I can't afford the Deluxe Filter bundle right now, but i sure got the Low Pass Gate bundle (included in the deluxe), which for me is a must because what primarily attracts me towards modular is the percussion side of it. And among the percussive organisms made with modular, those using a Low Pass Gate (and hence a Vactrol ) are really shining, sound wise.
As Mark Barton from MRB says in the module explanation :
"The MRB Lowpass Gate is an interpretation of a modified Buchla lowpass gate. A lowpass gate is essentially a 2-pole voltage controlled lowpass filter. The original was not capable of resonance, but later hardware versions by others as well as this one, have the feature. What makes them unique is the use of a Vactrol as the frequency control element. A Vactrol is comprised of an LED shining on a light dependent resistor (LDR) packaged together in a sealed black plastic cylinder. The brighter the LED, the less the resistance, the higher the filter tunes. The characteristic sound loved by one and all is caused by the LDR's slow response to rapid changes in light intensity. The response is asymmetrical in time, responding much faster to light increases than decreases. If the control voltage briefly flashes the LED, the LDR responds quickly, but takes a while to get used to the darkness again. As the LDR does this, the filter closes down relatively slowly (about 250ms for the Vactrol most often used) yielding a percussive ping in the process. Because an LDR is a pure resistance and not an active element, a Lowpass Gate exhibits no distortion and yields a very clean plucky sound."
I love that "Vactrol" name ... sounds a bit like "Castrol" and smells like highly inflammable stuff ... set the bongos on fire !
On a hardware counterpart, check this hardware video :
https://youtu.be/sqecSbJnECM
The author is Todd Barton ... any connection with Mark or just coincidence ?
Or this :
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MBPnI3UiWHQ
When i see this last video it makes me want even more modules replicating hardware modules like the Makenoise toys or beasts like the Buchla 200e, instead of a vst recreation of a Juno 60 ...
How about a Makenoise René sequencer ?Mmmm, yummy vactrol :
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