Legendary · study 36 of 43

Modulr Grid

A grid of eight voices by eight patterns, read straight off the lamps, with a jam button that plays what the grid shows.

Modulr Grid is a design study after the LinnDrum of 1982. It borrows the grid grammar: patterns read straight off a matrix of amber lamps, a bank of pattern keys, a jam key that plays what the grid shows, and knobs for each voice.

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
6 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 Grid plug-in editor, drawn as a design study
The Modulr Grid editor: a dark grey wedge console, an amber readout, an eight-by-eight lamp grid, pattern keys and eleven voice keys.
The Modulr Grid Eurorack module, 26 HP, in its case
The Modulr Grid module, 26 HP: a grey title band, an amber eight-by-eight lamp matrix, eight macro knobs and a jack tray.

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

The instrument it studies

LinnDrum, 1982.

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

The grid grammar: patterns read straight off a matrix of amber lamps, a bank of pattern keys and a jam key that plays what the grid shows, and small black knobs with white pointers for every voice.

A 26 HP panel in the machine's own grey and black: a grey title band over a black panel, the amber eight-by-eight lamp matrix sunk into the band as the signature, a strip of the eight pattern lamps, eight black macro knobs with white pointers in two rows, each over its own cream control jack, and the jacks in a dark tray.

  • A grid of buttons: eight instrument columns by eight pattern rows, each with its own lamp
  • Eleven voice buttons along the bottom, each with its own level, pitch and decay knobs
  • A threshold control and a low-pass filter on the output
  • A mix level for each instrument
  • A bank of eight patterns and a jam button that plays what the grid shows
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
Temposeq.tempo40 – 240 BPM120 BPM
Mixout.mix-inf – +6 dB0.0 dB
Tuneout.tune±100 ct0 ct
Filterout.filter200 Hz – 12 kHz12 kHz
Levelvoice.level0 – 100%80%
Pitchvoice.pitch-12 – +12 st0 st
Decayvoice.decay20 ms – 2.0 s400 ms
Thresholdtrig.threshold0 – 100%20%
SideJacks
InNote (MIDI), V/Oct (CV), Gate (CV), Clock (CV)
OutOut (Audio), Trig (CV)
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.