August 2022 - Going Solar

Things are ticking along well enough here at the tangible waves headquarters and we are relieved that a few cooler days have come along and relieved us from the incredible heatwave that has swept through Europe this summer.

While the situation with the chip shortage is still somewhat problematic, we are not too bad off and, except for the O&C and the Cirrus, we are able to produce all our modules and can fulfil all orders. In that regard we are really lucky especially when looking at a few other synth manufacturers who are struggling much more or even had to close their business.

The current energy crisis which has been caused by the Ukraine invasion by Russia is coming more and more into focus, especially here in Germany. This has given me even more incentive to work on the solar power/battery module which I talked about in the last blog. It’s not quite finished yet, but here are some photos of a working prototype. Please let me know what you think of it.​

After introducing the micro modules last month I have received numerous requests and ideas from people about a more cost effective and integrated way to mount those modules instead of having to buy a dozen base mounts. So here is an initial prototype which can be attached to an existing rack via the usual method (via hinge kit and bus link cable) and can hold ½ modules and ⅓ modules directly. This “microCASE” would be available in all three widths. Again this is an early prototype and I’m keen to hear your feedback.​

Also in a collaboration with Matthias aka @visuellemusik who has helped so much with fixing the Cirrus bug (and introducing half a dozen new and exciting modes in the process) we have a prototype of another programmable module! This time we just provide a mounting system for the Micro:bit educational single board computer. This is also a prototype, let me know what you think of this!

Next to the Micro:bit module below you can see another module which I'm currently working on. I won't tell you what it is, can you guess?​

New Products

Shortly after our introduction of the Micro Module format John from Wonkystuff has announced his first two ⅓ sized modules for sale. You can buy these directly from his web shop at https://wonkystuff.net/ae-modular/

The first is the BD55 kick drum module which is modelled after the Roland DR-55 drum computer. The other module is the RS-55 rimshot module which is again modelled after the RD-55 drum machine. 

Music made by the Community

TODAY is Bandcamp Friday, so please make sure you purchase something from the catalogue of our esteemed AE Modular artists. In addition to the releases below you can check out the list of artists on our wiki and visit their bandcamp pages:

https://wiki.aemodular.com/pmwiki.php/AeMusic/MeetTheArtists

New user @luk is a very accomplished Jazz musician and has released this album which features the AE Modular together with a Jazz trio!
https://bandcamp.for-tune.pl/album/dont-try/

@funbun aka Warrior Lures has released another really interesting albums - The Void. Check it out:
https://blackwarriorlures.bandcamp.com/album/the-void

Mr. Fritz going by the username @frix has made this catchy jam with his huge double system:

Our resident drone master @pt3r was recently on holidays and took only the Blackbox sampler full of AE samples. This is what came of it:
https://forum.aemodular.com/thread/2199/ph3rn

Here is a wonderful collaboration between @maydonpoliris and @pol now going by the name Beaucarnea. The album is fabulous and definitely worth the purchase on Bandcamp Friday:
https://beaucarnea.bandcamp.com/album/walking-around-zion

And here is a very trippy video for one of the tracks:​

User @davidchang aka Nublo Roboten has been working a lot with his AE Modular and has now released another fantastic Bandcamp album and accompanying video:
https://nublo-roboten.bandcamp.com/album/nublo-roboten-y-zara

This video is from one of Nublo Roboten’s live shows:

And last, but not least, this very bubbly video was made by @nols using the AE Modular, Volca FM and the Strega:

DIY Projects

“Sometimes I make flutes out of Bamboo”. What reads like a promising introduction to a Hemingway novel has been posted by user @chuck together with this photo of a beautiful bamboo flute … but we should really point out the amazing AE Modular Keyboard case in the upper right corner. Now that is a thing of beauty!

​But back to flutes … this whole thread is of course about Karplus Strong algorithms and the amazing insight by @pt3r that this can be achieved by the MultiFX and a noise module - Wow! Read on here:
https://forum.aemodular.com/thread/2195/electronic-wind-instrument

Meetups and Events

Knobcon in Chicago, US will happen this month from 9th to 11th September and AE Modular will be presented by Toms aka Kyaa with some help by Noisebug. So if you are anywhere near Chicago on those dates, then please go say hello to Toms!