Studio Science: Mark Verbos on Designing Modular Synths

Mark Verbos is a self-described “product of the early Midwest US underground electronic music scene.” A Milwaukee native, he first began performing improvised live shows in 1992, and started releasing records in 1994 on a variety of local and national labels. Performing on hardware from the beginning of his career, Verbos soon began to develop an interest in how the machines he used were made. Learning from the go-to repair man for vintage Buchla instruments, Verbos began to create his own machines as well as repair others. In the process he developed a deep interest in the Buchla philosophy of designing instruments, and not tools. In 2014, having since relocated to Berlin, Verbos’s love affair with hardware synths took a new step with the founding of his own company, Verbos Electronics, which manufactures Eurorack modules and modular systems that carry on Don Buchla’s esteemed tradition to new generations of synth enthusiasts.

In this episode of Studio Science, recorded at the Funkhaus as part of Red Bull Music Academy Berlin 2018, Verbos explained his approach to designing hardware using his own modules, including the Bark Filter Processor, Harmonic Oscillator and Voltage Multistage, as well as sharing insights from his years as a musician, engineer and Buchla student.