Over the course of the next weeks, KOMA Elektronik Artist Marlon Penn demonstrates a couple of the features of the KOMA BD101 Analog Gate / Delay. In this video he plays with the delay functions of the pedal, controlling the DELAY TIME with his foot via the on board IR Motion Sensor.

- Patch a normal 1/4″ jack mono instrument cable from SENSOR CV Out on the patch bay into DLY TIME CV In to create extraordinary delay sounds!

More videos with Marlon Penn explaining the functions of the KOMA Elektronik pedals will follow over the course of the next weeks!

discuss it at Facebook

+ Live: Richard Scott (UK)

+ Live: Erik Dower (USA)

On Saturday 26 January 2013 KOMA Elektronik will be part of  at the annual festival Club Transmediale (CTM), together with our dear friends from one of our favorite hangout Das Gift we’ll present 2 concerts by great artists and will host a very special workshop led by our production leader Felix Obeè!

Music Program (9PM):

Live: Richard Scott (UK)

Richard Scott is an electroacoustic composer and free improviser living in Berlin working with analogue modular synthesizers and alternative controllers such as the Buchla Thunder and Lightning, Keith McMillen’s QuNeo and his own self-designed WiGi infra red controller developed at STEIM. He has been composing and performing improvised music for over 25 years, producing, performing and recording with artists such as Evan Parker, Twinkle³, Edward Barton, Clive Bell, Olaf Rupp, David Ross and Grutronic. He studied improvisation with John Stevens, saxophone with Elton Dean and Steve Lacy, action theatre improvisation with Sten Rudstrom and electroacoustic composition with David Berezan and Ricardo Climent. - http://richard-scott.net/

Live: Erik Dower (USA)

After graduating from Berklee College of Music in 1998 Erik Dower returned to California to further develop his skills working in recording studios and at music technology companies. Frustrated with traditional compositional methods, in2004 he began writing his own sequencer and audio processing software and then collaborated with DSPaudio to realize the first non-linear commercial sequencer. It has been used by notable figures in the experimental electronic scene including Daniel Miller (Mute records boss) and John Tejada (Palette recordings). Realizing the need for more tactile interfaces, in 2008 he began designing performative modular systems and is currently exploring the role of modular synthesizers in modern culture. Electronicpresskit will be playing an experimental set on his custom performance modular serving up fresh bizza with feedback and drone toppings. - http://electronicpresskit.bandcamp.com/

Quakmonster workshop (solder your own theremin)(4PM)

As designed by KOMA’s head of production Felix Obeè the participants will build a Quäkmonster in the KOMA Elektronik workshop. It is a minimalistic theremin circuit inside a stuffed animal/monster that makes the little fella squeak and scream when you press its belly/bum/head. Participants need to bring 3 – 4hrs of time, a stuffed animal or something similar, a fitting speaker if they can find one and a soldering iron. Includes PCB, parts, battery, minimalistic small speaker and a few emergency stuffed animals for those who don’t bring anything of their own. €20,- participation fee.

When you don’t want to say goodbye to your favorite stuffed animal (something we of course completely understand), we also offer you to just make the theremin with a jack output socket, so you can hook it up to a mixing desk or a series of (KOMA)effects and make that noise!

To subscribe for the solder workshop, send an email to felix@koma-elektronik.com!

Date: Saturday 26 January 2013 – DAS GIFT, Neukölln

Start of the workshop: 4PM | Start of the music: 9PM

Das Gift
Donaustrasse 119
12043 Berlin Neukölln
info (at) dasgift.de
www.facebook/dasgiftberlin

This event is part of the reSource 003: P2P Vorspiel presented by transmediale 2013 (www.transmediale.de) and CTM.13 (www.ctm-festival.de).

