 The unprovoked invasion of Ukraine by Putin is shocking, a tragedy and most likely a crime. However it is easy to fall into the mentality of “us against them” and to succumb to hate directed against the innocent. As Sting has put it so perfectly in his song which he never thought to have to sing again: “The Russians love their children too”. So we should not mistake the madness of one man and his criminal cronies with the people of the country. While the Ukrainians fight for their lives, their freedom and their country against an overwhelming and brutal war machine, so do many Russians risk their freedom and maybe even their lives by protesting against this war on the streets in Moscow, St. Petersburg and many other cities deep within Russia in an increasingly oppressive regime. How does this affect us as artists, musicians and small manufacturers of electronic instruments? How can we help end this war and how can we give real, meaningful help to the hundreds of thousands of refugees who are leaving behind everything they love, their homes, their jobs, their families and their fathers, husbands and brothers who have to stay back to fight against Putin’s army? In my last blog post I wrote about the filter which I have designed and which was almost ready to go into production but for the fact that its design was inspired by a Russian inventor who also developed the Polivoks synthesizer a long time ago (maybe even when Sting wrote that song?) I asked you, the community, what the name should be for this filter, and the overwhelming majority voted for “KUZMIN” in honour of this great man, an inventor, an artist, a Russian who put his mind not to subdue people, but to give them the tools to express themselves musically, a kind of freedom towards the end of the cold war and the soviet era. So here is the new KUZMIN FILTER in honour of Vladimir Kuzmin: It offers a unique sound and some additional features:
And to directly offer my help to the people of Ukraine I will direct 70% of the revenues of this module to UNICEF, especially for the support of children affected by the war. So please buy this filter, it sounds great, it is inspired by a great heritage and it will make a difference to the children of Ukraine. You can purchase this module here in our online shop. Thank you, Robert. These are strange times and as I’m writing this, my heart goes out to all the people who fear for their life and their loved ones as they are being dragged into war and violence. The current crisis in the Ukraine is a terrible situation and I don’t want to make light of that at all, but it has also, to some extent, affected the release of one of our new products. Let me explain … For a few years now, as I’ve been dreaming up new modules and researching electronic music circuitry, I’ve been inspired by the invention of one man who created a beautiful filter with a very distinct sound. This filter, and the whole synthesizer it was part of, was designed and built in 1982 in the USSR at a time when the country was mostly shut off from the western world. Some of western music did find its way behind the iron curtain though and the inventor of this filter wanted to create an instrument that gave his fellow countrymen (and women) the same sounds as what the Beatles and other western bands had. This synthesizer was called POLIVOKS which in Russian means multi timbres and although it could only be played duo-phonically, it was revolutionary for an electronic instrument built in the Soviet Union at the time. Some people even called the POLIVOKS the Russian Minimoog, because of its sound even though it’s circuitry was very unique and not at all like the Moog or any other analog synth. So I became fascinated by this synth, the unique and unorthodox design of the filter and its inventor Vladimir Kuzmin. For the last few months I’ve been designing a filter module for the AE Modular system which is based on this vintage design which is nowadays in very high regard and has come to a kind of renaissance as lovers of electronic instruments are rediscovering the roots of these circuits. Finally, just about two weeks ago, the filter was finished, ready for a production run and ready to be announced to the world. I thought I would call it “VLADIMIR” to honour its original inventor (who is still alive and currently working with Behringer to bring the full Polivoks experience back to the masses). Then, Russia decided to invade Ukraine and suddenly current affairs mingled with our beautiful cloistered world of electronic music which is usually free from politics. I did not feel confident about the name anymore as it could now very easily be misunderstood for the name of the current president of Russia and that man and his government does not currently appear in a good light in most parts of the world. It might be easy to explain to anyone who asks, which Vladimir the filter is named after and that it’s not in any way an expression of support for a regime which is inflicting such pain not only on the Ukrainians but also on its own people. But sometimes people just make up their own minds and turn their backs and don’t ask to understand the finer points. As a small business owner I feel that I can’t risk being caught in a political debate or having customers turn