DIY Eurorack Amplifier for Complete Beginners 2023-05-21 For a long time, I thought electronics wasn’t for me: it was this arcane mixture of black magick and hardcore mathematics, in which everything has to be designed and assembled perfectly or nothing will work. Well, it turns out that’s not entirely true. … Read more
DIY Euro-amp Part 2 - Eurorack: Artisanal Jank 2023-05-21 This article is part of my series on building a Eurorack audio amplifier, to go from line-out on a field recorder or Raspberry Pi to my modular synth rack. To start from the beginning, click here. This is part of my Memento Potato project, in which I am ostensibly producing my third album and releasing each track as & when it’s done, but also using it as a vehicle for tons of other things I’ve wanted to build/film/explain/code/nerd out about along the way. … Read more
DIY Euro-amp Part 3 - The Hydraulic Analogy 2023-05-21 This article is part of my series on building a Eurorack audio amplifier, to go from line-out on a field recorder or Raspberry Pi to my modular synth rack. To start from the beginning, click here. This is part of my Memento Potato project, in which I am ostensibly producing my third album and releasing each track as & when it’s done, but also using it as a vehicle for tons of other things I’ve wanted to build/film/explain/code/nerd out about along the way. … Read more
DIY Euro-amp Part 4 - Op-amps for Noobs 2023-05-21 This article is part of my series on building a Eurorack audio amplifier, to go from line-out on a field recorder or Raspberry Pi to my modular synth rack. To start from the beginning, click here. This is part of my Memento Potato project, in which I am ostensibly producing my third album and releasing each track as & when it’s done, but also using it as a vehicle for tons of other things I’ve wanted to build/film/explain/code/nerd out about along the way. … Read more
DIY Euro-amp Part 5 - The Final Circuit 2023-05-21 This article is part of my series on building a Eurorack audio amplifier, to go from line-out on a field recorder or Raspberry Pi to my modular synth rack. To start from the beginning, click here. This is part of my Memento Potato project, in which I am ostensibly producing my third album and releasing each track as & when it’s done, but also using it as a vehicle for tons of other things I’ve wanted to build/film/explain/code/nerd out about along the way. … Read more
Announcing Memento Potato 2023-04-22 Things got a bit… intense in my last two releases. Ataraxy contained an awful lot of “serious” tracks, covering everything from dismay at COVID disinformation and the role of consumerism in art, to depression, social anxiety, and parental regret. Pro Amore Signi is ostensibly inspired by my first forays into real analogue synthesis, and the ensuing sense of awe at beginning to discover the simultaneous power & simplicity of the relationship between components, control signals, and sound waves; but it was also conceived in the aftermath of a death in the family, and is not-so-secretly about that experience, as well. … Read more
Tags and Birds and Elephants, oh my! 2023-04-02 I can’t believe it’s April already, I haven’t released any music in 2023 yet, and here I am making my first post of the year. Time flies when you’re an adult with a full-time job. So what have I been up to, and what am I going to be doing next? … Read more
Repurposing the Mellotron as an expressive virtual acoustic instrument 2022-02-22 Ah, the glorious, wonderful Mellotron. Where would I be without it? I’ve made no secret of my love for this quirky lo-fi beauty, even if I am unlikely to ever play or own a real one. The flute & strings on To Hell and Back, choir on Manchild, various pads and “filler” layers on multiple tracks, and almost the entirety of Good Taste were made possible by a software recreation of it. … Read more
