I saw 'analog drum machine' and thought 'drum playing robot'.
I built my own analog drum machine (2020)
21–30 of 43 posts
Re: I built my own analog drum machine (2020)
#22Earlier quoted context omitted.
Thanks for mentioning that, I was not aware of Eurorack and when I looked it up I found the Synth DIY Wiki, which is a treasure trove for this topic, super cool ( https://sdiy.info/wiki/Main_Page ). BTW, some friends and I build the Box of Boom, which is an interactive digital + analog drum kit that uses actuators to play real drums with a video game console ( see https://www.boxofboom.com ). We're exploring doing a…
If you search for "eurorack kit", you can find a ton of module kits where you get all the parts and solder them yourself. It's a really enjoyable hobby and a nice way to ease into electronics.
Also worth mentioning the fully Open Source and Open Hardware TSynth by ElectroTechnique, which is very cheap and sounds great for what it costs.
Re: I built my own analog drum machine (2020)
#23Earlier quoted context omitted.
Is that quote from a particular interview or talk? I'm interested in the context and learning more about Fullman
Yes it's actually paraphrasing the title of a nice piece she contributed to the second issue of the Spectres journal published by Shelter Press! The full title is "Instrument design is composition, resonance is harmony." It's an inspiring essay -- the Spectres issue on Resonances has a number of other nice essays from composers, sound artists etc loosely grouped around the subject.
Thanks a lot!
Re: I built my own analog drum machine (2020)
#24Earlier quoted context omitted.
Rack is awesome, and I use it almost every day. But it's not a way to get started with Eurorack. It's a (great) way to get started with modular synthesis . Eurorack is specific term for a particular hardware format (physical dimensions, power supply specifications, electrical standards). In general, most of the modules are analog, though there's no requirement for this to be true. Hardware modular synthesis existed b…
My distinction is that it's to get you used to the standard, not the hardware. VCV Rack still uses 1V/Octave and CV just like a real Eurorack synth, so calling it "modular" is a bit of a disservice. VCV Rack is an emulation of the hardware, so much so that you can actually mix and match the two if you have the proper interface.
The lessons you learn from using Rack are lessons about modular synthesis, not Eurorack. These are valuable lessons, and because Eurorack is also a modular synthesis environment, most of those lessons will carry over to a hardware environment. The same lessons will also help when using an older pre-eurorack hardware modular (e.g. Moog or Buchla) or a different software modular environment (e.g. Reaktor).
I don't think that it is accurate to call Rack an emulation of the hardware. Rack itself doesn't emulate anything at all. Some of the modules emulate specific hardware modules. Many do not. There's also no actual voltage in Rack, just a nomenclature consensus on "1V/Octave", despite there being no volts anywhere.
ps. I love Rack.
Re: I built my own analog drum machine (2020)
#25Earlier quoted context omitted.
My distinction is that it's to get you used to the standard, not the hardware. VCV Rack still uses 1V/Octave and CV just like a real Eurorack synth, so calling it "modular" is a bit of a disservice. VCV Rack is an emulation of the hardware, so much so that you can actually mix and match the two if you have the proper interface.
The lessons you learn from using Rack are lessons about modular synthesis, not Eurorack. These are valuable lessons, and because Eurorack is also a modular synthesis environment, most of those lessons will carry over to a hardware environment. The same lessons will also help when using an older pre-eurorack hardware modular (e.g. Moog or Buchla) or a different software modular environment (e.g. Reaktor). I don't thin…
I'm not accusing you of not loving Rack, I'm not sure why we're coming back around to this point again. In any case, Rack markets itself as a "Eurorack simulator", not a modular synthesizer. The predominant vision has always been to onboard preexisting physical modules to create an experience that is as similarly robust as hardware.
There are plenty of software modular synthesizers: Uhe's Zebra is a bit of a classic in that regard. It's a wholly original digital modular synthesizer, and bared very little resemblance to physical Eurorack.
> There's also no actual voltage in Rack, just a nomenclature consensus on "1V/Octave", despite there being no volts anywhere.
Sure, just like there isn't a cartridge reader in bsnes. That doesn't mean it's not an emulator: it's just arranging the data in a manner that makes it viable to compute. It's not outside the realm of possibility to also simulate those voltages, but what's the point? The same discussion has been had every time the phrase "virtual analog" was used, and nobody ever agrees on it. In any case, VCV Rack is still emulation, even if it's only HLE.
Re: I built my own analog drum machine (2020)
#26Earlier quoted context omitted.
The lessons you learn from using Rack are lessons about modular synthesis, not Eurorack. These are valuable lessons, and because Eurorack is also a modular synthesis environment, most of those lessons will carry over to a hardware environment. The same lessons will also help when using an older pre-eurorack hardware modular (e.g. Moog or Buchla) or a different software modular environment (e.g. Reaktor). I don't thin…
I'm not accusing you of not loving Rack, I'm not sure why we're coming back around to this point again. In any case, Rack markets itself as a "Eurorack simulator", not a modular synthesizer. The predominant vision has always been to onboard preexisting physical modules to create an experience that is as similarly robust as hardware. There are plenty of software modular synthesizers: Uhe's Zebra is a bit of a classic…
Calling Zebra a modular synth is a bit of a stretch.
The hallmark of modular is the ability to connect any output to any input, plus the ability to modulate most controls via an input (there modules in both Rack and hardware that don't adhere to the second part).
You can't do that with Zebra. I would say that it's U-he that is using (slightly) misleading marketing by calling Zebra modular, which it is in only a rather weak sense. It's no more modular than an Oberheim Matrix (6 or 12), which nobody would have ever called "modular". "Highly modulatable" would be fair, but that's really a little different.
Eurorack is modular synthesis. Rack uses the term "eurorack" simply because it is more familiar to most people at this point in time.
I'm aware of two debates about the term "virtual analog". The most common one has to do with how (or if) to simulate the non-linearities present in actual analog circuits. The second has been created by a few synth companies that try to use "virtual analog" to describe their synths. What they really mean is "same workflow, same controls, same modulation options as you'd expect in an analog synth from the period 1980-1995".
Re: I built my own analog drum machine (2020)
#27I built a drum machine last summer. highly recommend it. wasn't analog, but I was building it for different reasons. I had some help, and some disappointments, but building your own hardware is pretty easy with the Arduino ecosystem.
How far did you get with it? Did you end up abandoning the project?
Re: I built my own analog drum machine (2020)
#28In school I studied computer music, and I participated in a grad seminar for which the final project was a group concert. Alvin Lucier, one of the progenitors of electronic music, led the seminar as guest faculty. For the performance I built a software instrument in Max/MSP with some similar principles around free timing to those in this drum machine, but with a digital granular synth voicing. At the pre-show critiqu…
Id be curious to see a performance with that instrument. Any link?
Re: I built my own analog drum machine (2020)
#29Thanks to the magic of Eurorack, it's easier than ever (albeit expensive) to build your own synth. Even "from scratch" oscillators aren't too difficult, if you're familiar with breadboarding/soldering.
It's even cheaper if you go with an AE Modular. A starter kit is like $500, versus Eurorack where a single module can be $500 :P. I've got one and have had a blast with it so far.
Re: I built my own analog drum machine (2020)
#30Notorious studio perfectionists Steely Dan commissioned a custom drum machine during the recording of Gaucho because none of the session drummers could play to their standards.
http://rogernichols.com/wendel
Clocking in at ~$150K, it probably was a bit more expensive than this guy's project.