DIY Hybrid Analog/Digital Modular Synthesis

This paper describes three hardware devices for integrating modular synthesizers with computers, each with a different approach to the relationship between hardware and software. The devices discussed are the USB-Octomod, an 8-channel OSC-compatible computer-controlled control-voltage generator, the tabulaRasa, a hardware table-lookup oscillator synthesis module with corresponding waveform design software, and the pucktronix.snake.corral, a dual 8x8 computer-controlled analog signal routing matrix. The devices make use of open-source hardware and software, and are designed around affordable micro-controllers and integrated circuits.