I set out today to experiment with exactly two things: a dynamic trigger patch technique suggested by none other than DivKid, and a new stereo wavefolder that I haven’t used nearly enough. It started off as a simple patch, that turned into a beast.
Dynamic triggers are interesting. Normally a trigger’s amplitude doesn’t matter. Most triggers simply cue other modules to do whatever it is they do. But some drum modules, filters, and LPGs thrive when fed with dynamic triggers because it allows individual hits to be different volumes, which brings an interesting dimension to LPG pings. There’s variety; a variance that adds character and drama.
The patch itself isn’t that difficult. The key is to both attenuate and offset noise, and use that in a VCA CV input. In a thread about Dynamic Triggers on Modwiggler, DivKid writes,
It’s also good to remember (for all of us, I know I need a reminder sometimes) that CV utilities are our friends. Offset and attenuation would get you a long way. So rather than fully random. Take a CV utility and use an offset of say 3V (roughly) and then mix in the noise but attenuated and you’ll have a series of values that are hovering and dancing around the offset. Musically and sort of “humanised” around that offset.
Although it sounded easy enough, I asked, on his Discord server, to elaborate, and he confirmed that the patch is as easy as I imagined it would be:
Trigger > VCA input
Offset/attenuated noise > VCA CV input
If you have a VCA with both level bias/offset and CV attenuators (like the Intellijel Amps, Quad VCA, or many others), simply patch the trigger to the input, set the offset to taste (3V, for example), and set the CV attenuator to taste. If you set it at around 1V, you’ll have triggers between 2-4V. The more attenuated the noise, the closer the triggers will be to the offset level. However you do it, it’s a dynamic treat.
I did this patch times four, using four copies of a Frap Tools Sapel trigger, each patched to the CuteLab Missed Opportunities for probability processing before going to the Intellijel Amps in order to be dynamically controlled by the offset and attenuated noise. Amps made this patch much easier because it has CV inputs that normalize, which means I only needed to use a single patch cable to feed all four channels doing trigger processing.1
These now dynamic triggers pinged four Rabid Elephant Natural Gates, which does register dynamic triggers, where I used four Frap Tools Falistri generators as oscillators before being mixed and sent to the Venus Instruments Veno-Echo.2 There are a lot of patch cables, with plenty of mults and Stackcables throughout. Triggers were flying everywhere in the patch. From Sapel to Missed Opportunities, Amps to Stochastic Function Generator, and Ornament & Crime’s legendary Quantermain quad quantizer algorithm. And that’s just to create notes. Other triggers went to the Nonlinearcircuits Divide & Conquer and Stochaos (to trigger its rather excellent stepped CV outputs), Veno-Echo, and Calsynth Changes, which modulated a lackluster kick and the very very cool Optotronics Stereo Lockhart Wavefolder.
The wavefolder was surely the high point in this patch for me. I really only understand how half of it works, but it’s ultra-fun. It adds harmonics in really interesting ways, fed by sharp envelopes to each side from a Calsynth Changes, triggered by a Calsynth Twiigs quad Bernoulli gate based on the Mutable Instruments Branches. This creates some exceptionally cool stereo movement that I’ll have to explore more of.
I also used the Industrial Music Electronics Malgorithm Mk2 for part, which was cool, but was overshadowed by the wavefolder once it was added.
I actually used all eight VCAs in my Amps chain to dynamically control four triggers and four snappy, stochastic envelopes from the Addac506 Stochastic Function Generator which were patched to the Natural Gates’ Control CV inputs. ↩︎
I meant to mix these down in a slightly stereo orientation, but I simply forgot to turn the pan knobs. 😕 ↩︎
I hit record on the patch at 11:56pm EST. It counts. A even longer day at work than yesterday, but I was able to make it in time.
I started tonight with another feedback patch, but was completely uninspired, so went to a Make Noise Jam. René v2 is an incredibly good sequencer for live jamming. I’m not very good at sequencing, but René doesn’t care. It just works and things flow freely. Spectraphon is exceeding all expectations at this point. It sounds friggin’ good.
The quick and dirty….
X Channel controls Spectraphon A Odd/Even outputs in QMMG Channels 1 and 2.
Y Channel controls Spectraphon B Odd/Even outputs in QMMG Channels 4 and 3.
C Channel sends pitch to QPAS, which is pinging away to a steady clock, but it’s input is faded in and out by a cycling Function via its VCA.
Wogglebug, Maths, and the other Function do some modulation to Partials, Slide, Radiance L and R, and QPAS’ Frequency.
All three voices mixed in DXG and sent through Mimeophon, then the Maneco Labs Otterley Reverb.
This patch was really fun and making it exemplifies Make Noise’s strengths as instrument designers. The cohesiveness of the modules as a set, and the physical UI are really conducive to just jamming out and having fun.
As a result of acquiring both the Synthesis Technology E370 and the Flame Instruments 4VOX, after also getting the Humble Audio Quad Operator and RYK Modular Algo earlier in the year, I’ve been stringing together a series of chord-based polyphonic patches using various forms of slow modulation to control the volume of each chord tone. From standard LFOs to chaos, and stochastic functions to ocean wave simulations, I’ve tried at least a dozen of this style of patching over the last several months. Some of these have used static chords that don’t really move anywhere. Different notes of a chord come in and out chaotically (in most cases), but the chord itself doesn’t change. Others are based on the harmonic series, where only one pitch change of the master oscillator affects all of the individual harmonics resulting in chord changes. All of those were composed using chaos or random as a pitch source. But, with one exception, it wasn’t until this patch that I used the NOH-Modular Pianist with real intent and composed a chord progression to move the piece along. To set a mood and provide some tension and relief with harmonic motion in addition to volume and timbre changes. And this time I went big with using all eight CV outputs, rather than just four.
