Here is a short interview with Gattobus (Gianni Proietti). Some history and his relationship with and contributions to Roland.
In the interview there is also a short mention of his Eurorack setup.
A Few Minutes with Gattobus: From Roland Fan to Family - Roland Articles
Speaking of Eurorack, I must say your latest Gattobus composition on YouTube, “Circles,” is absolutely magical. How did you get into modular synthesis? Are you working on an ever-growing wall of modules or do you prefer to keep it simple?**
Thank you. Well, I believe every synth addict ends up with a little modular system sooner or later. But I’ll never have a wall of modules because it would be impossible to use all that effectively. The inspiration behind my system is the West Coast modular approach. Once I had all the pieces, I stopped there.
So, West Coast synthesis generally refers to the early synthesizer designs of Don Buchla. Generally based on waveshaping/wavefolding and (fast) lowpass gates (VCO → Waveshaper → LPG). Waveshaping more generally is the direct manipulation the shape of the wave to get complex spectra. This can also include oscillator interactions like FM and AM. This approach can easily generate complex spectra from simple waveshapes, even when starting with bare sines. Also, it was generally aimed at more experimentation. E.g. historically no ‘normal’ ‘black and white keys’ keyboard attached.
As opposed to the East Coast approach, the early synthesizer designs by Bob Moog. Generally based on subtractive synthsesis: starting with more complex richer waveshapes/spectra (like Saw, Square/Pulse, Triangle) and shaping the spectrum with filters (VCO → VCF → VCA).
Generally, waveshaping often sounds more harsh then filtering. Also there are more non-linear effects in waveshaping. Generally Lowpass Gates (VCF+VCA) are used to tame some high end and have a sort-of-natural decay, dampening both volume/amplitude and higher end frequencies over time.
VCV Rack offers plenty of waveshapers/wavefolders and Lowpass gates (you can also use a VCA+VCF using the same envelope) or a VCF with cv controlled drive that goes all the way down to silence).
VCV Rack also offers various complex oscillators incorporating various West Coast elements. E.g. check out the Instruo collection:
VCV Library: Instruo
The strict distinction between West Coast and East Coast is a lot less relevant today. In the days of Eurorack and VCV Rack you can combine all the different approaches and techniques.
Here’s some background and history on the different approaches:
East Coast vs. West Coast Synthesis Explained - Perfect Circuit