<![CDATA[tangiblewaves - News]]>Tue, 03 Mar 2026 10:54:55 +0100Weebly<![CDATA[February 2026]]>Fri, 27 Feb 2026 23:00:00 GMThttps://www.tangiblewaves.com/news/february-2026February was a month of diligently working on sending out customer orders and packaging up all these beautiful WAEVE82 boxes, thanks to everyone who got in early to get their hands on this new module.

New Products

VCASE-MIDI

I have been busy designing the new VCASE and finally it's available in the shop. This includes a new bus and power distribution board which also allows uModules, with a dedicated  base module (this one will be released in the next few weeks).
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This case comes with a new power and MIDI module built-in which has the following features:

  • MIDI input via TRS socket or USB-C (appears as MIDI class device in any DAW)
  • CV/gate outputs based on the MIDI input
  • MIDI start/stop/clock
  • IMDI output (to modules)
  • IMDI input (from AE modules to USB-C MIDI connection)
  • Learn button for MIDI channel
  • two stereo minijack sockets; one of them as output, also for direct stereo headphone connection (switchable to mono) with volume control, one as general I/O for CV or audio

This case is now available in the shop! 

This case is perfect for mini systems and therefore we celebrate the father of modular synthesizers with the …

MINIBOB Synth
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This little modular has quite some similarities with  the original synthesizer from the other Bob! It comes with:

  • 2x VCO R2
  • BOB FILTER (the heart of this system, the classic 24dB transistor ladder Filter invented by Bob Moog)
  • MODULATORS (containing LFO, envelope, random voltage, VCA)
  • DELAY
  • MIDI input via TRS or USB-C, MIDI-to-CV conversion, headphone output and 2-channel general I/O via minijack socket, IMDI in/out

This is likely the smallest modular synth with this sound, I hope that it will inspire some of you.

You can now buy this system in the shop.

Third Party Products

There aren't any new modules that we know of, but Wonkystuff is apparently working on an AE clone of the new Bastle Kastle 2!

Also the Wiki has now been updated with ALL of Wonkystuff's modules: https://wiki.aemodular.com/#/modules/wonkystuff/

This list is really impressive! You should check it out, and, if you still don't have every single one of these juicy modules, what are you waiting for? Go and buy some at his store: https://wonkystuff.co.uk/ 

Also many thanks to John for fixing the look and feel of the Wiki, it has been wanting for some love and attention for a while, but now it's looking fabulous!

News and Music from the Community

User @dalarne is showing off his cute mini case with the new WAEVE82 module next to a Wonkystuff rhythm section: https://forum.aemodular.com/post/29273/thread 
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User @saltatempo is forging ahead with his great tutorial series in Italian. Here is his latest episode which features the Nyle filter and is a hypnotic bass sequence in dotted 8th delay.
User @funbun aka Black Warrior Lures has offered us a rare treat with his newest album "Music for Dulcimer, Drone and Granular Processes". It's just so satisfying to see the AE Modular sound together with other instruments. Please check out the album and support him by buying this or one of the other many albums of his impressive portfolio!
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@jcaspes sent this cool jam with Stylophone, AE and friends.
And there's a new jam from @maydonpoliris which is a part of the HardwareJams challenge 

DIY

Every once in a while people want to make their own cables for AE and we get discussions like this on the forum: https://forum.aemodular.com/thread/3741/new-microcables-light-cool-stuff

However as @dizzeesatchel rightfully pointed out, using standard Dupont connecters (which have a rectangular shape) may actually harm your AE Modular patch points and also will not offer the same kind of connectivity as the standard round connectors which are sold in the store.

Meetings and Events

The first Zoom meetup of the year was on Saturday 7th February and we had a nice chat as always. And while we love to have as many people as possible, it is also nice to be in a small group and just chat freely about all things synth.
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The next meetup is on Saturday, 7th of March, 8pm UTC. More info here: 
​https://forum.aemodular.com/thread/3753/online-meetup-march-2026-saturday
]]><![CDATA[January 2026]]>Fri, 30 Jan 2026 23:00:00 GMThttps://www.tangiblewaves.com/news/january-2026I'm wishing all our customers, friends and supporters of the AE Modular community a happy, healthy and successful new year!

The release of the WAEVE82 at the end of last year was a major milestone and the culmination of more than a year of hard work, so I'm proud that this module is now shipping and I'm looking forward to what those first supporters will make with it! As mentioned in December, there will also be a specially made new VCASE for this module so that it can be used as a standalone 8 voice synthesizer in a small and attractive package. 

The WAEVE82 comes with a comprehensive 78-page manual, a quick-start guide, and a micro-SD card loaded with presets - and the built-in randomizer lets you create inspiring new sounds based on a chosen category.
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This year we will continue to consolidate and improve the existing line up of modules especially around IMDI capabilities. At first I'm finally working on the improved version 2 of the GRAINS module. This will have more inputs and outputs, but will use the same chip so that all existing firmware will still work. 

One improvement I’m especially proud of is the introduction of metal cases for the VMIX-10 and the VCASE-7, bringing a noticeable upgrade in build quality and overall feel.
As you know, my mind is always dreaming up new module ideas and I will share these with you over the coming months.

Third Party Products

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Fauxcyrillic has released PIQUED, an AE Modular clone of the PEAKS module designed and open sourced by Mutable Instruments. It is a multi-function, dual channel, trigger to signal converter.

Core functions:
  • AD / ADSR envelope generator
  • LFO / tap-tempo LFO with five waveforms
  • 808-style Drum synth (kick, snare / high hat)

Alt functions:
  • Mini step sequencer
  • Trigger delay
  • Trigger randomiser
  • Digital drum synth

This was released as a limited batch and you have to be quick to secure one of these beauties.

https://www.tindie.com/products/fauxcyrillic/piqued/ 
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The Feral Filter by Symbolic Circuits was teased last year at Superbooth and has since received more development. It's still not quite done, but progress is looking good as does the new faceplate. We can't wait to hear its screaming madness ;-) Stay up to date with the progress here:

https://forum.aemodular.com/thread/3447/feral-ilter-development?page=2

Jamuary 2026

There are so many cool patches in this thread that it would be a bit much to list them here, so please head over to the forum and see and hear for yourself:

https://forum.aemodular.com/thread/3712/jamuary-2026-patches

​Meetings and Events

The first Zoom meetup of the year will be on Saturday 7th February (Sunday 8th for anyone west of the 180th Meridian). Please see the forum for more information (you will need to be a signed in member of the forum).

https://forum.aemodular.com/thread/3737/online-meetup-february-2026-saturday 
]]><![CDATA[December 2025]]>Sun, 14 Dec 2025 01:38:18 GMThttps://www.tangiblewaves.com/news/december-2025
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This blog is long overdue, especially after the slightly unsettling news from the last blog in August. I'm grateful for all the kind words and offers of support you have sent me in response. Currently I feel much better, my health has improved and the business is more stable now, even though I had to make some tough decisions to reduce costs. 

I was silent these last months as I've been consumed by the work on our new module, which certainly is my most ambitious project yet. The WAEVE82 is a complete 8 voice synthesizer and brings you the sounds of the 80's wavetable synth hits plus a LOT more in a (relatively) tiny package. You can hear its sound in my track on the new AEther Waves vol. 7 album. 

This year was not very easy while I mostly dealt with health issues. However I'm looking forward with a positive attitude! The community is going strong and as long as people want to make music with AE Modular I'll be happy to keep building modules. I'm also very impressed by the way the 3rd Party makers are bringing out new modules. This is such an important part of establishing an alternative format in the modular synth world.

