Muff Wiggler

About those $35 Euroracks....

2008-07-14T21:02:00.007-05:00

Via Gerald in the comments to the previous post - "where the hell did you get $35 euroracks... ??? Does the e-bay guy have any more?"

Well, maybe it's a good idea for me to make a post with more info.

In short, "I got them from a guy on eBay", and "Yes, he has more".

They are Schroff EuroPAC Chassis. Schroff makes the racks for Doepfer, so these are very similar. They work just fine for Eurorack modules. You need to get a power supply, and some busboards, but these racks work great (the guy claims Schroff normally sells them for around $500 each - he apparently has a wholesale lot he's trying to get rid of). They are fantastic quality, you will however need a Torx driver to take them apart and remove the TONS of extra crap that comes inside them.

Also, they aren't $35 anymore, the price has gone up. The guy originally had a couple hundred, seems he's got 20 left now. The current price is $45.

Be warned that he will charge around the same price for shipping it, but anyway, there you have it, cheap eurorack chassis.

You can find the auction here, and if the auction has ended, check his "all items" listing, as he may sell another batch under a new auction listing. This has happened a couple of times. Here's his listing of items for sale.

I have to thank mono-poly at the ModularSynth.net forum for making me aware of these auctions in this thread.

Finally, there's a lively discussion about setting up and using these specific racks here in this thread at my forum.

Hope this helps everyone get into some cheap eurorack lovin'

Edit: Because these aren't gonna be around long, and my PSU is strong enough for it, I just bought a fourth. There's 19 left now ;)

Euro joins the party!

2008-07-13T19:19:00.004-05:00

As mentioned in the previous post, I have tradionally forgone the eurorack modular format - not for lack of enticing module options, but due to the sheer cost of the real estate and power. The availability of $35 Schroff racks and willingness to wire up a commercially available DC power supply have solved this, and I'm really excited to say that the Eurorack format has now joined up with my frac stuff, creating even more of a monster synth.

Be sure to click the pics for a larger view -

The rest of my euro setup consists of two lonely skeletons, sitting beneath a desk waiting for the day they'll be needed...

So I've got 3400ma of Euro power, and three racks to build up in. And the total cost of this infastructure was literally almost nothing - a fraction of the price of a single powered Doepfer frame. Thanks eBay guy!! Let the euro madness begin....

Eurorack Metasonix? Opinions?

2008-07-13T13:53:00.003-05:00

Seems like Metasonix is looking at developing some native Eurorack modules. Now that is cool! Just yesterday I finally got my euro power and racking system all setup. I was keeping away from Euro, but the availability of $35 Schroff racks on eBay pushed me over the edge. I'll be buying some of these modules for sure.

Anyway, if you look at the link above, you'll see that Eric is seeking opinions on how well (or poorly..) received yellow Euro modules would be. Most of us at the forum like the yellow, but I personally have a feeling that this trend wouldn't hold over the entire group of buyers out there. What do you think? Please reply in the forum thread if you can.... If you don't want to become a forum member, go ahead and post in the comments section of this blog post.

Exciting stuff!

10,000th Forum post!

2008-07-09T23:16:00.004-05:00

Little celebration today, as the forum received it's 10,000th post. I find this pretty amazing to be honest and I want to sincerely thank all the great people at the forum for making something like this possible. Far beyond my wildest dreams when I first uploaded the thing, simply to get to play around with phpBB and look under the hood.

Anyway, we are having a little celebration here in this thread - why don't you come join us?

Congrats to Kwote for making the 10,000th post, and thanks again to all the members - without you guys, there would be nothing there at all.

Speaking of the forum, it has been growing quickly lately - the addition of the popular new 'Synth Noise' subforum seems to be getting more and more people involved. A great time to have a look if you haven't already.

One other funny note - today, same day that the forum gets it's 10,000 post - well, a couple hours later my car hits 100,000km. No shit. 2001 VW Jetta 1.8T, original owner. I thought that was pretty cool. I snapped the pic at the top of this post using my phone, shortly after it happened.

Unlike my car, the forum is nowhere near running out of gas!

(no title needed)

2008-07-04T01:12:00.004-05:00

speaks for itself, really

Hey modular companies!

2008-06-30T02:11:00.004-05:00

This is what I want....

For frac rack, obviously.

Seriously, why isn't there something like this? The closest I can think is the Blacet QuadMix, which is discontinued, is exponential only, and you need to change resistors on the board to convert it from 10v to 5v.

