my schedule to focus on design. I ultimately just retooled to the Eurorack standard of Metal Photo processed aluminium panels. Surprisingly not cheaper to make, but cheaper to ship. One of the biggest headaches when dealing with module manufacturing is the vertical pitch of parts that fit on the front panel. Jacks, switches and Pots specifically are a royal PITA! The jacks I used on the gray panels, limited the variety of pots I could use. When I changed to the smaller style jacks it allowed me to have a smaller grid size (without sacrificing too much comfort) which in turn made me want to use a smaller knob. It just made a lot more sense to use a lot of what my manufacturer was already sourcing for their builds. There are A LOT of things to consider though when changing your aesthetic/product brand/image. You kind of have to think about every other product you want to make and how that will work in the long run.
That brings me to the Utility Question. I honestly cringe when I hear that word applied to the CVP-1 and SubMix6. I find signal routing to be essential building blocks and just as important as a VCO, VCF and VCA. You find mixers in every synthsizer made. Having said that, I'll cave and accept the fact that they are in fact Utility style modules. I honestly don't know why I chose to go the route. They are the essential in my work flow on any modular system, regardless if I'm using my own modules or another manufacturers. And having design them myself, I know they're going to work how they're supposed to, and fit a format that is comfortable for me.
In the long run, it hasn't helped my business to have chosen
these modules,. I mean I get it... there's nothing glamorous
about a mixer, a control voltage processor/signal router or a
passive Logic OR combiner. Definitely not huge sellers in
regards to numbers. But I take pride in the fact that they do
what they're supposed to do very well and my customers
who chose to support me, understand my design philosophy
and “Get It”. I rarely see my modules come up second hand
and that really tells me I'm doing something right.
Tell us about your new module 2-Bits which is coming soon.
What does it do?
2-Bits is a module I have been throwing around for a few
years. The first prototype actually came into light around the
time of the first Knobcon (2012?). Your most basic sequencer
is centered on a few function blocks; A clock source, binary
counter, multiplexer and a voltage source. In a nutshell I
stripped the binary counter out of a 4 stage CV sequencer,
added a fixed stage trigger sequencer, and a voltage scaling
switch (0-5V or 0-10V). You have 2 bit inputs which are tied
to the address lines of the multiplexer. Which is what controls