While most of my focus this year was on the WAEVE82, I'm planning a few more adjacent products around it for next year. Mainly I'm planning to release this also as a Eurorack module (a first for tangible waves!). I'm also working on a new V-Case which will include complete IMDI connectivity and will be perfect for hosting the WAEVE82 plus one or two other modules. The prototype looks like this:
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New Product!!

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WAEVE82 is now finally ready for order! It is an eight-voice polyphonic wavetable synthesizer module
designed for the AE modular ecosystem. It combines the unmistakable charm of early digital wavetable instruments with a modern, performance-oriented workflow and a clear, page-based interface that invites exploration.

Its conceptual DNA is inspired by the PPG Wave 2 synthesizer of the 1980s — iconic instruments known for glassy timbres, animated spectra, and futuristic character.

Yet, the WAEVE82 is not a clone.

It draws inspiration from that lineage but follows its own path, with a unique audio engine, expanded modulation options, modern randomization tools, and a streamlined interface tailored for the AE modular format.

At its core, WAEVE82 provides:

  • Two independent wavetable oscillators, with 64 internal wavetables plus support for external tables loaded from microSD.
  • Three envelopes and four LFOs, each with clearly defined primary and secondary roles.
  • An extensive modulation matrix, enabling both traditional and experimental routing.
  • Dual operating modes:
    • Edit Mode for deep sound design
    • Perform Mode for live playability with direct access to favorites
  • A powerful Randomize & Mutate system that generates entirely new patches or gently transforms sounds while keeping them musical. 
  • Full MIDI and CV/Gate integration, including an eight-voice MIDI engine and flexible chord generation from CV.

If all of this sounds complicated to you, then don't fear - there is a comprehensive 60 page(!) manual available for download once the module ships!

You can hear it on the new AEther Waves album in the track "Five WAEves". 

This module is now available for purchase in our shop. 
(Shipping will start in the second half of January)

Third Party Products

Wonkystuff has been very active lately with a new online shopfront and a host of new modules.Check out the store for all the new modules. Below are the most recent notable ones.

mmo
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https://wonkystuff.co.uk/mmo.html 

mmo is a fairly faithful recreation of the minimo except for a buffered output, and the use of the ubiquitous ICSP programming header seen in many other boards. You will still need a suitable programmer in order to update the code (not included). Something like the USBAsp is great — See Programming ICSP Modules

The minimo is a whole new open source eco-system and the mmo is your bridge between it and your AE Modular! https://minimosynth.com/ 

​k-lfo
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https://wonkystuff.co.uk/k-lfo-1.html

The LFO part of the beloved kæstle modules, now available as a standalone µModule! 
This module has the same behaviour as the LFO of its bigger siblings ( kæstle, kæstle drum, kæstle ARP):
  • Inputs:
    • cv — change the rate of the LFO with an external voltage;
    • bit — affect the behaviour of the stepped LFO (8/16 cycle or random);
    • clk — synchronise the stepped LFO with an external clock source.
  • Outputs (doubled up for routing to separate destinations):
    • Square (aka clock);
    • Stepped (semi-random with 8 discrete levels);
    • Triangle.

pgn/8
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https://wonkystuff.co.uk/pgn-8-1.html 

Inspired by the Czochralski Cells instrument by Destiny+, this module creates pulse/trigger/gate outputs based on simple input signals. Primarily aimed at generative approaches, the pgn/8 produces complexity from simplicity.

By applying different LFOs (or signals with phase differences), different patterns of triggers and/or gates can be generated, leading to emergent rhythms or other generative artefacts.
  • Inputs:
    • 3x 'index' (top pins) - Select which pin to set 'high'. A simple binary index, 000-111 mapping from top to bottom
    • 2x 'disable' inputs - drive all outputs low.
      • 1x low-disable ('?' input)
      • 1x high-disable ('¿' input)
  • Outputs:
    • 8x trigger/gate outputs

Other 3rd Party Makers

Even though they haven't announced new modules lately, you should still check out the amazing collections of useful and fun modules from BF Synth! They now also stock the EuclidGrid euclidean trigger sequencer made by Kyaa, a module which is the beating heart of many AE Modular racks! Of course there's also the 555VCO which is one of most beautiful sounding, pure analog oscillators available for the AE Modular system.
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Unfortunately many of the brilliant modules made by fauxcyrillic are currently out of stock, however, if you live in the USA then you should check out many small modules, a new Tindie store which stocks many of fauxcyrillic's modules which have been faithfully built in the states!
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News and Music from the Community

The annual community album AEther Waves vol. 7 has been released on the 5th of December! Again many thanks to everyone who has committed their time and effort to make this possible! All proceeds from sales will again be sent directly to Musicians Without Borders to assist with their efforts to bring music and hope to people in regions torn apart by war and violence.

Among the praise for the great tracks on the album there has also been some controversy about the use of AI to produce the album cover. While there has not been a consensus among the community to replace the current cover, there is clearly a wish to not use AI again in the future! If you would like to discuss this topic please chip in here: https://forum.aemodular.com/thread/3677/new-release-aether-waves-vol 

Speak no Evil by running in is an eerie ambient soundscape but also shows beautiful visualisations in this youtube video. 
Let it Breathe by Maydonpoliris is a complex composition featuring the interconnection of AE Modular with the Roland S-1 synthesizer. Absolutely worth checking out!
Rubber Knee Traversing by 101 demonstrates the power of the SQ-64 sequencer as it controls the AE Modular. Great sounds and head-bobbingly good!
Generative Music by Saltatempo is a patch which plays by itself as it generates complex patterns from modulation. Check it out!
Colours of MOOG filter by Ales Vibes is a beautiful demonstration of the new BOB filter by tangible waves. The sounds are out of this world and it's well presented! 
reflex by tIB is a new album featuring the immersive soundscapes which frequently feature in tIB's creations. Very worth checking out!
https://therapyinterferingbehaviour.bandcamp.com/album/reflex
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That feel by Ales Vibes has been hidden for months until it was just recently "unveiled". Here the AE plays together with other mini synths in a beautiful "Berlin School-ish" soundtrack. We definitely love that feel!
Wonkystuff Live Streams! These are live sessions where John explains how he uses the AE system with (mostly) the Wonkystuff modules to make music. Really interesting stuff!
Vanilla Face by CONIVM (aka pt3r?) is a great album made with the AE Modular and the Polyend Tracker. Featuring face melting basslines, earthquake inducing drumbeats and eerie, otherworldly sounds. Fantastic to play late at night to show your neighbours some love ;-)
https://conivm.bandcamp.com/album/vanilla-face
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DIY

Busbuddies great and small!

Check out how the Busbuddy from Symbolic Circuits can be used to easily create any rack you want! 

A tiny one row rack
https://forum.aemodular.com/thread/3680/busbuddy-case 

Or a huge Monsta Buddy!
https://forum.aemodular.com/thread/3423/busbuddy 
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Meetings and Events

The last Zoom meeting of the year was just a week ago and was again really nice to catch up and discuss all things AE Modular!

Next year we'll continue with (roughly) monthly meetings, however all the meetings will be on Saturday evenings/afternoon for most of the world and Sunday mornings for Australians. This just makes it easier to have those meetings not interfere with work commitments. We'll try for the first Saturday of each month and see how we go throughout the year.

The next meeting will be on Saturday 7th of  February 2026 (Sunday 8th for Aussies). 
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We hope you all have a great festive season, holidays or whatever you do to celebrate the end of the year! 

Keep Patching!
]]><![CDATA[August 2025]]>Sat, 30 Aug 2025 22:37:46 GMThttps://www.tangiblewaves.com/news/august-2025I need some help! 