their backs on my products just because of politics and a misunderstanding. I have to think of my business on which my and my employees' livelihood depends. So I’m not risking it. I also can’t name it ‘Polivoks’ as this is now a trademark owned by Behringer. (see this article here) So here we are. I have a beautiful filter for you, which has no name. What do you think it should be called? Please let me know in this thread on the forum: https://forum.aemodular.com/thread/1972/blog-february-2022-make-synths If there’s a good suggestion that is free from political dangers I’ll definitely release the filter under this new name. In case you would like to know more about the Polivoks synth and its inventor Vladimir Kuzmin you should read the following article which also includes an interview: http://analogik.com/articles/180/polivoks-russian-vintage-synth New ProductsT-Shirts and Hoodies Many of you asked for it time and time again. And finally I was able to find the right supplier for the shirts and the print. They are unisex and available in all standard sizes. You can order them in our online shop here: T-Shirts and Hoodies. VMIX-10 a standalone mixer made for Volcas! As I was working on the MIXCONSOLE and the VM-BRIDGE I was thinking of those little Volcas which were my initial inspiration for the design of the AE Modular system a few years ago. I also noticed that there isn’t a suitable mixer available which fits into this Volca ecosystem. So I decided to build one. This mixer is made especially with Volcas in mind, but can be used with any audio device and is completely standalone. It allows the connection of up to 6 mono and 2 stereo sources with line/synth levels, meaning 10 channels in total. It offers level, pan and two FX sends per channel; plus a stereo headphone output The VMIX-10 has exactly the size of a Volca, therefore should fit perfectly in Volca stands that are available. It also has power out connections so that up to 4 Volcas can be powered directly from the mixer. You can now purchase this product in our online shop.
 (Volca Modular shown only for size comparison. Volca is a trademark owned by Korg.) COMPACT MIXER This is the same design as theVMIX-10, but made to fit into an AE Modular rack. Instead of the power connectors it features both 3.5mm minijack and AE patch points so you can use this mixer just like the MIXCONSOLE but with the added benefit that each channel can now be patched in also from an external device, and of course, the integrated headphone amplifier. You can order this product in our online shop, shipping will start in 2-3 weeks 
Music made by the CommunityIf you are considering buying any of the the albums below, on Friday, 04 March 2022, Bandcamp will waive their revenue share to better help support the artists. For more information read here: daily.bandcamp.com/features/bandcamp-fridays-update
Other music on the forum You may nod your head to these tracks by @p3r https://forum.aemodular.com/thread/1953/head-nod-ahead Some interesting tracks by @101 https://forum.aemodular.com/thread/1942/new-release-goldair-aa Foxermod aka @anachronmaker released a few tracks on Spotify: https://forum.aemodular.com/thread/1946/foxermod-1-released And just last minute @dmoney2000 posted his latest YouTube track as usual with very cool animations https://forum.aemodular.com/thread/1971/hey-everybody-neforum.aemodular.com/thread/1971/hey-everybody-neww DIY ProjectsWooden Cabinets Do-it-yourself doesn’t always mean that you have to be an electronic wiz, sometimes it’s just as well to exchange the solder iron for a hand saw and the solder for glue. These self made wooden cabinets for the AE Modular look fantastic and they are all as unique as their makers. https://forum.aemodular.com/thread/1950/diy-ae-cabinet Website for Patching Inspirations Sometimes an unpatched modular synth can be just as intimidating to a musician as a blank sheet of paper is to a writer or painter. This new website can help you overcome the initial moment of indecision by providing you with randomised prompts about which module to patch with another. It has been designed and developed by @timothyjackman, a relatively new user on the forum. It’s simple, easy to use and absolutely brilliant, please check it out! You can access the website directly here: https://timothyjackman.github.io/aepatchgenerator.html And you can leave comments and words of thanks in the following thread: https://forum.aemodular.com/thread/1956/ae-patch-inspiration-challenge-website Electronic Music Documentaries on TVThe European TV channel Arte has a few interesting pieces about electronic music, its artists and inventors. Check out the following programmes: Sisters with Transistors (viewable in Europe only) https://www.arte.tv/de/videos/104017-000-A/sisters-with-transistors-die-verkannten-heldinnen-der-elektronischen-musik/ Electronic Vibrations (this seems to be viewable from anywhere) https://www.arte.tv/fr/videos/098798-000-A/electronic-vibrations/ The following is a British documentary about various prominent inventors of electronic instruments. Luckily it’s available on YouTube. Bright Sparks - A Side https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_gXWgBEiNhs Bright Sparks - B Side https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BXPoM9s8Trs Meetups and EventsSuperbooth is not far off and will hopefully still go ahead from May 12th to May 14th in Berlin. Tickets are now available from the website:
https://www.superbooth.com/en/tickets.html A few AE forum members have already indicated that they are planning to come to the event and that they would be interested in meeting up more formally. Please let us know if you’re also planning to come along and whether you’re interested in an AE Modular meetup at or outside Superbooth. https://forum.aemodular.com/thread/1701/ideas-ae-meetup-superbooth-2022 Words from Robert First of all, I want to wish all of you a very happy new year! Here at tangible waves we are looking forward to welcoming many new customers and members to our growing community. You will see already with the new modules below that we haven’t been idle and plan to continue to deliver you new tools for your musical arsenal every month. It was an absolute delight last year to see so many modules from independent creators and we hope that this trend will continue this year as well. It seems safe to say that the AE Modular system has grown up from a tiny noise kit from Kick Starter to a serious music production system as the last three fantastic AEtherwaves albums can attest. Our focus this year is to improve the overall quality of the modules. We started this last year with the introduction of the new black faceplates, which offer more stability and may prove more durable than the wooden faceplates. We will increase our quality controls, during the design phase of the modules and also pre delivery. We will also continue to work on the Synth Explorer to bring the AE Modular into the educational sector so that modular synthesis can be experienced by students of any age and there are now a few new collaborations which are looking promising. And while it’s still a few months away, we are already preparing our presence at this year’s Superbooth, at which we hope to see as many of you as can come! New Products
Knob Remover Now that you can “upgrade” your modules with black panels you may shy away from the hard work of removing all the knobs first. This tool is made to make this job really easy. We are using it here in our workshop every day and now you can get it, too. You find it here in the shop. XMIX This is a module made specifically for very small systems, eg. 1x12 row. It offers many different ways to mix signals (briefly: four mixers and two attenuators with fixed steps) and can be your swiss army knife of mixing solutions. On this and the next module you will also see a much improved type of switch which is much easier to handle and no longer prone to breaking like the old one. You can find more information and purchase this module here in the shop.
MODULATORS This module is also made with very small systems in mind. It offers various different types of modulation sources: one LFO, one A/D envelope, a VCA and a random CV source. You can find more information and purchase this module here in the shop. DIODE FILTER This is a new entry in the AE Modular filter line up and is modelled after the TB 303 filter. You can find more information and purchase this module here in the shop.
And last, but not least ... AE modular T-SHIRTS! Some of you have asked already, and now we did it: AE modular T-Shirts! They will be available in "AE sidepanel red" and "frontpanel black" and in the the usual sizes; you can choose T-Shirts and Hoodies They are in the press right at the moment and you can find them in the Shop in approx. one week. Firmware Update for the CIRRUS As some people found out, there were some issues with a random variation of pitch in the original CIRRUS firmware. Mathias aka @visuellemusik has dug deep into the code and managed to not only tame the pitch variations, but also created various additional modes to make the best use of it. You can find out more about this and how to install the new firmware on the Wikie page: https://wiki.aemodular.com/pmwiki.php/AeManual/CIRRUS Music made by the Community Jaemuary 2022 We don’t know when or how Jamuary first started, but it has since been a fixture of each new year. The tradition has been well received by our community and a few people have stepped up and posted an amazing variety of jams. Please head over to the forum and check it out, you won’t be disappointed! https://forum.aemodular.com/thread/1872/jaemuary-2022 Most of those are videos on YouTube and we have added them all into one big playlist so you can just switch it on and listen to it all day long! https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLKDTkcFrcxVgwNm4FHCBON0GYRXzDXG6F Although it wasn’t a competition at all we do have to send a big shout out to @maydonpoliris who absolutely topped the list in terms of quantity and variety of jams. It’s great to see and hear so much enthusiasm expressed via the AE Modular! One relatively new member of the forum @tgergo listed his jams via Soundcloud, you can find the list here: https://soundcloud.com/user-189241435 New Albums With the next Bandcamp Friday soon approaching (on February 4th) you could show your appreciation to our dedicated AE Modular musicians by chipping in a few quid for their work! Here are a few more albums that were revealed this month.
