System 0

About

On November 14, 2019, i started this website. After about two and a half years - Tuesday, April 12, 2022 - i finished up a complete modular synthesizer system made entirely out of units built by me, and - except for one module - designed by me, too. I called it "System 0". This system is my take on more or less standard synthesizer things, that somehow ended up non-stantard in my hands: there's some VCOs, an eight step sequencer, filters, a wavefolder, a voltage multiplier, Serge-style lag processors and so on, so a lot of the common stuff is possible.. however! Most things are unique and represent my vision on modular synthesis, and some of the modules probably don't have close analogs out there. So, uncommon stuff is also absolutely doable on this system, and this is why i am building things in the first place, really.

These 2.5 years gave me a ton of experience and design parts and techniques that can be later reused for new, better stuff. This rack is Eurorack standard, 3 rows of 84 hp. A lot of modules that i made have been upgraded, replaced by better versions, or swapped out for something entirely new over time. Probably i could fill another row or two with things that i decided to put away for now, but that is perfectly usable and nice to play with; just not as nice as the modules in this system.

At the moment of writing this, i have been having an idea of splitting this system to three smaller (2x84hp) systems separated by the design logic, and keep on filling those out. That's why i called this one "System 0": it is absolutely a precursor to something else. So, this is nowhere near the final state of things. However, i think it's worth documenting the somewhat final state of this part of my synthesizer journey!

Down b elow is a close-up image of the system. You can click any of the modules in it, and a new tab will open with the write-up article on the module and its design, with schematics, photos, sound demos, and so on. The reason i documented all of this thoroughly is so that curious people can either build a module designed by me for themselves, or tweak and mod it to better fit their needs. I hope this ends up helping someone, or at least being entertaining for a bit ;3

Module listing

Interactive image

40106 Dual Oscillator Shaping Gate VC Sampler Opto MMVCF Howard Multiplier Wavefolder Pro Crossfaders Audio Delay Master Output Line In Dual VCLFO Directional VC Slew Dual Slew Limiter Arithmetics Flux Enhanced Pinger Envelope Dual Utility Summator Slope Generator Dual VC Lag + Comparator Serge '73 VCF Enhanced Clock Source Step Phrase Programmer X-Y Controller Window Comparator VC 1 To 4 Selector Random Factory