This is not easy to write, but after careful consideration I've decided to turn towards you, the AE Modular community for help in a difficult time in the life of tangible waves and potentially the AE Modular eco-system.

It should be no secret to anyone, who is following current global affairs and the effect these have on the wider synth community and producers of electronic music gear. After a very welcoming high during COVID, the economic reality that most people are now facing make it harder and harder for them to justify investing their money into even an affordable system like AE Modular instead of paying for rent or food. Some synth manufacturers may not immediately feel this downturn because they have been catering for a more well-off clientele who continue to pour their disposable income into high priced gear. But our little community, based around a product built by and for people of little means, has been feeling these pressures for a while now. You can see it in the way the community interactions are fewer than they were in the hay days of 2021-22 and I can definitely see it in the declining sales figures at tangible waves.

Don't understand me wrong, I am still in awe of the amazing support and continuing inspiration from the community and I'm also very impressed by the dedication shown by the growing number of 3rd party manufacturers who are putting their own mark on the AE Modular vision. As I have said many times before, this community is the reason I get out of bed every morning and spend my days in the workshop, creating new modules and pushing out orders as fast as I can.

However these orders have been getting fewer over the last year and since I have transitioned to this business as my main source of income, I have become more concerned about the future of this venture. There are only so many cost cuttings I can make, but when the orders can no longer pay for my means to live I have to find other ways, as I hope you all will understand.

Let me be clear: this is not a swan song for AE Modular!

Although my health has also taken a worse turn since some years, I'm still dedicated to putting all my energy into keeping tangible waves going and AE Modular alive! I just need a bit of help and I hope that someone in the community would be able to assist with a few things:

  1. I would need help with marketing to hopefully reach a wider audience for AE Modular beyond the group which is already on board. This would mean helping me with advice on effective social media and other online marketing campaigns.
  2. I would like to revamp the tangible waves website to make it more accessible and easier for new visitors to find their way to purchase their first modular synth, while retaining the rich history and wealth of information that is currently there. This would need someone who understands eCommerce and can give me advice on how to re-structure the website.

The above are services for which I could likely find someone on a job board or freelance marketplaces and I may have to turn towards those options. However I would like to see if someone from the AE Modular community would be interested to help out with some of the above jobs and may even be willing to take payment, at least in part, through receiving free modules and/or participation in (hopefully) increased sales revenues.

I have talked to people who specialise in eCommerce and online marketing before, but they didn't "get" the special product we have and the impact it has on people's lives and their art. So I hope that someone from the community, who understands what AE Modular is about might be able to do a much better job.

So, if you are interested and willing to help me out with the above, or even just have some interesting ideas or advice, then please contact me via the usual means, I would be incredibly grateful for your contribution!

About those US Tariffs …

Contrary to the above, I am still dedicated to making modular synths available to anyone and since our friends over in the USA have a bit of a tough time right now with a somewhat volatile government, I decided to help them out a little!

For now, only DHL Express or FedEx express shipping options are available for deliveries to the USA. These are more expensive, but at least they will make sure that “only” a 15% tariff will be applied to the order value instead of the ridiculous $80 flat fee which would otherwise be charged. 

To offset these additional costs for our US customers, they can use the code FCKTRMP at the checkout to receive a special 10% discount! We call this a "Fair Compensation for Kinky Tariff Regulation & Market Penalties" ;-).

New Products

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BOB Filter 904A

I have always had a fascination and immense respect for Bob Moog, not just because we share the same first name and that my birthday is just one day later than his (plus a few years!), but I was always in love with the sound and feel of his instruments. So for a long time I have dreamed of making this iconic filter for the AE Modular system. Since the original circuit design is for much higher voltages, I had to find ways to make it work for AE's 5 volt range, but that is now done. The look is an approximation, and I hope that the sound is quite close to the original, but please judge for yourself!

This is a 24dB/octave lowpass filter; but this version additionally offers outputs for taps of each filter stage, offering 18dB, 12dB and 6dB/octave, each with its own sonic qualities. The module has:

  • three signal inputs; two of them with attenuators 
  • three control voltage inputs, two of them with attenuators
  • controls for cutoff and resonance

This module is available in two different versions, one with the classic Moog inspired knobs and front panel and one with classic AE Modular knobs. Which one will you prefer?

​You can now buy this module in our online store!

Third Party Products

Wonkystuff has a new website! Check it out at https://wonkystuff.co.uk/
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News and Music from the Community

The Labyrinth from @runningin is an audiovisual journey through ambient soundscapes. Check out the video on Youtube:
Ammasso Globulare in Ercole from @saltatempo is a track utilising the Volca Drum, AE Grunge Filter and BF Synth's Sloth. This is a beautiful track which you should view here:
Third Behaviour by @pt3r is a groovy track featuring a micro DJ scratch thingy, AE Modular and Polyend Tracker:
Noise to fall asleep to by @maydonpoliris is something for people who love, well, noise 🙂 check it out and see if you can actually fall asleept to it. The video is very interesting as well!
​Great Descent by @101 is made with the AE Modular and friends and may I say: it sounds fantastic! Check it out:
cptr003 apogaeum x 327 - shared samples is a new Bandcamp album by @janxcapture. It is a collaboration where they share a sample and take that as the inspiration of their tracks. Very neat idea and great outcome. Please go, listen and buy this album! 
https://cptrrecords.bandcamp.com/album/shared-samples ​
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Meetings and Events

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While this month's Zoom meeting had fewer members than usually, it was good to have deeper discussions about music making in general and how to use various AE Modules, eg. which module does the best feedback? How to use the DronX? What do you need the Filterbank914 for?

The next meeting is Sunday night September 28th. You can find more details on the forum at https://forum.aemodular.com/board/29/online-meetups​ 
]]><![CDATA[July 2025]]>Wed, 30 Jul 2025 22:00:00 GMThttps://www.tangiblewaves.com/news/july-2025After my very slow recovery after Superbooth (due to the damned CFS syndrome from which I've suffered for some years) I'm in full swing again with fulfilling orders and can gladly say that we have shortened the backlog considerably. In the meantime. This means, we get most orders out of the door in 2-3 weeks now; yeah! Believe me, the long waiting times have always been a big PITA for me. 
​
I've continued to work on the upcoming WAEVE82 synth module I've demoed at Superbooth; it’s quite some work because this thing is way beyond anything I had made before - I mean, this is a full-blown 8-voice polyphonic synth, not just a polyphonic oscillator - but it will be great, I promise!!.
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I have also worked on a new filter module and I wonder if any of you can guess what it is from this breadboard prototype?
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Also in the making is a new revision of the venerable SVFILTER; one of the very ancient AE modules. It is completely redesigned, making it more consistent over different production batches, and it has a better resonance now.

A few weeks ago I had a student intern here at tangible waves again  - what a great experience! A 13-year old, who grasped everything so quickly, even soldering, which usually takes a lot of practice to be productive. Not for Levi: I showed it to him two or three times, gave some hints, and after that, he soldered like a pro without any corrections needed from my side, awesome! No need to say he assembled a complete system based on a sketch completely by himself at the end of the week - and of course time for some jamming was inevitable. And we even designed a very simple module together, from breadboard to PCB layout! Ok, here, I was involved a bit more ;-) Anyway, I was so happy to see this super smart boy and hopefully gave some inspiration; I’m sure he will go a good way!
You can also still vote for IMDI at the MIDI Innovation Awards! Please find more information here:
https://forum.aemodular.com/thread/3552/invitation-vote-imdi-innovation-award

Otherwise July (like most summers) was a quiet month, so this newsletter may feel a bit thin. But rest assured, new and exciting things are in the making!

