The New Muffwiggler store

Though some may not know this but since the late 90's there has been a modular synthesizer Renascence. This was spear headed by companies like Doepfer and numerous forums, most significantly in recent years by MuffWiggler which has not only allowed synth geeks to find each other all over the world but it has allowed many builders to have their own pseudo focus groups to discuss possible features and price point.

Today, not to many's surprise a store baring the name MuffWiggler appeared.
Although based of years of Mike "Muff"s personal ethics, the store and the forum will probably remain fairly separate and open debate, complaints and all the other stuff the internet is known for will take place uncensored.

I decided to weigh in on what some worry about in terms of impact on what is a somewhat small fringe scene. I mainly focus on what I think the choices will mean for everyone involved.

Begin...

I done a fair amount of business with Shawn at Analog Haven and before that Douglas at Enport (anyone know how he's doing). I have never had any issues with either gentlemen which probably has had an impact on my not using Switched On, Control, Big City or Noise Bug or any of the other US dealers as often.

This is a market that probably needs a bit of competition as much as it needs support among users and manufacturers. At this point in time there a very few full time builders, but a huge amount of part timers. There are an awful lot of products coming out to an audience that seems very happy to try things and then resell them.

All of this is going to change to some degree, not because of the new shop but because markets change. If the shops want to stay in business they are better off supporting each other to whatever reasonable way that they can.

If buyers want to cease this moment and try to push competition, they should consider aiming those demands in areas of pricing like cabling, shipping that have a lesser impact on the builders and if the stores want yo compete they should try to keep it in the areas of how they handle customers and builders.

This is going to be a big moment that could weed out some of the utter shit product. This could be the moment where dealers try to focus on costumer service, creating their own unique style in the choices of what they carry and very importantly treat the people who build the modules with real support and respect because at least 20% of those folks would be well able to carry on doing only direct mail order and be paid better.

I wish Mike and crew the very best, this is a good an interesting moment and I hope that everyone chooses to not act like a bunch of assholes.

Sometimes life is too busy to really comment on it virtually. It's not the lack of things I feel like writing about, it's the fact that I'd rather be making music then writing about it's gritty technological details.

I've noticed that there are constant trends in the modular synth community. Not surprising as it is booming in a way that makes the past seem quiet. Between the awareness that people are developing and the push to make things that never existed before, it is both an expensive time and an exiting one.

One subject that is of current interest to many is Don Buchla's amazing instruments which are now the source of much gear talk. Having gone from institution and avant garde to a seemingly more available state, many in the synth community have developed a Buchla lust.

I understand one's affinity to an instrument and do personally like some specific designs that Buchla made but when it comes to full systems my heart belongs to Moog and Wiard.

So much porn

Trying to write about The Wiard is not easy without falling into dumb lines which sound more like porno then descriptions of a musical instrument.

I will have to state first that the excellent designs warrant the exclusivity of it's price tag, which isn't bad when you count out each modules function. I know people who won't buy boutique audio products because they'd rather spend money on vintage stuff that isn't as good either in sound or in construction.

Up and running I was able to get a wide range of moving sounds that creep along and change timing in ways that I haven't been able to pull off on other gear. The only short coming I could come up with was that two of the modules were much older and didn't include the in/out arrows that are on everything else.

After several mind boggling patches that were complex and sounded great I pulled the patch chords and experimented with the modules in more traditional ways. each one out performed in it's expected purpose's and excelled in unexpected ways.

The Wiard isn't for everyone, if you want an organ or a piano move along. This instrument is probably a great choice for people who want to carve out their own sound and are looking for something that can take them to space.

it's like dominos

Sometimes things just go bad one after another.
Usually it happens when you are tired and repairing something with stiff wiring.

I was on the road to fixing up my EML 101. I had sought out replacement knobs and actually found 10 that a nice guy was willing to sell me at a fair price. The main reason for the need for spare knobs was that the range knob for OSC 2 was no longer working and the actual knob was refusing to come off peacefully.

I opened up the unit, braced the range knob and successfully removed the old knob, replacing it with the new one. Mission accomplished. But wait, just what I feared, two wires had come loose.

Although getting them back in place would have probably been easy with a couple of alligator probes the power died. Having no idea as to what type of fuse is in the unit I tried to unscrew the board with the transformer. Sadly one red wire came loose and I decided to give up.