The NOH-Modular Pianist is an interesting module. It promises a world of harmonic movement in an environment where using chords isn’t a simple proposition. Polyphony in Eurorack is equipment and labor intensive. Each separate note of a chord requires its own separate oscillator, function generator, and VCA, at minimum. and requires its own discrete signal path. That’s a lot of patching for what is an easy task in a DAW or by using keyboard-based synths. It’s a lot of tuning (and re-tuning); lots of signals to tweak, and lots of modulation to account for. Before the Pianist, ways to get this sort of advanced polyphony was hard to come by. You could use a MIDI > CV converter, which has its own challenges, or else by painstakingly programming a pitch sequencer note by note, which requires a level of music theory knowledge that most don’t possess.1 MIDI > CV converters require careful calibration, and there are few sequencers with more than just four channels. But the Pianist is different.
Rather than programming chords note by note, Pianist uses standard western music shorthand for identifying chords, and the module does the rest. When you program it to play a CM7 chord, for instance, it knows to send out pitch data for C E G and Bb. It’ll even repeat chord notes in a different octave if no color tones are used. You can add two chord extensions beyond the 7th, called Colours in the Pianist, or use chord inversions to designate the third or fifth as the bass note in the chord. If a up to six note chord can be played on a piano, it can be played by the Pianist.
Users can freely enter chords from scratch in Free mode, or, to make the job even easier, set it to Scale mode and choose only from chords within your chosen key. The scale can be set to Major, Minor, or any of the modes2 and Pianist does the rest. So, for example, if a user in Scale mode were choose A Major as the scale, Pianist would present you with only AMaj, Bmin, C#min, DMaj, EMaj, F#min, G#dim, the diatonic chords in A Major, in order to facilitate easier chord progressions for theory novices. As long as your oscillators are tuned, your chords will be in key. Nifty. For those who want to use chords outside of a key, or if your composition isn’t really in a specific key, Free mode allows for creating chords from scratch. Virtually any chord is possible (up to six notes). In both modes, harmonic complexity is simple, with up to two color tones available, and made even simpler in Random Gate mode where each gate received will add random colors automatically, and choose colors that make harmonic sense within that chord. The workflow in creating chord progressions is intuitive. I was quickly making fairly complex progressions with repeats and skipped chords with ease.
Though Pianist is a boon to those of us seeking access to polyphonic 12TET harmonic movement in our Eurorack patches, it does have its weaknesses. Though you can move notes up and down in octaves to create chord depth, it’s done in a haphazard way. Rather than setting each note for the exact voicing you’re looking for, you have to rely on functions Pianist calls Shift and Spread in order to get full, rich chords that don’t clutter a particular part of the audio spectrum, but it’s not exactly clear how that affects the chord as a whole. I can hear changes, but can’t always identify them. Easy variety, however, can be achieved when the Gate mode is set to Spread. No chord will be voiced exactly the same which creates intrigue.
The calibration for the module, at least in Version 1.0, is straight funky. This patch uses eight discrete oscillators. While tuning I sent a C from Pianist to set a baseline. But in order for the oscillators to play the C being sent, they each had to be tuned to G, which I found odd. The newest firmware, 1.2, addresses tuning and scales in a way that version 1.0 does not, which is a great improvement by all accounts, even if I haven’t used it yet to note any changes. Since I’m using Pianist in Free mode in this patch, however, there wasn’t a compelling reason for me to upgrade, though I certainly will now that I’ve finished recording it, even if I have an aversion to the upgrade processes of most digital modules.
The screen has a lot of information, and not a lot of room. However, navigation is still reasonably simple and the information on the screen laid out such that it’s not hard to read. It’s easier to read and use than many far more established modules like the Disting Ex, Kermit Mk3, or uO_C, even if there isn’t a lot of screen real estate. The interface is super easy to navigate using the mini joystick/push button. Version 1.2 is reported to have an even more streamlined navigation and menu system. Though altering global settings like the Scale, Gate or Spread behavior requires some menu diving which is never fun, programming chords decidedly does not. It’s a point and click operation made easy with the joystick, all done on one level. Move the cursor to what you want to change, click, move the joystick to the desired value, and click. Done.
A major issue with version 1.0, which may have been changed, is that it always boots up with the first saved sequence. Unless you save your progression to one of the user slots, you will lose your work if the module power cycles. If you don’t have much in your progression, or it’s a super simple that’s no problem. But if it’s long or has a lot of direction you might be losing a lot. Ask me how I know. 😕
Pianist has its own clock that will change on each beat, along with a clock output to trigger envelopes or some other event as chords change. But it also has a clock input, which will move along the chord sequence with every rising edge like any standard step sequencer. Being that I rarely use a steady clock, I haven’t tried the internal clock, and have instead used clocks created by chaos or some other irregular source. This patch used a fairly complicated sub-patch in order to derive the chord changes. I didn’t want haphazard pitch changes in the midst of notes actively being played, but only when nothing was being heard. Finding an approach for this was time consuming, and although there are probably (certainly?) other methods that would work as well, I settled upon an approach using two comparators, one analog and one digital.
