Modulr Scream

Two oscillators, a high-pass and a low-pass filter each with a peak that screams, and a patch panel you can patch.

Modulr Scream is a semi-modular synthesizer after the grammar of a 1978 two-filter instrument: two oscillators with ring mod and sync, a high-pass and a low-pass filter each with a peak, two envelope generators, a modulation generator, an external signal processor and a patch panel of mini jacks with seven cords patched as drawn. Click two jacks to patch them, double-click to unplug. As drawn, oscillator 1 reaches the filter alone, so oscillator 2 and the mixer are heard once that cord is unplugged.

Plug-in · VST3 and Audio Unit

Add to basket · $25→Legendary→

41 controlsevery one can be automated from your music software

56 patchessix distinct sounds; each one loads the whole sound

VST3 · AUApple silicon, macOS 11 or later

Hear it

Six sounds, played as they ship.

Each clip is the plug-in itself: a patch is picked in the drawer and loaded, then a played chord or line sounds on it, the way it is played into the plug-in from a keyboard. The fifty-six patches hold six distinct sounds, and these are those six. No effects, no mastering.

Lead · starting pointThe lead roleA sustained sawtooth with a gentle filter-envelope opening, a 5.5 Hz triangle vibrato and a short portamento, through a moderately peaked low-pass. The drawn cords leave oscillator 2 unheard and add a cutoff wobble at the vibrato rate. The settings are this product’s reading of the role, not any artist’s.

Bass · starting pointThe bass roleOne sawtooth at the keyboard’s pitch, the high-pass at its floor, a low-pass that the first envelope closes over about 0.15 s for the punch, then a steady sustain. The settings are this product’s reading of the role, not any artist’s.

Pad · starting pointThe pad roleA pulse wave with slow pulse-width modulation, a dark low-pass opened gently over 1.2 s, a 0.8 s attack and a 1.5 s release. The settings are this product’s reading of the role, not any artist’s.

FX · starting pointThe effects roleThe low-pass past self-oscillation so it sings by itself, swept over 2.5 s with the pitch raised by up to an octave and an 8 Hz siren vibrato: the pitch you hear is the filter’s, not the note’s. The settings are this product’s reading of the role, not any artist’s.

Keys · starting pointThe keys roleA narrow pulse wave struck with an instant attack and a 0.45 s decay to nothing, the low-pass closed fully by the first envelope so the tail goes dark. The settings are this product’s reading of the role, not any artist’s.

Paranoid London · Arseholes, Liars, and Electronic PioneersThe acid starting point · after Paranoid London, Arseholes, Liars, and Electronic PioneersA resonant low-pass squelch on a saw bass: a high peak just short of self-oscillation, an open cutoff that the first envelope closes quickly, a short decay and a little portamento. The record is credited with this instrument and documents no settings: these are this product’s reading of the acid role, not the artist’s.

How it plays

Two filters, a patch panel and a screaming Peak.

Two oscillators.Each a triangle, a saw, a pulse or noise; the first with pulse width and its modulation, the second with a ring mod and a hard sync, both with modulation from the modulation generator and the first envelope.
Two filters.A high-pass and a low-pass, each with a cutoff and a Peak that rings, the low-pass up to self-oscillation, with keyboard tracking, an envelope amount and modulation from the modulation generator.
Two envelopes and a modulation generator.The first envelope has a delay, an attack and a release; the second an attack, a hold, a decay, a sustain and a release; the modulation generator a rate and four waveforms.
A patch panel.Thirty mini jacks with seven cords patched as drawn: click two jacks to patch them, double-click to unplug. Because oscillator 1 is cabled straight to the filter input, oscillator 2 and the mixer are heard once that cord is out.
An external signal processor.A band-pass, an envelope follower, a gate and a frequency-to-voltage converter, working on whatever is patched to its input; with nothing patched its outputs read zero.
Patches that load the whole sound.Pick a patch and every control moves to it at once; the drawer closes and the keys are ready. Hold to preview plays a patch’s tone on your own MIDI, and when you let go the instrument returns to what it was. The fifty-six patches hold six distinct sounds.
Services.Choose whether the instrument answers your host’s MIDI and clock, set its output level, and age it.

Requirements

What it needs.

Format	Systems	Licence
VST3 · Audio Unit	macOS 11 or later, on Apple silicon	A licence is needed to make sound. Without one the editor opens and the output is silent.

The drawings

The editor, and the module it becomes.

The plug-in is built. The Eurorack module is drawn, with its macro knobs and the control jacks under them, and is not.

The Modulr Scream plug-in editor, as it opens — The Modulr Scream editor as it opens: a charcoal panel under sky-blue headings, two oscillators, two filters, a patch panel and a 37-key keyboard.

The Modulr Scream Eurorack module, 28 HP, in its case — The same study as a 28 HP module: ten macro knobs in two framed rows, each with a control jack under it, two jack trays, a red patch cord.

The editor is the plug-in’s own, as it opens. The module is drawn by the specification’s own kit, and its values are illustrative, not measured. The design is the MS-20’s grammar, redrawn in Modulr’s own words, and nothing on it is measured against the instrument.

The instrument it studies

MS-20, 1978.

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

The two-filter semi-modular grammar: two oscillators with waveform symbols round rotary switches, ring mod and sync, a high-pass and a low-pass filter each with a screaming Peak, two envelope generators, a modulation generator, an external signal processor, a patch panel of mini jacks with red and yellow cords and a 37-key mini keyboard.

A dark charcoal panel printed with white boxes and sky-blue headings, black knobs with a white line, the two Peak knobs ringed and pointed in sky blue, a waveform glyph switch under the title, ten macros in two framed rows, two even dark jack trays and a red patch cord at the foot.

Two VCOs: frequency, waveform, pulse width, ring mod and sync
High-pass and low-pass filters, each with cutoff and resonance
Two envelope generators, the first with delay, attack, hold, decay, sustain and release, the second an attack and release
Modulation generator: frequency and waveform
External signal processor with a frequency-to-voltage converter
Patch panel of mini jacks with coloured patch cords
37-key mini keyboard

The spec sheet

The module, knob by knob.

The module is a design study and is not built. Its macros are the signature controls a player reaches for, not a generic set; each one has a control jack under it.

Macro	Key	Range	Default
Freq 1	vco1.freq	16 Hz – 4.2 kHz	262 Hz
Pulse W	vco1.pw	5–95%	50%
Pitch 2	vco2.pitch	±12 st	0 st
MG Rate	mg.rate	0.05 – 50 Hz	4 Hz
Glide	kbd.porta	0 ms – 2 s	0 ms
HP Cut	hpf.cut	20 Hz – 20 kHz	20 Hz
HP Peak	hpf.peak	0–100%	0%
LP Cut	lpf.cut	20 Hz – 20 kHz	20 kHz
LP Peak	lpf.peak	0–100%	0%
Env Int	vcf.egint	±100%	0%

Side	Jacks
In	Note (MIDI), V/Oct (CV), Gate (CV), Ext (Audio)
Out	MG (CV), EG (CV), Out (Audio)

The plug-in is built. The module is not.On saleModulr Scream is a working VST3 and Audio Unit. It is not a copy of any instrument: no maker’s name or logo is drawn on a panel, and nothing is measured against the original. It is $25, signed ad hoc and not notarized, so macOS will warn before it opens. A downloaded copy stays silent until it is licensed, and there is no automatic way yet for a customer to receive a licence file. The Eurorack module drawn on this page is a design study and is not built.

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.