2024 update

Recently I had a few people contact me about mods, unfortunately I have long since run out of parts, and no longer make any stuff. I do not have any schematics either they bit the dust when my old laptop broke.

In addition to this the chip used in the VCO mod has been discontinued and not easily available for some years now.

There is quite a bit of info about modding the Monotribe here:

https://www.modwiggler.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=39099&hilit=Monotribe

At some point in the future I may do some more mods, but they would be new ones, but it very likely won’t be anytime soon as I have way too much going on for the foreseeable future.

Final batch of Monotribe CV Gate boxes

Just recently had a few enquiries about the CV Gate boxes that I used to make, I ran out of parts a while back and to be honest demand for them kind of dried up, so I stopped offering them, as I still had some cases left and a few new enquiries I have re-designed a new version, the differences are purely cosmetic, functions remain the same, price is £20 plus postage, these are handmade so if you don't like my price I suggest diy your own, TRRS jack to 2 x TS, tip of TRRS is gate, second ring of TRRS is CV.

Shipping is £9 ouside of UK or £4 in UK, all prices and payment in £GBP by paypal.

I think I have 5 or 6 available then there will be no more, here is a pic.

Insta

Februaury 2017 stock status

A small batch of VCO, Xtreme Drum decay and the new Midi I/O/T (with optional VCA de-click) will start shipping from 27/02/17, currently 3 pieces of each are available, they usually go pretty quickly but I might make some more later in the year if you miss out.

 The new midi kit has the option for VCA de-click if you do not mind soldering 1 wire, it also has the option to have the midi out as a midi thru instead, you can install a switch to set if you want to (no switch is included, jumper is pre-set to out)

Prices are: VCO £55
Xtreme drum decay £55
Midi £45
All prices are in £GBP payment is by paypal, shipping is £9 worldwide

I have also made some Moog Werkstatt CV/Gate kits, these have 3 inputs:

CV for VCO
CV for VCF
Proper Gate input.

The CV inputs have trimmers to set scaling and the Gate input also accepts audio from say a drum machine separate audio output, as well as the usual trigger or gate signals, very flexible and make the Werkstatt super useful. The Moog I/O expander can still be used as mine fit inside the unit and holes need to be drilled and 4 wires need to be soldered to fit it, full illustrated guide sent by email.

Price for these is £35GBP

To order or for more info hit the "Email Me" link at the upper right.

New demos of xtreme decay drum mod

Here are a couple of cleaner demos of the xtreme decays mod, the first batch went very quickly and I will have a few more available this week, see the prior post for details about the mod.

Demos:

https://soundcloud.com/daren-ager/monotribe-drum-mods-xtreme-decay-demo-2

https://soundcloud.com/daren-ager/monotribe-mods-xtreme-drum-decays-demo-3

Xtreme decay drum mod demo

Below is a brief demo of the xtreme decay version of the new drum mod, you will need to listen on big speakers or headphones to hear the bass properly. Starts with the bass drum decay at minimum, you will notice that is much more powerful than the stock BD, then as the clip progresses I tweak it a bit. the snare drum has a fairly wide pitch range now, at minimum position the sweep is a bit more punchy than stock, I adjust as the clip plays, the pitch can go up to a sort of hi tom or bell like sound depending on the decay and noise setting. The snare noise now can go very short, stock or much longer, same for hihat at the longest setting the hihat sounds more like a ride cymbal decay.

The BD decay near maximum can last for around 5 seconds, at maximum it is almost infinite although it does decay very slowly.

As mentioned before these will be LTD edition to 30 pieces, easy to fit, circuit board comes fully assembled, just drill the holes using the template provided and solder 5 points. Price is £55 plus shipping, to order email me by clicking the link at the right.

There will be a normal version also coming which will be LTD to 30, it will sound a bit different than this version with shorter decays than this version.

https://soundcloud.com/daren-ager/monotribe-drum-mods-xtreme-decay

New drum mods WIP peek

As mentioned before there is a new drum mod kit coming soon, actually there will be 2 versions each numbered limited edition of 30 pieces, as usual they will come fully assembled built using good parts and proper PCBs, full instructions for fitting and drill guide, simply solder 5 wires and drill 6 holes to fit.

These mods are not available anywhere else, they are the result of many hours of experimentation and work, I think that they make the monotribe drums very useful, due to the way the BD and SD are reconfigured the stock sound is no longer available for them, but I have tried to keep it similar enough that when the pots are at zero they are fairly close (but a bit better!)

