This was the first synth module I built. It’s been a long road; it’s been on a “temporary” panel in a “temporary” case since I first got it working. Today, I mounted the parts onto an aluminium panel; it’s finished.

The module itself is one of Yves Usson’s awesome designs. For those of you familiar with the superb Arturia MiniBrute analog synth – Yves is the man who co-created it with Arturia. It really does have a warmth and depth that is surprisingly close to the original MiniMoog VCF. As this was my first module, I bought a kit and a ready-made PCB in order to get me going. I learnt a lot building this module, all of which gave me the confidence to tackle further projects with my own strip-board layouts and sourcing components straight from a bill-of-materials.

The kit came from Soundtronics, who are just a few miles up the road from me in Rugby. I can’t fault the quality of their components and PCBs – they can be a tad pricier on some components than other suppliers, though.

This is the first of a bunch of modules that I’m in the process of transferring from prototype plywood panels to finished aluminium; expect a rash of blog posts over the coming couple of weeks!

Build Documents

Yves makes all of his schematics and PCB designs available via his YuSynth website.

My panel design and cutting guide are available below as 600dpi PDF files. Note that I’ve not included holes for mounting hardware in the cutting guide as these can vary from system to system, depending on your mount/rails/bit of timber of choice. Note also that I use M4 PCB standoffs – you might want to cut the 4mm holes to a different diameter, depending on your standoff of choice.

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