Who is Patch Deck for?
Musicians, sound artists, composers, producers, sound designers, coders, instrument builders, synthesizer enthusiasts, hobbyists, educators, students—anyone interested in exploring sound with synthesis and patching techniques.
Why is being module-agnostic important?
Anything goes! No specific modular system is required. The tips, techniques, and strategies in Patch Deck are designed to be platform, brand, and module-agnostic—and applicable in hardware and software. Common modular formats include Eurorack, VCV Rack, Serge, Buchla, Dotcom, Reaktor, Max/MSP, and Pure Data, among others.
Why is being evergreen important?
Because the ideas in Patch Deck are evergreen, they'll remain applicable for years to come with hardware and software (new and old)—no firmware updates required!
What inspired Patch Deck?
Patch Deck draws inspiration from the culture of knowledge sharing in the modular synth community. Discovery, happy accidents, and stumbling onto sonic ‘sweet spots’ are all part of the modular synthesis experience. Patch Deck seeks to document some of the community's cherished discoveries, off-the-beaten-path sonic experiments, and favorite approaches to patching.
Why make Patch Deck a physical object?
And having a low-tech, screen-free, tactile object—a real, actual thing—has become something of an uncommon luxury. When it’s time to make a ruckus on your modular synth, a deck of cards is a handy tool to jump-start the patching process—without interrupting creative flow.
Why make Patch Deck in the (absurdly small) format of a deck of cards?
After laying hands on Brian Eno's Oblique Strategies deck, Coglode's Nuggets deck, and the Brand Deck, it became abundantly clear that a deck of cards can be an inviting and approachable format for learning and inspiration.
However, the small print format presents a design challenge: how can a somewhat complex concept like a modular synthesis patch fit onto a card—and still be useful, visually engaging, and fun to use? Kim Bjørn and Chris Meyer tackled similar questions, paving the way with an elegant solution: a compact, legible, and cohesive visual language for signal flow block diagrams, presented in their (now classic) modular synthesis book Patch & Tweak.
Patch Deck features a further simplified visual language for signal flow, using block diagrams based on some of the same conventions established in Patch & Tweak, while optimized for the small "deck of cards" format.
Where did the patches come from?
25 musicians and sound artists contributed creative ideas, from off-the-beaten-path sonic experiments to personal takes on classic synth patches. Contributors to volume one include:
In addition to patches shared by contributors, the author curated, compiled, and wrote many of the patches in the deck. Some were original takes on patching techniques, others were simplified interpretations of existing patch concepts from texts, videos, forum threads, synth manuals, instructors, courses, etc. A complete list of sources, references, and inspiration is included in the printed user guide that accompanies the deck.
Who is behind Patch Deck?
Patch Deck was created by Aaron Taylor-Waldman, a designer and electronic musician based in Northampton, MA. Many of the patch tips, along with ample feedback and support, have been graciously offered by 25 contributors (see above) from the modular synthesis community.
Special thanks to Chris Meyer (modular synthesis educator Learning Modular, and musician Alias Zone) for key feedback, editing, advice, and support. And to Kim Bjørn (author, electronic musician, and designer behind Bjooks), Sine Mountain (David Soto), and Todd Barton for early encouragement and feedback on the project.
Shipping Now
In addition to being available to buy as a printed deck, a subset of patch tips will be released for free on the web. Aaron’s previous music education project, The Ukulele Chord Poster, was funded on kickstarter in under 24 hours. It raised enough additional funding to donate dozens of ukuleles to young music students at two public schools in the United States.
Improving Access to Music Education
A portion of the proceeds will go towards supporting aspiring music students in accessing grants, scholarships, and instruments.
Interested in contributing a patch tip, technique, or strategy to the next volume? Get in touch!
Send an email.