DIY Projects First sighting of black panels in the wild! @aethia has “upgraded” his modular to an almost all black system and it looks beautiful!  Another Wooden Case This is another simple, but beautiful DIY case made by @jubin. https://forum.aemodular.com/thread/1918/wood-case-fun  DSP-99-MK effects boards with AE This is an inexpensive DSP board which @duddex has integrated with his AE Modular via the Breadboard module. Check it out here: https://forum.aemodular.com/thread/1904/dsp99-effect-module-reverb-delay Meetups and Events Unfortunately Omicron has made it difficult to host live events in most places these days. However we are still hoping for the big one, Superbooth in May. It would be great to see some of you there and there’s a discussion on the forum on whether we should organise a more structured AE Modular meetup. Please let us know your plans! https://forum.aemodular.com/thread/1701/ideas-ae-meetup-superbooth-2022 This year was again a challenging year on many fronts for everyone. At tangible waves we’ve had to deal with the usual demands of a growing backlog of orders, the breakdown of global supply chains and distribution channels, the “Chipocalypse” and changes to our team. Not all change is bad though, and there were amazing highlights during the year: The visit to Superbooth 21 was just incredible. To see (almost) everyone from the wider synth community back in person felt so good and gave me a big boost to keep going and keep making modular synthesizers which are affordable for everyone. We’ve also had a change to our team which is now, myself excluded, 100% female powered! All production and distribution of our products is now firmly in the hands of Antonia, Tamara and Albena. Together they managed to work through the backlog and bring down the wait times from 3 months to just under 3 weeks and many smaller orders are now dispatched almost immediately!  The module palette has increased enormously this year and many of these modules have been produced by third party manufacturers. This proves that the AE format is becoming a “real” independent standard and it is something that I couldn’t even have dreamed of when I started this journey 5 years ago. To all those brave creators, I owe you my thanks for putting your energy and money into this format and to bring new ideas (and a splash of colour) to the AE Modular system. What will the next year bring? Who knows? But one thing is certain: I have so many ideas and prototypes for new modules and I bet the other creators out there will add more new modules as well. Also I’m looking forward to more music from artists on our forum. Whatever happens, I’m just so happy to be working on this system and to be part of this fantastic community! Many thanks to you all, and I wish you a beautiful festive season and a happy new year! XMAS Discount To express our gratitude to you all who are either new to the AE Modular community or have been with us for a long time we’ve decided to offer a 10% discount from 18th December through to 31st December with code XMAES-2021. New Products These products are now ready for sale, however the chip shortage may strike again any time, so better get in early!
TBD The TBD module is a multifunctional DSP (digital signal processing) module that includes more than 30 different synthesis and audio processing plugins. It is a collaboration project between CTAG Kiel (an academic working group of Kiel University of Applied Sciences), instrumentsofthings.com (who produce this module for Eurorack) and tangible waves. You can find more information and purchase this module in the shop. ENVFOLLOWER/EXT.IN This module allows you to bring in external audio via balanced and unbalanced mono inputs. It then converts the volume of this signal into CV which you can use in the AE system to control anything you want, filter cut off, oscillator pitch, amplitude, etc. It also provides a gate signal every time the input passes a certain threshold, which can be controlled by a knob. You can find more information and purchase this module in the shop. CVSHIFTER The CVSHIFTER module is the AE version of the well-known analogue shift register modules that have been around in the modular world for a long time. It works like this: The CV input is sampled with each trigger input signal and this CV is sent to the CV 1 output; at the same time, all CV outputs 1-4 are shifted by one. You can find more information and purchase this module in the shop. Black Face Plates We are now also offering all the modules, which are used in the Starter System 1 and 2 with a black faceplate made from fibreglass, the same material used for circuit boards. This matte black with white lettering looks extremely stylish. The starter systems and also the individual modules are now available with the black option. Soon we will extend this option to all the modules in the store.
