Hard Techno/Acid/Tech House/Schranz
DJ, producer and live performer from Milwaukee, now in Colorado Springs, active since the late 1990s. Modular synths, drum machines and hardware FX, performed live rather than just mixed.
Away from the decks I build my own tools: the SynTHBloK series of synth modules for VCV Rack under the NoiZee ToyZ name, ToyBoX, a free browser acid synth with a step sequencer, and Acid Bedrock, a track builder for hard techno and acid that exports prompts, scripts and MIDI. Ten releases out on Bandcamp, with sets and live recordings archived here.
Hard techno, acid, tech house and schranz, played live on modular synths, drum machines and hardware FX. Every set is performed, not just mixed.
I design and code my own synth modules for VCV Rack under the NoiZee ToyZ name, from oscillators and filters to effects, mixing and mastering.
I build the tools I want to make music with, like Acid Bedrock, a track builder that exports prompts, scripts and MIDI.
SynTHBloK is a series of VCV Rack modules written in C++ for Rack 2.6, all with the same black panel and orange accents. They are meant to work as one instrument: a voice, a filter, effects, a mixer and a mastering strip, with the polyphonic engine and the main synth sharing control signals so they act like one voice.
Synth voice
The main voice. Up to four oscillators blending triangle, saw, square and sine, plus a sub oscillator, with FM and PWM CV. Built-in filter with its own envelope, an ADSR with glide and accent, and an LFO with rate, range, fade-in, morph, retrigger and sync. Clock in and out.
Poly engine
A polyphonic engine that runs up to eight voices. Stacked unison with a live display, spread, per-voice drive, a tone control and post-mix chorus. Takes V/OCT, gate, spread and reset, and sends polyphonic envelope, VCA, filter and pitch outputs back out.
Filter
A stable state-variable filter built to be pushed hard. Morph between responses, then add drive, FM, keytracking, controlled chaos jitter and stereo width. Almost every control has a CV input and a colour-coded LED.
Modal resonator
A modal resonator that makes an audio signal ring like a physical object. Pick Metal, Wood, Membrane or Tube, then set body tuning, resonance, exciter strength and damping. Strike it with a trigger or tune it from V/OCT.
Effects
A tempo-aware delay and space processor with time, feedback, mix, tone, depth and rate. Sidechain-style ducking keeps echoes out of the way, and four character modes shape the sound: Clean, Tape, Analog and Modern.
Stereo and glue
Stereo shaping and bus processing in one panel: width, tilt, air, glue compression, punch and clipping, with a live analyzer for correlation, mid and side and tilt. Main and side inputs, L, R and side outputs.
Mastering strip
A mastering chain in one module: input trim, tilt EQ and shelves, glue compressor, punch, a limiter with ceiling and release, stereo width, mono-bass control and air, with a meter cluster to watch it all.
Six-channel mixer
Six stereo channels with level, pan or width, tilt, drive, air and glue on every strip, plus mute and solo and per-channel meters. The master section adds width, tilt, glue and clip trim, with bar meters for L, R, side and gain reduction.
ToyBoX is an acid synth I built for the web. Write a 16-step line with accent, slide and octave jumps, lock it to a scale, then shape the sound with a resonant filter, envelope, delay, drive, tilt and glue while you watch it on the live scope. Five presets to start from, and you can play it from your keyboard too. It is the browser cousin of my SynTHBloK VCV Rack modules. Press Play and tweak everything while it runs.
▶ Launch ToyBoX
Click the grid to place notes across 16 steps. Add accent for a harder hit, slide to glide into the next note, and flip any step up or down an octave. Pick a root note and a scale and the grid greys out the notes that would sound wrong.
Blend triangle, saw and square with a sub oscillator, stack up to four voices, then sweep the resonant filter while the pattern plays. Envelope, LFO, drive and delay are all live, so you can move any knob mid-loop.
Hit Randomize for a new line, load one of five presets, or play the notes yourself on your computer keyboard or the on-screen keys. Watch the scope and spectrum react as you go.
The classic: squelchy saw, high resonance, accents and slides.
Deep sub-heavy bass with long delay tails and plenty of space.
A driven, rolling low line with octave jumps for hard techno.
Short stacked plucks arpeggiating through a dark scale.
Slow, gliding notes with a wide four-voice stack and a drifting LFO.
A track-building tool for hard techno, acid, jungle, dub and symphonic ideas. Pick wub engines, break engines, percussion kits, dub material, acid patterns, symphonic layers and FX chains from the module library, arrange them into a blueprint, then export a prompt for AI music tools, a Python script, or a MIDI file for Ableton, FL Studio and VCV Rack. Works on desktop and phone.
40 records Hear it before you load it: a waveform preview, four character meters (sub, harmonics, movement, aggression) and the full synth recipe: oscillator, filter, LFO and key.
Name the track, set the tempo and key, then tick any of 18 genres. Hit Create Stacks and the blueprint fills itself from your picks, ready to adjust.
Wub engine, break type, two ITP percussion slots, two dub slots, an acid pattern and a symphonic layer. Click modules in or drag them across. A compatibility meter at the top rates how well your choices fit together, and opens into a full breakdown.
Four free-form FX layers sit on top of the track, each set to Auto or a module you pick. The fill plan sets the fill at every section change: build to drop, drop to break, break to drop and drop to outro.
Randomise rolls a full blueprint in one click, and Clear All starts over. Save and Load keep your projects. When it is ready, Compact 10K is a prompt script for MOZART AI, Full Codex is a runnable Python script, and MIDI Export drops straight into Ableton, FL Studio and VCV Rack.
All tracks performed live using modular synths, drum machines and hardware effects. Recorded for Clownfest 2025, an online techno festival held annually with artists from around the world. Aired December 28, 2025 as part of the Clownfest 2025 live stream.
Download previously posted sets and live performances from LiQuiDNicK. All tracks performed and recorded live.
Original productions from LiQuiDNicK, available to buy and stream.
Welcome to the home of LiQuiDNicK — DJ, producer and artist hailing from Milwaukee, WI, USA, now residing in Colorado Springs, CO. Primarily a techno and house/techno performer, Nick is always mixing up genres. Known for hard techno, acid techno, tech house and schranz-influenced sets, he continues to evolve his sound while staying rooted in the Midwest underground. Check out the ever-evolving sound that has continued since the late nineties. Beyond the music, he builds his own instruments: a series of VCV Rack synth modules under the NoiZee ToyZ name, a free browser acid synth called ToyBoX, and software like Acid Bedrock.