Right now I am ordering the components and designing the stickers and working on the installation guides, so the first batch should be available in a week or so, the price is £55GBP plus shipping at cost, payment is by paypal, if you are interested keep an eye on the blog for further updates, in the meantime here is a vine of one of the prototypes, bear in mind it is shot using phone built in mic, but it should give a rough idea.

https://vine.co/v/e3VPVpiQuJL

Better demos in the next few days.

Bonus Round - VCO mod NEW BATCH

After a few requests for VCO mod I have managed to source the parts for a final (this time really final!) run, the first 3 will be ready next week (around the 27th October) they are slightly different than the previous version, a different shaped PCB and some component changes, so a slightly different sound, but essentially the same in what they add to the sound capabilities of the Monotribe.

Price is £55 GBP plus shipping (£5 UK, £9 rest of world)

Pretty simple to fit, full illustrated instructions sent by email, they come fully assembled with just 4 wires to solder and a few holes to drill, a drilling template is sent to allow you to get the holes accurate.

Pics and more info to follow soon, in the meantime if you want to order one hit the email link to the right. (monotribemodsATgmailDOTcom)

How to order or contact

To order or get in touch email me monotribemodsATgmailDOTcom

I will be setting up a proper web store eventually but for now ordering is done by email.

Stock update - drum and VCO

Just 1 VCO mod left, and also down to last 2 drum decay mods, neither will be available any more once these few have gone.

The drum decay mod will be replaced later in the year with a different version which will be a little more expensive (£55), the VCO mod will most likely not be returning due to parts, there may in the future be a similar mod, but it will definitely not be the same.

A new mod which takes the place of the VCO mod is coming, but it is totally different and will not be limited edition.

Some other mods are in the pipeline too, but not until later in the year.

Roll Call - Last ever VCO mod run 5 available, MIMO

Heads up, the last batch of VCO mods is available now, I will not be making any more of these due to the chip becoming unobtanium, and I wanted to keep it below 50 pieces worldwide, so act now if you do not want to miss out.

Here is a picture

It is an additional VCO which is fed from the internal VCO then mixed back into the filter, it is capable of a number of different effects depending on the settings, see the youtube demos for the kinds of sounds it can make. Certainly for techno or experimental music I feel it takes the Monotribe to a whole new level, and I am proud to say that a few of these have ended up in the hands of some techno legends. It is a wild little mod for sure and I won't be directly replacing it, although I do have some new and different mods coming soon around summer time.

Price is £55 plus shipping £5 UK £9 rest of world, to order hit the email link at top right of page.

Small passive mixer for Monotribe, Volca etc

I made some small 4 channel passive mixers, great for small tabletop set-ups, 4 mono channels, built using good parts, the size is a little smaller than a iPhone, each channel has a level control and there is a master level control. Nice and simple and clean, always a handy thing to have around, price is £30 plus postage.

Here are some pictures

Got midi? Got gear that takes triggers? Read on!

If you have midi out on your Monotribe and you use other gear that takes triggers, like drum synths, sequencers or modular gear, then this might be of interest.

I have developed a box which takes midi output from the Monotribe and converts each drum hit and each synth gate into triggers (not CV from the synth, just a trigger each time the VCA opens) It spits out 5v triggers for each of the parts, and even when you use the roll function on the drum parts, so you can get nice trigger patterns happening, and by setting the active steps different for each part you create some nice polyrhythmic stuff too!

It is working very well at the current prototype stage, and seems very tight timing wise, more info will follow in the coming weeks and all being well, I hope to have these available for sale sometime soon.

In the meantime here is a vine sneek peek:

https://vine.co/v/Ot3B52uFjO2

If you have any questions email me from the link at the top of the page. Pricing TBC.

Sync cables available now

Here are some nice quality 50cm sync cables, £9.99 for a set of 4 or £3 each, probably makes more sense to add to an order due to postage costs, but I am happy to post them at cost if you do not need anything else £2.03 UK £9.75 worldwide.

Currently available and prices

Here is a list of current stock:

Updated 29/01/15, previous update 27/01/15

VCO £55 (2 in stock) when gone no more for a while

Drum decay £40 (2 in stock) when gone no more for a while

Mutes £35 (0 in stock) when gone no more for a while

Midi £40 (3 in stock) 

CV/Gate boxes £20 (1 in stock)

Shipping is £9.75 for tracked worldwide shipping, priced per parcel not per item.

To order email me by the link at the top right of the page. Payment to be made by paypal in £GBP only, full instructions sent by email at time of shipping with tracking number.

Video links - listen on good speakers or headphones to hear BD mods properly!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-6ZJ9nxnNT4

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LthmkrIti3I

If you have any questions email me using the link at the top right of the page.

Don't forget to follow this blog for updates on new products and kits!