​News and Music from the Community

Another Emom live stream from Namke. His set starts at 1:22:00 but the other acts are also not bad at all. Always impressive how he can do a whole set with such a small system.

https://www.youtube.com/live/TMvHVAfrNjo?si=axEGT3KzzwCINFmT​
P3tr, our resident master of ambient and other atmospheric experiments has created a track for the collaboration album "Desert Music" by Aural Films. Check it out!

https://forum.aemodular.com/thread/3560/irem
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We think it's time again for another fishing video from Blackwarrior Lures aka funbun. Even if you're not into fishing, you may enjoy the scenery and AE Modular sound track.
She had cost too much to die - is a really catchy tune by soli made with Rains, Selector and other intricately routed modules. It sounds sooo nice! Check it out:

https://forum.aemodular.com/thread/3546/cost-die-july-2025
This track by professore Saltatempo has some cool experiments with modulated delays:
Last but not least here is the latest soundtrack from Maydonpoliris made with his growing AE monster and the Roland T-8 drum machine:

Meetings and Events

Our last zoom meetup was on Wednesday 30th July and was well attended. We welcomed a new member to the AE Modular community and otherwise talked a lot about MIDI, Arpeggiators and other projects.
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The next meetup is planned for Saturday 30th of August. Please see the forum announcements for more details.

​https://forum.aemodular.com/board/12/meetups-events ​
]]><![CDATA[June 2025]]>Sun, 15 Jun 2025 09:55:41 GMThttps://www.tangiblewaves.com/news/june-2025Superbooth is THE major annual event for all synth enthusiasts and manufacturers. Those three days are very fun and very intense. You get to meet people which you only know from email or other internet interactions and you get to meet so many new people who are interested in the AE Modular system. This year we had the shared booth again with tangible waves, Wonkystuff, BF Synths and Symbolic Circuits putting so much new stuff on that table, we all could talk for hours about to anyone who cared to listen. 

Unfortunately the event also uses up a lot of energy and it takes weeks to get back up to a normal routine afterwards. Imagine standing 12 hours in a room with 100 loudspeakers each blasting different tunes or beats so you have to shout at people the whole time. It's fun, but also very exhausting.

Therefore this blog and the videos of the interviews always come a bit late, but without further ado, let's have a look at all the new things which were presented this year.

New Products

WAEVE82

This is a two oscillator wavetable synthesizer with 8 voice polyphony! It is a complete synthesizer in a relatively small module and offers CV, Gate connectivity as well as a complete MIDI implementation which gives you access to control any of the 80 parameters via external controllers or your DAW. ​
This module is a collaboration between tangible waves (hardware) and Matthias Brüssel (software) and was made in honour of the classic PPG Wavetable synthesizers which were introduced in the early 80's by Wolfgang Palm, etc.

Here are some of the many features:

  • Two Wavetable Oscillators
    • Each selectable as vintage or modern Wavetable oscillator
    • Pitch and wavetable-position can be modulated in various ways
  • Noise-Generator
    • Separate Filter available for Noise
    • Noise-Filter can be modulated via LFO
    • Amount can be modulated via EG
  • Ring-Modulator
    • Speed independent from Oscillators and LFOs
    • Amount can be modulated via LFO or EG
  • State Variable Filter
    • LowPass, HighPass, BandPass or Notch
    • Variable filter tracking
  • VCA 
    • Oscillator 1 and Noise assigned to “Slot 1”
    • Oscillator 2 and Ringmod assigned to “Slot 2”
    • Balance per Slot and between slots can be modulated
  • 3 EGs
    • Filter, Volume, Wavescan
  • 4 LFOs
    • Waveforms: SAW, TRI, SINE, SQUARE, RANDOM (Sample&Hold)
    • 4 different frequency-ranges per LFO
    • Optionally (per LFO) syncable to IMDI (MIDI Clock) or CV/Gate-Clock
    • Alternative Syncmode by selecting a global BPM
  • Stereo option (alternating output per note)
  • Polyphonic Portamento
  • Monophonic voice-mode via CV/Gate with max. 8 voices (great for strums etc.)
  • Chord option via CV/Gate with “Stradella-Logic”
  • Sustain-Pedal supported
  • Assignable external controls
    • CV1, CV2, CV3, CV4, Pitchbend, Modwheel, Velocity, Aftertouch,
      CC 2, CC 3, CC 4, CC 74
  • Controller settings can be saved and optionally restored on preset load 
  • All Parameters automatable via IMDI/MIDI
  • 8 Favourites can be stored permanently to Flash, including their Wavetables
  • 64 permanent Wavetables
  • Wavetable format is Waveedit, including waveeditonline-wavetables like PPG, Waldorf, Mutable Instruments etc. 
  • Users can generate their own Wavetables using Waveedit
  • Presets and Wavetables can be read from SD-Card, Presets can be stored to SD-Card by the WAEVE82
  • Presets (without their Wavetables) can be dumped and received via Sysex

You can see and hear more about this and a few other modules in this interview:

Third Party Products

Wonkystuff

Wonkystuff presented a few new modules which you can see and hear in this interview:
You should check the Wonkystuff website for news and availability of the following modules:
mi/mo

This micro module accepts MIDI input either via the 3.5mm jack or patch points at the top. It then sends that MIDI out to also via 3.5mm jack or patch points. This is useful to control MIDI instruments from the AE Modular! Also since the input jack accepts both type A and B connectors and the output can be switched to either A or B via a hardware switch, this can be used to convert MIDI cables from one type to another.

μmdx

This is an 8-channel MIDI demultiplexer very similar to the mb/1 but obviously only for half the number of channels. However these can be configured to be:
  • 1-8
  • 9-16
  • paired: 1+2, 3+4, .. (useful for the new 2osc/d from tangible waves!)
  • unison: all data goes to all outputs

CVMx

This is an amazing module which can convert CV signals to MIDI messages! Check out the video interview about all the cool things you can do with it!​

pa4

This module assigns one MIDI channel to 4 parallel channels which allows you to play 4 voice polyphonic if you have 4 IMDI capable oscillator modules! It sends note and CC messages and has a few allocation modes:
  • unison: all outputs get the same note
  • lowest available
  • round robin
  • p5-ish: where a note will always try to use the same output

env4

This module has 4 attack/release envelopes with individual triggers but which share the same settings. This is great in combination with pa4 for playing 4 voices polyphonically.

BF Synth
The power duo from Belgium and France showed off two really cool new modules and have other fantastic news towards the end of this interview!
Perc-O-Lator

This is a 4 channel envelope made for percussive sounds as each channel offers only a decay knob! The envelopes can be individually triggered either via CV or MIDI. 

You can buy this module on their website: https://www.tindie.com/products/bfsynths/bf-23-perc-o-lator-4-envelopes-for-ae-modular/

LED-Chaos

This is a fun micro module which brings some randomness into your patches. There are 3 different LEDs which flicker slow or fast chaotically and you can patch into them to get random CV signals. The signal can also be changed by the Morph Knob. 

This is available on their website:
https://www.tindie.com/products/bfsynths/bf-22-led-chaos-cv-source-for-ae-modular/

Kyaa's Euclid Grid is back!

BF Synth has made a deal with Kyaa and will produce this important module from now on. This is a 4 channel trigger sequencer which uses euclidean patterns across 2 dimensional areas. The colorful screen shows those different sequences and they can be arranged and shaped in many ways very easily via the 8 control buttons and one rotary encoder knob. This is an essential module and should be in every rack! 