And it's not like people don't use lots of VCAs.

This is really the sort of thing we all need a couple of. C'mon.

Metasonix S-1000 Review in SOS!

2008-06-22T01:08:00.003-05:00

Sound on Sound recently reviewed the Metasonix S-1000 Wretch Machine, and contrary to my expectations, they really seemed to like it! Nice in-depth review and obvious that the author has become a believer. Nice surprise compared to the barrage of negative opinion that often congregates around the brand.

Take a look at the review here

Life & Music

2008-05-12T20:44:00.005-05:00

Not many of you know that I consider South Park one of the most important things that has ever been put to broadcast in any fashion whatsoever. Well, now you do.

This isn't South Park, but it's just about as good. Short video made by Matt & Trey (the creators of South Park) to accompany some words from Alan Watts. Really moving and an important message - in fact something I've long felt is one of the most important messages of all.

Little Drum Module Demo

2008-05-11T09:22:00.003-05:00

Strange to post this because Matrixsynth actually got it up before I did (man he's fast!!) but hey they are MY crappy videos so I'm gonna take proper responsibility for them and post 'em on my blog. And try to actually put the right tags with 'em!

Enjoy. Or don't. I don't know. You can't really hear the drums anyway..... complaints are welcome on the forum or in the comments

either way, thanks for visiting my blog :)

Pt. 1

Pt. 2

If anyone wants to donate a digital video camera (I'm actually doing this stuff on a 3 year old digital STILL camera) I won't say no..... :)

Crappy Studio Tour

2008-05-01T09:10:00.002-05:00

Well, I spent a lot of the last two days reconfiguring my studio for better ergonomics. Still not the greatest but it's a LOT better and solved the major problems I have had as my modular synth has been growing.

I actually made my FIRST ever video to show off the changes. It's really crappy, was done on a 3-year old digital still camera, and it cut off at the end because I ran out of batteries.... But anyway, it's my first video, and was done at 4am after moving all sorts of stuff around. Not the best, but you'll get the idea.

It's also my first ever YouTube upload. I guess I may try my hand at some more vids now that I have a YouTube account.

Anyway, good morning to y'all. Hope you like the video or at least have a laugh over how amateurish it is.....

Never Enough.....

2008-04-30T23:22:00.003-05:00

Little bit of fun... I made this 'smiley' up for kicks in reply to a thread at the forum, and thought I would share it with you all.

James over at CTRL Voltage blogged this as well, let's see how many places we can get it to appear :)

By the way, James has a pretty cool blog, so do check it out....

Metalbox Drum Modules

2008-04-30T13:13:00.011-05:00

(Please be sure to click all pics for the 'full' view)

Let's talk drum modules.... my modular has gotten to a point where there's really just two main things missing (ok three if you count a Frequency Shifter) for basically covering all the possible functionality I could wish for. One is an army of analog sequencers. The other is a nice set of dedicated drum modules.

Well, I've been chipping away at the latter issue, and yesterday received a shipment of some custom modules from Metalbox that's pretty much solved the drum-module defecit in my synth. By the way, I think of all the modular manufacturers out there, Metalbox has to be the one with the most solid lineup of percussion-specific stuff. Not only do you have all these great drum modules, but units like the Gate Sequencer and Burst Generator really excel when doing percussion work. Do have a closer look at Metalbox if you haven't already done so. Michael's work is as solid as I've ever seen anywhere, and the modules have this wonderful feel of 'no nonsense military precision' that really jives with me.

Now, there's a lot of ways to get drums out of a modular, and one surely doesn't need dedicated drum modules to get some thump-thump action. Without turning this post into a patching lesson, I've done great drums in the past using a fast VCA and a Blacet I/O to give me a quick thumpy voltage. There's other ways as well.

But let's face it - a strip of dedicated percussion modules is FUN FUN FUN. Let's take a look at what we have here.

As mentioned, my Metalbox shipment arrived yesterday, containing four new modules - Analog Logic, Digital Noise, and 'custom' Dual Drum and Dual Chime modules. What's 'custom' about them? Well these modules are typically built in a 1U-wide format, with only one control (Decay) per voice. But, there's loads of trimpots on the PCB that would make great panel controls.

I asked Michael at Metalbox if he would be willing to build me a Dual Drum and Dual Chime with the trimpots brought out - and I was delighted when he told me he would. Thanks again Mike! These modules are tons of fun, and I really appreciate the extra effort that went into them.