From tomorrow (20-12-2012) on the KOMA Elektronik team will be on holiday, spread out all over Europe! Shipping of orders will continue like normal over the holidays (only not on Dec. 25th and 26th)! Support will only be given over e-mail (support@koma-elektronik.com) until January 1st! Have a great x-mas all, thanks to all of you for your great enthusiasm for what we do, you made 2012 amazing! Up to another awesome year with more awesome equipment coming from our side!

Much Love,

The KOMA Team

PS. Our engineer Christian wants to give you all a personal present for the Christmas days, here we go:

The KOMA SVF-201 Corona backlight hack
Make the LED’s behind the Cutoff knob respond to the actual Cutoff Control Voltage!

Christian: So, I thought I’ll take a lead in this because sooner or later the question would pop up anyway. So the circuit for the LED corona around the Cutoff knob is pretty straight forward. A fixed voltage source, a resistor and a LED resulting in a permamently lit LED. Now what, if you wanted to exchange the fixed voltage source for a changing one, like the voltage that controls the cutoff of the filter circuit? Answer: still pretty straight forward!

So here’s how this goes: If you pull the two PCBs of the SVF-201 apart and look at it from the top, all that you have to do is:

• Turn off your system’s power
• Remove the jumper for the ‘Corona’. This disconnects the LED from the fixed voltage source so we can connect another signal to the LED.
• Solder a short cable/wire from point A to point B (click here for a Hi-Res photo).
• Done!

And here’s how this looks like:

P.P.S.: Just to make it VERY clear, by doing this you are INDEED VOIDING YOUR WARRANTY, but if you’re about to perform this hack then you are used to voiding the warranty and you know what you do, so have fun!

Yes, it’s true. We’ve hidden a special ticket in one of the KOMMANDERS we shipped to our friends of www.analoguehaven.com. When you order a KOMMANDER from them this week and find the ticket, you are the proud new owner of a KOMA Elektronik SVF-201 State Variable Filter Module! Found the ticket? Make a picture of yourself, the ticket and KOMMANDER and send an email to support@koma-elektronik.com, together with the very special code on the back and we’ll ship you a SVF-201 free of charge! Good luck everyone!

This is the first prototype of our new product: the KONTROL SURFACE! A 2-axis touch screen controller! As of now for each channel (X and Y) has:

- 1 x CV output
- 1 x inverted CV output
- Manual gate output

Each channel also has a hold function, so it will hold the current CV value as soon as the hold button is pressed. Not yet implemented but in development is a sort of ‘momentary/clocked hold function’, that means that a value is only taken and processed according to a provided external clock signal OR without a clock signal attached only when there are changes in the values, so you could lift of your finger from the pad, it will hold the value and as soon as you touch the controller on another point it will start processing again and so on and so forth…

Furthermore we are going to make the Kontrol Surface into a ‘Light’ and a ‘Pro’ version. The light version will have all the functionalities as written above and as you can see in the video. The ‘Pro’ version will have a third axis, which is a capacitive sensor underneath the touch controller measuring the amount of surface covered, i.e. the third dimension (Z). Also the ‘Pro’ version will be equipped with MIDI functionality, so it can literally control everything!

Anyways, all very exciting! Here’s a development video:

Both units will be on display and ready for a thorough test drive at NAMM 2013 and will (hopefully) be shipping in the fall of 2013!

Yes, we can build synthesizers too! This is the collective outcome of the KOMA Elektronik team working out the Doepfer DIY-Synth for demoing our stuff and bringing it to various workshops and showcases.

Complete with SVF-201 style full aluminium knobs, classic black on white layout and 3D printed sidepanels. Admittedly the labelling could be done better in the future but since the body consists of an old baking tray (yes, you can find weird things on the streets of Berlin) having text on it is a big upgrade already; and who of us plays in bright, shiny venues anyway…

Wanna come over and play?

1. Workshop by Stefan Betke (aka pole)

At 3PM we will host a workshop with KOMA Elektronik endorsed artist Stefan Betke (a.k.a. Pole), who will give a small workshop and talk about his production workflow with analog (studio) gear. Highly recommended for producers who want to take some tips and tricks from the master himself! There will also be a Q&A, so when you have questions about how he creates his signature sound, make sure you drop by!