You can now buy it on their website:
https://www.tindie.com/products/bfsynths/kyaas-euclid-grid-euclidian-sequencer-for-ae/

​Symbolic Circuits

Henrik was presenting his modules for the first time at Superbooth, but he was already well known in the AE community for his BusBuddy power board which can turn any rack into a quick swap case.

Most modules he presented at Superbooth are early prototypes, but they do look and sound promising. Check out what he's cooking in this interview:
Faux Cyrillic and Solipsistnation

Although not personally present at Superbooth, Faux Cyrillic's most talked about module, COILS, was presented beautifully by Josh aka Solipsistnation who also built a few of these modules mostly for people in the USA. He came all the way from California to Superbooth with a cute little travel modular case. Here he is talking to The 5th Volt about his approach to making and how he's mainly using two Faux Cyrillic modules: COILS and Pikocore.
Check out Faux Cyrillic's website for modules and availability: https://www.tindie.com/stores/fauxcyrillic/
​
And if you live in the USA then you should check Josh's website on Tindie for his builds of COILS and PikoCore: https://www.tindie.com/stores/solipsistnation/

News and Music from the Community

So obviously there is some dance music from Keurslager Kurt to check out from his Superbooth afterparty! 
Maydonpoliris using the new BF Synth modules in this Percolating Beats video:
The trees obscure the vision - a dancey patch by 101
Mind Grains - running in shows AE Modular in concert with too many other cool synths and very psychedelic visuals.
Akze shows off his very first recorded patch with his new AE Modular system!
John aka Namke aka Wonkystuff  playing live at EMOM Festival in Leeds - this whole video is 7 hours long, but John's set starts at 03:18:09 … check it out:
Nebulosa di Orione col BeatDivider e tre voci Drone38, Noise e 2OSCD - is another astronomy inspired track by Professore Saltatempo. This has some really cool sounds:
exhibit a - by artist 327 is drone made with the AE Modular and guitar which invites us to explore the territories and landscapes of sound through deep listening.
https://cptrrecords.bandcamp.com/album/exhibit-a 

You can discuss this here: https://forum.aemodular.com/thread/3522/327-exhibit-drone 
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DIY

Quad Vactrol Module by Solipsistnation

This module is a prototype to go with the quad envelope by BF Synth, Perc-O-Lator. It looks quite nice, check out the post on the forum: https://forum.aemodular.com/thread/3521/prototype-quad-vactrol-module
Timer is a delay for trigger inputs

This could be useful and the documentation and build instructions provided by Gerif are spot on as usual! Check it out: https://forum.aemodular.com/thread/3492/timer 
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Meetings and Events

AE Modular Zoom Meetup

The last meetup was in April and the next one will be on the Saturday 28th of June. Check the Forum for more details!

https://forum.aemodular.com/board/29/online-meetups 
]]><![CDATA[April 2025]]>Tue, 29 Apr 2025 10:25:20 GMThttps://www.tangiblewaves.com/news/april-2025You could win this synth if you bought a ticket for Superbooth 2025 before April 1st!
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Yes, everything is about Superbooth these days and I've been working secretly on a completely new module which I think will surprise all of you! Everything will be revealed on the first day of Superbooth and I'm very excited to see your reaction!

I'm also looking forward to spending a lot of time with the 3rd Party makers, Wonkystuff, BF Synth, and Symbolic Circuits as we are sharing a booth (and the accommodation) together. But the main benefit of Superbooth for me is to be able to talk to you, my customers and friends and I hope to see you soon at the booth.

Stay informed!

This blog is super short as we are all gearing up for the "big reveal(s)" so if you can't make it to the event and want to stay in touch with what's happening then it will be best to check out Instagram, especially the tags #aemodular and #superbooth25 as well as to follow these accounts (if you're not already following):
@tangiblewaves, @the5thvolt, @wonkystuff_uk, @bfsynth and @symbolic_circuits

Third Party Products

Most 3rd Party makers are gearing up for showing off their new stuff at Superbooth and you will be able to see the announcements on Instagram, Discord and maybe even Facebook sometime during the 3 days of the event. Only in next month's blog will we write in more detail of what they were up to these last few weeks!

Faux Cyrillic - LFO--
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This is the smaller sister to the mighty LFO++ in 1U, but still features two(!) independent LFOs with shape control etc. The only thing missing is depth and offset control. For the size this is an incredibly powerful LFO and you should have this in your rack! Go and get from the shop:
https://lectronz.com/products/lfo-1 

There's also more info about availability and new upcoming things in this post on the forum: https://forum.aemodular.com/thread/3482/lfo-minus 

News and Music from the Community

I Pilastri della Creazione, Drone38 e polifonia con Keystep3 is a patch by @saltatempo which combines the AE Modular with VCVRack on his computer. ​
Time bubble is another audio visual creation by @runningin which combines the AE Modular with a host of other instruments in his studio. Music to get lost in …
SOLAR FLARES is a live drone and drum performance by @pt3r and sounds just like we love from the drone master.
Three Simple Movements is a new album by @funbun aka Black Warrior Lures Check it out on Bandcamp!
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The Generator setup overview and performance are two videos by The 5th Volt about a live performance at an event which didn't happen but then was performed at home for his loyal YouTube audience.

DIY

A Pedal Module by @gerif complete with schematics and a demo. All explained in this thread on the forum: https://forum.aemodular.com/thread/3457/pedal
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​Meetings and Events

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We would love to meet you in person! You can find us in the great hall all the way through the left hallway right at the entrance at booth #W405! 
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AE Modular Zoom Meetup
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One of the benefits of coming to the monthly meetups is that often one or two of the 3rd party makers are there and may show off a prototype of their next module long before it's revealed on the forum. That way they can get some early feedback or ideas from the community. But it's also a great group of people to hang out with, and lately the talks have been a lot more relaxed as people get to know each other better.

The meetings are always alternating between weekends and weekdays to offer a time and date suitable for more people. You should definitely join us and say hello at one of the upcoming meetings. 

More information about our meetings is available on the forum for logged in members:
https://forum.aemodular.com/board/29/online-meetups

​​
]]><![CDATA[March 2025]]>Mon, 31 Mar 2025 11:08:31 GMThttps://www.tangiblewaves.com/news/march-2025
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March is always a "normal" month. There is an absence of excitement which I welcome very much as it gives me the time to focus on the important things: building and shipping orders and designing new modules ;-) Most of our customers will have hopefully noticed our reduced wait times and we in turn have noticed that sales have gone up a bit, which is always very welcome.

As previously stated, we are on a mission to improve existing modules and to provide new versions which will sound better, work better and probably also work with MIDI using the IMDI system. This has led to the point where we now have considerable stock of older versions of these modules and we are making those available for purchase at a much reduced price. You can find those modules in a new category in our online store:

https://www.tangiblewaves.com/store/c22/Sale_items.html

Soon To Be Released

4IMDICTRL

Soon to be released is another new member for the line of IMDI capable modules of AE modular: the 4IMDICTRL. Its purpose is to generate MIDI controller signals to control other IMDI modules, like the 2OSC R2, FMOS R2, uOSC, uFM, uPOLY and others. These modules have a number of parameters which can be changed by MIDI controllers for more in-depth control. A good example is the uPOLY on which you can adjust the attack and decay times of the inbuilt envelope via MIDI controller messages and set LFO depth and rate. Another example is the suboctave output of the both uOSC and uFM: Via a MIDI controller, the suboctave output can be configured to act as a gate output which is useful when the module is controlled by IMDI notes.​
Another possibility of the 4IMDICTRL is the conversion of CV and gate signals to MIDI/IMDI controllers. Together with the IMDI HEART module, this enables the possibility to  send MIDI controllers back to a DAW and control synth plugins in realtime by CV!

