A Forest Full of Sines

Barcelona-based Befaco was one of the first hardware manufacturers to bring their modules to VCV. Their DIY and open hardware philosophy is the perfect fit for the VCV ecosystem, and their open source VCV modules have gained over 170,000 downloads to date. They make a wide range of modules, from bombproof utilties (A*B+C, Percall), to classic oscillators and filters (EvenVCO, PonyVCO, PonyVCF) to wild experimental projects (Noise Plethora, Oneiroi). The initial set of 7 modules were developed by VCV developer Andrew Belt, but since then we have taken over the project, adding many more - the collection has grown to include 27 modules (and counting!).
[Library Link], [VCV Resources], [GitHub Link ].

Black Noise Modular are based in France, and produce beautiful, unique and innovative modules. They were looking to add three of their core products to VCV Rack, mirroring the Cosmos Bundle that they sell. The project required careful measurements of hardware behaviour, and translating features such as the touch pads and built in capacitor expander to appropriate virtual metaphors. All modules are polyphonic too!
[Library Link], [Demo Link], [GitHub Link ].

Bastl Instruments are based in Brno, Czech Republic and are "a dynamic and community driven company focused on producing hand-made electronic musical instruments". With Bastl, we offer two lines: one open source (so far Kompas) and one closed source (Pizza series) plugin. The hardware Pizza series is feature packed, and offers multiple functions per knob via button presses and combinations - translating this to software was a challenging task!
[Library Link], [Manufacturer Website], [GitHub Link ].

Also Barcelona based, Rebel Technology are "a tech collective creating radically innovative music electronics since 2009". They were looking to port their logic and rhythmic modules to VCV Rack. This involved extracting and converting the Arduino based firmware, and creating alternative "dark mode" faceplates. The modules have also since been ported to 4ms Meta Module.
[Library Link], [Manufacturer Website], [GitHub Link ].

Analog and Digital.

Both analog and digital modules can be ported. For analog modules, the process involves carefully probing the modules and studying e.g. the frequency response, then fitting parameters in equivalent theoretical models. Sometimes it is also necessary to examine the schematics to understand the circuitry. Digital hardware modules can present their own challenges, e.g. compiling on non-embedded hardware, generalising to different sample rates, and the conversion process includes extensive cross-platform testing. We ensure that high quality DSP code is written, implementing techniques to avoid aliasing and other numerical issues.

Visual appearance.

Starting from the original hardware designs, we can recreate the graphical design of module, including shaped LEDs, custom components. This process can include translation of hardware gestures (e.g. push button + turn knob) to appropriate software metaphors. Graphical design work can also be outsourced if more specialist elements are needed!

Going beyond hardware.

We support the development of additional features not present in the original module, such as polyphony or additional configuration. These are carefully documented (e.g. see here) to avoid confusion. We also support porting modules to the recently released 4ms Meta Module.

All projects are considered, so please feel free to contact us if you have any questions.