Modular Synthesizer Pictures

kkissinger · Last edited by kkissinger on Sun Aug 08, 2010 8:54 pm; edited 1 time in total

From time to time I am asked about the green pushbuttons on my Aries Synth.

My Aries modular consists of stock Aries Modules built into a homemade cabinet (my system outgrew the stock 11-module cases).

When I upgraded the Aries to nine VCOs, it became apparent that I would need a LOT of patch cords just to support the routine patching of control voltages and gate/triggers from the keyboards to the VCOs. Additionally, the synth has two VCFs and a Phaser/Flanger that would often track along with the VCOs. The solution to this situation was the green buttons.

For each VCO, VCF, and Phaser, up to six CV's can be summed via columns 1 thru 6. The columns are normalled to the two keyboards, the sequencer, and pitch follower and are labeled 'a' through 'f'.

Column 'g' (the 7th column) is for routing sync signals to VCO's 1 through 9. Since the bottom three rows are unused (no sync inputs for filters), I placed some useful sync sources on the bottom three buttons. For example, VCO 1 can be the master VCO and all the others can be slaved to it.

Column 'h' (the 8th column) is for Pulse Width Modulation. Again, rows one through 9 correspond to the VCO's. The three leftover buttons are used to select two convenient CV sources for PWM and the the third button from the bottom routes the CV through floating attenuator 'a'.

Columns 'h' and 'i' route Gate and Trigger signals to the envelope generators 1 through 6 (the panel is mislabeled -- originally I only had four EG's and routed the signals elsewhere). The top half is normalled to Keyboard 1 and the bottom normalled to Keyboard 2.

You will notice on the control panel picture a section labeled "Interface". These inputs are overrides for each column, a through h. g and h override the Gate/Trigger from Keyboard 1 while the two unlabeled inputs to the right of g and h override that Gate/Trigger from Keyboard 2.

The overrides are very powerful because they allow me to route CVs from the MIDI-to-CV converter and external devices (such as my theremins). Unused columns can be overridden with CV's from LFO's and other sources.

The bottom three rows on the interface correspond to the MIDI-to-CV converter. The eight connections labeled "A3340S" correspond to the eight CV outputs from the MIDI-to_CV converter (again, some old labels that I haven't changed).

The "Threshold select" switches are for the Foot Pedals a through d. When the switch is in the "upper" position, then the front-panel foot pedal pot controls the max setting of the pedal. When in the "lower" position, then the foot pedal pot (on the panel) controls the min level setting.

I uploaded large pictures -- you can click on the pics and get a larger, more detailed view.

Last night I calibrated everything -- it had been quite a few years since I'd gone through and done a detailed calibration. The VCO's still track beautifully -- a real testament to the quality of the Aries equipment.

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Picture of custom Aries 300-series synth with the stock keyboards.

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Close up of Control Voltage Assignment switches

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Close up of control panel

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telstarmagikistferrari · Posted: Thu Feb 19, 2009 11:35 am Post subject:

Gorgeous, I love it. Looks really fun and really musical, if that makes any sense. Thanks for posting!

seraph · Posted: Thu Feb 19, 2009 1:51 pm Post subject:

wow

it looks like it comes straight from Starship Nostromo.
scary Twisted Evil

trontastic · Joined: Feb 14, 2009 Posts: 5 Location: England

elgauchoandres · Joined: Feb 15, 2007 Posts: 7 Location: Barcelona

mono-poly · Posted: Sat Feb 21, 2009 1:07 am Post subject:

Gonna go live tonight.

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preformance system.

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JohnLRice · Joined: Jul 29, 2008 Posts: 71 Location: Western WA USA

seraph · Posted: Sat Feb 21, 2009 2:25 am Post subject:

mono-poly · Posted: Sat Feb 21, 2009 2:30 am Post subject:

That is just a boring candle.

seraph · Posted: Sat Feb 21, 2009 3:25 am Post subject:

Carbon111 · Joined: Dec 13, 2006 Posts: 17 Location: Mukilteo, WA

The current state of my Serge modular...a few more modules since my last pics in this thread (2006):

Posted Image, might have been reduced in size. Click Image to view fullscreen.

...and my Mattson Mini Modular:

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...and the rest of the studio:

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Antimon · Posted: Wed Mar 25, 2009 1:33 pm Post subject:

CZ Rider · Joined: Dec 14, 2006 Posts: 17 Location: Southeastern,PA

Just picked up on of those Asus EEE mini notebooks! A big upgrade from my Atari Stacy, this little machine is quite a bit of fun. Running Moog modular software on it. Nothing like having presets on your Moog modular! Wink