Metalbox Drum Modules

(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.

DIY Blacet Modifications

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 ;)

Awesome Frac Module Updates!

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.

Meter Section Detail

(As with all pics on this blog, please click for a larger view)

I was *never* able to find any decent size/quality shots of this oldschool controller on the web, so here's some Wiard porn for you, a good detail shot of the meter section. Even though it says 'DC Volts' on it, it meters both - and + voltages, in opposite directions (as you may have guessed by the number scheme printed on it).

Latest Modular Pics (Featuring Wiard!)

Well, finally got a bit of time to re-do one of my towers and get all my new Wiard stuff in there, and took a few pics. I think these may be some of the nicest pics I've ever taken of my synth... (never been much of a photographer)

Anyway this is actually an up-to-date photo of my synth! It's not showing the two 'orphan' frac racks I have sitting standalone on the side with some modules in them, but anyway. Mostly I wanted to get a shot or two of my gorgeous new Wiard modules that were waiting for me when I got back from the US on Friday. Enjoy.

(Oh yeah, click on the pics for a bigger size if you want)

This Week's Frac-Rack News! Crazy!

No, not a new weekly feature here, but the results of a flurry of news from the Frac-Rack world!

First, and this is *major*, The Wiard Synthesizer Company has announced on their mailing list that they will be discontinuing the 1200 series (Frac-Rack Modules), and bringing the classic 300 series back to reglar production.

This is very mixed news, that impacts me in a few ways. First, I've just shuffled a bunch of funds, and have made a large payment to secure the remaining modules I need for my 'master plan' frac system, which required 2 of each of the 1200 series Wiard modules (one of each in black and blue!). Next, I'm bummed that there won't be new 1200 Series modules, in particular the Woggle Bug and the VCO. Finally, I'm extremely excited about the return of the 300 series. In fact, I can tell you right now that this will FOR SURE be my 'next format' after I'm done with Frac-Rack (actually, I'll probably start BEFORE I'm done with Frac-Rack). Tough beans Euro-Rack, this means you'll have to wait a LONG LONG time to see any of my money. Anyway, no more 1200's, and the return of the 300. Really interesting news. If you covet any 1200-series modules (they are all freakin' FANTASTIC), get your orders in fast - Grant will continue to build them only until his parts are depleted.

Next, Shawn from Analogue Haven dropped me a line to mention that the Bananalogue LPFA (see earlier post) should be in stock this week, along with the frac-rack version of the Livewire Frequensteiner module. He included a photo of the 'Frac'uensteiner, and I'm happy to say that it has a BLACK front panel (as opposed to "classic" Livewire silver), so it'll look great in all our frac systems! I won't post the image here, because Matrixsynth already did it. Anyway, thanks Shawn for the tip!

Finally, in MOTM news, Paul mentioned on the mailing list that PCBs are being stuffed for the next run of Frac'd MOTM modules. No more details, except that they will be available at Analog Haven as usual, and that the MOTM VCO will be one of the new modules. Cool stuff!

Is this the Metasonix blog??

Well, lots of Metasonix content lately... what can I say? You are either a believer or not, and I'm sure you can guess where I sit.

Partially paranoia that it will be discontinued now that TM-7 is a standard item, partially trying to get in 'before the price increase' (i've not yet had to pay MSRP for any of my 7 yellow boxen......), partially thanks to the tax man... I've just ordered a TM-5 preamp from Big City Music.

I feel a little dirty not patronizing my good (great!) friends at Analogue Haven. However they are out of stock on TM-5's, and they have already upped their prices. I don't think it's fair to ask them to bring one in at the new pricing, and sell it to me at the old figure.

Also to say - Roger at Big City Music seems to be a really nice guy! Had a good chat with him on the phone.

Anyway, this puts my Metasonix setup in a pretty awe-inspiring state (even for me who gets to enjoy these goodies almost every night....). I've now got all of these nasty yellow units, except for the new TM-7 Scrotum Smasher (which I figure I can take my time with, it'll be available for a while, letting me sit and hope to find one of the limited edition stereo ones, after the early adopters and bandwagon boys get tired of theirs and need some cash!)

Also missing the TM-4 Stereo Preamp. This one may be a bit tricky - it wasn't produced for long before Metasonix discontinued it in response to a huge lack in interest. Sad, as I can only imagine how sweet it would be when Eric turns his tube know-how into producing a pristine tube amplifier. Still hoping to find one on EvilBay some lucky day....

One step closer to enacting my 'awesome, secret plan' for what to do when I have all 8 of these things. It's gonna be big, it's gonna need constuction, it's gonna need custom DIY circuitry... that's all I can say right now, but you guys are going to bust a nut when the time comes. Think late 2007.

(special note for Muff Wiggler blog enthusiasts [yes all three of you!] - you may notice that i've FINALLY started using tags on my posts. This is the first one, kinda historical moment, no? I wonder if they're any good for anything.....)

edit: Damn, i just cannot type today. Good thing I'm not in writing mode for work. I've had to edit this stupid post more times than I can friggin' count, and I'm not doing it again, so if you find typos, just deal with it, m'kay?