Between not knowing where that red wire goes or what type of fuse is in there I feel that just giving up is about the best thing I can do right now for this instrument.

The picture below shows the yellow and green wires that came loose. One went to the range, although I'm not sure which lug, the other went to tuning.



Should anyone know the fuse type, have a detailed photo of the board with the transformer or happen to be damn sure about these two loose wires please let me know. In the mean time I will be repeating the words "I suck" over and over again, while I debate sending it to a tech or finding another one and using this for parts..

EML 101

Every good instrument has it's own personality. The EML 101 has definitely got a special thing to it. Mine was in the Caribbean at one point and later a closet in the US. it's not a perfect example and "needs some work" like the range knob on OSC 2 but as it is I'm tempted to leave most of it the was it is.

I remember reading about how Brian Eno would mark his VCS3 to make sure certain things were not repaired because the flaws appealed to him.



The EML is not a pretty looking instrument, nor does it have as much hipster cashe as other semi modulars like the ARP 2600 but what is does have is an extra oscillator and enough routing choices to make patching less immediately important in searching for interesting sounds.

Here's a little clip of it making some noises

925 Voltage Controlled Reverb

Mike Bucki just sent me my 925 reverb.
9-2-5 you ask??
You mean 9-0-5!
Nope.

From my understanding this got as far as prototypes in the custom shop at Moog, mine indeed has a smooth finish panel instead of the flat mat finish that we usually see on Moog modules and is old stock.

Mike spent a great deal of time matching output transformers to different reverb cans and tweaking it with caps until he was sort of satisfied and then I said "come on Mike it's time.. I can always tweak it myself or run it through the fixed filter bank"

Mike is not a guy who likes to let work go that he isn't 100% happy with, which as he would say is "a good thing". He and I have built up a trust where he knows I'll tell him the truth and we are usually in agreement.

To this day I don't know that our two sets of ears have disagreed yet on anything Moog. Although our musical tastes are as far away as Asia is to Motorhead.

So how does the 925 sound?
Great!



I plan on writing a full thing on Mike for this blog pretty soon and I'll see if I can find out some of the details behind The String Filter, Ring Modulator, Sample & Hold, VC Reverb, Dual VCO Rack and some of the other less common Moog products which Mike has continued to build.

In the maentime, if your vintage Moog needs a tune up give him a ring at 716-438-0756

Nothing's more fun then a 2600

After 2 hours of patching and playing one can help but feel good. In fact it makes total sense that it was used for Star Wars.

One of these days I am going to have to buy an ARP Sequencer just because it's right and it'll hang nicely with the 2600 and Odyssey.

GEAR LUST

The following is a list of some of the new gear I've been dreaming of this year.

Enjoy my perversions (in no particular order):

I have always enjoyed Theremin, long before the obnoxious trend made them into a misunderstood novelty and a bad noise joke The Eowave Persephone has the ability to slide from one note to another but is configured more like a ribbon controller. It's an elegant thing really.

I've been a fan of the whole MoogerFooger line and have bought most of them. The Moog Music MF-107 FreqBox looks like a winner to me, whether it's another EH Microsynth type of thing or something new I'll bet I love it.

The thing about AudioCubes is that they look fun. Now don't get me wrong, I can't foresee someone doing a riveting and rocking live performance with them BUT in the studio or if one is just feeling arty...

okay, anyone who likes Speak & Spells is going to dig the Flame MIDI Talking Synth

We all know that touch screens are whats happening. Here are a few products that make music fun and touchable. Mononome Korg Kaoss Pad KP3, Electroplankton

For the modular lover who doesn't want his or her waveforms stock: Wiard synthesizers

Ciat-Lonbarde electronics makes electronic instruments that look like art and sound like lizards gnawing at your temples.

Continuum is the coolist controller for the Microtonal set

You can filter out or duck quak to death anything with Ebbe und Flut

A special mention needs to go to Bleep Labs who's product not only cute and fun but also works nicely with modulars. For an idea of it's size, see it pictured below with an Oberheim SEM and Steiner Microcon.

A lot of gear comes out each year and only small amount of it finds it's way into my fantasies, even less will make the final cut in terms of what I think is worth plunking down hard earned cash on. Aside from having to be 1. good 2. something that inspires creativity and 3. special

Plus I do have an ongoing habit with Doepfer who keep putting out interesting and affordable modules for their A-100 modular Synthesizer.