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Modular Profile: Jake Knight

Jake Knight of RTYK Modular.Jake Knight of RTYK Modular.

Jake Knight founded RYK Modular back in 2009, hitting the scene with the excellent M185 sequencer; a module originally designed for the Roland System 100m format but later adapted for Eurorack, and which later became the stimulus for Intellijel’s wildly successful Metropolis and subsequent Metropolix sequencers. The recent ALGO Quad Complex Oscillator Bank, by contrast, is an impeccably designed Eurorack module for creating complex FM and additive sound textures, with a rather unique algorithm display to boot.

On his entry into modular

I first got interested in modular synthesizers as a teenager, growing up in the late ’80s picking up Roland catalogues from a local music shop. One catalogue had the whole range of the Roland System 100m products, which I studied meticulously, but could never afford. I built small modular projects from electronics magazine articles like ring modulators, a compander noise gate and a spring reverb. These I housed in cardboard boxes with 3.5mm patch sockets for interconnection. So I had a kind of cardboard modular setup for a few years.

On his go‑to modules (aside from his own!)

The reason I started designing modules was to create modules that I wanted to use that did not really exist. So mostly the only modules I use are my own! Probably the only one module that stays in my Eurorack rack is a [ALM/Busy Circuits] Pamela’s Pro Workout. I often like to use it as a four‑channel rhythm sequencer into a Vector Wave set up as four drum synth channels. In the System 100m, I really like the inverter on the 132 mixer, it is great for adding an upside‑down keyboard CV to a patch whilst playing. Also the gate delay on the 172 is really nice for adding an offset syncopated note trigger to sequences.

On the RYK ALGO

The idea behind releasing the ALGO was to try and debunk the myth that FM synthesis was hard to understand, to make a module where all the key controls for 4‑op FM were available without menus, and to display the algorithm in such a way that it is easy to understand the intermodulation between oscillators. Hopefully it has succeeded in this goal.

On the Roland System 100m

The first real modular synth I owned was the Roland System 100m, mainly due to a childhood obsession, and also the fact that it used to be available at a reasonable price. I love the design continuity that Roland made with this series; both the graphic design, label terminology and panel layout. Most importantly, the form factor is a perfect balance between size and ergonomics. There is some clever signal routing and normalisation, the power connectors also carry CV from the keyboard input to each module, and of course every input has an attenuator!

On the culture of modular

The use of modular has seen a dramatic resurgence in the last decade or so. I think this is partially due to a desire to experiment and make sounds or music that is perhaps less predictable than working from a computer screen. Modular and hardware systems can also remove some of the modern problem of ‘seeing music’ as you make it. DAWs tend to encourage a visual approach, where every note or loop is visualised and snaps or conforms to a neat and tidy structure. Perhaps with modular people are more inclined to use their ears rather than their eyes, and trust in what they are hearing.

www.ryk-modular.com