Erica Synths K-Phaser Brings Classic ‘Krautrock’ Sound To Eurorack

Erica Synths has introduced the K-Phaser, their take on a classic hardware effect design, the so-called ‘Krautrock Phaser’.

In the 70s, several German ‘kosmische’ bands, including Tangerine Dream and Klaus Schulze, used a rare analog effect, the Gerd Schulte Audio Electronik Compact Phasing A, to create spacey phasing effects. This effect has been cloned in recent years, notably by the late synth DIY guru Jürgen Haible.

The Erica Synths Black K-Phaser retains the original concept of 8 all-pass filters with photoresistors, but but with redesigned filters, modulation circuit and additinal features.

A dip switch allows for selecting the number of filter stages involved in the resonance path, while the resonance attenuverter brings in feedback artifacts. The SPREAD mode detunes the all-pass filters for even more distinct behavior. A built-in voltage controlled LFO with selectable waveforms expands the modulation possibilities of the phaser and can be used as an independent modulation source for your modular system, as well.

Features:

  • 8 all-pass filters with photo-resistor control
  • Classic and Spread (filter detune) mode
  • Resonance attenuverter
  • Selectable resonance path
  • Built in VC LFO with a dedicated output
  • Wet output

Pricing and Availability

The K-Phaser is available now to pre-0rder for €190.00.

26 thoughts on “Erica Synths K-Phaser Brings Classic ‘Krautrock’ Sound To Eurorack

  1. Why is the term ‘Krautrock’ acceptable to people?

    If somebody started talking about ‘Chink-rock’ or ‘Jap-rock’, most people would realize that those terms are racist.

    1. Krautrock was often used in germany as a way to describe the genre negatively, thats where it came from but it stuck

      thinking chink and kraut are comparable tho is a bit far-fetched don’t you think? : /

      1. “thinking chink and kraut are comparable tho is a bit far-fetched don’t you think? : /”

        When we were kids, we played army all the time and the bad guys were always the ‘chinks’ or the ‘krauts’. That was in the 70’s and we grew up on a diet of B&W war movies.

        So those types of terms seem pretty comparable to me – very clearly offensive slurs. 50 years later, I’ve learned a few things and would never use those terms to refer to groups of people.

        ‘Kosmische’ is a better term for groups like TD & KS, because their music is a lot more cosmic influenced than rock influenced.

        1. Chinese people were basically enslaved in America during the western expansion and the country was brutally exploited by Western countries in the opium wars. There is a historical and structural oppression that makes the word “chink” more offensive than kraut. Chinese people have been oppressed and exploited because they were Chinese. There has never been any such systematic abuse of German people. The slurs are on completely different levels regardless of how children in the 70s used them.

          1. Chinese made America great, that’s true. We “Krauts” don’t think about that much. Its funny to us and somehow a compliment. Beside that, fermented coleslaw is delicious. Peace brothers!

    2. Everything is unacceptable. Just needs enough people to care to make it officially unacceptable. They will find out soon enough, they always do.

    3. the things you are talking about are xenophobic and not racist, however it is very racist of you to assume chinese, japanese and german are races. fun how that works, huh? 🙂

    4. i cant tell you exactly why and i will say its a quite hilarious, absurd, and a bit sad. So the outrage crusades are led predominantly by ‘white’ libral types on behalf of ‘underprivledged’ races who they see as unable to stand up for themselves. herein lies the irony.
      Now Germanic people are of a ‘white’ privileged race and are in need on no defense. and lets be honest, probably dont care.

      and for there record there is a genre called Japanoise and it’s dope.

    5. I will tell you exactly why people dont find the term krautrock racist. the answer is simultaneously hilarious, absurd, and when you really think about it, kind of sad.

      the outrage crusades are led predominantly by ‘white’ librals who feel that they must defend the ‘underprivileged’ races from racism. herein lies the great and sad irony.

      now the Germanic people who i believe would consider themselves Tutonic are thought of as a ‘white’ race and therefore are ‘privledged’ and are in no need of defending.

      we see here how the outrrage crusader conflates underprivilege with weakness and privileged with strength which underlies a more insideous and truer racism which they are too intellectually shallow or morally underdeveloped to be able to recognize in themselves, which then leads them to virtue signal on behalf of those races that they believe unable to stand up for themselves.

      if you would like to understand this a bit more, i would reccomended listening to the lectures on racism by Slavo Zizek (a socialist and liberal) and a much deeper thinker than myself.

      oh, and there is a genre called Japanoise and it’s dope.

    6. Because the German artists that innovated Krautrock invented the name of the genre themselves. It was never an insult in the German language in the first place, but an English derogatory term for Nazi-German soldiers in World War 2. Most modern day Germans would not take offense of the term Krautrock or even recognize it as problematic. Also, we don’t see ourselves as a race. So feel free to call it Krautrock all day, nobody minds.

  2. Krautrock when used in quotations is a defined and widely accepted genre of music. People need to put a lid on finding everything unnacceptable.

  3. Stop trying to erase history. They word “krautrock” is part of music history regardless of you being offended. Being offended by historical events is fine but trying to erase history is leaning into totalitarian tendencies. If you even did a little bit of research into the roots of the word you would understand why it was used and why the music transcended the obvious original racist intent. Faust even had a song called “Krautrock” in ‘73.

    This offence in historical events and having to announce it to everyone is embarrassing and the height of virtue signalling. The past is over. It has happened. If you are upset by it, then do things to fix now and the future. I’m offended by the brutality if the Crusades so I gave up on the church when I was 13 but I don’t try rewriting the past.

  4. Nice module, but I wouldn’t expect anything less from Erica Synths. Regarding the nonsense above, all of my German friends refer to krautrock as…krautrock. In fact, one of them was very excited to inform me he just started a krautrock project after only producing industrial. This really is a non-issue.

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