I’ve always been interested in modular synthesizers. When I started my career they were completely unfashionable, but buried in cupboards in various institutions I found such treasures as a Moog Modular, an EMS VCS-3 and Synthi AKS, and dusted them off for early explorations.
In the 21st Century these instruments have made a huge comeback, mainly around the Eurorack format, and I’ve been all over it. I’ve been involved in lots of modular meets, events such as the Sines and Squares festivals in Manchester, and have performed gigs and recorded my album, Spherical Harmonics, using modular.
Most of my research in this area has centred on developing a very specific, hybrid analogue/digital instrument. The analogue part consists of an 8-voice Eurorack modular (also 8 channel for spatialised setups). The digital part consists of a Max patch, with many channels of control voltages connecting to the modular in both directions. My main innovation is a tuning system – pitches are derived from pure ratios for perfect just intonation, and the Max patch tracks these pitches and constantly adjusts control voltages to keep it perfectly in tune. I’ve written this up in a paper for eContact!, or the video here explains it more simply!