As a bonus, 4IMDICTRL also offers a simple gate to note converter, e.g. for triggering drums via MIDI notes.

As you can see, the integration of MIDI into AE modular goes on; you can expect more exciting stuff to come! Our philosophy is, to make MIDI as easily patchable and usable as we are used with CV and gate; simply see it as a third type of signal that allows complex control whenever this is helpful in a patch.

Third Party Modules

MMO from Wonkystuff
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This micro module is a clone of the MiniMO device. It is a programmable multi purpose module and can be configured to be an oscillator, a filter, an envelope, a MIDI sequencer and many other things. You can find a discussion about this on the forum:
https://forum.aemodular.com/thread/3442/continuing-experiment-exciting-mmo-news 

You can purchase this module from the Wonkystuff Website:
https://wonkystuff.net/product/mmo/ 

Elliptic Switched Capacitor Filter from Symbolic Circuits

The name of this filter is quite a mouthful, but the sound samples suggest that it will give the GRUNGE Filter a run for its money! While filters are usually not counted as FX, maybe we need to make an exception for this one as it adds quite a bit of distortion to the sound - in a very good way! It's still in development and hopefully ready for oohs and aahs at Superbooth, but you can follow its progress on the forum:
https://forum.aemodular.com/thread/3447/elliptic-switched-capacitor-filter ​

Music from the Community

We started the month with "Music for Kalimba, Dulcimer and Modular Synthesizer" by @funbun which is a track that combines acoustic with electronic instruments quite nicely. It is reminiscent of Steve Reich's "Music for Mallet Instruments, Voices and Organ". Check it out on the forum:
https://forum.aemodular.com/thread/3438/music-kalimba-dulcimer-modular-synthesizer 
Crèmecore Deluxe - by Prize Dink Camp (a collaboration with our well known @keurslagerkurt) 
This album is a cool rock album with some AE Modular sprinkles thrown in the mix (excuse the pun). You can listen to the album on Bandcamp: 
​https://prizedinkcamp.bandcamp.com/album/cr-mecore-deluxe ​

Harbinger - by running in is the exact opposite of the album above. A moody, dreamy soundscape which will draw you into its magical realm where time slows and if you made the mistake of listening to this at work, then tough luck. You won't get any work done, just call it a day, go home and rejoice that your alive and the world is wonderful.

AE Modular is a Sonic Powerhouse  by RSKT is a one hour long smorgasbord of beautiful soundbites and a bucket load of really useful tips! This little system is so versatile and sounds so good, I might build this myself to play with. RSKT puts a huge amount of effort into these videos to make them as useful as possible for the viewers who want to understand their modular synth better. But he also manages to create absolutely amazing musical pieces which really should be on an album.

La Nebulosa Anello con due step sequencer a 131 Hz in DO3 maggiore by @saltatempo is an homage to the Ring Nebula which you can find in the northern constellation of Lyra. And the video also has complete patch notes so you could try this at home!

More noodly modular stuff by @solipsistnation is a nice shoe gazing song made with Le Module 01, Rains, RBSS, Euclid Grid and also a guest solo from the 3rd Wave Synthesizer.
https://forum.aemodular.com/thread/3453/more-noodly-modular-stuff 

Coils Coils Coils by pt3r is a moody track made with … you guessed it … the Coils module. 

DIY

MIDI Router with Arduino Nano Every and BRAEDBOARD

In this post @feijal describes a very simple setup on how to utilise the Arduino Nano Every on the BREADBOARD module for routing MIDI signals. This is possible due to the additional 3 UARTS it has over the stock Nano board. Check out the discussion on the forum:
https://forum.aemodular.com/thread/3460/braedboard-arduino-nano-midi-router 
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Blast From the Past


​In this new section of the blog we will show some "forgotten" stories which were important enough at the time to push the AE Modular story forward. Look at this video recorded in 2019 by Felix aka The Tuesday Night Machines where we can hear how Robert started, and how the forum started. It's just incredible that all of this is still going so strong after 6 years!

Felix has been very busy with his day job these last few years, but in the early years of AE Modular, he was an incredible supporter of the format through his videos and his help in setting up the forum in the early days of the community. Check out his many other videos on his channel!

Meetings and Events

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The March meeting was really cosy with few enough people that we were able to talk more freely than normally when we go around the room and everyone talks about their current projects or ideas with not too much time for discussion. Every meeting is a welcome opportunity to get to know the people better, who we usually only see as disembodied chat bots or pen pals on the forum.

The next meetup is on April 27th (28th for Australians). Check the forum for more details: 
​https://forum.aemodular.com/board/29/online-meetups
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Only 5 more weeks to go until we're back in Berlin at Superbooth. Just like last year there will be a shared stand with tangiblewaves, Wonkystuff, BF Synths and, for the first time, Symbolic Circuits. Kyaa won't be able to make it this year, but hopefully we get to see him back next year.

Ticket sales are open, and if you buy a ticket online after April 1st you will enter a Raffle to win all kind of awesomes prizes. What are you waiting for? It's the world's biggest synth meetup, get your tickets already!

https://www.superbooth.com/en/tickets.html
]]><![CDATA[February 2025]]>Thu, 27 Feb 2025 23:00:00 GMThttps://www.tangiblewaves.com/news/february-2025
A while ago, a friend from the modular synth community introduced me to the incredible buttons you see above. My immediate thought? These would make fantastic blank front panels!

With that idea in mind, I reached out to black-mosquito.org — the creators of these buttons — and we agreed to adapt the design into English and produce modular synth front panels. They’ll be selling the Eurorack version, while the AE Modular version will be available in our shop. Additionally, black-mosquito.org will offer English-language buttons and T-shirts (keep an eye on their store in the coming weeks!). All of our proceeds from these items will go toward anti-fascist initiatives.

For me, political neutrality is no longer an option. Recent events in both the U.S. and Germany have made it clear that I need to take action — however small it may be. And in the modular community, we already stand for something greater: freedom, self-expression, tolerance, and diversity. These values deserve not only to be celebrated but also protected and defended.

To be clear: I oppose all forms of violence. But I am also firm in my stance against the rise of fascism — something we’re seeing on a large scale, and as a German, this is especially concerning to me. This is what Antifa means to me: standing against oppression and safeguarding the freedoms that allow us to create, express, and exist as we are.

Let’s make some noise—not just with our synths, but for democracy and freedom: You can buy the panels in the shop.

New Products

2VCO R2

The completely redesigned VCO is now available! The module replaces its predecessor and purges one of the last remaining legacy modules from the early AE days – and definitely one of the most important ones ;-) One more step towards AE modular becoming a serious, quality modular synth system!

We are happy to offer this completely redesigned module, that offers a really good volt/octave tracking over 5-6 octaves (using both CV inputs) and an amazing temperature stability.

You can buy it now in our online shop.

​2OSC R2

Another successor of a classic AE module, the 2OSC/d. The 2OSC is also a dual oscillator module, digitally based, with a great feature set:

Oscillator 1:
  • Sawtooth
  • Multi-Sawtooth detuned
  • Pulse wave
  • Triangle waveform with wavefolder
  • Sinewave (we all love sine waves, right?)
  • Suboscillator output
  • Mix output (primary wave plus sub oscillator)
Oscillator 2, Noise:
This oscillator is focused on square waves; additionally, to a pulse width controlled and – CV-controllable square wave, it offers also a “synced square wave” (sounds really nasty!) and synced to oscillator 1.

A separate sub oscillator output is available too, additionally, a separate noise output is included.
The octave range switches are the same as in 2OSC/d.
On top of the usual 1V/octave pitch control, the module can be controlled also via IMDI, the internal, patchable MIDI! Oscillators 1 and 2 are separated via different MIDI channels.