The four waves from Swell Physics first went to the Xaoc Devices Samara II. Samara compares all four inputs, and outputs the Maximum signal (AKA Analog OR). Being that these four waves were controlling the volume of the individual chord tones, it occurred to me that once the Maximum signal went below 0v meant that all four parent signals were below 0v, which meant no volume at all from the chord voice. This is exactly when I want to trigger the next chord in the sequence. I then sent that Maximum signal from Samara II to a digital comparator, the Joranalogue Compare 2, with its compare window set to anything below 0v. So once that Maximum signal went below 0v, it would spit out a gate that would trigger a chord change in Pianist.
The eight chord tones created by the Pianist went to eight different oscillators. The root, third, fifth, and seventh (or fifth if there is no seventh) form the base of the chord and all go to one of the four Flame Instruments 4VOX oscillators, while the color notes and two additional root notes, one that follows chord inversions and one that does not, all go to a self-frequency modulated Frap Tools CUNSA, where each filter is set to self oscillate, and pinged in a Natural Gate.
The Flame 4VOX has been around a long time. My brother, a house sound engineer, producer, and DJ who’s been into Eurorack a long time, lusted for one long before I even knew what Eurorack was. It’s a fully polyphonic, wavetable oscillator beast, split into four sections of up to four oscillators each. Each oscillator can create detuned swarms, chords, or be unison. Each oscillator can be controlled by v/oct CV or midi, and is fully polyphonic with its own output. It really was a very advanced piece of gear for its time. It still is, even if it hasn’t been updated in several years and is showing its age. There are two pots and two CV inputs per oscillator that can control several parameters including scanning the wavetable, detuning, amplification, and more. It has internal VCAs to control volume, but I did not like how they functioned at all, and opted to use external VCAs, which worked to my benefit allowing me to modulate two wavetable parameters rather than the volume and only one parameter. There are also separate FM and reset/sync inputs per oscillator, along with its individual output. Even if CV-able options seem to be limited, virtually every facet of the 4VOX can be addressed via midi, although I haven’t used it with midi at all. It’s a very powerful oscillator bank that can cover lots of ground.
Although I wouldn’t say programming the 4VOX is difficult, it’s not as easy as most more modern interfaces. The screen is bare bones with low resolution and a slim viewing radius. The encoder is a little weird. You have to push it down and turn CCW to move downward in menus, while you simply turn it CW to change parameter values inside the menu. As a unit, it’s impressive. There are lots of options, plenty of stock wavetables to choose from, and it sounds good, but it shows its age. Upgrading firmware is a laborious process with modern computers. Although you can install your own wavetables, the processes to convert them to the right format and get them loaded can be a nightmare, particularly if you’re a Mac user. All of the computer-side software is a decade or more old, and workarounds are sometimes needed. I’m not a “I need to load my own wavetables” kind of guy, and my unit came to me with the latest update, but if I were that guy or my unit hadn’t already had the latest firmware, it would not be an easy task. I’ve had similar problems with older gear before3, and they’re no fun.
The 4VOX forms the base of the chords, brought in and out by the four waves from the Addac508 Swell Physics. The sound is both powerful and delicate, with each quadrant set to four slightly detuned, unison oscillators, each one being slightly modulated by the Nonlinearcircuits Frisson. Although I was pleased with the 4VOX’s performance, the Synthesis Technology E370 is a better overall option. Although the E370 is also based on nearly decade-old technology, it’s still a better user experience. The screen is in color, fully customizable, bigger, and gives more information. The stock wavetables are a gold standard. The software UI is easier to navigate using a more standard encoder. The physical UI is also far better arranged. With the 4VOX, the screen is in the middle of the module, knob locations are not symmetrical, and are more difficult to wiggle once everything is patched up. The E370 has everything laid out very neatly. The screen is on the far left, I/O on the far right, with knobs in the middle, leaving more than enough room to wiggle. It’s really a premium user experience. The only advantages the 4VOX has are its price, size, and complete polyphonic midi capabilities. The 4VOX has always been less expensive than the E370, and that remains true on the secondary market. However, the price differential on the used market is much closer than their respective MSRPs, as the E370 can be purchased for well under 50% of the original retail cost. The price difference on my units, both purchased used within a week of one another, was $100. The size, however, cannot change, and in that regard the 4VOX has the E370 soundly beat. At 29hp the 4VOX is still large (and odd hp 😕), but it’s dwarfed by the massive 54hp E370. It’s the massive size, however, that makes the E370 such a pleasure to wiggle.
Once mixed to mono in the Atomosynth Transmon, the 4VOX chords went through the venerable Industrial Music Electronics Malgorithm MkII, a powerhouse FSU-type module with bit crushing, sample reduction, and various types of waveshaping available to have anything from subtly crunchy through completely mangled audio at the output. Using Malgorithm was an absolute treat. Most of the lo-fi effects I tend towards are of the vintage variety, tape sounds, record pops, etc, vs just slightly old sounding digital artifacting, so it was a different sort of experience. On any other day I likely would have chosen distortion in this role, but the day I started this patch I precipitously chose to go with a different kind of dirt. And it was perfect. I was still able to get some nasty distortion via the “Axis” waveshaper (whatever that does), with the bit crushing and sample reduction playing a slowly increasing role. It’s starts clean, then moves to understated digital artifacting, and finally waves of full blown destruction, ending clean once again. One aspect of Malgorithm I enjoyed was the interaction between input level and the waveshaping. It responds similarly to tube distortion circuits, where the harder you drive the input, the more distortion there will be ranging from just barely there to outright obliteration. Each of these waveshaping circuits has three different levels, red, orange, and green, and all of them have their own character. These waveshapers can even interact with each other for nuking your audio from orbit if that’s what you want. I rode faders on the very awesome Michigan Synth Works XVI to control both the input level as well as the wet/dry mix in order to provide a performative aspect to this patch. Both the bit crushing and Nyquist parameters were modulated by the Addac506 Stochastic Function Generator, with a fairly wide range of both rise and fall times between medium and long. Each of the parameters were set to moderate crunchiness with the knobs, with their modulation moving towards a full-resolution signal. This created an absolutely amazing effect from the sound of dying batteries to the fabric of the universe being unzipped and sewn back together. I would highly recommend Malgorithm to anyone, but you’d have to find one first.
