I went into this patch with the idea that I was going to see if the Nonlinearcircuits Stochaos was appropriate for inclusion in a travel synth I’ll be taking to Alaska this summer (it’s not). I’m looking for gates. Many gates, actually. And although the Stochaos has many gate outputs, it runs on a clock, and sticks to the grid. It’s an awesome tool for what it is doing, but it’s not what I’m looking for in that synth, unfortunately. But despite not being fit for that particular project, this 8hp wonder is a fantastic Chaos or Random (or Both!) driven sequencer that can drive a whole patch.
This sketch was designed to use chaotically driven gates in order to ping the 4 operator outputs of the Humble Audio Quad Operator. Since they operate on ratios of the base pitch, it would never be out of tune, and all of the 4 operators would always have nice harmonic relationships. These pings would then go through the Venus Instruments Veno-Echo for some rather pedestrian unmodulated stereo delay that was perfect.
Since the point of the patch was to see what I could do with the Stochaos, I used it as the heart of everything. It received a clock from the Xaoc Devices Batumi II, and from there performed its wizardry sending gates to and fro. These gates pinged the 4 operator outputs in the Frap Tools CUNSA, as well as triggered various events all over the patch. Stochaos also provided the sequence which was quantized in Quantermain on the uO_C via one of its four CV outputs.
There was some modulation, but not very much. I used one of the Stochaos gate outputs to trigger the Auza Wave Packets which modulated the ratio of one of the operators on the QO. Two of its gate outputs clocked the Nonlinearcircuits Bindubba which also modulated one of the operator’s ratio. Otherwise the patch is pretty barren of modulation. The delay isn’t modulated at all, and neither is Aurora.
As per many of my recent patches I wanted to use some FFT, but rather than reaching for Panharmonium yet again, I used the Qu-Bit Electronix Aurora. I was sort of happy with the results, but I’ve never really studied Aurora in much depth, and so opted to go with whatever sounded good enough in the moment. It’s not a prominent part of the patch, but it does serve to fill in the space a bit. It’s definitely reminded me that I need to learn a few things before I go on my trip so I’m not busy manual digging instead of making music with the precious little time I’ll have.
I didn’t start this patch with a kick drum in mind. I was originally hoping to get not only random gate outputs, but randomly timed gate outputs. My original intent was to make an ambient piece, but that idea sank quickly, so I pivoted in a more rhythmic direction. Once a couple of things were settled, it was clear that the patch was begging for a kick drum. I’m not a four on the floor kind of guy, so opted for something more erratic. Still on the time grid, but not at all predictable. For this I used a divided output of Batumi II into the always fun CuteLab Missed Opportunities and adjusted the probability to taste. The kick is made with a Joranalogue Generate 8 into a Rabid Elephant Natural Gate. The trigger would go to both Natural Gate’s Hit input, as well as triggering the Joranalogue for a short envelope for both Exponential FM on Generate 8, and the Control input on Natural Gate.
Overall I’m really pleased with this patch. It’s a sketch with lots of room for improvement, but the direction and feel is very good. The biggest change I’d make is toning down the high registers. Not only are they too loud, but there’s too much of it. It’s a matter of better attenuating my CV and watching the initial knob position for ratio to ensure they don’t go that high. This alone would improve my result exponentially. I’d also like to do a better job of shaping the melody notes in CUNSA. I’m not yet pleased with the tail of those notes.
Although the Stochaos didn’t meet my need for inclusion in a travel case, I did find that it’s a fine sequencer that can control entire patches with naught but a clock input. You choose the style of decision making you want it to do, Chaos, Random, or Both, and it happily goes to work with 8 gate outputs along with 4 CV outputs, the fixed chaos signal used by the circuit, and some Pink Noise. If you’re not looking for strict control over sequencing, or you’re looking for a sequence of random gates and CV for always-surprising modulation, the Stochaos deserves a look.
Modules Used:
Nonlinearcircuits Stochaos
Nonlinearcircuits Bindubba
Xaoc Devices Batumi II
Humble Audio Quad Operator
Frap Tools Cunsa
Frap Tools Sapel (to convert 5v gates to 10v triggers)
Frap Tools Falistri (to convert 5v gates to 10v gates)
AI Synthesis 018 Stereo Matrix Mixer
Venus-Instruments Veno-Echo
Auza Wave Packets
Knob Farm Ferry
Qu-Bit Electronix Aurora
Oto Bam
Improvided and recorded in 1 take on iPad in AUM via the Expert Sleepers ES-9.