We are also offering the face plates individually, in case you would like to upgrade your existing modules. For now, only those modules from the starter racks are available, but soon we will offer upgrades for all modules.  You can find more information and purchase these products in the shop. What about the CIRRUS? As discussed on the forum, the CIRRUS can no longer be produced due to the global shortage of certain chips, especially those produced by STM. However while we won’t be able to produce more of the CIRRUS with the Microcell firmware, we did find another, similar chip, which could be used to run the original MI Clouds firmware. This chip is available in relative abundance and at a decent price so the plan is to release a CIRRUS Classic sometime in the first half of 2022. Music made by the Community VA- 400th-Murmur This is a huge collaborative album with contributions from 63 artists and among them are a few artists from our forum who have used the AE Modular for their submission. A great sounding album with an astonishing variety of sounds, please check it out! https://forum.aemodular.com/thread/1816/va-400th-murmur A generative Yuletide Patch @funbun presented us with this great festive generative patch: https://forum.aemodular.com/thread/1835/generative-patch-yuletide Album BELLS This is another Christmas inspired album by @funbun in which he explores modal and generative music. Please check it out and buy it at: https://forum.aemodular.com/thread/1842/bells-christmas-ep Chapel FM live concert with AE Modular John from Wonkystuff plays a live set every year for Christmas and this year it was a 100% AE Modular performance which is a very nice meditative ambient set: https://namcom.bandcamp.com/album/live-for-chapel-fm-2021-12-12 And if you missed last year’s performance, you can catch up with this link: https://namcom.bandcamp.com/album/live-for-chapel-fm-20201213 These tracks explore some dark places User @pt3r is again inviting us to follow him to dark and beautiful soundscapes: https://forum.aemodular.com/thread/1710/sc-apes-ladders and https://forum.aemodular.com/thread/1834/regurgitate First patch for Euclid Grid, Core, Moco and Five step @luckylutte shows us how to use those cool new 3rd party modules for fun and dance: https://forum.aemodular.com/thread/1838/first-patch-euclid-grid-core DIY Projects User @duddex found this little digital reverb module and was successful to simply stick on the BRAEDBOARD to make fantastic sounds: https://forum.aemodular.com/thread/1843/accutronics-digi-log-reverb And user @yoreb has added these nifty switches to his sequencers to be able to quickly change the sequence length without having to repatch the cables: https://forum.aemodular.com/thread/1829/switches-added-seq-triq
Programming More and more modules are now programmable and it was the right time to start a sub forum for this. In it you can discuss anything to do with installing or developing firmwares for either the GRAINS, TBD or Wonkystuff’s core1.ae. Check it out here: https://forum.aemodular.com/board/23/programming The first project to report this month is an implementation of the Bernoulli Gate which works similar to the Branches module by Mutable Instruments. It has been developed by @duddex and is now also available on the official AE Modular Github: https://forum.aemodular.com/thread/1807/bernoulli-gate-grains https://github.com/aemodular/GRAINS/tree/master/Grains-BernoulliGate Then we got a Sine Wave LFO made for GRAINS by @keurslagerkurt: https://forum.aemodular.com/thread/1801/vc-sine-lfo-grains Also for GRAINS is a CV to MIDI converter by @duddex: https://forum.aemodular.com/thread/1822/cv-midi-grains Then this new cool Eurorack module was presented which might become an AE Module next year? It would be another programmable module which you could program in Python and it's based on the Raspberry Pi PICO: https://forum.aemodular.com/thread/1837/raspi-pico-documentation  Superbooth came and went in a big rush of preparations, travel and 4 long days filled with the joy of meeting with so many like minded people. Thank you to all who come to our booth and all those who send their greetings via social media! I also have to thank Antonia, who was a great help on this trip and did such a fantastic job of documenting it and keeping you all up to date on Instagram and Facebook! Another big thanks goes to Tobias, our former intern, who came by and stayed at the booth more than half of the time talking to people about AE modular, showing his tiny AE system in a homemade case.
