I built my own analog drum machine (2020)(reverb.com)
reverb.com
I built my own analog drum machine (2020)
https://reverb.com/news/why-i-painstakingly-built-my-own-analog-drum-machine
42 comments
There's a brilliant set of live performances from the artist, of music made with these machines: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLafsplTntnuaL2ARcXtij...
Darn it, was secretly hoping I’d dislike it and not have to pick up a copy. Oh well. :-)
Notorious studio perfectionists Steely Dan commissioned a custom drum machine during the recording of Gaucho because none of the session drummers could play to their standards.
http://rogernichols.com/wendel
Clocking in at ~$150K, it probably was a bit more expensive than this guy's project.
http://rogernichols.com/wendel
Clocking in at ~$150K, it probably was a bit more expensive than this guy's project.
I love when musicians nerd out on gear. This snare drum commissioned by Aphex Twin may interest you: https://stichtinglogos.org/instrum_gwr/snar2.html
That's sick, thanks. Somebody also posted this a while back:
https://warp.net/editorial/richard-d-james-speaks-to-tatsuya...
I think RDJ was involved with other instruments' designs too.
https://warp.net/editorial/richard-d-james-speaks-to-tatsuya...
I think RDJ was involved with other instruments' designs too.
I saw 'analog drum machine' and thought 'drum playing robot'.
I was thinking something like the Wintergatan.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IvUU8joBb1Q
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IvUU8joBb1Q
Yes, thank you.
And here I thought actual physical beats being driven by servos perhaps.
"Lady's in trouble with the law" is a classic track. I love this guy.
This dude's stuff is incredible and I never heard of him before today. He should be famous!
Thanks to the magic of Eurorack, it's easier than ever (albeit expensive) to build your own synth. Even "from scratch" oscillators aren't too difficult, if you're familiar with breadboarding/soldering.
Thanks for mentioning that, I was not aware of Eurorack and when I looked it up I found the Synth DIY Wiki, which is a treasure trove for this topic, super cool (https://sdiy.info/wiki/Main_Page ). BTW, some friends and I build the Box of Boom, which is an interactive digital + analog drum kit that uses actuators to play real drums with a video game console ( see https://www.boxofboom.com ). We're exploring doing a new version that integrates more synth-y sounds and signal modifiers.
That's neat! I forgot to mention VCV Rack [1] which is a great way to get started with Eurorack for free.
[1] https://vcvrack.com/
[1] https://vcvrack.com/
Rack is awesome, and I use it almost every day. But it's not a way to get started with Eurorack.
It's a (great) way to get started with modular synthesis.
Eurorack is specific term for a particular hardware format (physical dimensions, power supply specifications, electrical standards). In general, most of the modules are analog, though there's no requirement for this to be true. Hardware modular synthesis existed before the emergence of Eurorack (perhaps most famously the Moog modulars, but also Buchla and perhaps 6-12 other companies making modular systems). Eurorack is an industry-wide specification that allows many different module makers to create modules that will all fully interoperate with each other.
It's a (great) way to get started with modular synthesis.
Eurorack is specific term for a particular hardware format (physical dimensions, power supply specifications, electrical standards). In general, most of the modules are analog, though there's no requirement for this to be true. Hardware modular synthesis existed before the emergence of Eurorack (perhaps most famously the Moog modulars, but also Buchla and perhaps 6-12 other companies making modular systems). Eurorack is an industry-wide specification that allows many different module makers to create modules that will all fully interoperate with each other.
My distinction is that it's to get you used to the standard, not the hardware. VCV Rack still uses 1V/Octave and CV just like a real Eurorack synth, so calling it "modular" is a bit of a disservice. VCV Rack is an emulation of the hardware, so much so that you can actually mix and match the two if you have the proper interface.
The lessons you learn from using Rack are lessons about modular synthesis, not Eurorack. These are valuable lessons, and because Eurorack is also a modular synthesis environment, most of those lessons will carry over to a hardware environment. The same lessons will also help when using an older pre-eurorack hardware modular (e.g. Moog or Buchla) or a different software modular environment (e.g. Reaktor).
I don't think that it is accurate to call Rack an emulation of the hardware. Rack itself doesn't emulate anything at all. Some of the modules emulate specific hardware modules. Many do not. There's also no actual voltage in Rack, just a nomenclature consensus on "1V/Octave", despite there being no volts anywhere.
ps. I love Rack.
I don't think that it is accurate to call Rack an emulation of the hardware. Rack itself doesn't emulate anything at all. Some of the modules emulate specific hardware modules. Many do not. There's also no actual voltage in Rack, just a nomenclature consensus on "1V/Octave", despite there being no volts anywhere.
ps. I love Rack.