The Dual Drum is pictured above at the top of this post - as you can see there are three extra controls for each voice now, Impact, Pitch and Timbre. Fantastic.

And.... Michael was able to work some very similar magic with the Dual Chime module, take a look:

Seriously now, who DOESN'T want extra flexability in their modules? This is good stuff.

Now, I mentioned the other modules I received were the Analog Logic and the Digital Noise. I want to talk about the latter one for a moment. I actually had one some time ago, and sold it off (actually 'sacrificed it' is a better thing to say - was required to get my hands on a Dark Star Chaos Rev.B that I badly needed, and are very hard to find being long discontinued....). Anyway, I didn't have any drum modules at the time, but I *LOVED* the "binary outs" on this module, have a look -

These two outputs give you semi-random pulses that are derived from the clock frequency - just awesome for triggering drums. While it's an excellent noise module, the truth is that I'm swimming in noise modules, and the real value for me here is the binary outputs. Tons of fun. The clock on it's own is a bit faster than I would like for drum purposes, but it has no problem being clocked more slowly using an external source. Lately I've been usuing my Noise Rings to clock just about everything, because I love the amount of instability and randomness you are able to dial in at a controlled rate. Anyway, driving the Digital Noise with a slowly changing Noise Ring, and then firing off drums from the binary outs is pure techno joy.

So that's the new stuff that arrived yesterday. It joins up with some Metalbox percussion stuff that I already had, and gives me an awesomely, addictively fun 'drum strip' within my rack setup. I was up 'till 5am last night patching up drums and grinning from ear to ear.

Since this post is pretty much a Metalbox percussion frenzy, I'll highlight the other drum modules in my rig, and mention briefly the other Metalbox offerings that can make this setup even more powerful in the future.

You can't really talk about drum modules without mentioning the Cynare....

Metalbox's website describes this as "the monster percussion synthesizer", and never have truer words been spoken. I bought this one used (thanks Paul!) and really was blown away when I first got to use it - it is so much more than I expected. At any point it's very easy to pull three distinct drum sounds out of it, and if you get a little fancy with a couple more modules, you can get four (and possibly more!). It's a complete synth inside a single module, including a multimode filter, vca and mixer, most with their own dedicated I/O. You really need to spend some time with this one to see what it's all about.

Another great used module in my lineup is the 8008 Bass Drum. This is one of the few Metalbox products that is NOT a CGS/Ken Stone design, it's a Michael Ford design, unique to the Metalbox lineup. Based on the venerable TR-808 kick drum, this little beauty adds some extra controls, and runs at modular signal levels. HUGE sound from this tiny module.... all too easy to rattle the windows!

Whew, this is a lot of modules! I've got two more for you, neither of which are dedicated drum modules, but both being units that, like the Digital Noise, really excel when working on drum patches.

Next up is another Michael Ford design, the (sadly discontinued) Dual AD. Easy, simple, fun! A pair of AD generators that are FAST and perfect for triggering drums - and the gate inputs are normalled together so you can fire both envelopes with one voltage if you want - or insert a second signal to break the normalling and they are truly seperate generators. Unfortunately these are no longer available, and I lucked into one on the used market. Keep your eyes open for one of these - really useful little module.

Last one here - again a sweet deal on the used market for me (thanks Sandy!) the truly unique Burst Generator.

This one is really interesting - basically it fires of a set of trigger pulses when triggered - you can control how many pulses in the set, and it can run on it's own internal (wide range) clock, or be clocked externally. You know what I'm doing here - NOISE RING. This thing comes alive when fed an unstable clock, essential breaky, glitchy, AFX-y bursts of percussion. As CR would say "it's full of techno!"

So, there's a little rundown of how Metalbox can really help you get your drums on. As mentioned above, there's a pile of great modules in their lineup that can make your drum patches even more interesting - the Gated Comparator, Clock Divider, various sequencers, etc. I hope to eventually add some of these to my setup for even more fun.

Finally, here's a look at the current configuration of my 'drum' strip, in the center tower of my synth. From left to right we have -

8008 Bass Drum, Dual Drum, Cynare, Dual Chime, Digital Noise

(Click for larger version)

If you are really keen on pictures of modules, have a look at this forum thread where I have some shots of the backsides of these modules as well.

