The Michigan Synth Works SY0.5 is a modern analog Eurorack clone of the 1979 Pearl SY-1 Syncussion drum synth. The Syncussion was originally intended to supplement a full drum kit and became the go-to source for “disco toms”. Years later it became a cult hit when electronic producers began plucking them out of the bargain bin and exploiting the unit’s far-reaching sonic palette. Its profile was raised again in 2014 when the Syro gear list revealed that Aphex Twin has 4 of them racked up.

The SY 0.5 is the most fun I’ve had with a percussion module in a while. It’s easy to get lost exploring the vibey sounds, I’m always a fan of faders over knobs, and the ability to CV modulate the “Mode” alogrithm also opens up some doors–you can do a lot with just one voice.

As always this pack includes some clean sounds and some sounds that have been heavily processed with other Eurorack gear. The drum loops were created in Ableton Live and processed with in-the-box and Eurorack filters/effects.

These loops and samples lend themselves well to glitchy techno, lo-fi hip-hop, and aggro drum & bass.

Here’s what you get:

  • An Ableton pack with 12 instruments
  • 52 drum loops
  • 91 snares
  • 77 kick drums
  • 61 quirky percussion samples
  • 16 melodic/synth samples (tuned to C)
  • 14 high hats
  • 6 toms

Audio files are included in two different formats:

  • 24 bit, 48kHz WAV
  • 16 bit, 44.1kHz WAV