Making An Analog Kick With Modular Synths

We’ve seen modular synthesis take off significantly in the last few years. Last year at NAMM there even was an entire corner of the main hall dedicated to small boutique synthesizer companies! For our new episode in the Riverside Studio live instrument series, we asked producer Tobi Neuman to share his techniques for creating an analog kick sound out of just five modules. Watch and learn – this video is a great introduction for producers just getting their first taste of modular.

Modular Synths + Tobi Neumann: How To Make An Analog Kick Drum

In the video, Tobi uses five different modules to get his kick working:

Hear Some Of Tobi’s Mixes:

In addition to being a complete production powerhouse, Tobi Neumann also mixes and performs live – check out some of his latest Soundcloud tracks to get a taste:

Want more great production tutorials? See the links below, or click here to see all of the tutorials in this Riverside Studios series. Our thanks to the Riverside crew for letting us film on location with their artists.

analoganalog synthanalog synthesizerberlinCWEJMANDoepfermake noisemodular synthsproduction gearproduction hardwareriverside studiosTiptop Audiotobi neumann
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  • ItsWesSmithYo

    thanks dudes….what a trip…just started using a mother 32 for some total outboard sounds…let’s see, tweak tweak tweak…

  • hulqen

    I really love the sound, but it comes at a price! This configuraton (excl. case+cables) costs $1339 according to modulargrid.net :O Is there a way to get (sort of) the same sound with cheaper/simpler modules?

    • White Wulfe

      It’s the Cwejman “tax”. Really high quality gear, but it has a rather stiff price, not to mention if you want to buy it new they’re rather tough to get your hands on due to modules being done in small batches throughout the year and the eurorack community drools over them and seems to be willing to re-mortgage their house just to get his modules.

      I would suspect the guys on MuffWiggler in the eurorack section could come up with all sorts of combinations that could provide a similar sound for a lower budget.

      EDIT: And don’t forget that the stackcables he’s using are something like $8.50 USD each.

    • Rob

      Well every VCA will do the job. Take two Doepfer A-132-3 DVCA as example and you have 4 separate VCA and it’s much cheaper. I am also sure that the A-110 VCO will also do the job as VCO.

  • Fatlimey

    Highly entertaining, he’s a real character but the quality of his output is top shelf. More of that please!

  • gigglekey

    Neat! I like using the DS-3 and DS-8 for drum reinforcement. Clones can be had on ebay for not very much, and they’re full frequency. The knobs and trigger mode make it easy to use them live.

  • lanceblaise

    Nice to see some modular love here on DJTT, since a lot of us are now incorporating them into our live sets and hybrid sets.

  • Jon Athen

    Hi Guys, thank you for the Video, it was great. The modules sound very tight and fatt!! Do you think it would be possible to build the same thing in max or reactor for example?