Once through Malgorithm and into the stereo matrix mixer, these now buzzy chords went to the Holocene Electronics Non-Linear Memory Machine, with a very light perfect fifth shimmer in the feedback loop. I initially went with a full octave shimmer, but decided against it as it was too prominent and spiraled too far out of control too quickly. This created a very subtle sheen on the chords that isn’t noticeable much of the time, but is a nice effect nonetheless. Feedback and Spread were both modulated by attenuated versions of the Average output from Swell Physics.4
The color tones of each chord were all sent to the mighty Frap Tools CUNSA, a quad filter extraordinaire, and pinged in a pair of Rabid Elephant Natural Gates. Though I was tempted to use the simple sine waves from each LPF output, I later decided to use the HPF output as a means of each oscillator frequency modulating itself in order to add some harmonics, which worked a treat. In retrospect, I could have simplified the patch significantly had I pinged CUNSA itself instead of running the output to Natural Gate, but I chose the Natural Gate route because Natural Gate.
Using a patch technique I’ve used often, the gates that pinged the Natural Gates were created by running the four waves from Swell Physics into the Nonlinearcircuits Numberwang. But rather than simply choosing four gate outputs, I ran several Stackcables so that each strike input on the Natural Gates were each derived from three Numberwang outputs. This filled in space much better. The notes are still sparse, but they’re triggered at a much better pace using three gates each rather than just one. These notes fill out chords in interesting ways. They’re very short, but combined with delay and reverb, those colors hang around long enough to create intrigue in the overall sound without being intrusive.
These notes were sent to what is becoming one of my favorite delays, the Chase Bliss Audio Reverse Mode C, a re-imagining of one of the modes on the legendary Empress Effects Superdelay. Although it certainly does standard stereo delay stuff, it excels at being a quirky sort of delay, able to output normal delays, reverse delays, and octave up reverse delays, by themselves, or in a mix. Mixing delays creates a beautiful sound space of echoes bouncing all around the stereo field, at different speeds and octaves, which is an incredible aural treat. I haven’t yet learned to properly modulate the Reverse Mode C, but that’s a function of not having a firm grasp on midi. As I figure that out, things ought to get very interesting, with different sorts of delays fading in and out in very creative ways.
The last synthesized voice in this patch is the Good and Evil Dradds as an effects send, sending both the chords and ornamental color notes for some granular action. The Dradd(s) outputs went to separate EF-X2 tape echoes with different settings. Ever since getting a second Dradd, I’ve been infatuated by what I can do with them, and this patch may be the best result yet. Both were set to Tape mode with similar P2, but different P1 knob positions, with the P1 parameter on both being modulated by an attenuated version of the Average output on Swell Physics. The Dradds, in some ways, steal the show. They create all sorts of movement in the stereo field and fill the space between chords and color notes in ways that keep the piece from becoming still. They’re the wake left after a large swell passes by. The bio-luminescence after a crashing wave.
The spoken voice is a set of three samples that were triggered in Koala on the iPad. Triggers emanated from the gate outputs on Swell Physics combined in the new Nonlinearcircuits Gator, sent to the Joranalogue Step 8 and then the Befaco CV Thing and converted to midi notes that were sent to trigger Koala samples on the iPad. It took me a while to figure this one out, though it worked exactly how I envisioned. Gates from Swell Physics were combined in Gator, which triggered Step 8. Each of the first three steps sent its individual gate output to a different CV Thing input. This ensured that the three samples were always triggered in the correct order. The samples themselves were then sent to a new collaborative delay plugin, Moon Echo, by AudioThing and Hainbach.. Moon Echo is a modeled simulation of bouncing sound off the moon, and has a very distinct character. The delay was set to fully wet, and has a delay of about 2.5sec, though that changes depending on the day. The moon is not at a fixed distance from the earth, and the plugin reflects that. By “pinging” the moon upon startup, you will get the current distance to the moon, and a new delay time down to five decimal points (1/100,000 of a second). Fucking cool.
One thing I did differently with this patch paid off high dividends, and will absolutely become a staple in my recordings. I’ve been patching for a few years, but am still an absolute novice at standard studio stuff. Mixing, EQ, compression, and everything else in that sphere evades me. I’ve used some very basic EQ in the past, but really only on the final output, which, as I’ve discovered has several drawbacks. This patch was the first I’ve ever recorded using EQ, the highly regarded Toneboosters TB Equalizer 4, on individual channels as they were being recorded. The chords, ornamentals, and reverb send received EQ that greatly improved the sound quality, even if it could still be better. I did, however, neglect to put EQ on the Dradds, which proved to be a mistake, as there is a very occasional pitch that pierces through in what can’t be far from dog whistle frequencies. It’s not eardrum busting, but I can hear it, and it annoys me. I didn’t catch that behavior when recording, and never EQ’d it out. That said, it was also the first time I’ve recorded a modular patch in separate multi-tracks, including the chords, ornamentals, Dradds, spoken voice, reverb return, and the mixed stereo signal (presented here). I can go back and make changes or additions should that be something I want to do, or send the parts to someone else for mixing and mastering should I ever choose to release it.
