Black Noise just recreated three of its Eurorack modules in software form, including the analog computer-inspired, multifunctional Cosmos. There are even some new features and detailed recreations of the hardware, but incredibly, the whole pack is free and open source (and runs in the free VCV Rack).
Wait. They’re probably thinking this is going to get some people hooked on COSMOS, the mysterious flagship module capable of all of this:
VCO, LFO, Ring Mod, Polarizer, “VCA”, “LPG”, Phase Lock Loop, Cross-Modulation, Minimum, Maximum, Logic Gates, Waveshaper, Complex gate generator, Fuzz, Distorsion [sic], Gate extractor, Trig extractor, Gate generator, Voltage generator, Trig Generator, comparator, window comparator, complex comparator, Half-Rectifier, Full-Rectifier, Inverter, Buffered Multiples, Mixer, Difference, Compressor, Sidechain, compressor, VC Clipper, VC Switch, Clock doubler, Envelope follower, and more.
But hey, why not? That module’s powers aren’t immediately obvious when you gaze into COSMOS’ (beautiful) panel. So software gives you an additional chance to learn and play it, to incorporate it into software sound design creations along with hardware ones, and to try before you buy if you’re thinking of the hardware. And it also means access to anyone with a computer capable of running the free VCV Rack on Mac, Windows, or Linux, whether or not they’ve got the resources for hardware.
There’s also Slew-LFO, and the chance to try the just-released GOMA II Generator/Offset/Mixer/Attenuverter. There’s nothing quite like COSMOS in Rack – or anywhere else, for that matter – so the bundle together looks terrific.
Black Noise tells CDM that you might want to look closely for more extra features in there – and that we should expect more Rack modules from them in the future. (Excellent!)
In this initial release, we’ve concentrated on the highly requested COSMOS, Slew-LFO, and the brand-new GOMA II. COSMOS was an ideal choice for this launch because it’s such a groundbreaking module, even if it can be a bit tricky to wrap your head around—there’s really nothing else quite like it. By bringing COSMOS to VCV Rack, we aim to provide everyone with the opportunity to easily explore and unlock the full potential of this exceptional module!
We put in tremendous effort to ensure this port is as faithful to the hardware as possible, which was quite a challenge! The result is a remarkably accurate module that also incorporates features enabled by the software, such as polyphony and over-sampled logic outputs.
Additionally, we’ve seized this opportunity to introduce some new features for Slew-LFO and GOMA II, but we’ll leave it to users to discover those for themselves! We hope that users will enjoy this first release and that these modules will inspire their creativity and lead them to explore new sonic landscapes.
Click add and they’re yours
Black Noise Modular @ VCV Rack Library
Fully open source, too – GPLv3.
The mighty Omri Cohen delivers a hands-on video for more – but wow, there are so many directions for where to go with this one. I’m curious what other folks do, too.
Here’s what the actual hardware looks like – so you can see they’ve paid some attention to detail on the software versions:
More on the hardware, too (which of course you can apply to patching ideas in software):