It's available already in our shop!

​SEQ8 r2

This module was featured in last month's newsletter and is now available on our online shop. The primary new feature is the added IMDI capability, which enables direct MIDI sync with variable time signatures, scaling the notes and octave transposition, The older version is no longer for sale, the SEQ8 R2 directly replaces its predecessor.

https://www.tangiblewaves.com/store/p100/SEQ8_R2.html
​
MASTER R6
​
Almost not recognizable, but the MASTER module has received an important addition: It now also includes an IMDI output, that makes all incoming MIDI messages available for direct patching to IMDI-capable modules.

Together with the mentioned 2OSC R2 and the SEQ8 R2 this means that IMDI is by default an inherent feature of any AE modular STARTER SYSTEM now!

Currently on the lab bench:

4IMDICTRL

This module allows the generation of MIDI controllers, provided on two IMDI outputs. 4 knobs, three CV inputs and three gate inputs can be individually configured to send certain MIDI controllers. By this, parameters of modules with IMDI input can be directly modified; amongst this, in-depth configuration of the uOSC, uFM, uPOLY and other modules can be accomplished.

IMDI2CV

Finally, the long anticipated multi-channel MIDI/IMDI to CV module! Especially due to the introduction of IMDI, we decided to make this module based on IMDI in, not directly MIDI. The advantage is a smaller module (no need for TRS MIDI socket), and with IMDI available by default with the new MASTER module this makes the module doable at a lower price. 
It will include 4 CV/Gate outputs and 8 additional CV outputs; different assignment modes (individual channels, polyphonic voice assignment, individual MIDI controller to CV assignment).

Third Party Products

Symbolic Circuits is open for business! 

This new 3rd party maker of AE modular accessories is known as @thegrandmother on the forum and Discord. His first product is really cool, you should check it out.
On the forum:
https://forum.aemodular.com/board/38/symbolic-circuits 

Online Store:
​https://lectronz.com/stores/symbolic-circuits 

​
Bus Buddy

The BusBuddy from Symbolic Circuits is a fixed busboard for the AE system which not only replaces the ribbon cable but also provides attachment points for the modules. With the BusBuddy you can transform any AE case into an approximation of the quick swap case and swap a module in tens of seconds with essentially zero hassle!
​
You can buy it here: https://lectronz.com/products/busbuddy


​News and Music from the Community

coils x piko x piko - Slowscape is back with his first AE video in years! Check it out. ​

​Ad Nauseam - A new Album from Aditi
https://aditivienna.bandcamp.com/album/ad-nauseam
​You can discuss it on the forum: https://forum.aemodular.com/thread/3425/new-record

Praying to the Rhythm Gods - a new Album from tIB on Bandcamp with a single patch using the Samplyr module:
https://therapyinterferingbehaviour.bandcamp.com/album/praying-to-the-rhythm-gods 
Discuss here: https://forum.aemodular.com/thread/3427/tib-praying-rhythm-gods 

A Dance for AE Modular - New video by Maydonpoliris 
Discuss on the forum: https://forum.aemodular.com/thread/3428/dance-ae-modular 

L'uovo e il pinguino galassie interagenti is a new AE Modular experiment from Professore Saltatempo discuss it here: https://forum.aemodular.com/thread/3416/luovo-pinguino-galassie-interagenti-seq16 

Space Beasties by running in
discuss: https://forum.aemodular.com/thread/3413/space-beasties

Escape from Darkness by alesczx
discuss: https://forum.aemodular.com/thread/3405/escape-darkness 


​DIY

DIY Ring Modulator Module

Gerif is showing off his DIY Ring Modulator module with pictures and a demo sound file. It sounds awesome! Find out more about this here: https://forum.aemodular.com/thread/3436/ ​ 
Lego(™) Fader Module

This looks really cool and shows how easy it is to create an original module for AE. It's a working fader module which works great for live playing. More info here:
https://forum.aemodular.com/thread/3424/cvfaderst 
3d Printed Quickswap Case

If you have a 3d printer you can now make your own quick swap case! Find out how here:
https://forum.aemodular.com/thread/3408/3d-printed-quickswap-case
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​Meetings and Events

Our first AE Modular Zoom Meetup was on Saturday 22nd of February and we had a great turnout again. 

Next Meetup is scheduled for March 25th. Please check the forum for more details (you need to be logged in as a member to see this post).

https://forum.aemodular.com/thread/3437/online-meetup-march-25th-tuesday 

Alternatively you can check the Discord where links to the Zoom meeting will be posted the day before the meeting.
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Yes, Superbooth is coming up in May again and it will be our 7th lucky year to present AE Modular at this synth community super event! Again our booth will be shared with 3rd party makers: John from Wonkystuff, Zeno and Gregory from BF Synths and new this year, Henrik from Symbolic Circuits. 

We would love to see you in person! So better plan your travel and secure your tickets:

https://www.superbooth.com/en/tickets.html
]]><![CDATA[January 2025]]>Fri, 31 Jan 2025 12:41:19 GMThttps://www.tangiblewaves.com/news/january-2025Same as many other modular manufacturers, we are facing challenging times at tangible waves. Things have been tough for a while (especially since the beginning of the Ukraine war), with a significant drop in selling modules, systems, accessories. Not that nice news, I know, but I want to be totally honest here, as always. You can be sure that I'm still doing my work with the same passion and love I had in the beginning, nevertheless, AE modular barely covers the very basics of my life - keep in mind that I'm dedicating my time fully to AE, otherwise, we wouldn't see a palette of far over 100 modules after 8 years, all this with an also challenging health situation since some years (a chronic fatigue syndrome, as it has turned out).

However what still makes me happy is the wonderful community that has been established around the AE modular ecosystem (special thanks to Carsten for his incredible work!). For me, this is more important and satisfying than "selling more" and "earning more money". Nevertheless, I have to pay my bills, so I really hope that this wonderful community helps to keep AE modular alive and growing for the next few years.

Sometimes, I hear the advice "you should increase your prices, you can sell your stuff more expensive" - ok, maybe I could do this, maybe it would bring me a higher income, but it would exclude more people who are eager to use modular synthesis, and this is something I want to avoid. I always considered  AE modular as something for everybody, and I want to keep this up as much as possible.

I also want to improve the customer experience and over the last few weeks I took the time to reflect on our internal processes of production and shipping. This has led to some optimizations that we have implemented at the beginning of the year. And it works well! Our annoyingly long backorders list and awfully long waiting times have shortened already and the majority of open orders is from after the middle of December, meaning the frequent three month waiting time has reduced to around 6 weeks. And it will get better!

I'm hoping for your support in 2025 with the mentioned points in mind - let's make AE modular great and greater TOGETHER!

New Products

Last year the big theme was the new IMDI protocol which is a way to send MIDI signals to the AE modular and even between modules. This protocol is already in use by at least a dozen modules between Wonkystuff and tangible waves. This year we will continue this new direction and most if not all new modules, where it makes sense, will have IMDI incorporated in some way.

SEQ8 r2
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Not yet available, but this will be an updated version of our 8 step sequencer module. It now includes the following IMDI functionality:

  • can output gate and note information via IMDI in addition to CV/Gate
  • when connected via IMDI input it syncs automatically to MIDI clock
  • the IMDI output can be configured for:
    • base octave of the notes
    • different scales with an inbuilt quantiser
    • different clock divisions when using the MIDI clock, eg. 1/16th, 1/8th as well as dotted and triplet variations

This new version will replace the original one very soon and will be sold at the same price! More bang for your buck!

