@vanslembrouck

Today, I hand-delivered the first pre-production Pluto order to @jaredtalaga During the minute we chatted in the cold, Jared said that Pluto's two-voice architecture reminded him of @laurie.spiegel’s Music Mouse. That kind of floored me because Laurie Spiegel is such an inspiration to me: her music, her writings, her instruments, and her belief that music is something that people do and not just a product to consume. Thanks @jaredtalaga.

Eight minutes of patching excerpted from YouTube walkthrough. With no talking. 😉 . #modularsynth #eurorack #euroracksynth #desktopsynth #synthesizer #dawlessjam #experimentalmusic #sergesynthesizer #buchlamusiceasel #buchla

Getting there. #modularsynth #buchla #sergesynthesizer #eurorack #synth #sequencer #minisynth #korgvolca #pocketoperator #pluto

Pluto is fun all by itself, but it's also designed to do some cool stuff with MIDI. Here are a few rough demos: 1. Quantizing internal voices to MIDI notes input from an Arturia keystep. Result is Pluto being kind of like a complex 2-voice arpeggiator. 2 & 3. Here Ableton is clocking Pluto via USB MIDI and sending in chords. Pluto quantizes the two sequences to those notes and then sends MIDI back to some stock Ableton synths. Pluto can send and receive MIDI clock and notes via TRS and USB. (Pluto also sends CC data from each of the knobs and the two toggle switches.) Of course, you can also do the basic thing and just plug in a MIDI controller and play Pluto as a dual monosynth or a single "stacked" voice. #modularsynth #eurorack #ableton #generativemusic #synthesizer #MIDI #sergemodular #buchla #enya

Juuust starting to assemble these early units. Trying to get an efficient process down. If your interested in one of these early Plutos, hit the link in bio.

Thanks for following along with this journey. I expect the first limited run of Plutos to be ready next month. Sign up for email updates. Link in bio. What is Pluto? Pluto is a portable, 2-voice, 2-sequencer, patchable synthesizer that’s designed to be super fun and intuitive and play great by itself or with all your other gear. And for those of you who’ve been asking… Some specs: • Compact 2-voice, 2-sequencer patchable synthesizer • Easily create complex, randomized sequences • Touch-sensitive mini keyboard • Clock range from 1 bpm into audio rates • Audio input for audio processing • Quantize to preset scales, MIDI input, or even audio input • Built-in delay with looping and glitch modes • Eurorack-compatible signal levels • Sync In & Out • MIDI In & Out (TRS, USB) • 2 channels CV Out • Rechargeable internal battery

For such a small planet, Pluto has a complex system of satellites. The five moons orbit the planet at different relative rates with occasional moments of chaos as they pass one another. Charon, the largest moon, is "tidally locked," like Earth's moon, orbiting in sync with Pluto's rotation. Styx, Nix and Hydra are tied together by a “three-body resonance,” but interaction between the moons can sometimes disrupt their rhythm. “Nix can flip its entire pole,” says Mark R. Showalter, research scientist at SETI. “It could actually be possible to spend a day on Nix in which the sun rises in the east and sets in the north. It is almost random-looking in the way it rotates." The moons of Pluto were an inspiration for the clock modulation on Pluto the instrument, a compact little system capable of complex patterns. Named for the five moons, the outputs generate a range of different clock divisions, polyrhythms, and randomly evolving sequences. But like the five moons, with their mix of pattern and unpredictability, the Shuffle input allows you to inject moments of surprise and chaos into these rhythms.

I’ve decided to name it Pluto.

So, this prototype is working. Testing the sync out and audio in here. Signal path here is Sync Out -> PO-12 -> Audio In. The PO drums here are replacing the first voice (kind of like the aux in on the Buchla Music Easel) and running through a vca. Second sequence/voice is being triggered by touch keyboard. Some onboard reverb and a little delay in here too.

Ready to build the next prototype.

Building a norns. It’s works! #monome #norns

First time trying it as a midi controller. #garageband #sax #harp