale/trade since the old blue modules stopped production! There always seemed way more dual lpgs around than the ring mod/lpg one even when they were being made.

It makes sense to me in terms of being a hands on controller that you can use with all the other planned complete frames. It would be cool to see Tom’s take on a full controller panel actually. A mix of joysticks and touch panels with some interesting interactions and sequencing type options.

The main thing I’d love to see Tom make is a comparator module. There’s a very old thread somewhere on MW about one I think. He even got as far as doing a mock-up picture but as far as I know it went no further.

3 Likes
#115

Sounds promising! Looking forward :partying_face:

#116

Yeah totally, a controller panel would be amazing, getting tactile and gestural with synths is my favourite way to interact with them, something I feel is maybe missing from a lot of the modular world? I fell in love with the touchplates on the weevils, and the barres on ciat lonbarde instruments and feel I got pretty good at playing them. Capacitative touchplates and FSRs don’t quite have the same feel to them from my experience, I do need more practice with them. I’d love to see Tom either fine tune and develop these approaches further, or throw some new gestural wildcard out there.

#117

Any more thoughts about Bugbrand stereo compress?

#118

Always wanted to try one but never had the chance!

#119

I’m eagerly anticipating bugging out (sorry) on a Synth Voice that I should receive tomorrow!! It’ll be joining my Cocoquantus, Plumbutter and Norns/Grid set-up, but the only thing I have to control the Synth Voice atm is a Keystep Pro. I’m considering this mostly Monome Eurorack lunch box (2HP midi is a Crow placeholder) for sequencing/extra modulation and would appreciate any thoughts or comments on anything I may be overlooking, beyond needing a converter box or two:

control%20box

#120

paging @scanner_darkly as I believe used a grids setup with bugs before :slight_smile:

I wholeheartedly recommend just using the synthvoice alone for a good while to get down all the little tricks it has built in. For a few months I only had that, a crossover filter and a Meng Qi arcade manifold and I learned so much about that set of modules! It’s a very different beast to the C-L instruments, I found it far less immediate, but ultimately more rewarding (because it required more ‘work’ probably). The only similarity I can think of is sound quality - it’s entirely sweet spots! I’m jealous of your situation, it’s reminding me of how excited I was to receive my synthvoice last December!

2 Likes
#121

Thanks! I definitely agree with you on holding off for a bit, both for the reasons you stated as well as financial ones- just super excited and thinking about the possibilities! The difference between it and the CQ/PB was part of my decision to go for the Synth Voice; I’m hoping the relative normality will compliment the outright weirdness of the C-L stuff, but if it all devolves to a whole mess of noise, well, that sounds fun too :slight_smile:

I did find a couple of @scanner_darkly’s old Ansible/Bugs Instagram posts from a while back and they sounded pretty good to me!

Also, just have to say that Tom is the best. Obviously.

1 Like
#122

this would be a powerful sequencing set up but perhaps an overkill for synthvoice with 12 CVs and 12 gates (not counting pamela). but mostly depends on what you’re looking for in sequencing, ansible alone will give you enough fun apps, but with teletype you could program your own sequencers (and it would give you extra envelopes / lfos via telexo).

1 Like