Overall I’m very pleased with this patch. It was originally composed in a different key and completely different chord progression, and for a special group of online friends. The chord progression I used in this recording wasn’t composed, as such. At least not by me. I asked ChatGPT for a “sad progression, yet with a sense of hope.”5 I asked for it to be more sad, and it changed key from Amin to Dmin, and ended in a non-diatonic chord (DMaj), which I found a wonderful “choice.” Then, as a means to test the Pianist, I asked for several chord extensions and inversions, and ChatGPT complied, giving us what we have in the recording.
Improvised and recorded in 1 take on iPad in AUM via the Expert Sleepers ES-9.
I studied music performance in college, and have a decent grasp on music theory. The last 30 years, however, have pared that knowledge down to basics. I’m certainly no expert, but I can read chord charts and identify chord notes, even if I have to think for a second. ↩︎
The Humble Audio Quad Operator I purchased did not have the latest firmware update, and the internal VCAs all bled badly. I was unable to install the latest firmware with a modern Mac. I was fortunate to have an older one available to me that I was able to use. ↩︎
There are no fewer than seven modulation points in the patch that are all modulated by an attenuated version of the Average output from Swell Physics. ↩︎
This was literally the first time I’ve ever considered purposefully using AI for anything. ↩︎
I recently sat down with a goal: identify modules in my synth that are underutilized, and make a plan to integrate them into my patches. Like all musicians, synthesists can fall into patterns. We use the same techniques and too often travel similar routes. Though my repetition of techniques of late is somewhat purposeful as I learn new gear, its’s still repetition, and it’s nice to walk on untrodden ground every once in a while.
While I was looking through my folder of manuals, I quickly identified a module that I’ve only used once, and over a year ago: the Blukač Instruments Endless Processor.1 On paper this sort of module seems a natural partner for the kinds of sounds I use most, but for some reason I’ve tended to reach by it and patch something else like the Rossum Electro-Music Panharmonium or Qu-Bit Electronix Aurora. In a bid for some nonlinearity in my practice, I decided that the Endless Processor would be the first of those unused modules to put through its paces.
This patch uses chaos to create a sequence. The starting point is The Hypster by Nonlinearcircuits. I use The Hypster in a lot of patches for a lot of different purposes. I use it for “normal” modulation, the beginning of a chain to make clocks, pitch CV, and maybe more. It’s definitely one of my favorite modules overall, and a top two or three modulator that I’ve used. The Hypster serves many purposes; sometimes more than one in a given patch. In this patch it would serve all three of those functions, plus a bit of self-modulation to keep it from settling into something resembling a pattern.
Four outputs from The Hypster (X, Z, -Y, -U) were patched to another Nonlinearcircuits module, Numberwang, for some good old fashioned gate extraction. The last time I used Numberwang, I wanted a steady-ish rhythm. Not perfectly-on-the-grid steady, but something close, even if it had the propensity to drift (which was a big part of the point), which is why I didn’t modulate The Hypster in that patch. But this time I didn’t want steady. I wanted gates that can’t easily be tied time, which required a meandering source. Chaos can meander a bit, but it can also become regular in that chaotic kind of way. I didn’t want the regular part this time, so modulation of at least one parameter was crucial. Once I started to ping my oscillators with gates from Numberwang and found a frequency on The Hypster that provided a satisfying cadence, I set out to modulate both the Damp and Gain settings. Adding gain adds both voltage and nonlinearity to the feedback loop. More gain is higher output levels and more meandering. Damping suppresses those things in interesting ways. Modulating both brought revealed the chaotic nature of the signal, specifically through the pitch CV, but also in the gate pattern from Numberwang.
This wasn’t the first time I’ve used a chaos signal an a source for pitch CV or gates. But it was the first time I’ve used chaos as a source for pitch and gates while I performatively modulated it so that I would have more control over its range, or the way it meanders. Too much gain and you have pitches more fit for dogs than humans) Too much damping, and you have pitches without enough variation to keep the note sequence interesting, and gates that quickly turn into patterns (even if they do drift a bit). To modulate gain, I used The Hypster’s next door neighbor in my case, Frisson. I also used the -Z output to self-modulate Damping. Although both the Gain and Damping CV inputs both have attenuators, I patched both signals to an attenuator to fine tune the level of modulation The Hypster was receiving. Even very small turns of either attenuator knob revealed very interesting results that would be difficult to achieve with one-pass attenuation at the CV input. Slightly different gate patterns; slightly different notes in the pitch sequence. All very interesting and necessary in order to keep any part of the sequence from becoming dry or repetitive for too long.
I’ve used chaos as a pitch CV source frequently, but this time was a little different. Normally I use one source signal for each oscillator in the patch. But this time I decided to use just one chaos signal as the source for all four oscillators, clocked by Numberwang separately in four separate channels of Quantermain. I controlled the range of pitch primarily through an attenuator, the Nonlinearcircuits De-Escalate.2 This allowed for small changes in pitch choices. One thing I would likely do differently would be to minimize very low pitches by using some offset to the signal before attenuation, especially as I opened up the attenuator. Higher pitches also means lower pitches at the bottom end without some offset, and some of the pitches on the low end are just a little too low for my liking. I imagine some are even inaudible.
The pitch sequence (in D Minor) was sent from Quantermain to the four wavetable oscillators of the Synthesis Technology E370, with all four oscillators tuned to the same pitch, even if I couldn’t tell you what that pitch is. Each wavetable was lightly modulated by the Frisson, with each oscillator detuned slightly by hand. This constant variation in timbre created a wide variety of sounds. Each note just a little different than the last time it was struck. The oscillator outputs were patched to a pair of Rabid Elephant Natural Gate LPGs for pinging, using the same four Numberwang outputs that selected pitch for each channel.
