mki x es.EDU Hi-Hat (kit)

Synthesized, analog Hi-Hats are pretty fascinating. That’s because emulating any kind of cymbal using an analog circuit is tough since the sound a real cymbal produces is not quite pure noise, but also not really harmonic. Still, a couple of classic drum machines like the Roland TR-606 and TR-808 took their best shot at it, with quite strange-sounding results that have since become iconic in electronic music. Inspired by this, we decided to follow suit and continue our percussion-focused second season of educational DIY kits with the mki x es.edu DIY Hi-Hats.

Features

• TR-808 inspired circuit
• Manual Tune, Decay and Tone controls
• CV controlled Tune and Decay
• Accent input

Technical specifications:

CV span (full range)-5V - +5V

Accent>+2.5V

Module width 8HP

Module depth 30mm

Power consumption 7mA@+12V, 7mA@-12V

NB! All kits in these series are simple and come with extensive user manuals which can be downloaded separately, therefore we will not provide customer support in case your DIY build fails to function or similar.

Erica Synths and Moritz Klein – have developed a series of educational DIY kits under the brand name mki x es.EDU with one specific goal in mind: to teach people with little-to-no prior experience how to design analog synthesizer circuits from scratch. What you’ll find in the box is not simply meant to be soldered together and then disappear in your rack. Instead, you are wanted to be taken through the circuit design process step by step, explaining every choice they’ve made and how it impacts the finished module.

In total, they have developed 9 kits to build a fully-featured modular monosynth: a sequencer, a VCO, a wavefolder, a noise/S&H module, a mixer, a VCF, an Envelope generator, a dual VCA, and an output stereo mixer with a headphone amplifier. Additionally, an affordable eurorack case with a DIY PSU will also be available. While these kits are easy to build, they did not compromise on design and functionality. They will launch one kit every 4-6 weeks. Each kit comes with an extensive user manual (40+ pages PDF-Download) that will dive deep into not only the electronics behind each circuit but also the fundamental principles of sound synthesis. They hope that the mki x es.EDU project will inspire future engineers and will contribute to the ever-growing diversity of electronic music technology.