Draw waveforms directly into your modular synth with this open-source touch module

Gliss is an elegant and intuitive synthesizer module for touch control. This Eurorack module lets you draw waveforms directly into your system so you can add a human touch to your control signals. It also can act as a signal visualizer, slider, or expressive capacitive keyboard. Gliss is small (4 HP), and powerful, allowing you to control your signals through high-precision touch sensing. See how waves behave with descriptive and immediate visual output via LEDs mounted behind the touchplate.

Intuitive Modular Synth Touch Control

Modular synthesizer parameters are usually controlled by buttons, knobs and sliders, which are great for precise and accurate control, but too often feel like a barrier between the performer and the underlying control signals. The Gliss Eurorack module overcomes this barrier with an unrivaled degree of gestural control, visual feedback, and flexibility.

Powered by the technology behind Bela’s Trill capacitive touch sensors in combination with a Cortex-M4F microcontroller, Gliss produces two high-resolution, simultaneous signals: one indicating the position of your finger, the other indicating the size of the contact area of your finger. These signals are available via two CV outputs, offering two distinct but related dimensions of control to route through your system.

Whether controlling amplitude, duration, timbral, or spatial parameters (or any combination you may choose), Gliss connects you directly to your modules with an immediacy and flexibility that opens exciting new possibilities in Eurorack.

Features:

Control your modules directly, with touch position and touch size available as control voltages
Record gestures, up to one minute
Loop recorded gestures to create LFOs with custom waveforms
Trigger recorded gesture for custom envelopes
Play a tuneable five-key keyboard with glissando and vibrato
Scale, clip, offset, and visualize external CV and audio signals
Open source and well documented

Specifications:

Capacitive touch sensor with sub-millimeter accuracy (Cypress Capsense technology)
STM32 Cortex-M4F microcontroller
23 addressable RGB LEDs mounted below the faceplate for visual feedback
Bicolor illuminated button input
1 mono jack input (-5 V to 10 V, over voltage protection)
2 mono jack outputs (-5 V to 10 V configurable)
Works with Eurorack standard power supply (-12 V to 12 V)
Comes with ribbon power cable
USB micro socket for firmware updates, customization and hacking
Current needs: +12 V:150 mA, -12 V:20 mA
Width: 4 HP
Depth: 26mm with power cable

Design

With Gliss we’ve managed to squeeze a lot of useful features into a slender 4HP module. We’re really proud of the design which consists of 3 stacked PCBs: the Faceplate PCB which acts as the main input surface for the module with the capacitive sensing pads; the Main board with microcontroller, capacitive sensing IC, Op-amps and socket and button for I/Os; and the LED PCB which is sandwiched between and has 24 addressable RGB LEDs and the Micro USB programming port.

Reversible faceplates

All modules ship with two faceplates, one with the jacks at the bottom and another with the jacks at the top. Switching the faceplates over is simple so you can find the orientation which best fits your system. Both orientations are fully supported by the firmware.

Gliss in Action

Each of the videos below showcases a specific mode of the Gliss module in action and explains how it works. These videos show a previous version of the Gliss firmware, but nonetheless give an idea of how the modules function. More videos are in the pipeline.

Mode Selection and Direct Control Mode

Record and Waveshape Mode

Scale and Meter mode

Expressive Keyboard Mode

From Trill to Gliss

Gliss builds upon the technology used in Trill, our family of capacitive touch sensors that was inspired by the way we use our hands to interact with the world. Trill uses capacitive touch sensing to precisely track finger movements, making high-resolution touch sensing accessible to engineers and designers who want to incorporate touch into their interactive projects. Learn more about Trill or buy components.