Reverse Landfill Noise (v8) - DIY Build
As many of you know, Reverse Landfill is one of our favorite manufacturers. Their gritty and raw approach to synthesis brings a whole new level to making modular music or just harsh noise. Through several iterations, the NOISE module has become a staple in Martijn’s lineup.
Most recently, the v9 was released but our focus is on the Noise v8. A kindred spirit to our original Noise module which was one of our very first modules.
According to RL, the Noise! Synthesizer is a “CMOS IC based instrument. The synth has 4 square wave oscillators that modulate each other and go through a clock divider and after all that the separate divider outputs are mixed and shaped together”.
It is very suited as a source of snares, hi-hats or as an un-pure noise texture. With anything, we were excited to get on with the build, so we grabbed our BOM, ordered up the parts and waited for everything to arrive.
Links and more links…
Below are a series of links that have been provided by Reverse Landfill to help assist with the use, building and buying of the Noise module.
Of course, we are here for you as well if you have any questions while building the module. Just hit us up on our Contact Page.
Schematic – https://www.reverselandfill.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/noise8.png
Modular Grid Page – https://www.modulargrid.net/e/reverse-landfill-noise-v8
ETSY Store Page – https://www.etsy.com/shop/ReverseLandfill
The Build
Upon it’s arrival, we took the time to go through all of the documentation provided by Reverse Landfill. They have an assembly guide, schematics, a BOM and even a visual help guide. By referencing each of these were were confident that we were able to start the NOISE v8 build. The hardest part to track down are the knobs (more about those later).
Resistors and Diodes
As always, diodes and resistors are up first on the build as they are non powered and for the most part take up a lot of the time building and placing. Diodes polarity must be paid attention to due to the orientation on the silk screen, whereas resistors do not matter which way they get installed.
There are some tight resistors here, so take your time to make when you are placing them and soldering them into place. Careful not to cause solder bridges. After diodes and resistors are complete and tacked down, move onto IC sockets.
Reverse Landfill Noise v8 - Time Lapse Build
IC Sockets and Transistors…
The sockets can be placed and tacked down easily by gently heating one of the pads as you press down on the socket. This will click the socket into place and then you can finish wrapping up the soldering.
Transistors
These are the 2n3904 transistors. (they are unmarked on the PCBs) Mind the orientation! They act as CV input buffers. Carefully insert the legs and solder them in.
Capacitors
There are a lot of capacitors in the kit, both ceramic and electrolytic. They determine the frequency range of the oscillators and stabilize the power and outputs.We start with the two yellow capacitors that look like resistors; C1 and C2, they are 100nF (104) Mount these “standing up”, else they won’t fit in the footprint.
Finish out the other caps and move onto the electrolytic caps. These have polarity and it matters what way they are installed. (The long leg is the PLUS, The short leg is MINUS. – don’t forget this). Mount these according to the silk screen and move onto the power header.
Noise (v8) Build Gallery
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- Noise – Resistor Rear
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- Noise – Resistor Front
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- Noise – Completed Right
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- Noise – Completed Rear
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- Noise – Completed Left
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- Noise – Completed Front
Give me the POWA! … oh yeah!
Insert the shrouded 10 pin header. Solder one or two pins, then check if the header is flat to the PCB. Reheat if necessary. Then solder all the pins. While you are here, solder the expansion headers onto the back of the PCB. These will act as a patch bay should you want to change up the sound of your module later on.
Pots and Jacks.... almost done!
Before jumping into soldering the jacks and pots into place, take the time to place them accordingly. Place the front panel on the module and line everything up. Once it is good to go, hand tighten a nut on the pots to hold the panel in place as you flip the module over to solder everything into place.
Wrap it up by continuing to place the nuts and washers on the pots. Knobs are up next and these were tricky to come by.
Knobs
The Reverse Landfill modules have a certain look to them. This is partially due to the type of knobs that are selected for each module. In the case of the NOISE v8, Martijn used the usual clear knobs that he is so famous for.
Since we wanted to stay with the look of Reverse Landfills previous modules they required a special order at TME.com (part # GTP6M-12×16-S). These knobs are mounted on top of the pots by simply pushing down on them.
Careful not to put too much pressure on the shaft of the pot. We used a microfiber cloth to help push things into place.
Patch Bay Wiring
Lastly is the patch bay wiring. Here is what is taken directly from the build documentation provided by RL.
- Output 3 and output 4 must be patch to route signal to the outputs.
- Use the green Dupont wires to patch.
- There are 8 outputs (these are clock divisions of the original noise signal).
- Each destination has 2 inputs, marked with the white lines and the number “3” and “4” It is possible to mix several outputs together, when using more patch cables.
- This will result is a more complex noise structure.
Reverse Landfill Noise (v8) - Final Thoughts...
What can we say…. we love Reverse Landfill modules. Period. They are gritty, brutal, unpredictable, yet you can also find use with drums and threshold pieces of your compositions. With any module that Martijn releases, we are there to buy it, build it and love it. Need we say more?
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 …