I'm not accusing you of not loving Rack, I'm not sure why we're coming back around to this point again. In any case, Rack markets itself as a "Eurorack simulator", not a modular synthesizer. The predominant vision has always been to onboard preexisting physical modules to create an experience that is as similarly robust as hardware.
There are plenty of software modular synthesizers: Uhe's Zebra is a bit of a classic in that regard. It's a wholly original digital modular synthesizer, and bared very little resemblance to physical Eurorack.
> There's also no actual voltage in Rack, just a nomenclature consensus on "1V/Octave", despite there being no volts anywhere.
Sure, just like there isn't a cartridge reader in bsnes. That doesn't mean it's not an emulator: it's just arranging the data in a manner that makes it viable to compute. It's not outside the realm of possibility to also simulate those voltages, but what's the point? The same discussion has been had every time the phrase "virtual analog" was used, and nobody ever agrees on it. In any case, VCV Rack is still emulation, even if it's only HLE.
There are plenty of software modular synthesizers: Uhe's Zebra is a bit of a classic in that regard. It's a wholly original digital modular synthesizer, and bared very little resemblance to physical Eurorack.
> There's also no actual voltage in Rack, just a nomenclature consensus on "1V/Octave", despite there being no volts anywhere.
Sure, just like there isn't a cartridge reader in bsnes. That doesn't mean it's not an emulator: it's just arranging the data in a manner that makes it viable to compute. It's not outside the realm of possibility to also simulate those voltages, but what's the point? The same discussion has been had every time the phrase "virtual analog" was used, and nobody ever agrees on it. In any case, VCV Rack is still emulation, even if it's only HLE.
Calling Zebra a modular synth is a bit of a stretch.
The hallmark of modular is the ability to connect any output to any input, plus the ability to modulate most controls via an input (there modules in both Rack and hardware that don't adhere to the second part).
You can't do that with Zebra. I would say that it's U-he that is using (slightly) misleading marketing by calling Zebra modular, which it is in only a rather weak sense. It's no more modular than an Oberheim Matrix (6 or 12), which nobody would have ever called "modular". "Highly modulatable" would be fair, but that's really a little different.
Eurorack is modular synthesis. Rack uses the term "eurorack" simply because it is more familiar to most people at this point in time.
I'm aware of two debates about the term "virtual analog". The most common one has to do with how (or if) to simulate the non-linearities present in actual analog circuits. The second has been created by a few synth companies that try to use "virtual analog" to describe their synths. What they really mean is "same workflow, same controls, same modulation options as you'd expect in an analog synth from the period 1980-1995".
The hallmark of modular is the ability to connect any output to any input, plus the ability to modulate most controls via an input (there modules in both Rack and hardware that don't adhere to the second part).
You can't do that with Zebra. I would say that it's U-he that is using (slightly) misleading marketing by calling Zebra modular, which it is in only a rather weak sense. It's no more modular than an Oberheim Matrix (6 or 12), which nobody would have ever called "modular". "Highly modulatable" would be fair, but that's really a little different.
Eurorack is modular synthesis. Rack uses the term "eurorack" simply because it is more familiar to most people at this point in time.
I'm aware of two debates about the term "virtual analog". The most common one has to do with how (or if) to simulate the non-linearities present in actual analog circuits. The second has been created by a few synth companies that try to use "virtual analog" to describe their synths. What they really mean is "same workflow, same controls, same modulation options as you'd expect in an analog synth from the period 1980-1995".
Several VCV Rack modules are software renditions of hardware Eurorack modules, e.g. the Befaco or Expert Sleepers ones.
I'm sure there are some VCV modules inspired to other systems like Buchla or Serge but they are not official software reproductions of hardware products, like the examples mentioned above.
I'm sure there are some VCV modules inspired to other systems like Buchla or Serge but they are not official software reproductions of hardware products, like the examples mentioned above.
If you search for "eurorack kit", you can find a ton of module kits where you get all the parts and solder them yourself. It's a really enjoyable hobby and a nice way to ease into electronics.
Also worth mentioning the fully Open Source and Open Hardware TSynth by ElectroTechnique, which is very cheap and sounds great for what it costs.
https://electrotechnique.cc/
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uCA2L7CeWSE
https://electrotechnique.cc/
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uCA2L7CeWSE
It's even cheaper if you go with an AE Modular. A starter kit is like $500, versus Eurorack where a single module can be $500 :P. I've got one and have had a blast with it so far.
The slider interface on the second prototype is very appealing as a UX. His other ones look sold out, and naively I could see custom collector synths from artists become quite a thing.
