Does anyone have any gear suggestions for bent/modded analog fx video gear that is currently available to order? I am also interested in video synthesis.
I just started looking into video glitch art and am super stoked to try making some of my own. I have been a long time VHS enthusiast, and make experimental sounds (eurorack), so I am familiar with DIY and general video concepts. I watched a few of @YOVOZOL’s awesome videos and he has some great gear recommendations, but it seems like most stuff is not really available at the moment. So far I just ordered some accessories like a camera and USB video input to try out RPi based fx processing which is coming in the mail.
If you have some DIY experience, the 3trinsRGB+1c is pretty great value-for-money. Not the most difficult build in the world, but the PCB layout is a bit cryptic (no full BOM, a few component types aren’t labelled, there are a couple of unused pads, it’s not laid out on a grid or anything, and mine came with a couple extra capacitors that I had to email Gieskes a couple photos near the end of my build to figure out the last couple things) but if you’ve built a module or two you’ll be fine and it does a lot. Prebuilt it’s on the expensive side but DIY is really fairly priced.
Lately I’ve been having really good results feeding it into Andrei’s Spectral Mesh.
The Syntonie looks interesting. I have been looking at the BPMC Fluxus Duo to pair with another module. I’ll likely need to get another case or pod since I don’t have much room left in my cases.
Yep, I was looking here. I hope I can get a Tachyon’s unit, trying to get in contact with them.
I’ll take a closer look. I saw this for sale as a fully assembled unit at a synth shop site, but the packaging kind of threw me off to be honest.
Going the eurorack route, I was initially looking at the LZX Chromagnon, but it sounds like it will be further delayed for several more months (people preordered it in Dec 2019 and are still waiting). So now I am looking at the Erogenous Tones Structure, but wondering if it is worth it or overkill, though it does look very feature packed. Any thoughts on it from the crowd here?
I don’t have one , but from what iv seen the Structure seems like good value for money for a euro rack glsl module - the amount of inputs/control you get + how often new firmware is released …
guess it depends what style you are after in the end (digital shader vs analog glitch vs analog synthesis vs … )
Yeah, I’m not totally sure at this point. I think I’d probably want to do a mix of analog glitch mixed with more subtle video synth.
Yesterday I played around with video_waaaves and had some fun with that. I just ordered the Syntonie glitch kits, so that is something to look forward to.
I built a Chroma Cauldron Wavecomber last night and I’m really enjoying it so far, looks great in feedback loops, before and after Andrei’s software, and on its own. Relatively easy build and pretty inexpensive. Only issue I had is that one of the LEDs is really dim, but they’re also those clear violet kind that have a terrible viewing angle so I’d probably swap them out anyway. It’s more of a standalone audio and composite video processor than a module, but it’s Eurorack format. If you’ve already got an audio system it would fit right in.
I haven’t even used the audio output on mine yet to be honest, mainly because the ribbon cable that connects my 3trinsrgb+1c to the breakout panel I made is covering its CV inputs; in a month or two I’m going to design a better panel and get it actually fabricated instead of making it by hand, and at that point I’ll add CV inputs on it, but for now I’ve been using the Wavecomber as a standalone processor and I really like it. Too bad it doesn’t have any modulation options for the controls but even without them it’s really useful.
EDIT: and it turns out the LEDs were dim and flickering because they respond to incoming audio levels (I’d still prefer something other than the clear purple kind with the bad viewing angle, though).
Yeah, my video rack such as it is is just the cheapest, open frame 12u desktop rack I could find (I ordered 8u and they sent me 12u which was a problem at first but turned out to be a good thing) with a set of rails for a Eurorack row, a couple homemade things mounted below that, and then a shelf and Raspberry Pi rack panel on the bottom and a 8x8 matrix switch o the top. I only have a couple modules actually in it so far, waiting on parts to build an FFG that I’m going to rack, and then eventually I’ll add a second row but I’m not planning to get into pure video synthesis or anything, this is really for routing and standalone composite processors plus some modulation sources to go with them. I might build some simple, clean oscillators if I get the Wobbulator project to work, but I might also do the lofifuture thing and make a little dedicated box with some cheap, off-the-shelf test tone generator kits stuck inside since it would be quicker and more cost effective.
I don’t know what it is either, lol. Thanks for the suggestion, the hypno is interesting, but I’m not sure if it is capable of more than generating patterns. I think I need to see more examples of mixing video into it. Since the cost is ~$700 shipped, it seems like a better deal is to go with the Erogenous Tones Structure since it has more inputs and outputs, a display and maybe a less confusing interface, except it does not output HD video.