The result is a dance of orbs in some fantastical forest, or drops of water falling to make music, like something akin to a fast moving Fall on the Monome Norns. It’s a beautiful generative sequence, even if this version of the patch used some human assistance. Using a VCA to control levels of the pitch and modulation signals with a very slow modulator would be the key to make it fully generative. In fact, I’ll put that in my patch book to use in the future!
In this patch I used a very simple stereo algorithm: the first Natural Gate outputs are the left channel, and the second Natural Gate outputs are the left channel. Although this decision created a wide stereo space, four separate events happening independently, two in each ear, can become a little distracting and separated, even if it also heightened interest. I think I might have been better served to send these outputs to a panning mixer for mixdown to place them a little more carefully in the stereo field, though I won’t go so far as to say that change should be recorded in ink. There is no sense of a unified space until these completely independent left and right channels hit the stereo reverb.
This effect was exacerbated by the dual mono delays used in the patch, a pair of Echofix EF-X2 tape echoes. Each was set to augment the original’s clarity, holding on to timbre as long as it could until atrophy took hold. Each delay was also set to a different delay time and tape head playback/feedback configuration which created very different echo patterns, heightening the very different sequence patterns in each ear.
But I made a terrible mistake. Throughout much of the recording you can hear some clipping in the left channel. While I investigated I made sure levels were good going into the audio interface. Not only were they not too hot, I’d have liked for them to be even louder. At first I thought it might be some artifact in the wavetable being modulated. But why only that wavetable? I then thought I might have set an envelope a little hot before going to Natural Gate, but that wasn’t it either. Then I heard it. A clue. The clipping wasn’t on the note generation itself, but only occasionally on the very first repeat of only particular notes. It doesn’t happen all of the time. As I was recording i investigated my gainstaging. I discovered that my levels going into the left channel delay were quite hot, and that’s what was causing the clipping; the inbuilt analog limiter that was occasionally being hit very hard and distorting. At least I think that’s what it was. Toward the end of the recording I adjusted the input level to the left delay which seemed to mostly sort the issue.
I also used The Dradds in this patch, although in a way I had never used them before, with the Grain algorithm. I had sort-of tried this mode before, but never really investigated it with the manual until this patch. Like when I actually RTFM while using The Dradds in the Tape algorithm, I was immensely happy with the result. Understanding your instrument is key. As synthesists we can happy accident our way into nice sounds regularly. But you can’t really compose with the hope that your knob twists will land you where you want to go. Just as strumming away on a guitar, or pressing piano keys doesn’t create something musical, you can’t really get music from a modular until you know which knobs to turn and when/how much to turn them. For this patch I chose to scan each buffer using a chaos signal from Frisson. This was nice movement, but the scarcity of notes feeding The Dradds meant that sometimes there was nothing in the short buffer to scan, or so little that it wasn’t scanned while it was in the buffer. This served to keep the Dradds from becoming too busy and overtaking the patch, but I would have liked more from The Dradds at many points.
The last effect used (besides reverb on the entire output) is the aforementioned Endless Processor. I hadn’t used this module much before. Not because I don’t think it would add a beautiful dimension to my patching, but because of unknown reasons that had me patching other FFT-like modules instead. The Endless Processor is a very simple module that does just one thing: it analyzes the frequency and level information of incoming audio, and endlessly sustains an average of that audio until you clear the layer. You can clear layers, or replace them with new audio, but ultimately the Endless Processor is a very simple instrument. It’s perfect for drones or making chords. It’s perfect for creating air in your patch, or filling space and creating texture. You can even use this module for stabbing techno chords.
But simple doesn’t mean easy. Capturing the exact sound you want, particularly at lower Memory times, can be challenging. You don’t always get the capture you hoped for (something that happened during this recording), and sometimes you get a capture that sounds downright bad. Today was my first day with it, so I think I can forgive myself for getting “meh” results in my first recording with it. I can only discern one capture, though I was pretty sure I did at least four of them on layers one and two. My initial goal was to have both channels of the Endless Processor float back and forth in the stereo field at different rates, but with only one sound being audible it’s pretty awkward, especially with as loud as it is. Clearly, I need practice.
Overall I really enjoyed creating this patch. Chaos is always fun to use in whatever capacity I use it. The Natural Gates shines again. The Echofix tape delays, brilliant. The Dradds doing Dradd-y things. My hope is to really work with the Endless Processor, as I can absolutely see just what a boon it could be in my practice.
I actually identified a whole lot of modules that have been underused, and am making a plan to use them, or sell them. ↩︎
As much as I like the De-Escalate, it would be a much easier tool to use were the jacks to one side and the knob on the other. Input-Knob-Output is a horribly patching orientation for minimizing spaghetti. ↩︎
Although I’m not fully clear on what might make a module beastly, what I am clear on is that the Synthesis Technology E370 Quad Morphing VCO is a beast. One might call a module beastly because of the sound it makes. Others might be termed a beast because of its sheer size. But then sometimes there are a few Eurorack modules that strive for something grandiose; so technically complex that to have it function at all is a major coup in engineering. It’s these sorts of tools that have the capacity to change the dynamic of one’s rack. To change how we go about playing our synthesizers. Not many modules fall into this category, and those that do tend to be bulky and expensive. I’ve only had this experience with a small handful of modules. The Synthesis Technology E370 is one of those modules.
