Befaco & Mylar Melodies Random8 Eurorack Modulation Module (Pre-order)

This is a pre-order - stock is expected mid-June.

We say...

Killer new module from our mate Mylar Melodies! A really space-effective way to bring any system to life with looping modulation.

Manufacturer's description

RANDOM8 is an eight channel random voltage generator, with dedicated per–channel looping controls, in just 8HP. 

It’s our first collaboration with our m8 Mylar Melodies. It is born of his desire to better improvise music on modular systems, and is the module he has often wished he had in his live performance cases. It is a pitch sequencer, a CV animator, an invisible pair of hands, and an LFO.

RANDOM8 is designed to bring any sized eurorack system to life, to squeeze the most out of users other modules, and help people perform and jam music more easily. It can provide subtle yet essential per-step CV modulation to an entire system, allowing phrases to play for longer without the ear tiring of them.

It can also be configured to provide up to 8 quantised pitch generators (or any combination of pitch and modulation at the same time) and so drive a bank of oscillators and provide the melodies for a whole system.

The module provides 8 independent stepped (or smooth) random voltage generators packed into as compact size as possible. Feed the inputs triggers, and with every trigger, you get random voltages at the red output sockets on that channel and below it. Users can insert additional triggers into lower-down channels to break the normalisation and create groups of voltages.

There is an output attenuator for each channel controlled with a trim pot. By pressing a button, channels will toggle between looping – it will repeat the last 1-32 steps indefinitely – and evolving, where voltages in memory change slowly over time. If users like what they hear they can press again, and now that phrase is locked, till they press again. This makes capturing voltage loops into a single action that can be performed in a split second. To return to full randomness, double tap the channel button.

Additional features are contained in 8 menus which are all one layer deep. We have taken great care to keep it simple and consistent to understand and use despite having no screen. Hold a labeled button for 1 second, let go. Lights confirm you are in the menu that corresponds to that label. Now turn any of the 8 dials to edit that menu setting for any or all 8 channels at once. Only the controls you interact with will change.

Push any button to immediately exit the menu and return to looping and evolving. Users can, for example, add slide per-channel to turn these stepped voltages into complex smooth LFO shapes. More details below.

Presets can also be saved and recalled for quick access to different configurations.

Firmware can be updated in seconds with a USB-C cable & computer.

We believe that RANDOM8 has the power to inject fun and surprise into even a massive eurorack system. It can act like a ‘cheat code’ to perform live more easily, by keeping settings animated and ever-changing so you focus on other parts of your system. It can also fit into the smallest cases, too.

The idea for RANDOM8 was originally conceived when experimenting with native random and attenuator devices in VCV Rack. A software version of RANDOM8 will also be available as a free VCV Rack device at launch, for anyone to download and use as they see fit.

Features

• 8 channels of random looping CV generation in 8HP.
• Cycle between looping and evolving voltages with a single button press. Double click to return to random.
• Pitch quantiser per channel with 16 options (1 unquantised, 14 scales, 1V octave scale).
• Looped phrases can have step length from 1-32
• Cascading normalised triggers to create groups of voltages.
• Input trigger divider per channel, letting 1-8 triggers advance each step.
• Slide for creation of LFOs, slow evolving voltages and acid lines.
• Offset to raise voltage range and ‘clip’ voltages to the ceiling.
• 8 preset locations to save and recall entire module state.
• Simple one-layer menu system designed by someone who dislikes menu systems.
• Distinct and considered LED colours in menus aid with visualising settings.
• Long press buttons to reset channels or whole module conveniently.
• Per channel probability to make voltage changes less frequent.