It's one of the only synths I can sit down in front of and literally get gitty and
hyper-inspired to record an album using just that synth. Some of my favourite synths to use are the Arp 2600, Oberheim SEM/TVS-1, Serge/BugBrand format Modular, Roland Juno-60 and Tr-808.
The layouts and structure of these synths are perfect to me. Well spaced, thought out, comfortable and of course, they happen to be sonically amazing. A TR-808 has been beat (pun intended) to death with regards to it's sounds. A classic for sure, but there is nothing really that new and creative about its sound. But when you sit down at the actual machine and start jamming on it, it's a completely different world. I don't know how else to explain it other than it comes down to it's interface. And I'm pretty anal retentive when it comes to how I connect with a synth or drum machine. It could have the best sound ever but if the panel layout isn't well thought out, it can be a deal breaker for me.
You're most recent Low-Gain modules (both the SubMix6 and the CVP-1) have a new look and further support your previous range of modules which are more utility based. What draws you to want to make utility style modules as opposed to say a sound processor or generator?
I'm a little embarrassed to have had to change my aesthetic 3 times since
round of modules; ShortBus V1 and SubMix7 were done with PCB's as front panels. The ShortBus was my first module and I wanted the panel to fit the theme of the module. School Bus yellow. SubMix7 was done with a green pcb simply because of conveniences of ordering PCB panels at the time. I used
Re'an knobs and when they dropped the soft touch knob (remember the great MakeNoise change of 2012!?!?) I kind of had to find a new knob that worked. At that time I wanted to re-brand my product to make sure it's aesthetic matched the build/design quality that I wanted to be known for.
The powder coated steel panels were inspired by two
synth aesthetics, Roland System 100M and the Arp
2600. At the time I handled all manufacturing in
house and had the panels manufactured in town.
So I could drive over to the metal shop and
inspect the panels in person. About 2 years ago
though I switched over and retooled to having my
PCB's assembled out of house via pic'n'place to free up