Gur Milstein is the founder of Tiptop Audio, a developer with a litany of celebrated designs to their name; not least their Eurorack versions of legendary 200 series Buchla modules and the recent, groundbreaking ART system.
On his entry into modular
I probably came out of my mum’s womb with two SL1200MkII Technics turntables because I just don’t remember any time in my life without them. The music touched my soul, and the gear touched my technical curiosity. In the late ’80s and early ’90s, I was involved in the beginning of the global techno movement. Then came the moment I wanted to create this type of music myself, but getting analogue synthesizers back then turned out to be very expensive and difficult. That is when I decided to try to build one myself. This made me fall in love with physics, which led me to study electronic engineering so I could really know what I was doing. When I finished my studies, I worked for an engineering company for two years and completed the practical side of electronic engineering. In 2008, I opened Tiptop Audio from a small flat in the Hollywood Hills in Los Angeles.
On his go‑to modules (aside from his own!)
I really like the Cwejman [RES‑4] resonator; I think it stands out from the crowd with a beautiful, lush sound. I like the Harvestman Piston Honda V1, which was very harsh sounding but in a good way. The Cylonix Cyclebox is another wonderful oscillator for some digital sound madness. For control, I use the Bananalogue VCS as my go‑to Serge‑style slope generator.
On the story of Tiptop Audio
Tiptop Audio was born when I realised that there were a lot more people like me who were craving analogue sound and real knobs. In the ’90s, we were horrified by the destruction MP3s and computers inflicted on the music industry and the collapse of nearly all synthesizer manufacturers, studio gear makers and top analogue studios. I started Tiptop Audio in 2008. A few years later, Chris Clepper and Piero Fragola joined. As we grew and the demand for our products increased, I decided that Tiptop should stand for its name. To do that, I needed people who would look into every part of a product we make to make it great. So, I built a synthesizer factory in Thailand and started producing all our products under one roof.
On the ART system
As Volt‑per‑octave is so sensitive to electric noise, it really is a poor choice for pitch control of oscillators. All oscillators, digital or analogue, might miss the correct note when receiving CV notes. In analogue, the effect will be a note out of tune, and in digital, it will just be the wrong note playing. The ART signal solves all these problems by sending the oscillators note value data at high speed. This means the oscillators will always play the right note you wanted, and not by chance. Once that problem was solved, we could also start making polyphonic modules that house stacks of oscillators that are all tuned properly and controlled from a single Eurorack patch cable. This is a huge step forward. As a new format, ART is challenged by the ability of the modular community of makers to embrace change. While ego, marketing strategy and backward compatibility all play a role in that, I have no doubt that ART is the right thing to take our clumsy old oscillator designs to a new level, making them more reliable, easy to work with, and even cheaper to make. Every oscillator or sequencer released these days without ART is a missed opportunity for a better Eurorack. ART is completely open and royalty‑free for anyone to use.
On the culture of modular
Modular is the highest level of synthesis possible today, and as such, it does not fit a mainstream audience and results in being a sub‑underground culture. It really puts the elements of sound, music and physics at your fingertips, and the community is full of people coming from all these angles: sound design, music, DIY and electronics. Therefore, this culture is composed of geeks, touring musicians, film composers, sound designers, DJs and lots of others who find this the hobby of their life and put everything into it. It is a culture with an addictive aspect to it, as the pleasure coming from using these fantastic instruments is truly immense.