Last night I went to Control in Williamsburg, Brooklyn to see Dan Snazelle demo his SnazzyFX Eurorack modules. Of all the demos I’ve seen so far this was the best. He’s really into it and spent a solid two hours showing how to use is stuff in musical contexts. After seeing it in action I know I really want a Chaos Brother. It creates random gates and more but in a really useful way. He had it hooked up to a DPO’s strike with some Tiptop drum modules as a back beat and it was instant Berghain (infamous Berlin nightclub). The Dreamboat was similar but faster and more chaotic. The Dronebank is a simple module designed solely to make drones. It’s six triangle oscillators and in person it’s quite wantable. Wow & Flutter mutates your incoming signal sort of like tape. Lastly there’s the Ardcore module. This module is a chameleon which loads programs via USB. There are about 60 to choose from right now. You can have things such as a bit-crusher, arpeggiator and even a drum machine. Dan mentioned he will be doing a run of modules with “normal” faceplates later this summer. As usual Daren & Jonas (the owners of Control) were great hosts. If you’re in the NY area you really owe it to yourself to visit.
“The Chaos Brother is a new modulation module full of enough options and knobs to keep it interesting no matter where you decide to use it. It all starts with the CHAOS knob, when turned all the way to the left, you get repetitive, tame oscillations like you would find in a basic LFO. Start turning the knob to the right and the Chaos ensues.” – snazzyfx.com
For more info: snazzyfx.com and ctrl-mod.com
This entry was written by , posted on May 8, 2013 at 5:38 am, filed under modular, synthesizer and tagged Ardcore, Brooklyn, Chaos Brother, Control, Dan Snazelle, Eurorack, SnazzyFX, Williamsburg. Leave a comment or view the discussion at the permalink and follow any comments with the RSS feed for this post.
Dan from SnazzyFX will be demoing his Eurorack Modules tonight at Control (416 Lorimer St. Brooklyn, NY 11206). I am pretty interested in what these modules can do. Bring some beer and see you there! 6-8PM
“Our second spring event begins tomorrow night with Dan Snazelle of Snazzy FX. He will be discussing his current and future line of modules and effects.” – ctrl-mod.com
For more info: ctrl-mod.com and snazzyfx.com
This entry was written by , posted on May 7, 2013 at 5:11 am, filed under modular, synthesizer and tagged Brooklyn, Control, Eurorack, Event, SnazzyFX, synthesizer, Williamsburg. Leave a comment or view the discussion at the permalink and follow any comments with the RSS feed for this post.
Last night I stopped by the always fun Control in Williamsburg to see a demo of Pamela’s Workout and their new SID chip prototype module. As you can see there was a nice number of highly interested people there. We heard Pamela’s doing some nice swing steps on a Tiptop Cowbell (my choice of course). We also heard the new upcoming SID module. It’s has multiple oscillators, a filter, noise, ring modulator and more with CV controls. My ears were happy when it did some 80s style pulse width modulation. I really enjoy these little get togethers. To see a few more photos visit the flickr set: click here
“Control is an independent synthesizer brick & mortar shop located in the South Williamsburg Neighborhood of Brooklyn, NY. We specialize in Eurorack Modular, with a passion for vintage traditional and unusual eccentric electronic devices both analog and digital.” – ctrl-mod.com
For more info: ctrl-mod.com
This entry was written by , posted on April 11, 2013 at 5:29 am, filed under modular, synthesizer and tagged ALM, ALM Busy Circuits, Brooklyn, Control, Eurorack, modular, synthesizer, Williamsburg. Leave a comment or view the discussion at the permalink and follow any comments with the RSS feed for this post.
Last night I went to Control in Williamsburg to see Richard Nicol from Pittsburgh Modular. There was a decent turnout including a few girls, a dog, beer, whiskey and Vince Clarke. There was a Q&A and then people took turns on the new Pitsburgh Modular Cell systems. I asked a few questions. I have some space about the size of a 8″ monitor speaker on my desk and I wanted to know if Richard was planning on making a 3 tier high Cell [48] case. The answer is yes and he plans to go to 4 high or maybe even higher. I also asked if he was planning any drum modules but he thinks that’s been covered by Tiptop so he’s not going to try at this time. Later in a one on one discussion I learned his main focus is keeping prices low. There’s really nothing wrong with that as his modules do sound great. After playing with the Cell systems myself I made myself over to Vince Clarke and had a nice 20 minute conversation with him. He’s a nice guy and like really into synths so I could talk for hours with him. I admit driving home I put on Yaz and then I realized I’ve now met every person who was ever in Depeche Mode (epic!). Thanks to Daren and Jonas (the store owners) for a fun evening. To see a full set of photos: click here
“All of the Pittsburgh modules are handmade with the look of 1950?s science fiction laboratory equipment using bold components and unique layouts to promote interaction and experimentation.” – Pittsburgh Modular
For more info: pittsburghmodular.com, ctrl-mod.com and vinceclarkemusic.com
This entry was written by , posted on February 19, 2013 at 6:27 am, filed under modular, synthesizer and tagged Control, Eurorack, modular, Pittsburgh Modular, Vince Clarke. Leave a comment or view the discussion at the permalink and follow any comments with the RSS feed for this post.
I stopped by Control in Williamsburg yesterday. Jonas put together a patch consisting of a Synth Tech E560 Deflector Shield, Make Noise Optomix, Function, Pressure Points and Brains. We were discussing how great the Synth Tech modules were and how the Vactrols in the Make Noise stuff makes things sound rubbery in a good way. Vactrols use LEDs inside the modules to control parameters.
“A Vactrol is an optoelectronic device consisting of a source and detector of light, which are optically coupled and electrically isolated from each other. The light source is usually a light-emitting diode (LED), a miniature incandescent lamp, or sometimes a neon lamp, whereas the detector is a semiconductor-based photoresistor made of cadmium selenide (CdSe) or cadmium sulfide (CdS). The source and detector are coupled through a transparent glue or through the air.” – Wikipedia
For more info: ctrl-mod.com
This entry was written by , posted on February 13, 2013 at 4:10 pm, filed under modular, synthesizer and tagged Control, Eurorack, Make Noise, Synthesis Technology, Vactrol, Williamsburg. Leave a comment or view the discussion at the permalink and follow any comments with the RSS feed for this post.
My favorite modular store Control is getting a visit from Pittsburgh Modular on Monday, February 18 from 6-8PM. I’m definitely going to this one. They recently released a very pretty line of new cases and several new affordable Eurorack modules.
“We are taking our NAMM setup on the road! Richard Nicol will be at Control in Brooklyn on Monday, February 18th between 6pm and 8pm to show off the latest Pittsburgh Modular gear. The full range of new systems, cases, and modules will be setup and ready to test drive. Stop by for free stickers, logo panels, and a module giveaway!” -pittsburghmodular.com
For more info: pittsburghmodular.com/control
This entry was written by , posted on February 6, 2013 at 10:21 am, filed under modular, synthesizer and tagged Control, Eurorack, modular, Pittsburgh Modular. Leave a comment or view the discussion at the permalink and follow any comments with the RSS feed for this post.
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