FMOS R2
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The FMOS module has been absent for a long time because I was not fully happy about some aspects and I had an updated version in mind for a while. So now there is a new version with a new processor chip and a complete new design. This version has some more features than the old one, with general improvements of the circuitry and of course is also fully integrated with IMDI!

The features of the FMOS R2 are:

  • 2-operator FM synthesis at its core, for the classic FM bass and many other sounds; plus a perfect source for pure sine waves
  • Beyond sine waves as basic waveforms, there are 8 (eight!) different waveform combinations for carrier/modulator, which expands the sonic palette significantly
  • Suboctave output (square wave)
  • Mix-output (FM plus Suboctave)
  • Octave switch +2 octaves
  • Control knobs for pitch, modulator multiplier and -depth and feedback / fixed frequency
  • CV control for pitch and modulation depth
  • Pitch CV optional continuous or semitone-quantized
  • Adjustable feedback for the synthesis for creating some resonance-like variants
  • Optional, the modulator oscillator can be set to a fixed frequency, perfect for more inharmonic, metallic sounds
  • All parameters controllable by IMDI:
    • Notes, of course
    • Pitch bend
    • Modulator multiplier, modulation depth
    • Waveform select
    • Sub Oscillator output mode (either sub oscillator or gate output for IMDI note control, to have a gate for an envelope generator at hand right away)

All this with some 8-bit grit ;-) You see, a really powerful module; I’m really happy about it!

Available in the shop and in stock.

White Faceplates

In the photo above you can see that I've been experimenting with a new colour for our faceplates. The reason is that I decided to phase out the old grey faceplates, but some people don't want their rack to be all in black. So the white faceplate might be a good alternative and will be available upon request.

VCO R2
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A new version of one of the earliest modules in the AE Modular system. This new VCO will have much better V/octave tracking and proper temperature stability; otherwise, it’s a classic, fully-analog VCO - basically the core of basically any synth! The previous version comes from the early Kickstarter days of AE modular; back then, real 1V/octave oscillators weren’t intended, at least not in this very first phase. But the backers had urged me to add one, so the original VCO was developed a bit in a hurry and, honestly, with less experience than I have now, therefore it doesn't really match with the overall level of AE anymore. So I’m happy to have an adequate successor for this legacy module!

POWER R2
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​Another module that has been revised “silently” a short while ago is the POWER module, which is shipped now in its R2 incarnation. Compared to its predecessor, it now offers four in/out lines, with two of them as stereo headphone output (the previous one was mono). This was requested a few times, and here it is!

You can find it in the shop here.

Third Party Products

New Modules from Wonkystuff

These new modules are already available in the Wonkystuff shop, however John advises that delivery may be a bit slower this month as he's undergoing hand surgery. We wish him all the best and a speedy recovery!

mmo

This is a version of the open source hardware MiniMO as found on https://minimosynth.com/. This is basically a freely programmable module and if you have a bunch of them you can turn them into oscillators, filters, envelopes … all from the same hardware, but just load different firmware onto them. Especially in the micro format this is really neat as you can now easily make one mmo a filter! You can find the various programs here: https://minimosynth.com/programs/. If you wonder how to get the firmware onto this little module then John has provided you with a very helpful guide on how to use an ICSP programmer: https://wonkystuff.net/icsp-modules/. The really cool thing about this is, that this module is completely open source and if you wanted to, you could build it yourself with the information given on the Wonkystuff website. However, why would you? John does a great job doing this work for you ;-)

This module is now available on the Wonkystuff shop: https://wonkystuff.net/product/mmo/

uBaseLite

This is a base module for hosting 3 micro modules and does about the same job as the one from tangible waves except that it doesn't have the DIP switches which can be used to turn on or off certain signals coming from the bus. 

This module is now available on the Wonkystuff shop: https://wonkystuff.net/product/ubaselite/. 

​Faux Cyrillic - Resistance is Futile
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A stereo panning mixer for AE Modular. Heavily based on the eurorack projects Nearness and Mixor Image.

This module provides an easy way to generate a wide stereo image from your modular sounds. Audio is patched into the horizonal connector in the middle of the module, and is panned in the stereo field according to its position from left to right. There are three positions of increasing bias in each direction, and two centre inputs, one of which has a high-pass filter applied.

The mixed audio is available as left and right outputs in both AE cable format and through 3.5mm Thonkiconn jacks if you wish to use the module as an end of chain output. The left 3.5mm jack can be used as a stereo output if a TRS cable is inserted with nothing connected to the right output.

You can purchase one of limited stock at the faux cyrillic Tindie shop.

Music from the Community

News and Music from the CommunityThe year has started with some awesome new music from the community. Please note that this blog only features posts from the forum, however there is a very lively discussion over on the Discord server and there may be some tracks which have only been posted there. Also some posts on the Facebook group are awesome, but are hard to link to from outside of Facebook, so please also check them out instead of doom scrolling.

@running was on a roll this month! First track "loops" is a great track to start the year and the visuals are really cool, too:

Then "a kind of stillness" takes us on a dreamy journey through synth ambient goodness.

​And finally Noise is an experimental track with some really cool sounds from physical modeling synths.

@alesczx is showing off his ambient chops with the Rains module. Put your headphones on and play this on endless repeat to leave the world behind.

@pol has now mastered the art of triggering the AE from his MPC One. It's a neat track with a lot going on and definitely worth the very reasonable asking price! Check it out on Bandcamp:
https://patternsoflife.bandcamp.com/track/the-power-of-a-muse 

In this astronomically inspired piece by professore @saltatempo we are hearing the pure sound of AE in two layers, beautifully sequenced and proficiently randomised by Sloths. 

​And @RSKT is back with these glitchy patches on Youtube Shorts (unfortunately this website platform can't embed and display shorts):
https://www.youtube.com/shorts/kbW0KaqzUMc
https://www.youtube.com/shorts/nbFCzKgZkwM

DIY

In this section members of the forum are exchanging ideas about circuits and how to make your own modules, cases or anything to do with synths. 

This thread is about how to go about turning a breadboard circuit into an AE Module on the example of Morit Klein's analog kick drum circuit. You can read about it here:
https://forum.aemodular.com/thread/3211/porting-moritz-analog-kickdrum-modular

Need an idea to start your DIY journey, here's a discussion about a few easy projects:
https://forum.aemodular.com/thread/3396/simplest-vca 

And this older thread about the simplest envelope generator has got new life when some people want to make it more complicated! 
https://forum.aemodular.com/thread/3334/simplest-envelope-easy-breadboard 

While there is a wealth of DIY info on the Forum as well as on the Wiki, please also check out the Discord server where there is also a dedicated channel to this topic. Especially if you're stuck you can get help quickly in the chat.

Programming GRAINS

This sub forum has been taken over by the indefatigable @feijal who has by now made more firmwares for GRAINS than any other human on our planet! 

This month's releases are:

  • TRAJECTORY - a vector synthesizer
  • AKWF - a wavetable synthesizer
  • TANGLE - a logic generator and buffered mult
  • TARDY - a delay for multiple digital signals

Check out all the other firmwares as well: https://forum.aemodular.com/board/24/programming-grains 

Meetings and Events

There are so many digital channels where our community can come together and share information, inspire and help each other or just hang out with friends. However meeting face to face, even when on Zoom is special and helps to get a bit closer, just as you would when meeting in a pub or cafe to hang out. 

Our monthly Zoom meetings will start again with the first meeting of the year on Saturday 22nd February at 8pm UTC.

Please join the forum if you haven't already and check for details about upcoming meetings here:
https://forum.aemodular.com/board/29/online-meetups 
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