We showed off a few new and upcoming modules and you’ll be pleased to hear that they will soon be available in our store. I expect some of them to be ready just in time for Christmas. New Products We missed the newsletter last month so the below is no longer news to most of you, but it’s just so impressive that in the last two months there were not one, not two, but FIVE new 3rd party modules released! This is such a joy to see as it means that the AE Modular format is “growing up” and the cases are getting more colourful. Also these modules are so creative and offer surprising possibilities.
Music made by the Community Usually we list links to the forum where people have uploaded their latest patches with short Youtube videos or soundcloud clips. Not so this time. For some reason the AE Modular artists were especially prolific in creating not just short sound clips, but full albums! Check them out, each one of them is a musical treat!
Black Warrior Lures Damon wears many hats: fisherman extraordinaire, prolific videographer, successful entrepreneur of fishing accessories and also accomplished electronic jazz musician. His albums are always intricate, complex, food for thoughts and ears. You should definitely check them out:
Deofol Atmospheric and dark soundscapes, noise as beauty. These are just some attributes to describe the work of Deofol. Here are two fantastic albums which explore the juxtaposition of frequencies that verge on isolationism, the darker side of ambient, and drone.
DIY Projects The DIY forum was especially alive again over the last two months and it really shows that the AE Modular community doesn't shy away from getting their hands dirty with woodworking, painting, soldering and other crafts. First off, @thehatghost showed off his incredibly beautiful wooden cabinet which he built for his 2x20 system. https://forum.aemodular.com/thread/1756/wooden-studio-stands-travel-modular
tangible waves got hacked ... secret designs leaked! These designs were leaked to the AE Modula forum ... we don't know if or when they will be released, but they certainly look delicious! forum.aemodular.com/thread/1739/hacked-tangible-waves-unreleased-modules
This year the Ambient Waves Festival was again at the beautiful Nazareth Church in Munich. This time I brought only my small AE Modular system with a few of the recently released modules: Drone38, DronX, Phaser, etc. Many thanks to Andreas Merz who so artfully filmed and produced the video of my performance! https://www.ambient-waves-cosmic-music-festival.de/ Another day at Superbooth and even after our big announcement of the TBD yesterday there a few more news. Some of you pixel-sleuths have already spotted 3 new modules in the photos we published on social media, so naturally you may have a few questions and here is what we can tell you so far: HEARTBEAT is a new module that is currently in development which will provide a steady master clock in your system. The display allows you to select a very fine grained BPM setting which you can select either via the knob in steps as fine as 0.1 or via the tap tempo button. It has 6 outputs which can be configured individually for different clock divisions between 1/1 and 1/32 and even dotted notes and triplets. The module has its own internal clock, or it can be configured to use an external clock (e.g. the Bus clock if MIDI is plugged into the MASTER module).  HEARTBEAT EXTENDER will be an extension module which connects to the HEARTBEAT module via a small cable in the back. It offers a quick way to switch between different clock rates via the 6 preset buttons. It also offers 3.5mm connections for MIDI in (as an additional clock source independent from the external clock input). With the MIDI out connection you can use the AE system as the master clock in your studio as it sends standard MIDI clock/start/stop signals to other gear. Lastly the SWING/ACCLR knob allows for choosing a swing amount or accelerando/ritardando time when switching between tempo presets. Those two modules are shown at Superbooth as prototypes but are still not quite ready for production yet. We’ll let you know once they are available in the shop in a few weeks. We have come a long way since the last Superbooth in 2019. Not only are there now over 70 modules available in the online store, but a few indie developers have started creating their own module lines which are compatible with the formfactor which is much smaller than Eurorack and allows cheaper production costs. Our team has grown as well to tackle the steadily growing list of orders which are all still handled in the beautiful small Bavarian town of Murnau. Notable module creations, which can be inspected in person at Superbooth, are the CIRRUS, a clone of Mutable