Since today, a new Synthesizer Kickstarter campaign is online. Ants Modular Synthesizer is a really interesting affordable and Eurorack compatible synth. Since some months, I’m interested more and more in such compact instruments with big sounds. Ants has a really cool hands-on designed and invite to a direct access to the sound. Really looking forward to play around with this new Synth.

Ants! is a modular Synthesizer in a desktop format. A powerful and deep electronic musical instrument. Exlore, patch, tweak, enjoy and create your own music. Feel the power of an analog modular synth!

Ants! is:

Analog: true analog electronics and sound.
Modular: connect the different parts and functions with standard 3.5mm pacth cords to create from classic to weird and new sounds.
Affordable: Ants! retail price will be 480€. Just a fraction of the cost of a basic eurorack modular system.
Compatible: 100% compatible with the eurorack voltage system and patching cords. It can be expanded it with most of the eurorack modules available in the market.
Portable: small size and desktop format.
Big: despite the small size Ants! have a lot of features which make it very powerful and versatile. Much more than a basic modular system.

Features:

4 Oscillators: yes, 4! V/Oct triangle-core oscillators. 2 of them switchable to LFO. Combining sinusoidal, triangle, saw, square and pulse with PWM. Play chords, detuned basses, octaved leads, drums, and frequency modulated sounds.
2 LFOs: 2 low frequency oscillators with triangle, square and pulse outputs.
VCF: switchable analog 12dB low-pass / 6db high-pass filter with resonance. At high input volumes it distort the signal. Self oscillating. It can sound crystal clear or really dirty.
2 A/R envelopes: 2 attack – release envelopes with manual and external controls. Working at different times.
Mixer: 3 input mixer. Mix oscillators, envelopes, noise or any other AC or DC signal.
2 VCAs: control the level of the signals with 2 analog VCAs.
Noise: a white noise source!
Sample and Hold: create random voltages, stepped sequences or dither your sounds or even your own voice.
AND gate: logic AND gate. Combine oscillators to create new waves, combine LFOs to create different patterns or mix your control signals to create complex modulations.
MIDI to CV: connect any MIDI keyboard, sequencer or computer and transform the digital signal to analog voltages for controlling the synth.
49 patch points, 28 potentiometers, 5 switches and 8 leds.
Normalized: Some connections are already made between some functions. Just connect your Midi or CV controller and play the synth without patching it. You can break any connection by plugging a patch cord to the normalized input.

Why to make a synth? Or even better: “Why to make a modular synth?”

Because modular synths are amazing. The idea of Ants! started while developing some new eurorack modules for Plankton Electronics. We realized that a lot of people love to play with modular synthesizers. Playing with it is fun and exciting. It involves logical, intuitve and creative minds and it’s a great way to explore sounds and making music. But modular synths are expensive: a basic system will be in the order of thousands. So we decided to design an affordable but powerful analog machine. Something to start with but at the same time a musical intrument with its own character and sonic flavour. After the Plankton Noise #01: The Bumblebee, a small DIY synth, we make a more complete machine: Ants!

And we love it!

More Informations / Sound Demos here: Planktonelectronics Ants Modular Synthesizer