2. Quakmonster workshop (solder your own theremin)

Afterwards, from 5 PM on, the KOMA crew will host a DIY solderworkshop for everyone interested in building analog instruments themselves. This year we’ll build a device called the Quäkmonster, a theremin inside a stuffed animal. Does that sound like fun? Yes, we think so!

When you don’t want to say goodbye to your favorite stuffed animal (something we of course completely understand), we also offer you to just make the theremin with a jack output socket, so you can hook it up to a mixing desk or a series of (KOMA)effects and make that noise!

For people who would like to make the Quakmonster inside a stuffed animal but don’t own one, we today got a nice selection from a Neukoelln thriftstore (check out the picture below, just 5 of them, so be quick)!

To subscribe for the solder workshop go to: http://www.koma-elektronik.com/musiktechniktage/

Date: 2nd November 2012 – Kater Holzig, Berlin

Schedule:
Workshop by Stefan Betke (pole):  3PM
Solderworkshop with the KOMA crew: 5PM

More information: http://de-bug.de/musiktechniktage2012/

Here Christian from KOMA’s development team! Today I have something very exciting to write about: We are deep into the development of a new product we are planning to release in the beginning of next year. What we’re working on is a new module for the eurorack synthesizer system and it will be a Tap Tempo Module, called the TP-301! We really feel the need for a dedicated tap tempo module to send out clock signals and we got a lot of questions about it from our customers to make it, and make it good. We spent A LOT of time on looking for a proper tap button and we found a very special one from one of our suppliers. According to the information from our supplier, nobody has used this button before in Europe and we are in possession of one of the two samples that are circulating in Europe at this very moment; and what a button it is!

Anyway, here are some specs of the new unit we are working on and a draft for the frontpanel layout:

KNOBS  &  CONTROLS

• TAP: Large, high quality tap button. Tap to create a clocksignal. Illuminated ring around the knob shows the clock beating. Your tapped clock will be quantified to the closest integer bpm time when in LOCK mode.
• TEMPO: Adjust the tapped tempo for +/-10bpm in 1.0 increases when in LOCK mode, adjust the tapped tempo in +/-10bpm in 0.1 increases when in FREE mode.
• BPM: Shows the tempo in beats per minute. A small dot lights up when in FREE mode, reminding you the reading is not accurate.
• LENGTH: There is an additional output for a second clock signal. Set the length of the additional/shuffled clock out, start of gate signal synced to clock – beat accurate. There are three ranges on the knob, by turning the knob from fully CCW to fully CW you are going through the following settings:
• - 16th with 10% PW going to 16th with 90% PW; then switching to:
• - 8th with 10% PW goint to 8th with 90% PW; then switching to:
• - 8th trioles with 10% PW going to 8th trioles with 90% PW.
• The 8th with 50% PW are in the middle of the range.
• SHUFFLE: Move the shuffled output before or after the tapped clock output; rasterized in the middle of the potentiometer for making it easier to be exactly on time.
• In any mode if you press the TAP button for 5s the TEMPO knob can be used to set a free running tempo range from 40bpm to 240bpm.

INPUTS & OUTPUTS

• TEMPO: CV input for Tempo adjustment, create changing tempi.
• SHUFFLE: CV input for changing the amount/direction of shuffle/groove.
• RESET: Back to bar 1.
• LENGTH: CV input for the length/setting of the shuffled clock out.
• CLK OUT: Main Clock out.
• ADD OUT: The additional output.

So that’s what we are working on so far! We are still in the development phase so some things might change, no guarantee given here, but this is the general outline and we are super excited about it! We are also planning on an extension module that will give you MIDI/USB/DIN connectivity, but more about these plans later!

From Berlin, with Love,

Christian