What I love about making music with synths is you're essentially exploring a fractal overlaid on all possible audible frequencies, modulated by time. There is a kind of romanticism to the analog aspect of it that emphasises how it is a tangible event instead of a sampled representation, which is basically a fluffy idea now because physically humans are indifferent to whether it's one or the other, but the way it comes out in music is that on machines like this, the art of it is something discovered and shared moreso than reflected and produced. It doesn't really matter, but if there were an impulse-buy priced one akin to the stuff at teenage.engineering by this artist or another one, I could see a mini-craze for them.
What I love about making music with synths is you're essentially exploring a fractal overlaid on all possible audible frequencies, modulated by time. There is a kind of romanticism to the analog aspect of it that emphasises how it is a tangible event instead of a sampled representation, which is basically a fluffy idea now because physically humans are indifferent to whether it's one or the other, but the way it comes out in music is that on machines like this, the art of it is something discovered and shared moreso than reflected and produced. It doesn't really matter, but if there were an impulse-buy priced one akin to the stuff at teenage.engineering by this artist or another one, I could see a mini-craze for them.
> you're essentially exploring a fractal overlaid on all possible audible frequencies, modulated by time.
Another way to think of it is that every knob on the synth gives you a new dimension and each patch is a single point in that n-dimensional space. Sound design means exploring that volume by changing coordinates.
I look at synth usability (which is very similar to how a lot of game designers talk about fun) as in part a question of how that space is arranged. How much of that volume produces sounds users will like versus ones they won't? How continuous is it? If I like a sound at point X, how likely am I to like sounds near X, or will moving even a small distance radically change the sound? Can I intuit what neighboring regions will sound like based on the current sound?
I think a big part of why subtractive synthesis has been so successful is that it works well in that model. Most parameter changes are continuous and intuitive. The space feels like it smoothly changes in useful and predictable ways as you navigate.
FM synthesis is really cool, but it feels a lot more like a chaotic universe where there are tiny islands of brilliant sounds separated by empty volumes of noise, or indistinguishable FM bloops.
Another way to think of it is that every knob on the synth gives you a new dimension and each patch is a single point in that n-dimensional space. Sound design means exploring that volume by changing coordinates.
I look at synth usability (which is very similar to how a lot of game designers talk about fun) as in part a question of how that space is arranged. How much of that volume produces sounds users will like versus ones they won't? How continuous is it? If I like a sound at point X, how likely am I to like sounds near X, or will moving even a small distance radically change the sound? Can I intuit what neighboring regions will sound like based on the current sound?
I think a big part of why subtractive synthesis has been so successful is that it works well in that model. Most parameter changes are continuous and intuitive. The space feels like it smoothly changes in useful and predictable ways as you navigate.
FM synthesis is really cool, but it feels a lot more like a chaotic universe where there are tiny islands of brilliant sounds separated by empty volumes of noise, or indistinguishable FM bloops.
>The slider interface on the second prototype is very appealing as a UX
Man, particularly for drums that seems so cool. Obviously you can nudge things off the grid in Ableton or whatever DAW, but just to be able to move the sliders as it plays in real time and figure out where things feel right seems like a lovely way to work.
Man, particularly for drums that seems so cool. Obviously you can nudge things off the grid in Ableton or whatever DAW, but just to be able to move the sliders as it plays in real time and figure out where things feel right seems like a lovely way to work.
> the art of it is something discovered and shared
That’s what microtonal harmonic structures feel like to me, in the present day. Exploration and sharing of a new but familiar frontier. Even when done digitally.
That’s what microtonal harmonic structures feel like to me, in the present day. Exploration and sharing of a new but familiar frontier. Even when done digitally.
It's nice to see this here -- as Ellen Fullman said, instrument building is composition.
Hewlett & Packard started out by building an instrument.
Another very impressive thing they did was never stop.
I continued with experiments using vacuum tubes more so into this century although I slacked off without a bench in recent years due to serious losses from natural disasters as they have come along.
I really had my old vintage gear in shape and some new developments which sounded excessively tubular, and it had been a good reason to break out the old guitar even if just to test the amps numerous times per session as I was auditioning components and circuit possibilities. When I was at the bench I would spend about equal time soldering and playing.
I was playing the same old stuff so I could reference the underlying differences in the circuits, I'm not a songwriter to begin with and I definitely was playing worse than ever, but with just a few hours of soldering I could get better tone than I ever had in my life.
I needed all the help I could get anyway at that point and I guess I did have nothing to be ashamed of, but it was easy to admit that I was getting more progress out of spending two hours soldering than practicing music.
Ended up with the amps as my instruments and the guitar as the equipment, and did some fun gigs with talented musicians for a while there.
I never wanted to stop either.
Another very impressive thing they did was never stop.
