When I think of signal routing, I view it as a utility, something functional, to plan and figure out. Lately, I’ve come around to thinking of it more creatively, of what one can do with routing in terms of musicality, performance, or both. Joranalogue’s Route 4 is one reason why. It’s one of those modules that can do a lot; it can be sort of a gate/pulse controlled mixer, a gate sequencer (with a little help from some LFOs/clocks/etc.), and a contour-less VCA—either opening or closing a channel—along with some other uses.
Comprised of two sections with the top half of Route 4 being a 4-to-1 router and the bottom half a 1-to-4 router, each section contains four Routing Inputs (top section) or Outputs (bottom section) with a corresponding Control Input, which enables the channel when a trigger or gate signal is present. All inputs can handle audio, CV, or gates, and each channel has a Gate/Latch switch and a SOLO/Multi switch for determining if only one channel/input can be triggered at a time, or all channels triggered. There is also a normalled Input and an Output jack running across the middle of the module, separating the two halves in terms of layout, but connecting them, with the top portion of Route 4 flowing into the bottom if the normalization is unbroken. LEDs throughout Route 4 show the status of each channel.
Depending on the switch and gate settings, Route 4 can be used as a 4-step sequencer, and you can easily stretch those 4-steps into ever-evolving melodies. Mix a constant voltage in a channel or two (so that they’re perpetually “on”) with some gate or trigger signals for other channels, and you can get a lot more variation. Whether that’s rhythmically or not-so, this opens up all sorts of opportunities for melodies when audio signals are present at the inputs, or modulation opportunities when CV is patched into the inputs (and the Control inputs as well). Changing a channel from SOLO to Multi, and/or Gate/Latch unleashes all sorts of rhythmic variations, and for me, that’s where the fun was had after Route 4 was patched up. Changing the switch settings, especially going from Gate to Latch or vice versa was a cool way to change things up, and while I was focused on testing out Route 4, in a broader patch—with a lot going on and using a lot of modules—I found the switching in Route 4 to be a very cool way to shift the feel of a rhythm or melody line, while in the midst of tweaking other parameters and controls in the patch.
While the top part of Route 4 is normalled into the bottom half, and it makes sense to use this module as one thing, I actually found myself using the two halves separately most of the time. I do like the fact that you can have four separate inputs on the top half and combine them into the input for the bottom half, and split out four of the same combined signal to different outputs, but that can be done with a mult pretty easily, anyway.
Running four channels of audio rate on the top portion of Route 4 with various degrees of synced, or semi-synced CV/trigger for each channel was pretty interesting, and using audio rate for the CV brought about some cool AM tones. Using the bottom half to mult and distribute an audio signal to four different effects in a clocked manner was really interesting, especially when the four channels were mixed to a mono track where you could then sync the effects, filters, and whatever else, to turn off and on, creating rhythmic effects patterning. With Route 4, Joranalogue has turned yet another utility into so much more.
Joranalogue also sent over Dim 2, their two-channel CV or manual-controlled dimmable lighting module. Packaged with two short goose-neck BNC LED lamps, the lights offer a nice pleasant and diffused illumination, and dim nicely with no seizure inducing flickering. Sure, they’re lights, no big deal, but the goose-necks actually held pretty well vertically with minimal amount of sag during a recent three-hour session—longer than most modular gigs will be running—which puts it above some of the other lighting I’ve tried out in the past. The lights feel very secure in their BNC locking slots, and with the ability to CV the lighting, you’re even able to bring a little performative juice to your visuals. Dim 2 is built so that if your modular’s power supply can handle the load, you can also plug 12V LED strips into it by removing the detachable Joranalogue light heads, and plugging them into the standard 2.1mm DC plug. After having this for a while, I can say that I didn’t realize how helpful it is to have such good lighting in my rack. It's a relief on the eyes, and I'm able to decrease the amount of room lights I'd been using, creating some extra ambience in my space. I wish the accompanying goose necks were just a little bit longer, as my 150HP rack is pretty big, but angling them a certain way I was still able to hit pretty much every module with light, making patching and reading the text on them a lot easier. Very cool indeed.

Price Route 4: $214
Price Dim 2: $179

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