Ok, that was a long post. I'm off to patch up some more drums!!

Thanks again to Michael Ford at Metalbox for these great modules, and for working with me on the custom DDrum and DChime. Really happy about these and enjoying the modules a great deal.

It's here! Tiptop Audio's Z5000!

2008-04-16T13:08:00.052-05:00

Well, let me tell you - this is *really exiting* and has been VERY hard to keep a lid on over the last couple of months.

I'm really truly proud (and grateful to the guys at Tiptop!) to be able to break the news of a really exciting brand new synth module!

Some of you may have noticed the 'Teaser' post I put up a couple of days ago, and I know a bunch of you have been following along with the 'Mystery Module' thread over at the forum (where you'll find a few of my own samples - clipping and overall crumminess due to my own poor skills, not the fault of this cool module!).

Well, the mystery is finally over! Thanks everyone for your enthusiasm and for playing along - it's been a lot of fun, and like I said, pretty hard to not spill the beans on this.

Anyway, on to the module - I was lucky enough to be selected as one of the testers, and I can tell you that I've had a TON of fun with this! It is a euro-rack module, but it has no problem at all being powered by a frac-rack 15v power supply, and I had no trouble integrating it into my rig - where it's been playing very nicely with all the rest of my gear.

What is it? And who are these guys? Those are great questions! Let me give a little summary, and then paste in the official press release.

As you may have guessed from the images, the Z5000 is a voltage controlled, stereo multi effects processor, powered by a 24bit/48khz DSP. This is the first DSP-powered VC'd multi effect device I'm aware of that's been designed explicitly to work within a modular synth - it's built to handle the signal levels found in all modulars (with lots of headrooom), and obviously gives you CV control over the effects themselves. On board the module are 16 different effects 'programs', 13 of which are voltage-controllable. This all results in a really nice hybrid of analog and digital - providing some of the unique advantages of DSP, within the typically analog structure of a modular synth.

Now, the 'analog/digital' debate has gone on and on forever - but many of the forward-looking synth developers have always taken a hybrid approach, using analog where it can benefit the sound, and using digital where it can add some unique options. Of course Buchla has been a pioneer in this sort of work, and companies like Wiard and The Harvestman have continued this 'best of both worlds' tradition in the modern age.

Tiptop Audio comes to the table with the same philosophy - they seek to bring the advantages of DSP to a world that they recognize is mostly analog. The results are fantastic! And also not what you may expect... luckily these guys took the stance of NOT trying to replace your favorite Eventide unit (or whatever you may use.....), but instead to provide some unique effects that are more closely related to the 'experimental' approach most modular synthesists prefer. (One of my favorite things about this module is the 'quirky' results you get when applying CV control to the three programs that are NOT specced for CV - some very, very interesting things happen!)

I won't get into too many of the module's specs here in this post - the press release below gives all that information better than I can. However I can tell you some of the things that I really like are the fact that this is a stereo module, allowing some interesting patching options - putting one signal into one side of the processor and a different signal into the other allows for some amazing results. Also the module can take in a mono source, and then output a stereo one, which can have a great effect on your sound. And I must say that my favorite programs in the module are the "Non-linear Reverb" (in particular when under voltage control), as well as the "Chorus+Room Reverb". Some AMAZING sounds to be had here.

Now, who are these guys? Well, they are Tiptop Audio - and you just might know them already. You can find their website (where this announcement should be up now - or very imminently) at http://www.tiptopaudio.com/. Based in LA, Tiptop is comprised of SDIY-meister Sean Coulter (who has been building the modules, working with the testers, setting up dealers & distribution and acting as the 'face' of the company), and designer Gur Milstein, the engineer responsible for the module's circuitry and DSP. You may recognize Gur's name from work he's done in the past, including designing the TM-116 Sequencer, ACS Quantizer and a variety of other custom electronic instruments and control devices.

Let me tell you that this is just the start, and Sean and Gur have some *really* exciting plans for the future of their DSP applications. I can also tell you that these guys are INCREDIBLY cool, nice, humble, laid-back and just great to deal with. They really have a great community spirit (look, they let me leak info and gave me the OK to break the official news on my blog!) and are really excited about getting to work with all the modular musicians out there.

The module is in stock at Analog Haven, costs $185, and is ready to ship! We are all really excited about hearing what some of you maniacs are going to be able to do with this!

