I’m building a eurorack format analog synthesizer

I blame Leif Norman, Robert Margouleff, and Malcolm Cecil. In that order.

In 2021, Leif visited while on a road trip and showed me a Korg Volca. I played around with it a bit, and was immediately intrigued. I had last attempted to make music using Fruity Loops in high school, but there was something special about using a physical device to make music rather than a mouse and screen. After he left, I began amassing a collection of Volcas.

In 2023, Leif returned and suggested that while he was in town, we should go to the National Music Center and see Tonto. As we took the ‘Backstage Pass Tour’ we came across a large number of analog synthesizers, and they were all things of beauty. Beyond being capable of making music, fact that many had been built by hand added to their presence.

Seeing Tonto, I knew I had to make my own synthesizer. And thus began my descent into this particular form of madness.