* How concrete are musicians with what they want to have from you?

Very. Usually they know exactly what they're after, however in these initial discussions functionality often expands.

* Does it happen regularly that some of the wishes of these musicians can not be realized?

Not usually, however concepts can quickly become cost prohibitive. That's one issue. At other times after hearing their description I realize what they want already exists. I have just begun a project like this for Rhys Fulber (of Front Line Assembly and Delirium). He came to us wanting a scale quantizer, but one with more modal options that what was currently offered in Eurorack. Immediately the Blacet Miniwave paired with Matt Davidson's excellent scale generator ROM came to mind so my involvement shifted to providing the custom faceplate and final assembly for integration to the Eurorack standard. Much lower cost plus the added functionality Grant Richter's wavetable ROM. Rhys was excited about that, we went with it.

* Does it help a lot when the respective musician has a basic technological knowledge?

Yes. This addresses your last question - It's easier when they have a concept of what's possible.

* How different are the requests from, e.g., Steve Roach compared to that of John Frusciante?

Steve came to me needing a specific type controller - an Analog Shift Register that behaved like the one in the Serge synthesizer. Since then he's become a big supporter of Plan B and owns most of our products. It's fantastic to hear what he does with them. I am convinced he could transfix an audience with music made from a rubber band. It's in his veins.

John Frusiante's case was different. What started off as a repair job grew into a custom design opportunity.

I met up with John initially to get his ARP 2500 and Mellotron Mk. II operational. The ARP wasn't a problem for me, the mellotron was and for that I called upon Markus Resch, who's now making them. He's also a big Chili Peppers fan. He flew over and stayed until the machine was fully operative. When I was at John's working on the ARP, the topic of my VCO came up and improvements I had found to reduce Lowpass Gate signal leakage when processing modern signal levels through them, and John ended up ordering a few of each. In the case of the LPG, this required a printed circuit board as I had only done a prototype. This is before I was doing my own PCB layouts and I had Ken Stone do that. The boards Ken designed were small enough so three could be stacked horizontally within the Eurorack height constraints and that's what we ended up doing.

I have a lot of respect for John Frusiante. An immensely intelligent, talented guy and a huge analog gearhead. You have to search to find digital technology in his house - this holds true of his wristwatch all the way up to his studio. He's got a massive API board which I believe came from the Record Plant in New York and a 16 track tape machine in his home studio which he uses for all of his solo projects. Along with the 2500 he's also got a rather big Eurorack system - Analogue Systems and Doepfer gear. Now he's got a few of ours as well.

* How close is the interaction between you and the musicians in finishing the instrument?

All the time. I try to deliver exactly what they want, so that synergy is essential. The Model 23 Analog Shift Register was born from feedback received from Steve Roach, who requested improvements over the Serge ASR we based his custom unit upon. He wanted something that would retain 1V/oct tracking over all 6 output taps.

Sometimes custom projects become products - the Plan B Model 17 is one such example. Although I had already designed the circuit, it existed as a two-channel prototype before I made the custom Serge-esque panel for John Duval's 'Fist of God'. There were four of them in that. A few months later when the EAR founders began reviewing release possibilities for our initial offerings, since I had PCBs and the faceplate design already existed for the Event Timer we added it to that list as the Model 17.

* Why, would you say, is there a (renewed) interest in analog gear from so many instrumentalists out there?

I attribute this to a few milestones. First, the commonweal turns in circles. In the never-ending search for what's new what is old becomes mainstream again. FM once killed analog, then samplers traumped on that and in time people tired not so much of the timbres, as sampling planted the seeds for analog's second blossoming, but it's lack of control - which was the second milestone. Analog, moreover modular analog, frees the composer/performer from the control limitations of the closed architecture associated with most digital instruments - the decisions made for them by the instrument's designers. This harkens back to the instrumentalists' need for innovation, which I think represents the final link in the chain as this is what drew composers to electronic technology in the first place. The electronic generation of sound offered a revelation over the comparatively limited timbral pallet afforded by acoustic instruments.

* How are your synthesizers and modules manufactured? Do you assemble them yourself?

Currently I have three employees that cover assembly. Once a product is designed I build the first article myself which stays here indefinitely as a reference. From that I put together the visual aids for production and pass it on to my guys who all work out of my home. None of the assembly is farmed out. It's possibly not as productive that way, but it's more fun. I like people and their energy helps the company grow. We punch the faceplates, stuff the boards, do the final assembly, cables, test and packing here. The front room has become a factory. The refrigerator has been removed from the kitchen and replaced by shelves. The rest of the walls - shelves as well. The sink is covered with a sheet of wood where the hole punch and grinding wheel reside. What was an eating area there holds my bench, and our main component stores, along with all the scopes, function generators, decade boxes and whatnot I use for design/test.

Needless to say I eat out a lot.

After a product is released to production my involvement shifts to inspection, test and part acquisition only, yet I am always around for problem solving. This operational model has freed more time for me to focus on R&D. As a result we've released six new products this year - none of that would have happened had I been on the bench stuffing parts into printed circuit boards. When my first full time assembly person came on board in May of 2006 I had already built close to 300 modules myself. I have paid my dues!

* Do you see your job as that of an artist (such as, say, Stradivari) or rather as that of a technician?

'Cooking' as I call it -the conceptualizing - is artful, but any comparison to Stradivari is a huge stretch. To a lesser extent the actual electronic design which proceeds the instrument's conception is also artful. From then on in the process however I'm either a layout person, a first article assembler, an inspector or test tech - definitely left brain activity there. PCB design often reminds me of word puzzles, especially when an omitted circuit connection is discovered once a PCB is already densely populated. Sometimes it's difficult to find a path in which to lay down a missing circuit in the maze.

I approach design in the same manner as patching a modular synthesizer. Albeit a few levels down the gestalt is essentially identical. In design, instead of modules I connect circuits together - functional blocks which together make a whole. For instance: inside the Model 24 Heisenberg Generator lies two digital Random Sources, two Sample and Holds, two VC LFOs and a VC Slew Limiter.

* Custom-made instruments are unique. Does it hurt you having to give them away after they've been finished? And: Do you follow the performers in what they actually do with the technology you've provided them with?

When I do a custom instrument it may be a one-off, but definitely not a prototype. There's a big difference. I get printed circuit boards and faceplates made which are of the same quality as our stock goods. They are all road worthy. If someone has requested something that I see as useful for my own music, there are usually more PCBs and faceplates made than needed in the delivered instrument, so I can always make a duplicate and sometimes I do just that!

You can see many of the finished custom modules I've discussed here:

http://www.buzzclick-music.com/misc.html