I tend mostly to live in ambient-world when patching my synthesizer. In some ways it’s an extension of the mental state patching places me in. When I patch, I get lost; completely immersed in the algorithm. Not the shitty-type algorithm like those on social media, but that state of constantly thinking my way through the patch step-by-step. Sometimes that thought is speculative (I wonder what will happen if….), while other times I’m thinking through a problem (or set of problems) that are keeping me from achieving some goal within the patch (How the fuck do I do X?). Modular synthesis is a puzzle. It’s a technical exercise far exceeding putting the right notes in place, and one that rewards deep thought about how to approach the next step. The puzzle is what initially attracted me to modular. It’s like playing Myst, only with the real life reward of beautiful music for solving the puzzle correctly.
This quest for ambient has landed me with several oscillator banks in a search for the perfect cloud of notes. A few minutes that might have a chance to reflect the state I’m in while making the patch. I’ve used several of these in my practice. The Humble Audio Quad Operator, RYK Algo, Frap Tools CUNSA, dual Frap Tools Falistris, 4ms Spherical Wavetable Navigator, and 4ms Spectral Multimode Resonator can all be used as oscillator banks, and I’ve used them all in that capacity. But as nice as those tools are, none come to level the E370 strives to achieve. A full 4 oscillator wavetable oscillator with just about every bell and whistle one could desire to customize your sound. Oh, and each oscillator can be eight oscillators, either stacked and detuned, or with chords. That’s a total of 32 oscillators swarming around. That’s quite the tool.
Although this post is not an attempt to write a comprehensive review of the E370, it’s only my first patch with it, and after only a couple of not-terribly-thorough glances at the manual,1 I do want to note that it’s immediately apparent that the E370 is one of those transformative modules. The kind that will affect how I patch the modular in the future. Despite experiencing a couple of frustrations during this first patch,2 it’s clear that the E370 is ultra-powerful, able to deliver a wide assortment of sounds and timbres. The interface is beautiful, well laid out, and at 54hp definitely large enough to easily use it. Despite having a deep menu system, navigating is relatively simple and changing parameters is no problem. Where the issue lies is in understanding what each parameter within the menu system is and what it does, and that will come with practice. What’s the difference between MorphXY and MorphZ? What is Phase Interpolation? But those are different problems to be understood and solved with practice, not obstacles that need a workaround or compromise. This module is deep, yet despite not being quite as easy to navigate as something like the Doboz T12, it’s not difficult by any definition of the word. It’s quite easy to get going in a hurry.
This patch is a combination of several patches I’ve done recently. The Addac508 Swell Physics is the heart of the patch that controls almost everything, from the levels of each oscillator, to panning, to wavetable modulation, and more, even if not directly. Oscillator levels are controlled by Swell Physics indirectly via the Nonlinearcircuits Let’s Splosh, using the very excellent Jolin Labs Agogo LPG/mixer extraordinaire. Each oscillator output is patched to inputs 1, 3, 5, and 7 of the Agogo, with white noise patched to inputs 2, 4, 6, and 8. Four CV outputs from Let’s Splosh modulate the levels of each oscillator and its noise pairing in CV inputs 1, 3, 5, and 7, with the mixed signals being taken from outputs 2, 4, 6, and 8. This sort of usage really highlights the Agogo’s proverbial girth. With all inputs and outputs cascading, it’s a mixing powerhouse, with the ability to create all manner of different submixes to suit any patch. This patch made four separate outputs, each with one oscillator mixed with white noise that then went to the ST Modular Sum Mix & Pan for a mix down to stereo. Each of those signals was individually panned in the stereo field by outputs 1-4 of Swell Physics, with the L/R output of Mix & Pan patched to the matrix mixer. Swell physics also modulates each oscillator’s wavetable.
Another part of the patch I’ve used recently, and repeated here, is panning between delays in order to get contrasting patterns or textures and keep the sound progressing. I first learned this patch while watching a DivKid video about the stereo strip, even if I’ve adapted it to be able to pan a fully stereo signal between delays using chained Intellijel Amps, rather than sending them a mono signal to be stereo-ized by the delays. Although I don’t use the Stereo Strip for that specific purpose in this patch, I do use it to EQ the audio before going to the delays.
The first delay I used is the Venus Instruments Veno-Echo. It’s a staple in my synth, and might be the most versatile delay in Eurorack. I often use it in patches like this because it has reverse delay that can be triggered, and that leads to interesting textures that are able to contrast with whatever other delay I decide to use. It’s fully controllable per side, and highly modulate-able. I added some sample reduction (it does that too) for some slight crunch which really brings out the wavetable nature of the E370. Add in probability gated triggers to turn reverse on and off per side, and the first delay is set.
The second delay I used was a pair of Echofix EF-X2 tape delays. With this delay I added some drive using the preamp(s), and for the first time with the tape delays, used CV to control the Speed, creating a beautiful tremolo that sang almost like a voice in the feedback, particularly once run through the octave up reverb in the Walrus Audio Slöer. I hadn’t set out to CV control the tape delays, but I was reminded by the CV input sitting on the control panel and decided to give it a go.3 I’m glad I did. For me one of the highlights of the patch is this vibrato and how it interacts with the feedback of the delays. I spent a good chunk of time while playing the patch riding the feedback knobs, never allowing it to gather too much accumulated sound and run away, but at times enough so that it doesn’t really go away, even when the tape delays aren’t receiving any input. It’s a halo of entropy sitting atop everything, singing. It’s a time when a delay is more than just an echo, but an instrument unto itself, becoming its own voice.
These delays generally take the lead in the full mix. There is certainly dry signal present in the mix, but it ended up taking a supporting role in the patch, being about a 80/20 mix in favor of the wet delays, and that dry signal was to keep some kind of coherent shape to the patch. Without that wee bit of dry, it felt like it was falling apart. A loose blob.
