Flight of Harmony Facehugger Module Can Be Used As A Sequencer, Gate Sequencer, Envelope Generator, LFO & More

Flight of Harmony has launched a Kickstarter project to fund production of Facehugger, an all-analog, addressable, non-linear function generator in Eurorack format.

It outputs up to eight different control voltage levels, with levels set by the LED sliders, in a sequence determined by a control signal.

Depending on how you use it, Facehugger can be used as a:

  • Control Voltage (CV) Sequencer
  • Gate Sequencer
  • Arpeggio Generator
  • Envelope Generator
  • Burst Generator
  • Low Frequency Oscillator (LFO)

Multiple units can be chained together for longer patterns or for synchronizing to generate chords, via a rear chaining header.

The rear Ramp out pin can be used as a synch oscillator, or even – when using an external drive waveform – as a separate, fully-controllable LFO with adjustable curvature.

The Facehugger also has a rear expansion header for a separate expander module that provides individual level out jacks, individual gate out jacks, a master Gate in jack, and a ramp out jack.

Pricing and Availability:

Production of Facehugger is being funded via a Kickstarter project, and it is available to backers from US $158 for a kit version or $285 assembled.

Note: Crowd-funded projects can involve risk. See the project site for details.

via Robert Frost

19 thoughts on “Flight of Harmony Facehugger Module Can Be Used As A Sequencer, Gate Sequencer, Envelope Generator, LFO & More

        1. Thank you for pointing this out. I knew better but was lazy and I shouldn’t have done that. I’ve changed the indicator to separate green and red LEDs, so their positions show the current value.

          I’m personally not a fan of LEDs and avoid them for the most part, but they were too useful for displaying state information on this module to pass up. I am including a trim pot for the user to adjust the brightness though.

  1. The broken record, here it goes: I equate eurorack graphic designers with the craft beer package design crowd. There is so much shit going on that one needs training just to navigate the product.

      1. Well I mean there are a good mixture of all panel types in Euro

        The sheer number of manufacturers has seen to that

        There is literally something for every taste

        Plenty of companies making 5U-esque panels out there

  2. I really am not one to poke at eurorack modules for the most part, and generally not at makers (outside of them making extremely bold claims) – usually, it’s a “not for me” thing. But this whole kickstarter reads like a list of red flags:

    >The Facehugger will be able to do much more than what is shown in the videos, but I’ve only been able to build and test the features that can be realized with the components that I have on-hand that have leads or pins that can plug into the breadboard.

    We already have enough issues with manufacturers trying to sell modules that ship with half-baked firmware that doesn’t do everything promised. But I find it hard to believe that they have no way of prototyping the hardware at present, and the fact that they claim that they can’t would make me very wary. But it continues:

    > …that used all common through-hole components that I happened to have in my parts stash

    This is not anything a serious person says. If you don’t have enough parts to prototype, you buy them. If they can’t source enough through-hole parts to build more than half of a single prototype, how on earth are they going to pull off building multiple units?

    > Required to receive the final production module: By choosing this tier you agree to devote a minimum of five hours to testing the beta module, video documenting any issues you find, and giving a full report within one week of receiving the module.

    > Required to receive the final production kit: By choosing this tier you agree to assemble the kit, document any issues you find, and give a full report within one week of receiving the kit.

    This is the builder asking people to pay for the privilege of doing work for them – asking the same price as Befaco does for their complete and well tested muxlicer kit (with all through-hole parts as well, mind you), which is one of a few similar devices I can think of – And there are many! This isn’t anything new by any means.

    I like supporting individual makers, and I know that it’s not easy to launch a new product – but the whole thing feels off in many, many ways.

    1. You’ve brought up a lot of the concerns I had when planning this project and they are all valid. I’ll give you the tl;dr: first: I am flat broke and I am relying on the reputation for fulfillment and customer service that I’ve built over 15 years. Unfortunately, only previous customers are aware of it. An example is the prior, failed Kickstarter for the Infernal Noise Machine. It did not succeed, but I still built it for the backers who had signed on.

      None of this is to argue with you because you are absolutely correct about how it looks. I will just provide my explanations for my choices so I may at least retain some shred of integrity.

      The missing functions and lack of components, are not because of parts supply issues, just funding. I’ll spare you the full story unless you actually want to hear it, but I just couldn’t afford the parts, but I also didn’t want the project description to come across as “Wahhh, gimme money plz, life is cruel.” But it does come across as sketchy as hell.
      I have a huge parts stash for prototyping, but it doesn’t cover every function, and most of my stash is general-purpose TTL and 4000-series CMOS, so they can’t handle the full voltage swing of the intended design. Some of those higher-voltage ICs I am planning to use are also only available in TSOP or TSSOP packages, which means adapter boards and other expenses beyond by means right now. The final product will use all SMT components too, so availability of TH items isn’t an issue.

      The requirements for the beta thing is so they know what is expected of a beta tester, so there are no surprises. As for paying for it, that’s something I am still iffy about myself. There are arguments both ways, but I honestly don’t like it much. We’ll see how it goes and I’ll have to deal with the results if they don’t go well.

      Thank you for posting your concerns, I hope I clarified some of them. As uncomfortable as it is to read posts like this, it is very helpful to see how things are perceived.

  3. WTF is up with Euro and the horrible font and layout designs? Coming from a 5U format world where it is simple and clean designs. This font is what is only used when a lonely goth is heartbroken and composing a letter for death to come.

    1. I have the exact same problem with keycaps/mechanical keyboards. It’s hard to find a normal nice clean font… I don’t understand where this trend is coming from… I find it as ugly as a tribal tattoo.

  4. Anybody complaining about panel art or font most likely wouldn’t buy the module even if it was exactly the way they wanted it

  5. So nobody has anything valuable to say or ask about the function of this module, just a little arguing about taste?

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