The ring modulator in the 2600/TTSH can be DC coupled, so you can use it as a VCA for control voltages with the switch in the DC position. You probably won’t be using the ring modulator in every patch, and that means you often have a spare VCA for other interesting and useful duties.

After having immersed myself in manuals, online threads, vintage synth books, patchbooks, and music collections, I thought a good (and long overdue) wrap-up to the series here would be a random brain dump of what I learned.

If you’re following me on Instagram you may have already seen some video evidence of my TTSH making noise. All components are in place, preliminary calibration has been done and we’re really pretty darned close to having a working TTSH on our hands.

The mainboard of the TTSH seems pretty imposing when it’s empty, but if you go really, really slowly… it will seem like it takes forever. When it’s done, you’ll find yourself wondering how close you really are to being done.

The first step in the actual TTSH assembly is the submodules – oscillators, filter and power supply. Things are getting a bit exciting, with the risk of physical injury (to me) and the threat of a lawsuit (from Moog). You’ll also learn how the ladder filter got its name.

This is the second in a series of articles on my TTSH Arp 2600 clone project, in which I demystify, for myself at least, the process and principles of transistor matching.

I’m about to start building a clone of the ARP 2600, a semi-modular analogue synth from the 1970s. Here’s an introduction to the project for people who aren’t already completely mental for vintage analogue synths.

Eurorack is often referred to in the modular community as EuroCrack. It empties bank accounts, destroys relationships and ruins lives. On the plus side, it does make strange music that no one wants to listen to. My involvement with it was inevitable.