Midweek Modular: Radioactivity, Particle beams and Overdrive
4,4 / 5,0 | 
This week we find ourselves mining for isotopes, fiddling with Gaussian distributions and distorting the heck out of things in both mono and stereo.
Midweek Modular
It’s a brand new year, and while we’ve been drinking and feasting, the modular makers have been chiselling away at the rock face of synthesis to bring us new and exciting ideas for our racks.
Avalon Harmonics
Avalon Harmonics splashed onto the scene over Christmas with a new web shop and a bunch of modules. The most notable are the CVMod8 and Nucleus; let’s dig in a little.
The CVMod8 is an 8-channel CV attenuator and offset. It’s pretty straightforward. Signal comes in the top and is attenuated by the knob and offset by the fader. Different ranges can be set by switches on the back. If nothing is patched to an input then it becomes a CV generator so you can use it as a modulation control station. It’s a solidly useful module.
Nucleus looks rather tasty. It’s a Geiger counter powered random trigger and gate source. Apparently, you can place a radioactive sample behind the glass so that the Geiger-Müller tube goes nuts. It’s not clear as to whether Nucleus comes with said material or if you have to source your own. It also says that good old background radiation works well too. Each click on the counter causes a trigger which also generates a gate. I think there’s something very disconcerting about running your patterns on radioactivity.
The modules will be available in early 2023.
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- Avalon Harmonics website.
Magnetic Freak Gaussian Generator
Gaussian Generator is a source of random signals and a processor of voltage. It’s inspired by simulations of CERN particle beams using Gaussian distributions. I’m not sure what that means but what we have is a unique way of messing with our Euroracks.
Magnetic Freak has designed it for both 3U Eurorack and 4U Buchla modular formats. It’s quite fascinating how different they look while producing the same functionality. It’s as if Buchla users operate on an entirely different paradigm.
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So, what’s actually going on here? Well, you have a bell-shaped graph encompassing mean and standard variation. Data tends to cluster more in the middle and tapers off around the edges. The Gaussian Generator can be used to generate CV and Gates. By varying the distribution you can evolve and change the patterns and outputs that run and control your modular. We’re talking about manipulating rhythms, scales, clocks and divisions in ways that I’m never going to be able to explain adequately. Looks like fun though.
- Magnetic Freak website.
Music Thing Modular Twin Drive and London Drive
A simple idea made into a stereo idea. The original Music Thing Modular Mini Drive module pulled the input gain circuit out of the Minimoog and stuck it into a nicely glowy and characterful little module. With the Twin Drive we get the same juiciness but in stereo. Meanwhile, Music Thing has done the same thing with the input circuit of the EMS VCS3 and Synthi AKS for the equally warm and uniquely gritty London Drive.
All these modules are available as kits for a nice easy build and a rewarding result that your modular system is going to love. Divkid shows what it’s all about in this deep dive of a video.
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- Music Thing Modular kits website.
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