So, without further ado (this is turning into a long post!), here's the list of the FX programs and below that, the official press release. Be sure to hit up Tiptop Audio's website for more info, including some great audio demos!

-----------------------------

Multi-effect processors have been used for years to post-process sounds generated by analog synths, providing harmonies, delay, and reverb. Here, for the first time in an analog modular synthesizer format, is a multi-effect processor that has been specially designed for use deep with the actual process of creating synth sounds and timbres. The Z5000 is an analog-controlled digital module that fits perfectly at the heart of any analog system, bringing new and original patch options and sound manipulation capabilities. The results are exciting, progressive sounds and timbres created and enhanced by a powerful DSP engine running 16 FFT algorithms of 24-bit digital audio.

As an integrated synthezier module, the Z5000 makes post-processing modular synth sound in both mono and stereo as easy as it can possibly be. No more long cables with phone jack adapters running to external multi-effects processors and no more clipping from un-matched signal levels. Because the Z5000 is designed to handle "hot" modular signals with up to 16Vpp of headroom before clipping, it can be integrated into a system like any other module and going directly from any signal generator directly to the multi-effect processor is effortless.

Z5000: The power of voltage controlled digital signal processing seamlessly integrated into an analog package!

Features:
13 Voltage-Controlled Stereo Effects
16 Total Effects

Custom FFT programs running on Tiptop Audio DSP core at a resolution of 24 bits at 48kHz

Specially designed for modular synthesizer signal level inputs and outputs

Independent gain level light for each input

4 Input/Output Combinations:
Stereo In to Stereo Out
Stereo In to Mono Out
Mono In to Mono Out
Mono In to Stereo Out

Input / Output Gain Control

Wet / Dry Control

Effects Parameter Control

Effects Parameter CV Control

Mechanical Specifications:
Format – Eurorack
Width – 14HP / 71mm / 2.8”
Depth – 84mm / 3.3”

Electrical Specifications:
Dynamic Range, SNR – 97dB
THD+N – -88 dB
Frequency Response – 20Hz to 16kHz
Maximum Audio Input Level – 16Vpp (Before Clipping)
Maximum Audio Output Level (Dry/Wet) – Rail / Input
CV Input Range – 0V – 5V
Power - +/-12V or +/-15V
Current – 160mA

-----------------------------

Again, I just wanted to say a HUGE thanks to Sean & Gur for giving me the chance to work with this module, letting me tease my forum members, and allowing me to break this exciting news on the web. Congratulations on the big release! I know it's been a ton of work getting there. I'm really excited for you guys, the module, and the future of Tiptop Audio! Looking forward to seeing this get out there and to learning more about your future modules....

Analog Suicide

2008-04-16T12:49:00.004-05:00

While I'm sure this is old news to some of you, I wanted to take a moment and point you to one of my favorite new spots on the web, Analog Suicide.

I discovered this around NAMM-time in February, thanks to some posts that Matrixsynth put up, and I've been addicted ever since!

Not only will you find all sorts of drool-worthy synth news and wonderful gear, you'll enjoy some incredible videos, some STUNNING music (seriously, do check it out!), and a really refreshing, ehthusiastic attitude about all the quirky gear we love so much.

Don't waste another moment - go check out Analog Suicide and get some sunshine in your day. I've also added them to the 'Around the Web' set of links (found at the right-hand side of this blog).

Great stuff - thanks Tara & Maf! :)

New Synth Pics

2008-04-16T01:21:00.004-05:00

Pulled the camera out tonight and took some new pics, been a while and the system has grown a lot since then. Check out this forum thread if you want to see more pics.

CHARLES COHEN AT THE BUCHLA MUSIC EASEL

2008-04-15T17:15:00.005-05:00

CHARLES COHEN AT THE BUCHLA MUSIC EASEL from Alex on Vimeo.

This is great, historic stuff.

OK - Disclaimer: Like the vast majority of my readers, I found this on Matrixsynth. This is the first time I have ever re-posted anything that I saw on Matrixsynth (but I always appreciate it very much when he re-blogs my posts!), for the obvious reason that the vast majority of my readers also read that blog, and I want this place to be something slightly different than a 'Matrixsynth wannabe'.

Anyway. In this one case, I've reblogged this post. Why? Because I feel it is very important. AND IT'S REALLY REALLY GOOD. And I know that in actual fact, I have at least one or two readers that don't read Matrix's blog. And this film is just GREAT, and is of significant historical and musical importance to anyone with even a passing interest in electronic music. And it's very well done. And finally, the author has stated that people are free to blog and promote this film, as long as the original text that I'm about to paste in below, is still present.

