“My hardware/synthesizer journey began almost 6 years ago when I purchased my very first synth, the Moog Mother 32. I specifically choose the Mother 32 because I had intent to expand to the glorious world of modular. However, that did not come to fruition until 4 years later when I finally began building my system.
I like to look at my setup in three different parts, the modular, the Digitakt, and the Mother 32. The idea behind this is that the Digitakt handles drums and percussion (some midi sequencing if I feel like it), the Mother 32 handles basslines (which is something it does very well), and the Modular handles pads/arps/leads. The case I’m currently rocking is the Intellijel 7u 104hp. I adore this case because of the midi and audio i/o ports built in and the transportability of it. In the 1u row, I have a µMIDI, Noise Tools, Quadratt, and Audio I/O. The µMIDI is my main clock source for when I’m working with the Digitakt or Ableton. I only use the Noise Tools clock for when I want to jam with just the modular. In the top 4u row, I have Plaits, Dixie 2+, Quad VCA, RCD, Morphagene, A-102 (low pass filter), µBurst (Clouds), Mimeophon, Verb, and a Mixup. In the bottom row, I have René v1, Stages, Maths, Cascadence, Pico DSP, mults, and the Ensemble Oscillator. As you can see, I like to keep my voices on top and modulation below.
The idea behind this case is that I wanted to build some sort of “all in one” system. With Plaits, Dixie, Morphagene, and the Ensemble as my main voices, I can dip my toes in all sorts of music styles. The Ensemble is fantastic, from hard hitting percussive sounds for techno/house to sweeping chords for dreamy ambience and drones. I love using Morphagene to play back and mangle field recordings which adds texture to whatever patch I’m working on. I use Plaits and Dixie for leads and arps and occasionally percussion with Plaits. The way I am describing my system makes it sound like it can really do it all. However, it doesn’t come without some limitations, which is what I actually like most about my system. It has multiple voices/oscillators but only one sequencer and filter. These limitations require me to think further outside the box when it comes to patching. Which in turn, puts me in a more creative mindset.”
- Steven L. (Project 32)
You can find him on YouTube as Project32 and on Instagram as p32beepboop
Steven is also responsible for the wonderful Modbang promotional video and cable photos. Thank you Steven <3