I continued with experiments using vacuum tubes more so into this century although I slacked off without a bench in recent years due to serious losses from natural disasters as they have come along.
I really had my old vintage gear in shape and some new developments which sounded excessively tubular, and it had been a good reason to break out the old guitar even if just to test the amps numerous times per session as I was auditioning components and circuit possibilities. When I was at the bench I would spend about equal time soldering and playing.
I was playing the same old stuff so I could reference the underlying differences in the circuits, I'm not a songwriter to begin with and I definitely was playing worse than ever, but with just a few hours of soldering I could get better tone than I ever had in my life.
I needed all the help I could get anyway at that point and I guess I did have nothing to be ashamed of, but it was easy to admit that I was getting more progress out of spending two hours soldering than practicing music.
Ended up with the amps as my instruments and the guitar as the equipment, and did some fun gigs with talented musicians for a while there.
I never wanted to stop either.
Is that quote from a particular interview or talk? I'm interested in the context and learning more about Fullman
Yes it's actually paraphrasing the title of a nice piece she contributed to the second issue of the Spectres journal published by Shelter Press! The full title is "Instrument design is composition, resonance is harmony." It's an inspiring essay -- the Spectres issue on Resonances has a number of other nice essays from composers, sound artists etc loosely grouped around the subject.
Thanks a lot!
What a great insight!
I absolutely loved his first album. Even better when he teamed up with Conan Mockasin (who I’ve always kept an eye on because I went to school with him) to form Soft Hair. Their track, The Lying has to Stop, is a work of beauty.
I absolutely loved his first album. Even better when he teamed up with Conan Mockasin (who I’ve always kept an eye on because I went to school with him) to form Soft Hair. Their track, The Lying has to Stop, is a work of beauty.
I built a drum machine last summer. highly recommend it. wasn't analog, but I was building it for different reasons.
I had some help, and some disappointments, but building your own hardware is pretty easy with the Arduino ecosystem.
I had some help, and some disappointments, but building your own hardware is pretty easy with the Arduino ecosystem.
How far did you get with it? Did you end up abandoning the project?
No, I built it and got it working, but it was a bit fragile. I used a Teensy for the brain, with USB MIDI, and that made it reliant on the cables. Teensys run on a mini version of USB, so the cables aren’t generally that sturdy. I’m going to rebuild it with a more durable foundation.
In school I studied computer music, and I participated in a grad seminar for which the final project was a group concert. Alvin Lucier, one of the progenitors of electronic music, led the seminar as guest faculty.
For the performance I built a software instrument in Max/MSP with some similar principles around free timing to those in this drum machine, but with a digital granular synth voicing.
At the pre-show critique, I performed a piece using this instrument, and explained that the synthesizer had 3 voices because I found that to be a sweet spot between a full-sounding texture and what I could manage live.
Alvin asked me if I had considered 5 voices. Confused, I said I had, but, and I repeated, I found it too much to manage. Cryptically, he replied something to the effect of ‘well, ok, but three is three but five is five.’ This was bizarrely hilarious to me but I kept it to myself.
Later, the student who designed the show poster elected to call it ‘Three is Three but Five is Five’.
For the performance I built a software instrument in Max/MSP with some similar principles around free timing to those in this drum machine, but with a digital granular synth voicing.
At the pre-show critique, I performed a piece using this instrument, and explained that the synthesizer had 3 voices because I found that to be a sweet spot between a full-sounding texture and what I could manage live.
Alvin asked me if I had considered 5 voices. Confused, I said I had, but, and I repeated, I found it too much to manage. Cryptically, he replied something to the effect of ‘well, ok, but three is three but five is five.’ This was bizarrely hilarious to me but I kept it to myself.
Later, the student who designed the show poster elected to call it ‘Three is Three but Five is Five’.
My first encounter with programming (after childhoolds basic coding) was a Max/MSP course at music school. I remember I built a program which plays a short loop and each iteration modifies the loop a bit. It ended up pretty nice, but unfortunately I've lost the copy long time ago.
Id be curious to see a performance with that instrument. Any link?
It wasn’t documented! :/ one of the things I learned only after my prolific college years is that despite what Cage says, if you don’t document, it didn’t happen.
If it’s at all interesting I’d add that the instrument was multichannel and I performed from a seat in the theater audience, with the outputs of the system variously directed to the quad-channel PA and to the battery-powered car stereo I had sewn into a nylon vest / jacket on my person.
If it’s at all interesting I’d add that the instrument was multichannel and I performed from a seat in the theater audience, with the outputs of the system variously directed to the quad-channel PA and to the battery-powered car stereo I had sewn into a nylon vest / jacket on my person.