Instruments’ Clouds, WAVETABLES, a wavetable oscillator which is a collaboration project with Paula Maddox from Dove Audio, METER which provides an oscilloscope among other functions and a complete 18 voice drone oscillator. The main stars at this year’s Superbooth however are the Synth Explorer education system and the AE TBD, a brand new, programmable multi-function module for sound generation and -processing. The AE TBD (“to be determined”) is based on the ESP32 chip which is very powerful. The module is made to run the open source firmware CTAG-TBD developed by the Creative Technologies AG of Kiel University in Germany. Currently the firmware includes 50(!) plugins which include a huge variety of sound generators, filters and effects. The module can connect to a PC running Windows, Linux, or MacOSX via a USB cable and the many parameters for each plugin can then be adjusted in real time via a web interface and stored as favourites back to the module for standalone performance. The module has 2 CV and 2 trigger inputs which can be mapped to any parameter via the web interface. In addition the module has two knobs and two trigger buttons which can also be freely assigned to any parameter or function on a given plugin.  The firmware contains plugins which are based on open source code by Mutable Instruments: TBDings, TBDaids and Claude (Their web interface is inspired by their Eurorack counterparts Braids, Plaits and Clouds)
But there are also completely new and unique fully featured synthesizers all within this tiny package:
The firmware also includes a very sophisticated sample player (Rompler). Up to 60 seconds of audio samples can be uploaded to the module via the USB connection. A full list of all included plugins can be found here. A small, but very dedicated and friendly community of open source software developers is constantly expanding the available plugins and since it is based on C++ and a very well thought out framework, it is relatively easy for new developers to come up with new plugins. Initially the TBD platform was only available for Eurorack, developed and currently sold by another small start-up, Instruments of Things. Through a licensing agreement this amazingly versatile module is now also part of the AE Modular family of modules. There are only two main differences between the AE TBD and its Eurorack counterpart: The AE module is in mono and offeres only USB connectivity, not WIFI. Please see the dedicated page on the AE Modular community forum for news, demo videos and soundbites about the TBD for AEM: https://forum.aemodular.com/post/13652/thread Words from Robert As autumn is now clearly on its way into the land, we can all breathe a bit more clearly and enjoy the way nature paints all trees in the most beautiful colours. But instead of spending my free time in the mountains nearby, I’m preparing for the long train ride to Berlin. Finally, after much uncertainty the Superbooth is going to happen, live and in person, albeit with proper social distancing. I’m looking forward to meeting my friends and colleagues and of course I’m very much looking forward to meeting you, my dear customers, members of the AE Modular community. I hope you can make it and visit me at booth W450 on the Ground Floor. Each year for Superbooth I have prepared a special module to unveil and this year I’m so excited to be showing off a very special module which I’ve worked on in secret for many months. I hope you will like it. But this is all I’m going to reveal for now! Product Announcements Synth Explorer Educational System What I can reveal however, is the Synth Explorer educational system which is now available for purchase on our webshop. This project is very dear to my heart and I’m very lucky to have the support from two amazing music educators in the US, Jordan Rose from Synths4Kids in Oregon and Frae-Frae LaSci from Willie-Mae Rock Camp in New York City. They each are trialling the synth explorer in their workshops and offer ideas and advice on how to shape the curriculum which is still in development.  If you are a music teacher and are interested in acquiring the Synth Explorer at the educational discount for your school or university, please get in contact via the contact form on this page which also has a lot more information about the system and variations: Synth Explorer for Education Many people have asked about whether the Synth Explorer is also available for everyone and therefore we are now selling the “Ultimate” system which you can find in the web shop here: Synth Explorer Ultimate CIRRUS currently out of stock You may have seen that currently the CIRRUS is out of stock which is unusual for our web shop. The reason is the current global shortage of chips which unfortunately has driven the prices for the particular chip, which is used in the CIRRUS, to unforeseen heights. We are investigating alternatives to make the CIRRUS available at a manageable cost and will let you know when it becomes available again. This was discussed at length in the forum: https://forum.aemodular.com/thread/1620/chip-apocalypse-cirrus-price-opinion Third Party Products Flavorwave has announced another nifty accessory which fits perfectly for the AE Modular: a beautiful and colourful acrylic stand which you can order from directly from the Flavorwave Website: https://flavorwave-synth-accessories.myshopify.com/products/desktop-synth-stand  Wonkystuff Teasers
