I’ve been working on a set of virtual instruments inspired by nuclear instrumentation modules (NIM) and other lab equipment, and recently started reworking the visual design to lean fully into that direction.
These run in VCV Rack (a modular synth environment), but the goal here isn’t to mimic typical synth UI. It’s to treat them more like pieces of test equipment that happen to make sound. In this case, they also interface with real analog hardware behind the scenes (and that's a longer story).
The design process started with vintage telecom gear, but NIM turned out to be a better fit: sharp, functional, unapologetically "scientific instrument." I leaned into that, while still trying to keep things usable as musical controls rather than pure visual homage.
A few of the details came directly from that world:
- BNC-style connectors (purely visual, but they help sell the idea)
- Slotted thumbscrews from NIM panels
- HP-style latching push buttons
One element I spent some time on was the turn-counting dial. On real hardware, these show position mechanically for precise adjustment. Here, I replicated that with a 7-segment display embedded in the knob itself. One full turn corresponds to an octave change, so it behaves more like calibrated equipment than a typical synth control.
I also tried adding LED glow/pulsing effects to the displays. It looked interesting, but in practice it was distracting, so I cut it. Might come back as an optional setting.
Curious if there are other details from this kind of hardware I should consider lifting. There are a few more modules to rework in this style, so additional ideas would be useful.