Erica Synths DIY Prototyping Breadboard

Moritz Klein is the reason I got into synths, his YouTube videos[0] are a really accessible intro. I’m super excited for this, we need more accessible prototyping platforms&#x2F;tools. I ended up going down that rabbit hole myself a few months ago and built this[1] but it would be a pain to commercialize.<p>[0] <a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;youtube.com&#x2F;@moritzklein0" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;youtube.com&#x2F;@moritzklein0</a><p>[1] <a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;old.reddit.com&#x2F;r&#x2F;synthdiy&#x2F;comments&#x2F;14roaib&#x2F;synth_breadboarding_lab&#x2F;" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;old.reddit.com&#x2F;r&#x2F;synthdiy&#x2F;comments&#x2F;14roaib&#x2F;synth_bre...</a>

I&#x27;m pretty unimpressed: this is stupid expensive for rather little.<p>Tangible Waves&#x27;s AE Modular format is particularly easy for hobbyists to develop on: it&#x27;s strictly 0-5V, with simple power requirements, etc., and it&#x27;s very cheap. For a number of years Tangible Waves has sold the BRAEDBOARD module, which is more or less the same thing as Erica Synths&#x27;s product, but costs $30. And Tangible Waves goes further: they sell a PCB prototyping module kit for $20, called DIY, to take your design one step further.<p><a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.tangiblewaves.com&#x2F;store&#x2F;p92&#x2F;BRAEDBOARD.html" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.tangiblewaves.com&#x2F;store&#x2F;p92&#x2F;BRAEDBOARD.html</a><p><a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.tangiblewaves.com&#x2F;store&#x2F;p91&#x2F;DIY_kit.html" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.tangiblewaves.com&#x2F;store&#x2F;p91&#x2F;DIY_kit.html</a>

Moritz Klein is a pretty great explainer of DIY electronics for synths. All his work with Erica Synths, including this breadboard, is such a welcome (and needed) addition, especially since the videos and manuals are all loaded with info and available to everyone, whether they&#x27;ve bought a DIY module from Erica or not. Props to both Moritz and Erica Synths for doing it like this.<p>As to this breadboard, there have been a few synth- (or even modular synth-) focused breadboards created over the years (such as the one Bastl&#x2F;Casper released a few years back), but this seems like a particularly well-designed one. I quite like the modular interfacing section (with its adapter PCBs) near to bottom -- that&#x27;s a nice way to handle adding more controls easily&#x2F;modularly.

I have another Erica Synths product, the Pico System III, that accepts &quot;voice cards&quot;. With the synth, you receive some blank voice cards which are effectively prototyping boards that you can use to create your own sound path by soldering components onto them. An example can be seen from 2:55 in this video <a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.youtube.com&#x2F;watch?v=8Rw9dGsLlY0" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.youtube.com&#x2F;watch?v=8Rw9dGsLlY0</a>

Bastl had a similar product called the OMSYNTH. They demoed a eurorack upgrade several years ago but never released it.

Addac systems has had a similar product for a while:<p><a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.addacsystem.com&#x2F;en&#x2F;products&#x2F;modules&#x2F;addac200-series&#x2F;addac210" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.addacsystem.com&#x2F;en&#x2F;products&#x2F;modules&#x2F;addac200-ser...</a>

Moritz Klein, the designer of this project, is a genius when it comes to analog circuitry. He&#x27;s been making simple DIY synth kits (with Erica Synths) for a good while now. They&#x27;re all amazing. They come with manuals that are much more enlightening than most electronics textbooks. They&#x27;re fun to build. And they sound pretty great.

for when your synth isn&#x27;t modular enough

I’m surprised electronic breadboards have not changed for over 50 years.<p>Nothing worse than spending an hour debugging a circuit only to find the breadboard connection is bad. Lots of students in digital logic class can attest to this.

Looks like a great way to teach electronics applied to music and synthesizer working in general; probably also a good tool for schools. It&#x27;s too expensive though, which places it in a niche where DIYers wanting to build their synth then actually play it would probably get a TSynth or a Momentum. <a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.youtube.com&#x2F;watch?v=uCA2L7CeWSE" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.youtube.com&#x2F;watch?v=uCA2L7CeWSE</a>

Holy cow this thing is magical! Here is it emulating a TR-909 snare!<p><a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;m.youtube.com&#x2F;watch?v=hULEn2_4Unw" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;m.youtube.com&#x2F;watch?v=hULEn2_4Unw</a>

I have every Moritz Klein module and highly recommend it

honestly breadboards with a power supply built in is genius. Usb hub would be good too