SergeModular

I'll just throw my two cents in, about the state of STS at this time.
Rex just got through moving to the Milwaukee area. This is a very
disruptive event for a small company (particularly a manufacturing
company that does most of it's work by hand). I know that Rex is
trying to establish connections to parts distributors in this new
area (this had one very interesting result that I will mention a
little bit later) and to set up a manufacturing area to begin
producing custom panels (and perhaps the shop panels also,
eventually). I suspect it will take him a good six months to a year
to
be able to get his turn around times back to where they were (by the
way, Rex really did a great job at bringing the turn around times way
down from the Serge Tcherepnin days. Serge was a design genius but
wasn't that great at manufacturing. Rex is much better at getting
solid, well testedpanels out the door). So, I guess what I'm saying
here is that one should give it some time to settle down - it will.

Now for the little story. Rex called the local distributor of the
knobs that are used on the panels. The guy at the company told him
that someone had just cleaned him out of all the ones he had in
stock.
He said that the guy was some synth manufacturer. Rex was puzzled,
and
said that that person was probably him (Rex). The fellow on the phone
said, no, that the person was some guy named Grant Richter (of the
Wiard Synthesizer Company). Rex, of course then called Grant. Rumor
has it that Grant and Rex may be doing some joint projects and
merging
some of their manufacturing facilities.

Later,

> I suspect it will take him a good six months to a year
> to
> be able to get his turn around times back to where they were

Six months to a year!!!

>Rumor
> has it that Grant and Rex may be doing some joint projects and
> merging
> some of their manufacturing facilities.

Now you're talking. I wait with bated breath.
Even with the situation as it is at the moment somebody mentioned that Rex
had custom orders totalling 20 panels. If you add those to the people who
are waiting for the turnaround times to shorten before they order, the
people who can't afford a panel (reduce prices please) and those who haven't
yet heard of Serge (STS Website please), there is a huge potential market
out there.
CW

> The fellow on the phone said, no, that the
> person was some guy named Grant Richter (of the
> Wiard Synthesizer Company). Rex, of course
> then called Grant. Rumor has it that Grant
> and Rex may be doing some joint projects and
> merging some of their manufacturing facilities.

HOLY S**T !!!!!!

Let's hope that's true! Can you even begin to imagine the stuff that could
come from such a partnership? Only my opinion, but Rex and Grant have some
of the most innovative stuff out there. The two of them together would give
us modules/instruments that nobody else could come CLOSE to touching!

Maybe this has something to do with the fact that all my pre-purchase
research has led me to these two companies to start with. My "OK, this is
what I'm gonna get" system was a Wiard and a few Serge panels together. I've
already asked Grant about putting bananas on the Wiard, but due to the
compact size of the patch panels on his modules, they won't fit. He offered
to make custom cables for me instead.

I'm really interested in the Wiard filter. The ability to CV between filter
states is pretty exciting. Rex told me "well, we can do that too but it
takes....." and then proceeded to list off a pile of modules and patch
routings. I wish the Serge had a 24dB filter without having to use multiple
modules...

I've spoken to both these guys on the phone, and needless to say, short of
meeting Bob Moog himself (and I've actually got a line on that as well...),
and I consider myself honored to have done so. Both really nice and
interesting and extremely innovative people. That said, *DON'T* ever call
Rex unless you got some serious time to devote to talking, if you get him.
He won't stop....<grin>

Les Mizzell
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A computer lets you make more mistakes
faster than any invention in human
history, with the possible exceptions
of handguns and tequila.
- Mitch Ratliffe in Technology Review
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I've had the privilage to play around with the Wiard Filter and it is quite an
interesting module. It is a rather "clean" filter with little grunge or distortion.
It doesn't sound to my ears that, in low pass mode, the low freqencies are
attenuated as the Q is increased, at least as much as other well known filters. The
Q is pretty sensitive and goes into oscillation easily (not necessarily a bad
thing).

The all-pass mode is very cool and sounds very "slippery" for lack of a better
metaphore.

The CV control between different modes isn't very smooth and can create noticable
changes between some of the modes. It might not work very well musically under
continuous control or via a slow envelope. Controlling it from a sequencer might be
best to jump to different modes. However, I must admit that tuning the mode to some
of the mid-points between different response curves provides some interesting
sounds.

Serge Content:
I need to try the Serge Variable Bandpass filter (VCF2). I enjoy the VCFQX and VCFS
but sometimes they are just a bit too, I dunno, plain. They can certainly do wild
things but sometimes the color just isn't quite right. I think they go from subtle
to extreme but sometimes the grades in between are not as fully covered as on other
filters. The current patch on my Serge system is running through a MOTM-420 VCF
controlled from a DSG.

What do others think of the Serge VC filters?

Eric