Zoë Blade's notebook

Concussor

Concussor tech specs

The Concussor was a Eurorack format analogue modular synthesiser, chiefly a set of drum synthesiser modules. They were made by Analogue Solutions in the 1990s and 2000s.

It was the third Eurorack system, after Doepfer's A-100 and Analogue Systems's RS Integrator.

The various drum synthesiser modules clone Roland's classic CR-78, TR-808, and TR-909 drum machines, one sound at a time. Their parameters often extend beyond the confines of the originals, giving them a greater degree of flexibility, especially useful when it comes to their versatile decay lengths.

As they need an external sequencer to trigger them, they can also be more flexible than the originals in that regard, as your sequencer may well offer fully programmable patterns, a separate accent signal per part, and swing, pairing the sounds of all three original drum machines with the rhythmic abilities of only the 909. But that all depends on what you hook them up to.

Quotes

The aim with the Concussor was to release a system that was significantly different from the rest, that would offer a real alternative, or that could be included into an existing system (all Concussor modules will fit into A-100 / Integrator cases, and our modules offer power sockets for both systems).

— Tom Carpenter, Analogue Solutions, 2000[1]

Tips

Much like the originals, these modules have pretty insensitive trigger inputs. Depending on what you're using to trigger them, you might well need an amplifier to boost the trigger signal, such as Doepfer's A-183-3.

Notable users

References

  1. "Analogue Solutions Company Profile" NetSine, Nov 2000
  2. "Celebrity Customers" Tom Carpenter
  3. "Just messing around with this rack of @ASUKLTD Concussor modules that I've had for over 20 years. Simple interactive drum rhythms whereby each sequencer controls the reset of the other — the one on the right is bass drum / snare whereas the other is hi-hat." @ianboddy, Twitter, Jan 2022
  4. Obsessive Surrealism Parallel Worlds, 2007
  5. Shade Parallel Worlds, 2009
  6. "Parallel Worlds Studio"

Reviews

Downloads

Documentation

Analogue Solutions: Concussor

Drum synthesisers: Concussor | DrumStation | Syncussion-1

Eurorack: 100 Series (Behringer) | 900 Series (Behringer) | A-100 | Concussor

Modular synthesisers: 100 Series (Behringer) | 900 Series (Behringer) | 900 Series (Moog) | A-100 | Concussor | Sequencer Complement | System-100M | The evolution of the 900 Series