ecalpemos|nl

I make films, photographs and electronic music. I build electronic musical instruments

Tag: analog synthesizer

  • A modular patch

    I have been experimenting with a patch on my MOTM modular the last couple of days. I used the following modules: 3 x Oakley VCO 1 x Oakley Multimix 2 x MOTM-390s LFO 1 x MOTM-830 Dual Mode Mixer 1 x CGS Wave Multipliers 1 x Oakley S&H/Slew generator 1 x Oakley Equinoxe phaser 1…

  • Thomas White Resonant Lopass Gate

    Today I finished the Resonant Lopass Gate I had lying, half finished, on my workbench for some time. It is a derivative by Thomas White of the famous Buchla 292c Lopass Gate. It is a gate with selectable amplitude-dependent spectral characteristics. Knob settings and applied control voltages determine the levels and cutoff frequency. It uses…

  • Modular patch notation

    The big difference between an analog modular synthesizer and their digital brothers and sisters is the ability to store sound presets. That is something that is not possible in an analog modular. There are of course some hybrid analog synthesizers, like the Buchla 200e, where (a big part of) a patch can be stored digitally.…

  • Drawdio

    Today I built a fun little device called Drawdio. It is very easy to built. It took me less than 15 minutes to finish it. I made it predominantly for my daughter’s birthday party (she’s 5). She thought is was nice but her girlfriends weren’t impressed very much. Anyway, it is a pencil with which…

  • Buchla 291 Dual Voltage Controlled Filter

    This is the first module towards a Buchla 200 clone: The Buchla 291 dual voltage controlled filter. Using Mark Verbos’ PCB design (scroll down to “Buchla Bandpass Filter”) I made some minor adjustments and etched the PCB. After soldering the PCB I started designing the front panel in Front Panel Designer using a picture of…

  • CGS Wave Multipliers module completed

    Finally, after being in my backlog for more than a year, I finished the CGS Wave Multipliers module today. This module contains three separate wave folders (a Serge-like wave folder, a Lockhart “Nonselective Frequency Tripler”, a simple multiplier and a ring modulator. It’s a great module which can produce some very interesting timbres. I got…

  • The building of an instrument

    My modular consists of a fair amount of modules at the moment. I took about a year and a half to built. I built everything myself except for the front panels and the printed circuit boards. Here’s a picture of the current configuration. As you can see there is still some room in the top…

  • The Klee v2 analog sequencer (part 5)

    After 2 months of building and 1 week of debugging… It’s DONE! I finished debugging and calibrating the Klee sequencer today. It has been quite an experience, the most complex module I build so far. Lots of front panel components, lots of wiring. I must compliment Scott Stites for writing such an excellent construction manual.…

  • The Klee v2 analog sequencer (part 4)

    Almost done! Just a few interconnect wires and then it’s completed.

  • The Klee v2 analog sequencer (part 3)

    I finished wiring the digital PCB of the Klee sequencer today. The loose wires you see in the picture below are the interconnect wires which will connect the digital PCB and the analog PCB together. This is a lot of work, but it’s fun. I must restrain myself though from working on it when it’s…

  • The Klee v2 analog sequencer (part 2)

    Before I could proceed with building the Klee I had to make some custom Aluminum brackets to mount the two PCB’s on. Below you can see a picture. I went for two separate brackets for the analog and digital PCB. After an evening of soldering the backside of the Klee looks like this.

  • The Klee v2 analog sequencer (part 1)

    I started building to most complex module so far for my modular: the Klee v2 analogue sequencer designed by Scott Stites. It is a very different sequencer compared to other designs. You can use it as a “normal” sequencer but it can do much more… The complexity of the build lies within the massive amount…