What colour is a synth module?

[Uncle Krunkus]

I've been wondering if there is any generally accepted colour coding for module types. I've been thinking that after the Klee is finished, I'm going to embark on some smaller projects, including some effects, and some stand alone modules. I'd like to break away from the same colour fits all approach and start colour coding modules. My initial idea was to go for a frequency spectrum kind of thing correlated to the basic patch direction.

Like: -
Red - LFOs
Orange - VCOs
Yellow - VCFs
Green - ENVs
Blue - VCAs
Violet - S&H etc.
White - Noise

Anyone have any ideas, suggestions, or critiques?

[Pehr]

[Dave Kendall]

I reckon you've got it spot on.

It may sound weird, but I've always seen music in colour in my mind - bass and kick drum are brown or dark red, toms go from dark brown up to yellow beige for the higher tunings, strings are brown at the low end up to (greenish) white at the top, horns are golden, cymbals are silver, a harp goes from gold to silver at the top end, and for some odd reason, a chorus effect on anything adds a greenish tinge. Synth noises can be almost anything, but their frequency response colours them most. Dunno why, it's always been that way.......

You'd still have grey, brown, pink and black for modules that don't fit in any easy category, switchers, CV control and the weird and wonderful CGS stuff for example.

cheers,

Dave

[Uncle Krunkus]

That's spooky, I designed a new front panel for my dual flanger which is orange/yellow, and I've done one for the DimC chorus which is, guess what?... Green!

[fonik]

good points, dave - it does not sound weird at all for me. actually it may depend on a subjective conceive of colors and timbres/functions? if subjective, then no common rule.

so one could define his own rule - i'd liked it!

anyway a colorcoding for modules may become obsolete as soon as a module is capable of multiple functions? what about the mankato for instance? i use it as VCO, LFO and of course VCF?

[Uncle Krunkus]

Then you use a sheet of Lazertran which has printed on it a tie-dyed, light-reflecting-off-oil kind of pattern.

[Dave Kendall]

Apologies if this is taking things OT, but this subject has always fascinated me, partly because the colours are always the same - I didn't decide on them, they simply *are* that way in my mind. Why? I wish I knew. I also see letters of the alphabet in colour, and they've always been the same since as long as I can remember. They vary a tiny bit, because they can be influenced by the letters around them. My Dad sees letters as white on black, and can't comprehend the whole music-in-colour thing - he's a retired industrial chemist. Mum, on the other hand, understands and shares the same thing - she works in textile restoration, and is more arts trained.

Point is, I'm wondering if things like this have an effect on what music/sounds and stuff we all like, and whether there's an element of pre-determination in this - if we see stuff in a certain way, does that influence what we find interesting/pleasant/stimulating in music and synth sounds?

As an example, the sound of a 303 screeching away on full res is very yellow to me. I've got a Syntechno TeeBee MKIII 303 clone, and it's bright yellow. It sounds just like it looks........

[Wild Zebra]

Hey Krunkus. Thats what I'm doing. I just picked colors pretty randomly for which models are which colors. So far Filters are blue, LFO's are yellow, S&H hold purple/violet. Haven't gotten to VCA, OSC or ENV. But they will have their color as well. Still lots of nice colors to choose from.

here's pics if you didn't see the thread http://electro-music.com/forum/topic-20411.html

I grew up in the 80's so my synth has to be totally tubular, nothing wrong with the industrial look, but it's not me.

[Photon]

I'm not slagging you off, Dave , but this conversation reminds me of an interview I saw with this guy...

(from amazon)
This unique first-person account offers a window into the mind of a high-functioning, 27-year-old British autistic savant with Asperger's syndrome. Tammet's ability to think abstractly, deviate from routine, and empathize, interact and communicate with others is impaired, yet he's capable of incredible feats of memorization and mental calculation. Besides being able to effortlessly multiply and divide huge sums in his head with the speed and accuracy of a computer, Tammet, the subject of the 2005 documentary Brainman, learned Icelandic in a single week and recited the number pi up to the 22,514th digit, breaking the European record. He also experiences synesthesia, an unusual neurological syndrome that enables him to experience numbers and words as "shapes, colors, textures and motions."

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[Pehr]

[Dave Kendall]

Oops, dang it!
I thought this was the Do It Yourself Synesthesia forum.......

[Peake]

Dang! Poor Remy the rat from Ratatouille is an Asperger??? Ah, the price of excellence. Having the root word "excel".

And if I designed a modular, the outer edges of the case would have three rings of light wire, to simulate a 70's "color organ" (google), and would mirror the synth's audio outs.

But hard color for each module? Too much delineation for me. Your mileage may vary.

[Peake]

And pay far more attention to the Fibonacci Ratios. Things would be better if people did.

http://www.mcs.surrey.ac.uk/Personal/R.Knott/Fibonacci/fibnat.html#spiral

Reconsider your front panels.

[Peake]

Since people are oddly tossing around the word "Asperger" so freely, here is a pseudo-test to see if you qualify for such a designation.

http://www.questionwriter.com/samples/eyesquiz/

I got 31 out of 36.

/off-topic

[Uncle Krunkus]

I wish I had Synesthesia.

IMHO :- Mathematics (and therefore fibonacci sequences) are a product of nature. We didn't create mathematics, we just re-discovered it. Pi would be Pi whether we labelled it or not.

I love my D50 (black, with a touch of light blue) but I reckon part of what makes a Jupiter 8 sound so nice is the way it looks!

[Uncle Krunkus]

BTW I got 29

[theMinister]

i can't find it now but i read an article that explained the relationship between seeing music as colors and having perfect pitch. it was someones senior thesis basically taking synesthesia and some greek mythology (i think mythology, can't remember) to an extreme. he actually tested a lot of people including piano tuners, orchestra musicians and opera singers. if i can find the link i'll post it.

color coding is a great idea. noise could also be pink right?

[Photon]

at the risk of veering furthur off topic...

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[fonik]

off-topic? the last german modular synth convention was called "happy knobbing"
and it was dave who told me what that means! this can't be just coincidence...

[Uncle Krunkus]

Synesthesia: -

"But maybe it wasn't a dream!
Maybe I'm actually a Poly800,
and now I'm dreaming that I'm an ARP Odyssey!!
Aaaarrrrhhhhh!!!"

[Photon]

[Rykhaard]

For colour coding, I decided to go with functions, since starting this modular synth, in July 2005, with opposite colours for Inputs and Outputs:

Blue (banana) jack = CV In
Yellow jack = CV Out
Purple jack = Audio In
Orange jack = Audio Out
Black jack = Clock / Digital In
White jack = Clock / Digital Out
Grey jack = Trigger / Gate In
Multiple jack sections = grey, green, black or white

My banana plugs follow the colouring scheme and cabling mostly follows it:
Blue and Yellow silicone cable for CVs
White silicone cable for Audio
Green and Black silicone cable for any.

Originally - I was doing the art on the knobs, by the same colour basis. Since late last year though, I've been getting more artistic with drawings related to their function, on top of the related colour background.

(And the stain for all of the wooden panels, is a deep purple, colour. )

Oh yeah - red is not used, anywhere in my machine (except for art) as I relate the colour red to violence / harshness. I just figured that I'd let the synth express violence in it's own way, through audio. LOL

[audiomoebe]

[blue hell]

[audiomoebe]

Same here.I even looked one up in the dictionary.

Vertaling: Hier hetzelfde.Ik heb er zelfs eentje opgezocht in het woordenboek.

Actually I don't understand if a high score is more Asperger-like then a low score.(Weet jij het)?