So enjoy. Thanks Matrix for bringing it to my attention, thanks Alex for making this video, thanks Don for creating such captivating instruments, and thanks Charles for the wonderful music.

Here's the obligatory paste - please read it, very interesting stuff....

------------------

"/ / / / / Viewing with headphones or a stereo source is highly recommended / / / / /

This colorful video features sound artist Charles Cohen improvising on a 1970's Buchla Music Easel. This extremely rare instrument is one of Don Buchla's 200 series. Buchla (a pioneer of audio synthesis) only manufactured 14 of these units. The entire film was edited from an hour-long set of free improvisation, with audio was taken directly from Charles' mixing board.

All of the photography and editing was produced by Alex Tyson, a sound and video artist from Pennsylvania. The film was shot in 16:9 720p High Definition format, using a 35mm LensBaby 3GPL.

This film is free to distribute, share, blog, vlog, etc. When re-posting, please copy and paste this text to inform anyone about the film.

At this time the film is only available online. While you can stream it in HD, it is best viewed on DVD.
Please contact the filmmaker for hard copies if interested.

Charles can be reached at ccohen (at) voicenet.com

Alex can be reached at alextyson (at) gmail.com"

Teaser....

2008-04-14T11:48:00.002-05:00

Just a little teaser of something new that will be announced this week. This is something a little different than you are used to, and should cause a fair bit of excitement when the time comes. I'm already pretty psyched! Stay tuned....

Buyer Beware: Plimus ecommerce SUCKS

2008-04-05T22:07:00.009-05:00

Edit: Updated - Please see the bottom of the post.
---------------------------------------------------

Wow, I'm really truly stunned that this is for real...and it's 2008 on the Internet and I actually have to deal with this sort of bullshit...

Anyway, last night I made an electronic purchase. The person was using 'Plimus' as their outsourced ecommerce provider. I had never heard of Plimus before (I've used Share*It and a few other 'familiar' ones in the past, but never Plimus...), and was a little worried, so I put the sale on pause and went on a search for a bit of info about Plimus.

Well, the search temporarily put my concerns at ease - looks like they were a large, professional, established US-based ecommerce company. And along with creditcard numbers, can process with PayPal accounts. "No problem" I thought.

So I went ahead and made my purchase. Filled out all the forms. Used my home address and contact info, used my PayPal account.

PayPal went through no problem. I go to check my email, and I see this:

___________
Dear XXXXXX

Thank you for your recent order for XXXXXXXX. In order to approve this order we must contact you via telephone. Due to the current time and as a token of respect to your household we do not wish to call you at this time without your permission.

Please visit the following link and provide us with the phone number and best time when we can reach you, so we can process your order:
http://www.plimus.com/ask_phone.jsp?ref=XXXXX

Your phone number is always kept strictly confidential and will never be used for sales calls, it will only be used to verify this order.

Regards,
Plimus Sales
------------

wtf???

Now this is concerning to me. Very much. Because of my job, I am very 'identity theft aware', and this was so out-of-the-blue, so unorthodox, all I could think is that they are trying to profile people for identity theft. There's no way in hell they need to verify my working telephone number (in addition to ALL the TONS of other info they needed to collect in order to allow me to order through them - actually through a PayPal passthrough payment, which makes it all even stranger).

I sat there, stunned for a while, absolutely ready to cancel my order and bitch the company out. I realized, the money was already gone from my PayPal account. I also realized I had never given any of my creditcard info to these shady Plimus people (THANK YOU PAYPAL!). And I really wanted the product (an anti-spam plugin for phpBB forums).

So I went to their stupid telephone form, and entered the number THAT I HAD ALREADY GIVEN THEM again, and seleted the "call anytime" box.

13 hours later they called. A grumpy sounding person asked if I had ordered the product. I said I did. He said "OK, You'll have email confirmation in a few minutes" and hung up.

A few minutes later - I had email confirmation, BUT - confirmation that the product developer had now been notified of my purchase, and would respond within 48 hours.

It's now been 24 hours since the purchase, 11 hours since the callback. No sign of the developer or the product I purchased.

I'm absolutely steaming. If this was a downloable game I had wanted to play on Friday night, I would have been twice as pissed (Plimus is used a lot by the indie game dev commuinity - see this related thread ).