Another highlight in this patch is The Dradds. I’ve had a Dradd since not too long after its release. I’ve long been a fan of Pladask Elektrisk. I’ve had all, or almost all, of his pedals at one point or another. Although all of them were unique, none were stereo, and I’m a guy who (irrationally) believes all of his time effects, like delay and reverb, should be in stereo. Despite also being mono, as soon as I learned of Dradd I knew I would give it a chance. After several plays, I was frustratingly underwhelmed. Not that it didn’t sound great (it sounded awesome), but that it too wasn’t stereo. I know There Are Ways, but I’d rather just have stereo effects and not worry about it. They can always be patched in mono if need be. As I was on the verge of selling it I saw a video by Matt Lowery featuring dual Dradds. Gratuitous as it may be, I was quickly convinced on the merits of two Dradds and rushed to the Pladask Elektrisk website, elated to see that they had them in stock, and purchased a second one, the first’s evil twin.
The Dradd, despite its innate ability to stumble into happy accidents with virtually every knob twist, is a module that confused me. I’d kept it for so long because of how easy it is to find sweet spots. Flick a switch, turn a couple of knobs, maybe add in some modulation (or not), throw in some delay and/or reverb, and something beautiful happens. But I never used it with an intention that requires understanding. It’s one thing to turn a couple knobs until something pretty comes out. It’s another thing entirely to understand the controls, and intentionally use them to create the sound you want, or meaningfully transition into something different. Having used Dradd several times I was becoming frustrated that I couldn’t play it. It was an exercise in happy accidents. I hadn’t run into any sort of problems that kept me from decent enough results so there’d been no rush to the manual, but I was at a point where I wanted more than luck determining the output. Having run into this realization, I finally decided to really dig into the manual to finally understand what the module is doing with all these these knob twists. And the outcome is the first time I’ve been truly happy with the results. Dradd had certainly put a smile on my face before, but the sense of creating a sound with intention rather than happing upon it is far more satisfying. I’m a long way from Dradd mastery, but the first step is often the most intimidating, and that’s now done. From here it’s about ingraining my understanding of the instrument by practice, which will surely lead to an even greater understanding.
This patch also put the Jolin Agogo to use in a capacity far more involved than as a simple LPG, instead using it as a complex mixer for eight signals (four oscillators and four sources of white noise). The Agogo is my favorite kind of mixing VCA/LPG. It does a special trick that most don’t: every input, both audio and CV, as well as every output cascades to the next channel if unplugged, making the creation of complex submixes, both mono and stereo, a simple task. If you’re not using all eight channels, you can add saturation simply by moving down a couple of outputs. The Agogo is also chainable, making a 16, 24, etc. channel LPG/mixer with almost endless possibilities. The mixing flexibility it offers is truly incredible. It’s possible to mix entire patches with the Agogo, and the slight filtering it does in the odd channels brings just the right amount of vactrol-controlled goodness to any mix. It does have a drawback, however. Being that it’s vactrol-based, any slow moving CV like LFOs (or simulated ocean waves) must reach a minimum voltage level before the vactrol can start to open. Like all vactrols, and sometimes me, it’s a little slow. You are, however, treated with beautiful decays when there are sudden voltage drops (or indeed pings), provided by eight vactrols on the PBC.
The Oto Boum also made a first appearance in this recording. I’ve never really been a huge fan of using compression. Not because I didn’t think it was good for producing music, but mostly because I don’t really understand it all that well, and most compressors are decidedly not happy accident machines like Dradd. I never had the patience to mess with it, especially when the differences and improvements you’re listening to are often very subtle. But, as with Dradd, I became frustrated at not using the heralded Boum much at all, much less in the capacity for which it was designed: an end of chain compressor.
In this exercise, the manual was no help, even if it is quite good. I needed real guidance. Basically, something that could be a crutch and tell me exactly what to do. Compression is a debated topic in ambient music. You want everything to be heard, but since dynamics play such a pivotal role in ambient music it’s paramount that you maintain a high dynamic range. Having turned to YouTube for some direction, I found a video with the perfect title: “INCREDIBLE OTO Boum – Dawless Mastering Chain part #3.” Although the video is dedicated to mastering live club music, virtually the entire video is on compression and how to apply it using the Boum as an end of chain effect. Using the approximate knob positions and general guidelines in the video as a starting point I finally decided it was time. After some careful (read: very conservative) knob turns and A/B listening, the Boum worked a treat. Although the differences are admittedly small, there is more obvious clarity and sharpness across the soundstage with compression than without.
Although the Oto Boum is also a distortion, I decided to use the ever-beautiful Bizarre Jezabel Mimosa so that I could isolate it to the main voice and not the entire mix. Plus, although I’m sure the Boum is a wonderful distortion, the Mimosa is the most beautiful I’ve heard outside of high dollar tube amps.
This patch was a lot of fun to make, but it’s not perfect. The Dradds are a bit forward in the mix, and get a little busy in spots. Some more care with the settings and in the mixer ought to clean that up. I’m also not convinced that using Let’s Splosh as an intermediary for Swell Physics was executed as well as it could have been. I tried using different outputs, but to call those efforts half-assed would be a disservice to genuine half-assed efforts. I’m also not sure about the result of panning the individual signals in the Sum Mix & Pan with Swell Physics. Although the waves are spread, they’re still close enough to each other to keep too much of the audio to one side of the stereo field or the other at a given time. Inverting one of more of those signals would probably help balance out the soundstage.
