Put a varied collection of modular wigglers together on a double vinyl record and you get FROM WIRES TO WAX. Has it been a minute since you turned on the turntable? Now you have the perfect excuse! I have to admit I even now find myself playing down the pitch control and holding it down on the slipmat, here and there. Not quite feeling to scratch just yet… just holding, here and there. More info here: CLICK HERE!
This new Akai MPC has gotten me pretty wound up. I am liking the new’er’,ish’ flow. One thing I wanted to add pretty quickly on was a panel just for the CV/Gate outputs right in my main rack and ditch the longer patch cables. So here is what I came up with. I am hoping for a sort of standard too, so hackers please listen in.
Eight outputs and GND/0V mean a nine pin din is perfect for this cable snake. Simply use a standard 9 Pin DIN serial cable and if you decide to build one for yourself, just use the standard 9 pin numbering. Output pin 1-8 is pin one through eight on the serial connector and pin 9 is Gnd/0V.
This streamlines it into my setup nicely. Without costing a bundle too.
The outside case mod is pretty easy to do and you don’t even have to detach all of the internal MPCX’s cables making it one of the quickest mods I have completed to a piece of hardware.
If you are interested in this mod, let me know and if there is enough interest I could do a run of kits. Back to patching… 😀
I was glad to see Strymon released their first eurorack module this year. Their Magneto module looks like a great entry and should fare well against others in that space. However after deeper analysis I find the module is lacking in a few areas. So, here I took their BigSky pedal and converted it over to a eurorack module. Having CV control over the parameters is a must and honestly, after using more CV, I could not go back to the original pedal again without them! Plus, adding the MIDI in allows me to use the 60 Knobs & 60 Jacks to control it even further with CV! Link to the original manufacturers webpage HERE.
Stop me if you have been here… …You have been patching your modular synth for a while and then you get a thought of “I wish I could use this modulation source to control one of my other midi synth’s!” Or what about a ‘deep’ guitar pedal that has a MIDI input and can be controlled via MIDI CC? How about wanting to use many CV sources to control many MIDI CC’s or NRPN’s or even SysEx… …with a stand alone box? Or, how do I easily record all of these CV signals into my DAW so I can use them in MIDI tracks too?
Bastl released their 60 Knobs project last year and made it open source! I immediately saw lots of potential and decided to see what I could come up with. Their original project is located HERE.
Here are a couple of different configurations.
These really are one of the most useful modules you can have in your rack. With Filters, Modulation, LFOs, Delays, Reverbs, Phasers, Flangers, Loopers, Vocoders, Sampling, Recording and even a couple of synth’s, there is something for everyone and anytime you need it. Now add some CV control and welcome to your next ‘desert island’ module! Specs of the original manufacturer’s product HERE.
You know these are special when they even build guitars with them built in. http://www.musicradar.com/reviews/guitars/ibanez-rgkp6-612982
This particular conversion used the owner’s artwork to add that custom touch. He also wanted ALL of the possible CV control, so his MKP2s is the most voltage controlled conversion I have made so far!
How can you not love late 80’s drum machines? No CV control, you say! Well, here we had to add CV control over some of the choice bends and latching switches to allow complete manual control. Trig inputs for all of the percussion too! A TTLFO which can be used as master clock, or used to turn on and off the 8 CV controlled bends, that have been meticulously gone through to find some of the best ones! One of my best conversions to date. 😀
I have an ADDAC 102 voltage control radio module and it has not gotten much use, so I had an idea to add some spark. They sell these cheap FM wireless transmitters that are pretty cool and pretty cheap. They contain a Li-Ion battery and are USB rechargeable. I switched out the mic with a plug, added a 250K trimpot and now I can use whatever source I want to bring in an out of reception. I might make a couple of them just for different sources using a sequencer. Anyway it has brought back life to using my voltage controlled radio!
Source for the transmitters.
https://www.ebay.com/itm/Portable-FM-Wireless-Microphone-Headset-System-with-Transmitter-Receiver-Black/163917539831
Hosa sent me some free cables to try out! Now that I have had some time to check them out I can honestly say that Hosa sent me a great Christmas gift indeed! I have put these cables through their paces and I am impressed! I have received crap from some of my friends over the years for using Hosa cables. But I find them absolutely indispensable!
Here are a few pics of my finally finished eurorack video synth and I have used my new Hosa cables to make some sense of it. I am using various LZX modules and a couple of my own design/hack modules. Using LZX modules means you will be dealing with Red, Green and Blue signal sources. These new cables from Hosa are standard primary colors and that is great for these. Looking at the pic below can you easily find my RGB signal routing? Having the velcro ties makes this easy too! I can pull the three color combo signals and keep the cables together. Even after receiving several free cables from them, I went and bought some more just for my video synth! Check em out HERE!
One of my favorite types of emails are from people who love their non-eurorack gear so much that they want to find out, ‘if’ it is possible to convert over to eurorack, and what would be involved in doing so. At first I was not sure if conversion of the Korg MINI KP would even be possible. I usually have to go back and forth with the inquirer and see if they can ‘carefully’ open the ‘back panel’ and look inside and see what we would be facing. I ask for a couple of pics and some measurements. Basically the main hurdle in euro conversion is the physical size of the PCB’s that are inside the synth/pedal/effect box you are trying to convert over. Yes, current use, digital functionality, midi conversion, voltage needs, among other concerns need to be addressed, but the size of the PCB’s is the most critical ‘show stopper’ that has to be addressed first!
Link to Ali’s post here: http://alijamieson.co.uk/2017/12/korg-mini-kp-for-eurorack-modular-kaoss-pad/
I asked Ali a few questions about his MINI KP and the journey with it so far.
What is your history with the Korg MINI KP?
I’ve owned one since about 2009 when I bought it to run my Nord Electro through live Continue reading
This month marks the two year anniversary of the Mother 32 Eurorack module release from Moog. That was a glorious moment for Eurorack enthusiasts worldwide. Moog gave us hope and insight to what their possible role would be going forward into the Eurorack modular synthesizer world. Since then we have seen other possibilities from them, with a handful of various Eurorack prototypes, mostly from their limited access Moogfest VIP engineer attendee’s course. But as time ticks by some us have started to become concerned that we will not see anymore publicly released Eurorack modules with the Moog brand on them. SO, we hope to inspire Moog with our re-panels of some of their existing line of synths and effects that we have carefully converted over and now display as a combined cohesive custom Moog Eurorack system. Since Moog has re-released previous 5U combined modular synthesizer systems, maybe they would entertain releasing a complete Eurorack modular synthesizer system similar to what other Eurorack module makers have done in years past? Maybe they have dozens of Eurorack module designs, ready in the wings, just waiting for release? We are hopeful and Christmas is just around the corner, maybe we will have a happy modular holiday season after all!
Here we show the Eurorack converted Moog MoogerFoogers, MF-101, 102, 103, 105, 107, and 108. A Moog Minitaur Bass Synth, and a Moog Werkstatt synth. A Circuit Abbey Unify mixer with expander. A 2HP mult and two Div 6 16 step sequencers to round out the system’s functionality. All of this housed in a custom 9U Goike case.
Sorry for the open mic noise. I forgot I had it on. Watch out for the Lamborghini, it’s gonna run you over! This is mostly all bottom end, so forget about output from crappy computer speakers.
Starts with the Minitaur, then the Midi Murf which is output to the Phaser, then Freqbox is fed into the Cluster Flux which is the Lamborghini!
Where would you use a custom Moog Eurorack Synthesizer like this one? How about sitting on your Rhodes piano?
