Landscape.fm AllFlesh - DIY Build and Demo
Every once in awhile a product comes along that is a game changer. While we would like to think some of our products are indeed just that, but we aren’t here to talk about that.
A few months back we visited our dear friend in Portland and happened to stop by one of our favorite shops, Control Voltage. We spent our time tinkering with some modules we had our eyes on and visited with the staff prior to heading out.
Before heading out though, we noticed they had AllFlesh kits by Landscape.fm for sale. We picked up a kit, thanked the staff and headed out for the day. Months passed and we had nearly forgotten about the AllFlesh kit we had purchased until we were reorganizing the shop and happened to run across them. With the season of giving upon us, we decided to build a kit and give some new life to our modular system.
Prepping the Kit
Retailing for 30$, the DIY kit of the AllFlesh came packed in a cardboard protective envelope and upon opening the kit, it consisted of a sticker, 10 male mono audio jacks with black housing and the finger pads all connected via PCB material. First off, we unscrewed the black plastic housing the mono jacks had and set them aside. This housing will not be used again so you can discard it or recycle it if you would like. Moving on….
As you can see from the photo above, you will want a few tools to help with the build. These include snips, pliers, a soldering iron and solder, tweezers and a file. After you removed the black plastic housing, you will want to snip the long metal post on the audio plug.
You will clip this right below the hole that is punched and discard this part too. Once this has been completed, you will use your pliers to bend the metal tabs 90 degrees. These will sit flush on the AllFlesh tabs once we break them apart. Speaking of which…
The Finger Pads
Grab the PCB that comes in the kit. This is the finger tabs that make up the AllFlesh. With your hand or pliers, gently remove the excess PCB material from the pads. You will want to use your file and sand down the sides of the pad once they have been separated. Be gentle here, as you can do damage to the pad if you sand things too rough. When this has been completed, it is now time to put the AllFlesh kit together.
Solder Time
Next up it is time to solder the mono jack to the finger pad, but first take a dab of solder and place it on the backside of each finger pad. This will help when it comes time to attach the mono jack to the pad.
Also while you are prepping, take a little solder and place it on the small tab of the mono jack. By doing this, you are strengthening the jack prior to mounting it. Now it is time to attach the mono jack to the finger pad.
Line up the mono jack so that the bent area is flush with the bottom side of the finger pads. You will then use your iron and heat up the dab of solder you placed on the underside of the finger pad. Grab one of the mono jacks with your tweezers and press the jack into its place while heating up the excess solder on the pad.
Remove the heat and you will have a partially soldered jack. Apply solder to the other small tab and finger pad to complete the build. We recommend going back through and adding more solder to both sides of the mono jack tabs where it meets the pads to ensure a solid connection. After completing the solder, you are done with the first AllFlesh pad. Knock out the rest and you are ready to put them to use.
Landscape.fm AllFlesh Build Gallery
Landscape.fm AllFlesh - Short Demo
Landscape.fm AllFlesh - Final Thoughts...
The landscape.fm AllFlesh pads are genius. They let the artist interact with their modular gear by using their fingers to control otherwise non-human effects or voltage (and they store nicely in our Chum Buckets tins too). According to Landscape.fm, “you are the patch cords: you transfer modulation, your fingers are multiples, you are attenuation, you bend pitches with finger pressure, you transfer sequences from oscillator to oscillator, you transfer triggers from voices to voice”. Let us reiterate, everything they say is true about the AllFlesh and not to mention they are really fun to interact with.
We look forward to spending more time with the pads and getting to know our racks in a new way. Hands down, there is no reason for a modular user to not have a set of these (and our Chum Bucket module as well).
If you have questions about the build process or suggestions/feedback about this article, feel free to let us know by contacting us. We look forward to hearing from you!
Until the next build …
