This is just a real quick rundown of the modules in my One-Day-To-Be-Complete ( hah! ) Modular. These are only modules that I was satisfied with on the bench and actually got racked, not ones that still need tweaking or arnt fully assembled. I'm basically going through the FracRaks Left to Right and Top to Bottom as you go down this page.
| DarkStar Cluster : Why only have one when you can have 3? All 3 were gotten as bare boards. The one on the very right was a pre-MOTM power connector version but has been patched up to equal the 2000 version. The left and right ones were the first ID-MARK panels I made and I think they look pretty close to an actual Blacet panel which is in the middle. Tons of fun to play with! | |
| EFM RMP1Bs : The LFO is usefull but not perfect. The ring mod is okay but I prefer passive ring mods. The preamp is really REALLY useful and I intend to make a quad or hex version for general use. The panels are Poly clearcoated with a textured finish. I little too much texture but tolerable. |  |
| Ray Wilson Sawtooth Core VCOs : With a few suggestions from Ian Fritz and a couple tweaks of my own, I am very happy with these two VCOs. The camera flash really brings out something bad in the panel finish that doesnt show to the naked eye. I spent a lot of time on the layout making all those little graphics and the percentage numbers around the PWM knob look just right. |  |
Quad Passive Ring Modulator : This is the second module that I put the "Philosophy of Sound" name on. This name is used both for music and hopefully for boards and things I come up with assuming I come up with some I think are worthwhile. The model numbers I use have a little humor too... This is the heaviest module currently in my system with its 8 transformers. The top two ring mods have matched 1N270 germanium diodes and the bottom two have matched 1N34s. I really love the sound of this circuit. This module made me really appreciate the preamp on the EFM RMP1B since a passive ring mod has a very low signal output. If I were to make a passive ring mod now I'd probably do it as a single or pair with an appropriate number of preamps onboard ( that could of course be used seperately ). By request I've put a couple sound samples here. |
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| 1/8" to 1/4" patch panel : This is the first module I put the "Philosophy of Sound" name on. Not much to say about it, its a bunch of jacks and some wiring on the back. I figured if I was going to make one I'd load it up with more jacks then I could use. I did scratch the heck out of it and you can see the large touchup line on the right 4 jacks down. Its much less noticable to the eye then to the flash but still there. |  |
Ken Stone Steiner Module (dual) : The boards are small, so why not fit them both on one module? So I did. Great sounding little filter. I have some work to do tho, the output is a little lower then I'd like because when I bench tested I didnt have another filter to compare it to nearby. Just need to get the time to tweak it. I really really recommend feeding the same signal in all inputs at once, or several different signals in different inputs and then pan around them with the CV. Some real nifty effects. Lots of charector. This is an early panel done with Poly clearcoat. |
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| EFM VCF-8E : Dual MS-20 filter. Another poly coated panel where the flash makes it look diseased, but its fine to the eye. Some people don't like the sound of this filter because at high resonance it can go rather insane, but I like it for some things. The output is a little low like the Steiner filter, but thats just a matter of doing a little tweaking to fix when I get the time. The weird angle some of these photos were taken at is because space is a little cramped and I just cant back up far enough from the modules to take a good photo sometimes. |  |
| Blacet 2420 : Dual non-VC filter from Blacet. Only module I haven't built myself sofar. I picked it up at a good price along with some other stuff I wanted and I've actually found it to be rather useful at times. This picture does make me feel better as there are white splotches and stuff that just arn't visible in real life and its not my fault cause I didn't build it. If I set up a nice diffused fill light I bet these would all come out great... |  |
Joystick Interface : This is one of my own and interfaces with the joystick controller below. Bi-Colour LEDs next to the X/Y outs so you can see if you're swinging negative. Cant see the legend but the left row of knobs is "range" and the right row is "offset" with center being 0 volts. 15 pin connector because I had a bunch. My first joystick interface was an attempt to use an IBM-PC joystick with no modification. It was a less then perfect attempt and I intend to revisit it one day because I still think its a cool idea. This one was easier to build from the standpoint of I controlled how the controller itself was wired. Plus it handles two joysticks which is a major plus... |
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| Joystick Controller : And here's the big gray box. Its on a standard office 9"x12" envelope to give some scale. Two joysticks. Gate button on each side which is also connected to the gate toggle switches on top in case you want to just turn it on and twiddle. Along with the interface module it gives 2 gates and 4 CVs out, just enough to drive 3 Darkstars and a Filter. I have to say I really love joystick interfaces for things and I intend to do more with them in the future. The box is a standard LMB chassis which I covered with 3M non-skid rubber. I plan to add a couple guitar StrapLocks to it so it can be hung around my neck. Thats actually a very good position to use it from because hung high you can still use a keyboard without problem. |  |
| Clangora : The Thomas Henry Clangora. After 2 years I finally spent the final few hours and finished it. It was a stuffed board for about a year, then a physically completed but unwired module for another year, now its finished and makes appropriate noises. |  |
| Clangora - Backside : Here's the lovely backside of the Clangora module. Its a very large FracRak module at 2-1/2U wide. Because of the size of the pcboard I went overboard on the brackets and support on the back side. Definatly not the cleanest module I've built... Very tightly packed and I should have planned how I was going to mount those LEDs a little better. |  |
You might notice I'm VCAs and ADSRs away from having all the standard Synth bits. I already have the VCA modules built but they don't get displayed here until they are in the rack. ADSRs have been assmbled for several months now, but I've had some trouble with the ADSR/VCA combination and I ran out of patience and generally burned out. I'm hoping shortly to spend some quality time with them and get the kinks out.
Modules in progress and status :
EFM VCF6 : Diode Ladder Filter. Two modules assembled and tested, not yet in a rack.
EFM VCF12 : Korg Delta Filter. Same deal as the VCF6 except I haven't made panels for the VCF12 yet.
Ray Wilson VCA : Just waiting on adjusting them. Otherwise I have a fully completed pair.
Ray Wilson ADSR : Done and working, waiting for pictures.
VC-ADSR : Originally ordered from EFM. See VCF6 and VCF12 for why I don't have them. ( all were on the same order ). I'm currently working on my own VC-ADSR based partially on the EFM design and Electronotes.
Ian Fritz VCO : Ian has some Sawtooth Core schematics on his website, I just want to do a board layout of his workhorse VCO. Core portion of the schematic is entered, but I've been occupied with other things. [ insert excuses here ]. I just want to make some very stable very pretty darn accurate VCOs. Basically I want an MOTM-300 but available as a bare board and schematic for about $25. I don't see Paul going insane like that any time soon so I'll have to see how close I can come on my own. Update : Paul did go insane and the boards are available for reasonable prices however they are too big to wedge into FracRak.
TLN-156 Neural Agonizer : I won't let myself really work on this module until I have more of the above items done, but I have aquired the boards and some of the harder to get parts for it already. Its going to be a big tightly packed FracRak module when I do it and I think its gonna be alot of fun to both build and use.
Mixers : I realise I need some mixers. I think I have one of Ken Stone's mixer boards around here somewhere.... probably order more from him because they're cheaper then cutting up perfboard.
The short list has gotten a little shorter, but a few new things have snuck on here too. I have 3 SN-Voice boards to stuff build. This is another module thats going to be very tight for FracRak. I've also done the panel layout for my Milton Sequencer, but I messed up the first version of the layout and I have to get another set of transparencies run. Its so large I can't print it myself. I have a Box-o-Trix case and panel done, but need to spend the time to actually assemble it..
At least a few things have gotten done...