June 2021 - A Dream in the Making

Many of you may have seen this short video of my workplace which I posted to YouTube in May 2019.

Although it is now over 2 years ago, very little has actually changed from what you can see there. The biggest change was of course that I no longer work alone, but have the incredible help from Antonia and Benedikt who take care of most of the production work these days and which allows me to spend more time on dreaming up and prototyping new modules.

This dream is a shared dream. For me it is to be able to do for a living what I love doing: To create and build synths and to inspire people. For you, it is to be able to build affordable modular systems to create the incredible music that you do. However I also love to make music, it’s just that with the constant pressure of building systems and getting orders out the door this part of me got pushed back again and again. Until now! 

I have been fortunate to secure the lease of a beautiful little former chapel which is in the same building as our workspace, within a renovated old Hospital which has been turned into an innovation centre. You can see the chapel in the video where I got to use it for a short time only. Now I’m in the process of turning this amazing space into a room where I can make music, experiment and perform! This will allow me to play my own synth in a kind-of live situation; something I have increasingly missed over the last months. This will contribute to the module development for sure, and - it’s simply fun of course!  

​At the moment there’s still a lot of work to do in the chapel, but I will keep you posted on the progress.

-- Robert

Reminder: Price increase from 12th of July

We’ve written about this before so this is only a reminder that all prices will go up by 5%-8% due to increases in our production cost. So if you want to save some money then you still have a few more days to send off your order at the current prices.

New Products now in Store!

All the below products were featured in our last blog post and are now available for purchase from our online store!

TUBE-VU
This is a very cool VU meter with real tubes as display element! It looks great and definitely will make everyone come over and talk to you if you bring this to a synth meet!

You can buy this product from our online store.

6MUTE
A very simple, but useful module for performing. There are 6 inputs, outputs and switch buttons that will mute the outputs (click-free!)  when pressed. The buttons are very soft, high-quality and illuminated to show the status.
 
Buy this now from our online store.
 
CVADDER-HQ
This is a precision CV adder which you can use to easily transpose pitch sequences thattrack 1 Volt per octave. This is a single adder with four inputs and adds easy octave transposition by one or two octaves or a free interval.
 
It’s now available for purchase here.
 
2CVADD-HQ
These are two precision adders that work like the single one above, but don’t feature the octave transposition.
 
You can find this in our online store here.

CIRRUS !!
This is a clone of Clouds from Mutable Instruments, however with the Microcell alternative firmware installed which adds many more features to the original granular and reverb effects. This is our second MI clone in the AE Modular range and more will follow!

You can order the CIRRUS module from our online store here. 

STOMP I/O
With the STOMP-IO module, you can integrate guitar effect pedals and similar devices into your AE modular system! For output (send) and input (return) return there is a mono minijack socket; two minijack to 1/4" socket adapters are included as effect pedals usually work with the latter ones. Send and return levels can be controlled with separate knobs.
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You can order this module now from our online store.
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Flavorwave Cable Hangers

​We featured this amazing cable storage device a few times here in the blog, but due to the very expensive shipping costs from the US, people in Europe and other regions were missing out. Therefore we got a big batch from Flavorwave and now it’s officially available in our store for our non-US customers.

You can find the cable hangers here in our online store.

VIOLET Patchwires
All lengths are now available in beautiful violet! 

You can buy these in the store here.

Music made by the Community

It must be the summer heat or gradual introduction of freedom from COVID restrictions, but whatever it is, there has not been a month in recent history where more music was produced on this forum! The output from this super talented community was phenomenal and incredibly varied!

Please have a listen to this selection of sounds below!