I have absolutley NO IDEA what could have caused Plimus to think my sale was 'high risk' or whatever. I used my primary 'family' email address at a major ISP (not a Gmail account), I gave all my personal information - this is just outrageous that they need all this info PLUS verify a working phone just to take a passthrough payment from PayPal. Totally unacceptable to me. Like, TOTALLY, TOTALLY, WRITE UP A GOOGLE-SEARCHABLE BLOG ENTRY UNACCEPTABLE.

Anyway, I'm putting this out to you guys as a warning, because I know that like me you probably make a lot of online purchases. I will not purchase anything that uses Plimus as a checkout provider ever again. Not a chance in hell. I'll find something else or go without. This is absolutely unacceptable to me. A fucking PHONE CALL? 13 HOURS LATER? WTF? Sorry guys, you lose. That's totally, totally bullshit.

Fail.

------

Update: Well, the developer got in touch with me, about 24 hours after the inital purchase was initiated. Actually considering the time/geography difference, and Plimus' 13 hour pre-call wait, it was a very fast response from the developer.

The developer was very apologetic about the whole thing, and I want to be clear I hold none of this against the devs or the companies that have chosen Plimus as a source of payment & customer frustration - they have my sympathy. Also the dev told me that the 48 hour thing was bullshit as well - there should have been an automatic email of the license to me AS SOON as Plimus had verified the order. This never happened, and the developer had the grace and forsight to email me a copy of the license from his personal Gmail account, just in case I hadn't received it 'automatically' (which obviously I didn't). What a disaster.

Anyway, nice thing about the small and indie devs is the level of care for the customer, too bad they get caught up in the crap policies of the big internet companies they often have to partner with.

DIY Blacet Modifications

2008-04-02T20:54:00.003-05:00

Over at the forum there's a thread about all the different modifications that can be done to wring some cool extra functionality out of Blacet modules.

Yesterday, I added more comprehensive step-by-step information, along with photos of the process, for two of the mods - one which adds an AC/DC coupling selector to the Blacet VCO's FM input, and one which moves the 'range' DIP switch on the Micro LFO's circuit board to a front panel mounted switch. These are two of the easiest mods to perform, and great place for beginners to get started - and are both mods which add some very useful functionality to the module.

Check out the VCO's AC/DC FM Coupling Switch mod here

And peep the LFO Range Switch mod over here

This was prompted by some user requests, along with the fact that I've been promising to take photos and get the information up for over a year now. Sorry for the delay... one other cool reason that gave me a push to do this was that one of our forum users, BananaPlug, pointed me to information he had written up on mods for Blacet's Improbability Drive. BananaPlug gave me the OK to post his info at the forum, which was really cool of him - so I'll point you guys to that one as well...

BananaPlug's Improbability Drive Mods can be found here

Finally, be sure to have a peek at the general 'Blacet Modifications' thread as well, for summary info on a variety of other mods, as well as a place to get news when more mod info is added.

If anyone has questions about performing any of the mods, feel free to join up into the discussion at the forum. For beginners out there, this info doesn't qualify as a primer on soldering practises or anything like that - it's assumed you have the right tools, have a rough idea how to solder, and have some patience and common sense. None of us are to be held responsible if you destroy your modules! Have fun though, and be careful not to burn your fingertips ;)

Soundguy Test

2008-04-01T20:33:00.004-05:00

hehehe

someone posted this at the Guitarsbyleo G&L forum, I couldn't resist and had to put it up here.

Retro Encabulator

2008-03-26T18:27:00.001-05:00

I think this pretty much speaks for itself, there's not much to add except that I had to share it with you all. The only other thing I could tell you is that I discovered this last week when a colleague actually used it in a business meeting with a bunch of us at work. Pure classic.

Livewire AFG Preorder! Limited Edition! New Blog!

2008-03-15T02:25:00.004-05:00

Well, the question so many people have been wondering is now answered - you can order your AFGs!! It's a preorder - and it's a limited edition. Regular editions will be available after this run, but delivery times are not guarenteed at ALL, so if you have your heart set on the lovely Audio Frequency Generator, you'd better head over to Shawn's blog and check out the info.

What's that? Shawn's blog? Yes indeed, it seems like our good friend Shawn Cleary has started a new blog, obviously focusing on modular synths. Good luck with the blog Shawn, I've added you to the links section here - you know I'll be keeping an eye on whatever you post.