Sync24 to Monotribe, Volca, new Electribe

Following on from the last post I decided that an external Sync24 (aka dinsync) converter would be a better idea, mainly because I have Volcas and other gear that I might want to sync to my vintage Roland gear or my Elektron Analog Four.

So basically the idea is that the box has a sync input which will be converted from 96 pulses per measure (24ppqn) to 8 or 16 pulses per measure (2 or 4ppqn) the outputs are on 3.5mm sockets and are available at the same time of course. In addition the pulses are only sent when the sync master is running, and on stop the pulse resets to zero, so that on each start everything lines up.

The output pulses are 5v and 5ms duration, so they work as clock for lots of different devices and also triggers for modular or CV gear.

It will run from AA batteries or 9V DC power supply.

I expect to have some of these ready for sale in early 2015, pricing will be around £55

I have tested it with these devices as master TR606, MC202, TB303, Analog 4, and it works very well.

I have tested Monotribe, Volcas, MS20mini, Doepfer Dark Energy, so far.

Design and features might be subject to change, but not drastically.

Here is a picture of the first prototype, final version will look nicer, a video will follow at some point, so stay tuned if interested.

Any interest in Sync24 (dinsync) internal input mod?

I have long been a fan of Roland din sync gear, TB-303, TR-606, MC-202, TR-808 etc and decided it would be cool if the Monotribe could be synced to them without for example using MIDI or a trigger output from say a TR-606.

So I am in the process of prototyping a dinsync to Monotribe (or Volca etc) converter, basically it takes a sync24 output, and divides it down so that the Monotribe can sync to my TR-606. It works very nicely across the whole tempo range of sync24 and I am thinking that I might offer a finished version for sale.

As per usual I will get proper PCBs made and before taking the plunge wanted to check if there is any interest, so if you are interested let me know either by email (link at top) or in the comments.

Pricing will be around £40 for an internal version, I might consider an external version but it will cost more due to extra parts, possibly £55-60.

Current stock

Mute boards have all gone now, I might do another batch in the future but not for a while, plenty of MIDI kits left, a few VCO and a few Drum mods currenly available, CV/Gate boxes almost always in stock.

Prices

MIDI £40 - includes optional free click reduce.

Drum £40

VCO £55

CV/Gate £20

Shipping by tracked airmail £9 charged per parcel not per item, so if you have 2 or 3 mods you still only pay £9 as long as you order them together.

All payments in GBP and by paypal, to order email me from the link up at the top right of the screen.

All kits are simple enough to fit for a beginner, some soldering experience and use of drill is required, kits come with drill stickers to ensure accurate holes, and instructions are sent by email.

As always if you have any questions please ask, although note that I do not have schematics available for any of the kits, if you are into DIY then there are plenty of great resources for Monotribe mods on the internet, some of which I have contributed to.

Mute boards available (finally!) now includes drum output.

Mute boards are available to buy now, I have also added a drum mix output, they come fully assembled, you just drill the holes and solder one end of the 7 wires to the Monotribe PCB. Quite easy to fit and with instructions and drilling guide sticker as with all my kits.

Basically what it allows you to do is turn off each drum sound or the VCO individually, handy for jamming. Note that the snare has 2 switches, one for the shell and one for the noise, quite handy if you have my drum mod board as it allows a few extra sounds like hats, clap, rim and conga type sounds depending on the position of the drum mod and mute switches. For example with the noise turned off and the drum mod snare set to high it sounds like a conga etc. The VCO mute allows you to do filtered noise or external input without hearing the VCO. Operation is simple, when switches are down they are off, when up the sound will be heard.

The drum mix out provides a separate output for the drum section, it is independant of the drum volume control, meaning that the drums can be turned down but still available at the drum mix output, so that you can have external fx on the drums or synth section separately, or if you want you can run the drums back into the audio in for filtering.

Please note the drum output is not quite as loud as the main output, but when you run into a mixer it is not a problem. Price is £30GBP plus postage, if you want to order get in contact by email link at top right of page.

Here is a picture

VCO mod status

VCO mods run started, this will be the final lot, I make them in batches of 3 or 4, extremely ltd edition so if you want one holla! Currently 3 are ready to ship.

£55 plus shipping

UK £5

World £9.75

TB-303 vs Monotribe

For fun I thought I'd hook up a Monotribe to a TB-303 using my CV/Gate box, and do a quick comparison, I set the Monotribe as close as possible and made some Vines of the result. Nothing serious just a bit of fun, but I think it shows that the Monotribe can sound nice and squelchy with the right filter settings.

https://vine.co/v/M1tzBDKYiDw
https://vine.co/v/M1tz06WMjpe

https://vine.co/v/M1t7jrB5TWD

https://vine.co/v/M1tm9pT5F61