MOTM

> Now what filter module(s) should I get? I know this is a kind of
> general question, but anyway.

I have a -420 and a -440, and I just got the Happy Email from Paul saying
that my -410 kit is on the way. Of the two that I have, the -420 is a little
more flexible because of its three modes (lowpass, highpass, notch), but I
find the sound of the -440 more pleasing.

> I'd like to drive the
> filter's freq and res functions via the envelope follower, allowing
> me to liven up VA synth sounds without having to tweak the filter
> manually during the song.

Neither of the filters I mentioned have voltage-controlled resonance. If you
want to "liven up VA synth sounds" you'd probably prefer the -440 or the new
-490, since they're four-pole lowpass filters similar to those found on many
"classic" analog synths.

I just put up a couple of MP3 files of the -440 in action on my website: go
to http://www.studionebula.com and click the Synth link, then click the 29
June link.

Note, however, that the -440 is definitely not one of the simpler kits. It
has a really dense PC board. According to Paul's difficulty ratings, the
-490 is much simpler, but I haven't built one. Buy a good soldering iron and
get a small tip for it. You might also want to search back through the
archives of this list for discussions about tools and soldering, unless
you've been reading regularly over the past few months. A couple of folks
provided some really helpful advice after I fried the tip of my soldering
iron because I didn't know about keeping it properly tinned.

--Adam