Congrats as well to Mike Brown and Livewire on this awesome module.

Awesome Frac Module Updates!

2008-03-01T01:02:00.005-05:00

Wow, what a great time for frac-rack users.

First of all, Synthasonic has just released their amazing looking (and sounding!) 8 stage phaser! And it's only $175! Talk about value. Run now to the Synthasonic website and order yourself up some phasey goodness. Note that their LPF is shipping as well. Thanks Sam for the heads-up! Would like to see some actual photos (instead of renderings) of these modules, hopefully those will come up soon.

Also, whew, this one flew under everyone's radar.... Suit and Tie Guy's Wave Folder is now available at Analogue Haven. Like the Mankato, I ended up ordering the very first one! Shawn said he would send me the model shown in the pic, #9 with the lovely '3AM Eternal' scribble on the side. Looking forward to mangling up some waves with this beauty.

Next, just a quick note that the Cyndustries Saw Animators (previously mentioned in this post) are now available to ship from Analogue Haven in both frac and euro formats.

Finally, a long overdue followup comment about this previous post on the Mankato filter. I should have put this news up long ago, I apologize.

Anyway, if you look in the comments of the post, Tim Servo, who designed the PCB, graciously chimed in about the DC coupling issue. As he explains, it's not an issue at all - all three of his personal Mankati are configured with only DC coupled inputs.

First, I'm grateful to Tim for reading and chiming in with the info. I apologize to everyone for being so late to bring it to the front page here. Anyway, having had (not nearly enough but...) some wee bit of time to play with my filter, I concur that it isn't a problem at all. The thing has no problem with the AC signals I throw at it, and the DC coupling does seem to come in useful in other applications, so it really seems to be the best of both worlds.

I have plans to try to make some demos and make a half-decent review of the Mankato to post here for you guys at some point - it's really a very impressive, fun and unique module, and I hope to get the time soon. I'll be travelling for the next few weeks for work, but hopefully after that things will settle down enough.

Thanks as always for reading. Cheers everyone. Enjoy your instruments - no matter what format or instrument you play, we are all so lucky to have such a wealth of incredible options available to us these days.

Retarded Animal Babies in NEED

2008-02-15T12:46:00.008-05:00

Here's a chance to help out Dave Lovelace and the entire lovable RAB clan. You owe them at least this much for the wonderful influence they have had on your beloved Metasonix boxes.

As most of you probably know, Wikipedia is a cesspool of bias, ego and misinformation.

However, it's also (somewhat sadly) become a major reference point in our digital society.

For reasons unknown, the powers-that-pee over at the mighty Wiki seem to have a major bug in their ass about Retarded Animal Babies. I don't have the whole story, but many attempts, by multiple parties, to craft an article on RAB have been fruitless. Articles PERFECTLY fitting the accepted Wikipedia 'style', including references, proper tone and bias, etc., are constantly rejected, deleted and locked by Wiki administrators. It's crazy.

I'm going to make some comments in the Wiki discussion pages about this. There's no reason this should be happening. It's unfair and irrational bias, and it's extremely unfortunate for Dave and the work he does. It is CENSORSHIP, that alone should be enough to motivate you to speak out.

I'd like to ask for the help of anyone who cares, or would like to help. Please post comments in these discussion sections at Wikipedia, challenge their bone-headed refusal to allow RAB content on their site. Let's see if we can get this to somehow magically be approved on Wikipedia.

This is where you can comment:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Deletion_review/Log/2008_February_11#Retarded_Animal_Babies

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Editor_assistance/Requests#having_trouble_with_an_article

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Administrators%27_noticeboard/Incidents#Trying_to_recreate_a_banned_page

Additionally, hey are are trying to get this page killed:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Lovelace

Your help, comments, lobbying are all GREATLY appreciated. Someone has to stand up to these idiots.

Thanks.

And thanks Eric for bringing this to my attention. Sorry Dave that these guys have something against you. Ridiculous.

Edit: More details, including the backstory on the whole Wikipedia affair, courtesy of Eric Barbour can be found here.

Edit 2: Broken links fixed. Thanks Felix!

United Colors of Bananalogue

2008-02-13T01:23:00.001-05:00

Was moving stuff around my rack today and re-noticed that my Bananalogue modules have really colorful PCBs. I have two VCS modules, and there's a different color board on each one. Pretty neat.