S101w techno by @maydonpoliris where he combined techniques from @101 and @slowscape. It’s really cool to hear the influences here:
https://forum.aemodular.com/thread/1498/s101w-techno

(Mr)(Bubble)T by @pt3r is showing off his DIY aeclidean sequencer module with nice bubbly sounds:
https://forum.aemodular.com/thread/1500/bubble

Arbor Low South by @martynaudio is such a nice mellow tune that invites a stroll through a summer garden …
https://forum.aemodular.com/thread/1497/arbor-low-south 

Contemplation (Drone) by @moruial is the first patch that uses the BioT module to great effect. As usual this comes with super nice visuals:
https://forum.aemodular.com/post/12401 

Tegmo 1: a zesty synth romp by UY Scuti (@dmoney2000) is a comeback with edgy sounds and creative visuals, check it out:
https://forum.aemodular.com/thread/1504/back-yall-strange-synth-jam

Quake of the Universe by @glitchyfrog is a triple treat of firsts. Some of these tracks were made on a train and we can imagine watching the landscape pass by to these relaxed tunes
https://forum.aemodular.com/thread/1496/quake-universe-experiments

HiTek by @thehatghost is an audio visual experiment that is quite astonishing really. You have to see it to believe it:
https://forum.aemodular.com/thread/1502/hitek

Live techno featuring AE Modular by @keurslagerkurt is just pure fun with two guys having a party in the living room!
https://forum.aemodular.com/thread/1505/more-live-techno-featuring-modular 

Pourpre-orange by @gaetan is a laid back ambient techno(?) piece which invites to lounge and have a beer ..
https://forum.aemodular.com/thread/1514/pourpre-orange-ambient-techno

CV Jam by @101 is a thumping beat with shifting CVs and ghostly background drones, cool stuff!
https://forum.aemodular.com/thread/1520/cv-jam

Droneday by @pt3r is his homage to drone day!
https://forum.aemodular.com/post/12516

First Jam by Running in long grass (@docwho) is a great debut, full of interesting sounds in all directions and a beautiful AE sequence
https://forum.aemodular.com/thread/1523/first-jam-ae-modular

Topography by @maximillius001 is a nice ‘West Coast’ inspired track
https://forum.aemodular.com/thread/1527/topography-west-coast-patching-jam

Dark ambient by @namke lulls you into a safe space, but be careful, there may be occasional jumpscares!
https://forum.aemodular.com/thread/1525/dark-ambient-occasional-jump-scares

Album Releases

UY Scuti (@dmoney2000) has released an album on bandcamp with selected works, many of which feature the AE Modular in some way. It’s a great album and you should check it out! At only $3 (or more, if you can spare it) this is better than a cup of coffee!
https://uyscuti1.bandcamp.com/album/selected-works-2020-21

DIY Projects

Experimenting with Capacitive Touch
Ever since the BioT from Wonkystuff and Hotair the topic of capacitive touch interests and excites people. This is another similar experiment.
https://forum.aemodular.com/thread/1528/experiementing-capacitive-touch

Self Made Patch Wires
These have nice tips similar to the original ones from tangible waves
https://forum.aemodular.com/thread/1487/diy-cables-male-connector 

Slinky Reverb
Is this the ultimate reverb? It definitely looks cool and inviting to all ages to play with it.
https://forum.aemodular.com/thread/865/slinky-reverb 

DIY Switches
These switches look awesome mounted to a blank panel.
https://forum.aemodular.com/thread/1494/diy-switches 

Other Forum Topics

KISS or Go For it? Is a valid question to ask once your first case is full and you have another couple of modules in the wait list. Should you build another Gargantua with everything but the kitchen sink, limit yourself to just a small case with a selection of vital modules or have many smaller cases that you patch together? It’s a great discussion..
https://forum.aemodular.com/thread/1510/

Stereo Solutions. Here are some very cool tips and tricks what you can do with stereo signals and the new MIXCONSOLE
https://forum.aemodular.com/thread/1492/share-ae-stereo-solutions 

Upcoming Events

Superbooth, 15th - 18th September 2021
This time it’s really on! And tangible waves will be there again with a stand. Please come and visit us if you can, we would love to see and chat with you!

https://www.superbooth.com/en/