Richard Brewster's Synthesizer » Music MP3s

Granulated Divides

Richard — Sun, 08 Aug 2010 22:29:40 +0000

This started out as an experiment in using the Serge VCS modules as voltage-controlled pulse dividers. I set up the two VCS, plus the MOTM-120 and MOTM-730 dividers. The four of these are all driven by the same MOTM-300 VCO. Each divider output passes through a VCA to the mix and the four VCAs are controlled by four envelope generators triggered by CGS digital logic. The Blacet Binary zone creates a repeating pattern for pitch, clocked by a MOTM-390 LFO. I used the MOTM-820 Lag Processor for glissando instead of the lag in the BZ. For a little pizazz I ran the MOTM-120 through the CGS Wave Multiplier with a couple of LFO’s on its modulation points. Three sample and holds select random voltages for the three VC dividers. The mix is post-processed in Audio Mulch software, using a pair of Delay Line Granulators.

Undersea 2010 Revisited

Richard — Sun, 25 Jul 2010 19:49:58 +0000

Updated Diagram

I revisited this patch and spent some time tuning it up. The CV inputs to the Miniwave are now quantized. Other differences: the VCOs are initially tuned in unison; the Modcan Quantizers are set to the Double Harmonic scale (Bank B), the MPX-1 Delay>Detune preset is used, as in the original Undersea.

The recording is a snippet of a perpetual self-running patch. I like to limit some of the parameters, such as the chosen scale and post-processing effects for each take, to get a different feeling.

Undersea 2010

Richard — Mon, 19 Jul 2010 01:41:15 +0000

I went back to the patch drawing I had sketched out for Undersea, back in 2008, just about two years ago in July. Recently I scanned this into the computer.

View larger diagram

Undersea seems accessible to a lot of musical tastes, so I tried creating it again. I replaced the MOTM-310 VCOs with MOTM-300 VCOs, but the patch is essentially the same. However I neglected to make notes as to the settings on the Modcan Dual Quantizer and the initial ratio of pitches on the two oscillators. I had to remember how to calibrate the automatic panning. Despite the lack of this information, the patch sounds quite like the original, but still unique in its own way. I made several short takes of this aleatoric patch. Here’s one.

Plague Birds

Richard — Mon, 05 Jul 2010 21:23:58 +0000

Here’s an experimental patch to try out the new Dual Plague Bearer module. I patched the triangle waves from two MOTM-300 VCOs into each of the two P.B. inputs. The WoggleBug Smooth output provides FM for the first VCO, and the Stepped output for the second VCO. The WoggleBug clock output drives the MOTM-730 divider that in turn gates four MOTM-800 Envelope Generators. These modulate the Plague Bearer Hi and Lo CV inputs. (The Mattson Distributor was perfect to use as attenuators on the four CV inputs.) I derived two common gates using the CGS digital logic XOR function and used those to trigger two Oakley ADSR/VCAs for overall amplitude control.

The key to this patch is running the VCO’s initially at sub-audio rates. At sub audio, the signal excites the P.B. to produce chirpy sound.

I like this Miniwave

Richard — Sun, 27 Jun 2010 23:15:15 +0000

I rearranged modules in one of my cabinets today to create two voice groups. Each group contains one of MOTM-300 VCO, CGS VCO, MOTM-440 VCF, MOTM-490 VCF, Resonant Low Pass Gate, MOTM-190 Dual VCA, Oakley VC ADSR-VCA, Mattson EG-VCA, and two MOTM-800 Envelope Generators. I patched up four voices and drove them with the CGS Infinite Melody, quantized by two Blacet Miniwaves, and duplicated by the dual CGS Analog Shift Register. After a lot of knob fiddling (yes, it’s all in the knobs), I got this rather fun result. The filters are the two Resonant LPG and the two MOTM-490. I used the MOTM-730 to get some neat syncopations. I manually changed the Miniwave Wave selection from the Davidson Quantizer ROM during the recording.

Partched Hat

Richard — Sun, 13 Jun 2010 22:01:00 +0000

Another random selection of modules from the hat, five this time: MOTM-650 MIDI converter, MOTM-490 VCF, CGS Bi-N-Tic Filter, CGS Serge VCS, Oakley ADSR-VCA. Getting the 650 was good, as it forced me to use a much-neglected module. Using masking tape to hold down five keys, I then selected the random mode of one of the MOTM-650 arpeggiators. This ‘performance’ has me twiddling the Frequency, Damping and Bandwidth knobs on the Bi-N-Tic, and selecting between tuning tables in the 650. The title refers to the inclusion of the Partch scale. The keyboard CV is patched to the 1V/Oct inputs of the Bi-N-Tic and the VCS. The VCS output patches to the Bi-N-Tic input and the Bi-N-Tic to the 490 VCF. The keyboard gates the ADSR to envelope the 490. The left channel has more Bi-N-Tic output, while the right is more 490.

Hat Chance X

Richard — Mon, 31 May 2010 21:03:50 +0000

I made a comment on Muff’s about choosing modules for a patch from names tossed in a hat. People ran with it and started creating all sorts of crazy patches! I had to go back and update the slips of paper in my hat. Then I pulled out ten names: Cynthia ZerOscillator, Blacet Binary Zone, Encore UEG, MOTM-480 VCF, MOTM-485 VCF, CGS Bi-N-Tic Filter, Resonance Mixer, Mattson EG/VCA, MOTM-190 VCA, and MOTM-320R.

I used all of these modules and nothing else except the output mix. The weird tempo is the 320 LFO clocking the BZ, which in turn modulates the 320 frequency. I mixed and twiddled pots, mostly on the filters, during the recording.

Granulated Zero FM

Richard — Sun, 25 Apr 2010 17:53:36 +0000

This patch uses all of the modules in the “West Coast” box described in the projects area. One of my goals was to experiment with combining this simple box with some real-time effects from Audio Mulch. I set up a pair of DL Granulators in Mulch for this. I think it’s an effective combination of analog modules and digital effects. In this patch, the through-zero FM starts with zero bias, meaning that the ZerOscillator starts at zero Hz and derives the output from the modulating oscillator, here a CGS Serge VCS used as a VCO. The analog processing is done with the CGS Wave Multiplier, Grinder, and Blacet Miniwave.

Granulated Drone

Richard — Sun, 25 Apr 2010 17:44:16 +0000

Today I ran the “West Coast Box” (see post under projects) through Audio Mulch and set up a pair of DL Granulators. The principal modules in play are the ZerOscillator, the CGS Wave Multiplier, and the Blacet Miniwave. The sine wave from the ZO passes through a MOTM-190 VCA on its way into the Miniwave, and the depth is modulated by a slow LFO. There is another LFO on the CV of the Wave Multiplier – this is the salient change of rising and falling timbre you hear. The CGS Psycho LFO changes the Miniwave wave selection. I used the Grant Richter New 256 EPROM in the Miniwave. There’s no FM on the ZO – it’s just droning. During the recording I played with the Bank selection on the Miniwave.

Psycho Bubbles

Richard — Mon, 15 Feb 2010 23:30:14 +0000

Been playing with a patch using the CGS Super Psycho LFO. I decided to fire up Audio Mulch with the idea to try sampling. Yikes! Me. Sampling. I recorded a bit of the Psycho LFO patch and then played it back through a Bubble Blower, a contraption that reads samples and trashes them all sorts of ways I don’t understand. I just play with all the sliders and listen. Then I added an S-Delay to it. Then I doubled it all by feeding a supplied sample file, fluoro-seqence.wav, into a second Bubble Blower and another S-Delay. I mixed these in real time and mouse-twiddled the knobs. It’s pretty cool, actually.