Husband‑and‑wife duos, siblings, parent‑child teams; we’ve seen Eurorack companies grow out of all sorts of relationships, but it’s not often we hear of a guitar teacher and student teaming up to design modules. Brand new Australian developer Cycle Instruments is one such company, started by Josh Wilkinson and his teacher Nick Lavers. Here Josh shares his own favourite modules, the story of Cycle Instruments and their impressive debut module: Tetrachords [reviewed SOS September 2024 issue].
On his entry into modular
I got into modular after visiting Five G [Music Technology] in Tokyo and hearing the [Mutable Instruments] Clouds module for the first time. I still remember thinking, ‘If I can create this many sounds just by turning the knobs on this one module... what can this entire wall do!?’
I bought Clouds and a DIY PSU from Schneidersladen immediately when I got home. It was pretty expensive and I figured out that the DIY module kits were a lot cheaper so ended up just buying a bunch of those Hexinverter drum modules at the start, which forced me to learn how to solder really well.
On his go‑to modules (aside from his own!)
I’m as basic as it gets. I still only have a 104HP system after all these years, based around the Doepfer A111‑4 Quad Precision Oscillator. I like that oscillator because you can stack the voices and do the really thick analogue sounds that you can’t really do with a single oscillator. Mutable Clouds is still my go‑to effect module, I know that thing like the back of my hand. I also love my trusty Hexinverter Mutant Bassdrum that I built way back from a kit. The kick is now pretty sketchy, its pots are all touchy and scratchy, but there’s just something about it on a big PA that’s absolutely in another league. I’ve tried to get rid of it a few times but missed it instantly.
On the story of Cycle Instruments
Cycle Instruments started out as a progression of conversations between myself and Nick Lavers. Nick was my guitar teacher at school and we kept jamming after I left school, and we both got into modular around the same time. Coming from a ‘guitar jams’ background I think both of us were getting frustrated about how we had all this harmonic power in our cases, but it was very difficult to control and jam together using the sequencers we had at the time. I think Nick really brought it all together when he mocked up the first faceplate design using the tetrachord theory to build scales. That’s when it all clicked and we got really excited. Then we just had to figure out how to build modules... which took about seven years.
On the Tetrachords
I see the Tetrachords module as an instrument. It requires you to learn how to play it, have a dialogue with it, and it inspires me to think about music theory in very interesting ways. Western harmony is very interesting and beautiful but it is often pretty inaccessible unless you go down a traditional learning path. For me once the module prototypes got further along I began just to sit with it for hours and move the melodies and chords against each other in ways that I liked, and began to really understand what different intervals and chords sound like. I think the coolest thing about the module is that you can just follow your internal taste when it comes to harmony and then learn — almost by osmosis — what you’re doing in a traditional music theory sense. I like to think the essence of Nick’s 20 years of teaching guitar somehow got uploaded into the module along with the code he wrote.
On the culture of modular
I like modular culture. I think it has aspects that some people describe negatively, like the hoarding or the expensiveness. But I think fetishising, or collecting for the sake of collecting, shows how passionate people are about the module designs and the platform. Which I think is cool.
I also like the almost cult‑like relationships you can find yourself in. I’ve cold messaged people while on tour and been invited into people’s studios for jams all over the world, simply based on the fact that we both are into modular. You don’t really get that if you play piano or guitar.
From a purely music perspective I am super inspired by people like Colin Benders, JakoJako and Barker who are playing out and using their systems as instruments, not simply as experimental sound boxes in the studio.