The new module called MOCO is a take on Doepfer’s A-144 Morphing Controller which allows the mixing and morphing of 4 independent VCAs or other waveforms. Keurslager Kurt promised new modules Zeno aka Keurslager Kurt has mentioned that he has 3(!) new modules in development! They are
AEtherwaves Vol. 3 SUBMISSIONS close on 20th of September! We are doing it again and ask everyone in the AE community to send in a track to this year’s album! Please check out this forum post for all the details: https://forum.aemodular.com/thread/1591/aetherwaves-submissions-close-20th-september Music made by the Community User @pt3r presents a new album on Bandcamp. The first track shows how well the Algodrone works in an atmospheric drone. Please check it out here: https://deofol.bandcamp.com/album/we-never-left A first track presented by user @chmeee5 and it’s a really nice one, too: https://forum.aemodular.com/thread/1621/stranger-slings-arrows Some real live footage of Papa Rôti having fun with glitchy sounds: https://forum.aemodular.com/thread/1596/road-aetherwaves-vol-papa-ti This is a labour of love by @101 .. AE Modular samples played and processed through Audiomulch, an Australian music software that is made for live performances: https://forum.aemodular.com/thread/1563/dubstep-mix-aem-audiomulch This is the first track featuring the new Cirrus module, provided by @keurslagerkurt and it’s ambient: https://forum.aemodular.com/thread/1618/first-track-cirrus-ambient-okay Well this however is NOT so ambient, says @dmoney2000 about this track: https://forum.aemodular.com/thread/1594/ok-ambient A really nice summer groove from @lorizon: https://forum.aemodular.com/post/13353/thread DIY Projects How to hook a Z-DSP card to the AE Multi FX module: https://forum.aemodular.com/thread/1630/tiptop-audio-dsp-card-multifx Other Forum Topics HELP needed for a special art project! User @Maximilius001 asks for voice recordings from people who talk about their experience of and during the pandemic. Please read all about it here: https://forum.aemodular.com/thread/1614/art-commission-help-needed All recordings should be sent in by the 1st of October. What are your overrated or underrated modules? This is a very fruitful discussion which may change your mind about some of the modules in your rack that you’ve neglected lately. https://forum.aemodular.com/thread/1634/overrated-underappreciated-modules We need more Schwingggg! Here are some ideas on how to make things swing a little and apparently there’s even a module in the works that might do it for you: https://forum.aemodular.com/thread/1624/schwing-swingggg Karplus Strong Synthesis with the GRAINS module! This thread started out with a discussion about how to achieve those plucky, clangy sounds using a delay in lieu of MI Rings and then @namke gave us the GRAINS codes for this! Check out the discussion here: https://forum.aemodular.com/thread/1608/karplus-strong-synthesis The GRAINS code for this can be downloaded here: https://github.com/wonkystuff/grains_karplusStrong Are you stressed from having too many modules and you don’t know which to use first? This may be a first world problem, but you are not alone. Join the group therapy session in this thread: https://forum.aemodular.com/thread/1622/module-stress-first-world-problem ;-) Huge Humble Book Bundle with books for electronic inventors and aspiring geniuses, grab it while you can, it expires on 18th September: https://www.humblebundle.com/books/charles-platt-make-community-books Upcoming Events SUPERBOOTH 2021 in Berlin, September 15th-18th Please visit us at Booth W450, we would love to meet you! More information and tickets at the Superbooth Website: https://www.superbooth.com 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. You can order this module now from our online store. 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/ |
AuthorRobert Langer, founder of tangible waves. Here, I will share some thoughts, background infos and news about AE modular and tangible waves. Archives
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