After we ran the piece on “Modular Synthesizers in the Control Room” by Chris Koltay in Tape Op #165, we decided to have him do a semi-regular review column on the state of the modular world. Here's the first one!
Make Noise [Tape Op #104] is a synthesis purveyor from Asheville, North Carolina, run by Kelly Kelbel and Tony Rolando with a small army of lovely and talented people. From humble beginnings, they've become one of the top modular companies around and a tastemaker, raising the bar for the format several times in the 17 years since its inception. They are experts at harnessing controlled chaos while embracing modular theory in a way that informs the user as creation happens.
I'm going to discuss their Tape & Microsound Music Machine; a set of Eurorack modules set up as a complete synthesizer system in a case with power supply and patch cables. It will instantly add a fourth dimension to your outboard processing landscape, opening doors of sound design you never knew existed. You will never outgrow it. It's infinite. If you can't afford this piece of gear or find the CV (control voltage) processing daunting, Make Noise makes a synthesizer called the 0-COAST. It's hands down the best modular gateway synth and contains nearly all the lessons of control voltage.
The heart of …Music Machine is Morphagene. It's a super deep module, but the gist is that it's a stereo “tape” machine that uses an internal architecture of reels, splices, and “genes” to organize and manipulate recorded audio from wild musique concrète vibes to gorgeous detuned backward piano that randomly (or not) shifts passages and everything in between. Picture a tape vault that you can fill with your dream sounds. The Morphagene is a window to this vault while also containing an army of razor blades to make reels into splices, and splices sections into “genes” like Edward Scissorhands but with infinite memory and recall. One of my favorite and most effective moves is to take a vocal, remove the space between the words for a section, then feed the words into the Morphagene. I'll then use timed gates via DAW clock and modulation via the MATHS and Wogglebug modules to chop and re-arrange the words forwards and back. Send this to the Mimeophon module (more below) for some jape, and you have something that is sonically arresting. This very same technique was used to create a FEMA camp vibe at the top of Detroit-based band Gusher's climate change anthem, “Toilet Water World.” It took ten minutes, but I never looked back or had to look at any lines of automation. I've barely scratched the surface here, but success, nonetheless.
The QPAS (Quad Peak Animation System) is a stereo filter module based on the concept of spaced peaks. I won't delve into that theory here, but you should. It has low-pass, band-pass, high-pass, and smile-pass (unique to QPAS) outputs that are simultaneously available. This filter is capable of a dizzying array of sounds but is based on binaural processing and contrast, as well as the spatial differences therein. The spaced peaks vibe really lends itself to vocal sounds. You can get into classic filtering similar to The United States of America's 1968 self-titled record (Check that LP out! -ed.), but one of my favorite uses is to take background vocals and send them through the QPAS unpatched to get a notchy vocoder sound happening. I'll then send a timed stepped random voltage via the Wogglebug to each side of the filter's Radiate inputs, attenuate to taste, and possibly invert the modulation on the left side.Then I’ll go to the Mimeophon again for some slapback and a nice reverb halo. This provides some subtle spatial and timbral movement. I often do this for synth pads and guitar buses, too – amazing phaser vibes as well. The Mimeophon is a stereo multi-zone delay and reverb with what feels like infinite control if you're used to non-modular hardware. Again, I am simplifying here, but this is an incredibly deep, yet easy-to-use delay/reverb/chorus based around a cascading Russian nesting doll-like manipulation of the delay buffer. It's a magical circuit that’s hard to explain, but in short – while clocking (or not) – it makes clashing (or not) time-manipulated delays a pleasing sonic tool. All of this runs through a gorgeous reverb (Halo) and filter (Color) for further sculpting. It's rare to find gear this musical and deep. Mimeophon is intuitive from the jump but also super controllable due to the thoughtful design approach. Another classic, if pedestrian, use is dubbing out certain aspects of a mix into a breakdown. I will get the timing right per source and use a triggered envelope from the MATHS processor to speed or slow the repeats and mult the same to Mimeophon’s Halo for repeats that dissolve. Again, it's beyond refreshing to work this way, with sonics informing the process in an immediate and decisive manner. There are modulations galore via the Wogglebug and MATHS modules. The MATHS is an update on the Buchla algebraic processor, and The Wogglebug is a riff on a Grant Richter (Wiard Synthesizer Company) design with some uncertainty thrown in. There are ample clocking and modulation sources between the two. Both also rock as sound sources – the MATHS is shockingly stable in the audio range. These two modules make the Tape & Microsound Music Machine synthesizer module a standalone instrument. I've made patches using the noise outs of Wogglebug in minutes for sound design requests. There is also a MULT, and XOH; an incredibly high-quality stereo mixer, headphone amplifier, and output module to get back to line level. There are moments in record-making where the client says, "It just needs something there!" This synth system has become my go-to in these instances. The freedom of patching committed sounds and processing has liberated my process and clients' records. These sounds, created and treated, have been a boon to me. Most of the above happens later in the production process, and the Tape & Microsound Music Machine has proven to be the horsepower that gets me to the finish line. In 2025, we all need our engines!