Month: March 2023

Circuit Benders UK drumBs – DIY Build

Circuit Benders UK drumBs - DIY Build

This months modular build comes from CircuitBenders UK. drumBs is a eurorack or stand alone module that we happened to come across while surfing ETSY. Being that there were no full kits available, we opted for a red panel, and 2 PCBs (one logic board and one control board). 

Since we are currently working on building a drum rack with multiple modules, drumBs seemed like a natural choice for our system. drumBs is a tweaked version of the Syntom II, an analogue percussion project first published nearly four decades ago in the April 1983 edition of the mighty Electronics & Music Maker Magazine.

Drumbs - Completed Front

According to the ETSY listing and the CircuitBenders UK website, drumBs can “create a wide range of basic analogue percussive sounds and the synth features both a VCO and a noise source, along with a resonant noise filter and an auto roll function. It requires a +5V trigger source to drive the module”.  Let’s get on with the build shall we?


Synthrotek XFD – DIY Build

Synthrotek XFD - DIY Builds

The gang over at Synthrotek have done it again with another crossfader module, only this time it can work with video as well. According to SR, “the XFD is a CV-controlled vactrol-based crossfader module, ideal for both audio and bipolar CV sources.

It can be used as a cv-controlled attenuator: connecting just one input allows the signal to quickly fade in a VCA-like fashion.” For our build, we chose the audio version of the module whereas both are currently available in the links below.