ferry-island-beacon

Ferry Island Modular Beacon

Stereo pingable character VCA/LPG with modeled vactrol response

4 HP Eurorack module

Beacon is a 4HP stereo pingable VCA / Low-Pass Gate from Helsinki-based Ferry Island Modular. Its envelope behavior is a physical model of a real vactrol, derived from measurements of physical components, giving each ping an organic bloom-and-decay character rather than a clean exponential curve. Beacon operates in two modes — VCA (amplitude only) and LPG (amplitude plus correlated low-pass filtering) — both driven by the same modeled vactrol response. A Character knob adds OTA distortion and Aural-Exciter-style harmonic enhancement, allowing the stereo signal path to move from clean and transparent to thick, vintage and shimmering. The Level knob sets the base gain, summed with a bipolar-attenuated CV input. The Type button cycles through selectable vactrol models (more available via open-source firmware updates). True stereo I/O, plus internal headers for chaining/distributed mixing, make Beacon equally at home as a clean stereo VCA, a percussive LPG voice, or a glue/character processor at the end of a stereo bus.

Features

  • True-stereo signal path with independent L/R inputs and outputs
  • Physically modeled vactrol envelope response (measured from real components)
  • Two operating modes: pure VCA and Low-Pass Gate (LPG)
  • Pingable — each trigger fires the modeled vactrol bloom/decay
  • Character knob adds OTA saturation and Aural-Exciter-style harmonic enhancement
  • Selectable vactrol response models via Type button + LED
  • Open-source firmware — additional vactrol models available via updates
  • Bipolar attenuator on the Level CV input for normal/inverted modulation
  • Compact 4HP footprint with 30mm depth (cable installed)
  • Internal input/output headers for chaining and distributed stereo mixing
  • Designed, engineered and manufactured in Finland

Controls & Jacks (11)

  • OUT L— Left channel audio output. Sends the left side of the stereo VCA/LPG signal.
  • OUT R— Right channel audio output. Sends the right side of the stereo VCA/LPG signal.
  • IN L— Left channel audio input. Routed to the stereo VCA/LPG.
  • IN R— Right channel audio input. Routed to the stereo VCA/LPG.
  • Level CV In— CV input that modulates the Level value. Routed through the Level CV attenuator before being summed with the Level knob.
  • Ping In— Trigger input that fires the vactrol envelope response. Each ping causes Beacon to bloom and decay with the selected vactrol model.
  • Level CV Attenuator— Bipolar attenuator for the Level CV input. At 12 o'clock the CV is muted; CW positions attenuate positive, CCW positions invert the CV.
  • Type LED— Indicator for the currently selected vactrol Type. Pulses or changes color/state to reflect the active model.
  • Type— Cycles through the available vactrol response models. Additional models can be loaded via firmware updates.
  • Level— Sets the base gain of the VCA/LPG. The attenuated Level CV is summed on top of this value to drive the modeled vactrol response.
  • Character— Adds vintage OTA saturation and smooth harmonic enhancement. From clean at CCW to thick, exciter-style harmonics fully CW.

How-To Guides

  • Clean Stereo VCA
  • Pingable Stereo LPG Voice
  • Stereo Character Bus Glue
  • Sidechain Ducking + Pinged Accents

Explore the interactive Beacon panel on BleepDex — tap any control to learn what it does.

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