DIY Drum Module Video

A new video I made from a test run with a drum module I build and my sequencers.

Last year I build a drum module based on schematics from the 'Electronic Drum Cookbook' by Thomas Henry. I build it on breadboard but never got around to test it yet. Yesterday someone was filming my studio here so I couldn't work on my main desk for a while and decided to give the module a go. I hooked it up to my sequencers in the modular setup and got to test them in the process as well. We took some shots of this as well and last night I decided to make a little video from it. The noise coming from it is not spectacular but it was just a proof of concept. I made this video in Sony Vegas and that was also a test run for me. I plan to make more video's in the future for you to enjoy. The music on this video is from a track called 'Mercury' that a made for a sampler CD last year. You can listen to the whole track on my website. Look for the SchallPlatte 12 sampler CD.

Modular Progress Overview 4

I haven't build much recently, but I am testing all the modules that I have connected to the power now. Here I was testing the syncing of the clock of all sequencers. They all run very smoothly :) I also made some sound effects already on this modular setup. It is really great to patch on it. Since I'm working on a lot of new releases for later this year I don't think I'll have much time to work on the modular this year anymore. So for now the project is on hold. I expect that I will be working on it again from January on. So keep an eye on the blog for the progress :)

Modular Power Distribution (Part 2)

This morning I did a lot of work on the power distribution in the modular desk. Here you can see the power distribution board in the left part of the desk. As you can see there are quite some cables already attached. And all of those were hand made. By now I used about 200 meters of wire already and I'm about half way I think. On the right you can just see once of the YuSynth VCA modules I build. This gives a clear picture I think how everything is mounted and connected. It is really great that things a finally taking shape.

On the other side of the cabinet I still need to do a lot of work. You can see this also on the picture on the right. But I cannot continue at this moment because I ran out of black wire. I did calculate that black would go twice as fast as the other colours because all ground wires are double on the connectors, but it seems that twisting the wires takes up a lot of meters as well and then there is always some waste of course and you cannot go in a straight line sometimes from the modules to the power distribution boards. So I'll have to get some more cable to be able to continue.

So after this I started to create some patches to test if all modules that I connected also worked properly. I have tested them all prior to mounting them in the cabinet, but sometimes a wire can come loose of course when you pull them through the cabinet. But so far it looks like everything works. Not everything has a led either by the way, so for some modules you can't even tell if they are on or off. It was fun doing some patching on this big modular. I'm already working for a long time on the project, but was never before able to do this. So I'm starting to get excited about the whole thing now and can't wait until I can use it usefully in a track. That might even be the case on my upcoming album already. I'll let you know when I do of course :)

Modular Power Distribution (Part 1)

Yesterday evening I started work on the power distribution in my modular desk. This is the inside of the modular extension. On the bottom you can see the three MOTM power supplies that I've build and on the top right is another power supply that I will use to power the Synthesizers.com modules that I bought. I calculated that the MOTM-950 doesn't have enough power to take on all my modules. Especially the Q960 sequencers take 240 mA together on the +15V and the MOTM-950 only has 400 mA on the +15. On the top left is a power distribution board that I will use to convert the MOTM format connectors to the synthesizers.com power connector for some modules that go in the extension.

From the power supplies I am going to do cabling to a terminal block inside the big module. From there I'll wire the power distribution boards. The only problem I ran into is that I'm out of cable. So today I'll get some new one so I can continue. I'm very happy by the way that I can make those MOTM style twisted cables myself now. It looks really neat actually. After this I started removing modules from the cabinet to make room. And I needed some good spots to mount the power distribution boards.

And here is how I mounted them On the vertical support struts that are in the main modular desk. The boards you see here on the bottom is the same as in the extension before. It holds 3 synthesizers.com connectors, but also some MOTM style bigger 6way connectors. Those are also on the MOTM-950 power supply. The next problem I ran into was that I was short of synthesizers.com power cables. I did have connectors but no suitable cables, so in the end I cut existing cables in half and made new connectors on them. The cables I got were too long any way. All synthesizers.com modules are now connected and hopefully I can power them up tomorrow. I also ordered new MOTM connectors since I'm going to have to produce a lot of MOTM power cables for the rest. I'll keep you posted on the progress :)

Modular Backlog Update

I promised to make a blog posting as well about the stuff that I still have to finish. In the picture on the left you see a stack of PCB's. Some are fully populated some not. On the left are some MOTM boards that will be used inside the modular for power distribution. Next to that are some CGS PCB's and on the right are a lot of Yusynth PCB that I made myself. Some of them are also spare. I made a lot of those twice while I will only completely build one. Maybe I will sell the other PCB or maybe keep them for spare for the future. Below the stack of Yusynth PCB's is also some MFOS stuff.

And here is another stack of PCB's. The stuff you see here is mostly populated as well. Most of them are Oakley PCB's but on the left is also a Mega Percussive Synthesizer from Electro-music.com also designed by Thomas Henry. Below is the Snare drum project on the breadboard. I'm saving this to make some video before I put it on a experiment PCB. In the picture on top you see also a front panel laying in the bottom of the picture. That is the Front Panel I designed for my Hip Bass Drum module. That one is quite complete so I can finish that very soon I guess.

There here some stuff I have laying on the floor right now. These are mostly front panels I'm populating. You will recognise the Klee Sequencer panel that I posted about before on the left and behind that is the MFOS Stereo Mixer I'm building. You can also see the VU meter panel on the bottom and some more Yusynth stuff that will come soon. On the far top left are the synthesizers.com Q960 sequencers. Hopefully my furniture builder Gerrit will fix the modular desk on Wednesday so that I can start installing and testing them. I can't wait for that :)

And here the last picture. On the top left is a Bridechamber multiple panel where I already put the jacks in. Then on the bottom next to the roll of black wire is an Oakley MidiDAC that will funtion as a Midi to CV converter in my modular desk. And on the right are three MOTM 300 VCO front panels. All in all quite some stuff I still have to finish, but I nearly got all the parts. Now I'm missing some potmeters that I will get from Mouser soon and I already used up all the jacks so I ordered some more of them too. I thought I had enough. But apparently I didn't ;) Well now you have seen everything, so I hope you can see why I'm a bit busy at the moment :)

Synthesizers.com Sequencers Arrived

As you will know by now I'm building a big modular synthesizer myself. But there were some modules I couldn't build buy as a kit, so I bought they assembled. In the picture you see two Synthesizers.com Q960 sequencers and below some utility modules to accompany them. These sequencers are build after the original Moog sequencers that were used by bands like Tangerine Dream in the 70's and are still used by a lot of people these days to make 'Berliner Schule' music. I want to try and use these sequencers next to the sequencers I'm building myself to create some inspiring melodies that I can use in my own music. The only thing I noticed right away is that they don't fit in the modular desk that I had build in my studio. I already contacted Gerrit that build the desk and he will come by next week and see if he can solve it. I'm quite convinced that he can actually :)