Jolin Lab at Roma Modulare 2022

Jolin is an audio electronics lab specialized in eurorack modules, sound sculptures and DIY workshops.

The project was founded in Milan, Italy in the summer of 2018 by Federico Intrisano, hardware designer, and Pedro Ferragut, software engineer.

The aim is to promote electronic music made with analog and digital synthesizers.

Although their main activity is research, they also build hand-crafted instruments and DIY kits intended for educational use.

At Roma Modulare 2022 Jolin Lab presented a skiff full of their own modules that included the new (by the time) proposals: the GITGUD LFO and the GETREKT Waveshaper.

Jolin Lab modules at Roma Modulare 2022

GITGUD touch LFO

GITGUD includes 9 individual LFOs – five of them generating square signals and four triangle waves.

The frequency is set via analog touch controls. Those act like potentiometers and they keep the value once the finger is lifted from the surface.

The touch controls work as follows: by bridging with your finger the left and the center line of the sensor the frequency decreases; the opposite happens while bridging the center line with the right one.

A red and a blue LEDs light up to give visual feedback of the speed of that specific LFO.

This is a full analogue continuous control, designed to be an expressive and interactive gateway to decrease the boundaries between the user, the environment and the music-making-devices.

The GITGUD feature set follows:

• 9 individual analog LFOs with toggle switches to chain them
• Individual touch potentiometers to set their rate
• Frequency range from 0.25 Hz - 15 BPM to 20 Hz - 1.200 BPM
• Single board design – extremely skiff friendly
• The power connector doesn't mind the polarity (useful to avoid problem during the installation)

See the GITGUD in action at the following video:

GETREKT touch Waveshaper

GETREKT is a full analogue waveshaper with an aggressive attitude.

Inserire fig GETREKT Didascalia Jolin Lab’s GETREKT

Disrupt and Pieces are analog touch controls; they act like potentiometers and they keep the value once the finger is lifted from the surface.

DISRUPT: controls how much the output is affected by the waveshaper circuit. At maximum it will fold and create a total harmonic distortion.

PIECES: the pulse width of the resulting transformed wave.

Both parameters have a dedicated reactive CV input. If connected, the touch potentiometer acts as an offset for the incoming signal.

The circuit is designed to invert the polarity of any given input.

The feature set follows:

• Clipping and folding analog waveshaper circuit
• Touch Controls on the amount of effect and PWM
• Reactive CV inputs on both parameters
• Inverts the polarity of any given input
• Works with audio and CV sources
• Single board design – extremely skiff friendly
• Also here the power connector doesn't mind the polarity

The touch sensors for each parameter work as specified before.

Watch the GETREKT in action here:

Both GITGUD and GETREKT (as for the other Jolin Lab’s modules) are available assembled or as DIY kits.

Information about the whole Jolin Lab catalog can be found at their website.

Jolin Lab's projects

As often happens in the modular synth world, also Jolin Lab is engaged in several projects that go beyond the realization of modular devices.

A couple of them gathered our interest as they are, in some ways, linked to the modular synth world.

STELLARIA is a synthetic flower made of sensors and electronic components.

Its petals are sensitive to the light, the temperature, the pressure, the moisture and the wind.

STELLARIA moves itself following the stimulus of the external environment and can be used also to generate sounds.

See the device in use at Roma Modulare 2022 in the following video:

SAOW (Solderless Avalanche Oscillator Workshop) is an event meant to bring people closer to audio circuit design and realization.

Attendees are invited (and guided) to get their hands on the most common electronic components used in the production of analog sound and to build together a working five oscillator synth.

Conclusion

Jolin Lab is an interesting Italian Company working in the field of modular electronics to design and manufacture very interesting devices.

As often happens in this interesting and creative world, they also focus their activities on evangelization and teaching to allow all of us to be better electronic musicians.

Keep following them!