from Hacker News

Mutable Instruments' Eurorack Modules

by krig on 2/25/20, 1:16 PM with 99 comments

  • by cousin_it on 2/25/20, 1:53 PM

    Magical stuff. There are software versions available for free, usable in VCV Rack which is also free. I've been playing with it on and off for the last year. It blows my mind that 1) someone would just give this stuff away 2) more people aren't jumping on the bandwagon of physically based modular synths. These things can make some of the most pleasant musical sounds I've ever heard. Check out the YouTube channels "Lightbath" or "ann annie" for examples.

    Sadly, Émilie Gillet (the person behind Mutable Instruments) recently announced that she's stopping development of new modules, because being a known person who's visibly trans is just too much, and she's looking for the next niche to disappear in.

  • by mellavora on 2/25/20, 3:54 PM

    Been into modular for just over 2 years. If you want to emulate it in software, the csound language is your friend.

    https://csound.com/

    "Csound is a sound and music computing system which was originally developed by Barry Vercoe in 1985 at MIT Media Lab."

    I prefer to do things in hardware rather than software because after staring at a computer monitor all day long professionally, it is the last thing I want to do when I get home. I much prefer twisting knobs and patching cables.

    Also, one philosophical interest in Eurorack is as an alternative model of computation. You've totally given up the Von Neumann architecture, but you can still do some amazing computations. Sums, integrals, differentials, chaotic functions, ...

    point is, this is another way physical Eurorack is an alternative to "software" (where software seems to assume a Von Neumann system to run it on...)

    Cost is an issue. It is hard to be serious about the hobby for less than $1500. You are welcome to dispute that point with me by discussing all the cheaper options available or talking about resale value, but given that most modules cost north of $100 it doesn't take long.

    And building modules from scratch (which I've done, just a stash of chips, resistors, and caps and a blank proto board, working off a hand-drawn circuit diagram) can save a few bucks but the time cost gets very high.

  • by vile_wretch on 2/25/20, 2:03 PM

    I've been building MI modules for a while. Émilie is such a boon to the SDIY community. Not only does she design incredible modules and release the entire design for free but she also actively encourages modification and improvements buy offering a complete development VM.

    It was pretty much expected whenever a new module was released that people would get right to work designing 'µ' versions of the modules that use less space on a rack or in some cases "double" versions of modules.

  • by recursinging on 2/25/20, 3:10 PM

    If I might just gush here. The work made available here by Émilie has been just so damn valuable to me over the last few years. From simple but effective circuit design, to very efficient and easy to follow DSP code. I would never have fallen so deep into the eurorack rabbit hole without it. Whatever it is she ends up doing now, I hope she shares it with the world the same way she did with MI!

  • by franky47 on 2/25/20, 1:45 PM

    Because they are open-source, those modules have been ported to VCV Rack [1], a virtual instrument aimed at recreating the Eurorack experience in digital audio workstations. Obviously, using a mouse/trackpad is not the same as tweaking real knobs, but it's much cheaper.

    [1] https://vcvrack.com/

  • by fit2rule on 2/25/20, 1:52 PM

    Émilie Gillet (founder of MI) has done so much for the modular synthesiser world - she has pushed the state of the art pretty far forward, and now making all the designs available pretty much means that we are going to see some great progress beyond the current scene .. I wonder if there is a F/OSS award that she could be recommended for? Its one thing to release software for free, but to also do it for hardware designs is amazing ..

  • by squeaky-clean on 2/25/20, 5:22 PM

    Using a Mutable Instrument module is a fun way to code your own Eurorack ideas if you're like me and bad at the hardware/DIY part. Everything is open, even the bootloader, and there's a neat process where it converts the compiled program into an audio stream that the module then listens to (when turned on in recovery mode). And it's even easier to go back to stock firmware.

    There's also the well-known-ish alternative "Parasite" firmwares by mqtthiqs which is fun to look through and really fun to play with in a module. [0, 1] I don't know if these are available in a software-only form like VCV.

    Mutable also isn't the only manufacturer releasing open-source modules. 4ms has a few, the DLD [2] is a delay I've been playing with reprogramming lately (almost 3 minutes of memory! stereo!). Rebel Technology releases their stuff under GPL [3]. I'm sure there's more I'm forgetting. I wish Make Noise would open-source their digital stuff...

    [0] https://github.com/mqtthiqs/parasites

    [1] https://mqtthiqs.github.io/parasites/clouds.html

    [2] https://github.com/4ms/DLD

    [3] https://github.com/pingdynasty/CLK

  • by jpm_sd on 2/25/20, 3:31 PM

    This is so cool!

    If, like me, you were wondering "what is this, exactly?" see:

    https://mutable-instruments.net/

  • by trollied on 2/25/20, 1:58 PM

    The PCBs are open source too.

    I purchased 6 from https://www.amazingsynth.com and couldn't be happier. It's good fun trying to do surface mount soldering!

  • by visualphoenix on 2/25/20, 11:41 PM

    Aah Eurorack... I first found out about this scene when a friend started making modules in his spare time and then eventually left the game development industry to found Noise Engineering[0]

    It’s definitely cool the MI stuff is open source!

    [0] https://www.noiseengineering.us/

  • by FutureSpec on 2/26/20, 1:38 AM

    Mutable Instruments did a great thing open sourcing their hardware and software. I own a couple of MI clones from Momo Modular. Eurorack is an incredible hobby.

  • by dimal on 2/25/20, 8:17 PM

    Interesting contrast with TipTop, who makes modules which are derivatives of other devices (808 and 909 drum modules), but they patented Stack Cables (even though stackable banana cables were already a thing), and has sued to prevent other companies from also making stackable cables.

  • by jdkee on 2/25/20, 7:22 PM

    I built a Mutable 6-voice Ambika synthesizer about five years ago with the SMR voice cards. It is a magical synth and an easy build. You can get DIY kits from TubeOhm.

    https://www.tubeohm.com/tubika.html

  • by monkeynotes on 2/25/20, 7:19 PM

    The Plaits oscillator has been ported to the Korg Logue SDK too: https://github.com/peterall/eurorack-prologue

  • by Readywater on 2/27/20, 1:30 AM

    These guys are wonderful. I built their shruthi mono synth kit a few years ago, and it’s still one of my favorites.

  • by deluxeroyale on 2/26/20, 6:02 AM

    73-75.com Makes some really nice DIY kits and clones