Legendary · study 15 of 43

Modulr Linear

A tone of upper and lower partials, edited from a joystick and a membrane panel, in dual key mode.

Modulr Linear is a design study after the D-50 of 1987. It borrows the partial grammar: a tone is an upper and a lower layer of sampled and synthesised partials, edited from a display, a field of membrane buttons and a joystick, with chorus and reverb at the end.

Design study · not built
26 HPthe width of the Eurorack module this study is drawn as
8 macrosthe signature controls the module carries, each with its own control jack
7 jacksa note, a V/Oct and a gate in, audio out
The study

The editor, and the module it becomes.

Each study is drawn twice: as a standalone plug-in editor, and as a Eurorack module with its macro knobs and the control jacks under them. Nothing here is built.

The Modulr Linear plug-in editor, drawn as a design study
The Modulr Linear editor: a charcoal panel under a glossy top, a two-line display, coloured membrane pads, patch select, a keybed.
The Modulr Linear Eurorack module, 26 HP, in its case
The same study as a 26 HP module: a two-line display, four coloured membrane pads, seven macro knobs and a joystick well, each over a jack.

Mock UI — drawn by the specification’s own kit, not a screenshot of a shipped editor. Values are illustrative, not measured. The study is D-50’s grammar, redrawn in Modulr’s own words, and nothing on it is measured against the instrument.

The instrument it studies

D-50, 1987.

The instrument’s own grammar, as the catalogue recalls it: the sections, the controls and the look the study borrows.

The partial-synth grammar: a tone is upper and lower layers of sampled and synthesised partials, edited from a display and a field of membrane buttons (tone, partial, common), a joystick, a data slider, patch number over bank, and chorus and reverb at the end.

A glossy black face with a glare strip across the top: a two-line ice-blue dot-matrix display, a row of four flat coloured membrane pads (teal, blue, orange), a joystick-well balance cell and seven black knobs with an amber line, each over its CV jack, and the jacks in a dark tray.

  • A two-line backlit LCD
  • The structure of a tone: upper and lower partials, each a PCM sample or a synthesised wave
  • The tone, partial and common parameter groups on buttons
  • A joystick for data entry
  • A long panel of membrane buttons: patch select 1 to 8 over bank A to H
  • A slider for value
  • A chorus and reverb effects section
  • A 61-key keyboard with pitch and mod bend
The spec sheet

The module, knob by knob.

The macros are the signature controls a player reaches for, not a generic set; each one has a control jack under it on the module.

MacroKeyRangeDefault
Balancetone.balancelower only – upper onlyU 50 · L 50
Samplepartial.sample0–100%100%
Cutofftvf.cut20 Hz – 20 kHz20 kHz
Resotvf.res0–100%0%
Attacktva.attack1 ms – 10 s5 ms
Releasetva.release1 ms – 10 s300 ms
Chorusfx.chorus0–100%0%
Reverbfx.reverb0–100%0%
SideJacks
InNote (MIDI), V/Oct (CV), Gate (CV), Bend (CV), Mod (CV)
OutOut L (Audio), Out R (Audio)
This study is a study, and it is not built.ProposedLegendary, the catalogue this study belongs to, holds 43 design studies after the instruments of all time, each after an instrument’s grammar and never a copy of it. No maker’s name or logo is drawn on a panel, nothing is measured against the instrument, and the study itself is not for sale: Legendary is the plan that carries the catalogue.

Legendary is the catalogue of the Modulr Synths project: 43 design studies drawn with the specification’s own kit, 33 after the synthesizers of all time and 10 after the drum machines. The makers and years named here are the instrument’s; the names, the layouts and every value are Modulr’s own.