I haven't had time for any of this stuff lately. I work/commute a lot and don't have the patience to deal with trying to record and edit videos with my ancient, decrepit and thoroughly over-taxed computer. But I got Covid last week, so I am not even allowed to go back to work until after Labor Day, which basically means I'm getting to sit at home doing nothing for ten days.

In this patch, I am running two audio channels. For the first channel, I used a Doepfer A-179 module, which outputs CV via an LDR, to control a variety of parameters across several modules simultaneously by multiplying the signal, processing those duplicated signals, and sending them to various points throughout the system. Apart form the A-179, the primary modules used were the MI Plaits and a Calsynth Typhoon module. I used the A-179 for a variety of things, such as opening and closing the Typhoon's built-in VCA, abruptly cycling back and forth between modes on Plaits and producing scrubbing/smearing effects via the Typhoon's "aux" and "size" CV inputs. I also patched the Plaits aux. output into the v/oct input of the Typhoon to distort and mangle the audio further.

The second channel makes use of two separate sub-mixes. The simplest breakdown I can think of is to say that I mixed and cross-patched three Benjolin modules and the "wav" and "rec" outputs of an Electro-Faustus/Delptronics Blackfly spring module (with the rec output being fed into a Doepfer A-112 being modulated by one of the Benjolins) and patched that through a Malekko SND/RTN and into a DOD Death Metal, then back into a second mixer, which also has three separate dry outputs from two of the Benjolin modules mixed in. I sent this combined mix to a Doepfer A-119 Ext. In module to be able to boost the whole thing and add some coloration before going into the 2nd channel of my main mixer/output module.

From there, I just improvised, poorly, as always. As previously mentioned, I used the LDR module to mute the first channel by covering the LDR, thus closing the VCA on the Typhoon and used the mute switch on the mixer to take the second channel in and out. There is a lot of fun to be had with this patch, and I'm still augmenting it further.

I started a new job last month which eats up nearly all of my time during the week. As such, I don't have as much time for this sort of thing as I used to, but I still like to noodle around when I have a little bit of downtime in the evenings. Here is a patch I started working on a couple of nights ago. The video was recorded yesterday evening, but I wasn't able to upload it until today due to issues with BitChute's uploader repeatedly stalling/dropping attempted uploads.

It's a simple sequence augmented with a lot of weird and noisy textural elements, effects, randomization and triggering embellishments via the Trigger Riot to make for slightly more interesting morose elevator music. I pressed play and then just let it go on and on in ungainly, oblong circles for a while.

The piano chords were created with a General CV. The exaggerated wobbling effect on the piano voice was produced by sending one of the GCV's outputs to a Doepfer A-112 (out of shot in an upper case) and modulating the delayed playback with a random LFO. Drum sounds were made with envelope generators+VCA's (I currently have five Benjolin modules and only one dual VCA for some reason) shaping the outputs of a Quad Operator and Plaits. I sent a random stepped CV signal to the QO's 1V/Oct input to create shifting rhythmic timbres.

This was a rather hastily-recorded session with a lot of noise issues (most of them coming from the A-112, which I don't recall being so noisy before. I suspect the battery might be going, but I haven't had time to troubleshoot it) and I didn't flesh out some of the background elements very much as I mainly wanted to get the basic idea down.

Slightly less chaotic this time around, though there were plenty of hiccups, and I made a terrible mess of it at the end. It is a self-sabotaging impulse that I know very well. I'm a simple man; I'm not wired for comprehending and executing smooth, logical progressions.

At any rate, the main goal with this patch was to try to get better acquainted with the endlessly perplexing Trigger Riot in combination with the Voltage Block in order to create more complex, lively patterns without devolving into total chaos. Working the TR's knob matrix live is something I still haven't gotten the hang of, so enhancing patterns through probability percentages and randomization is about as good as it gets for the time being.

This is the first upload since I started re-arranging my recording space. The new setup is still a work in progress, but it's at least semi-operational again, and it is far more functional than the mess I had before. I probably need to order about $200 worth of cables in order to fully re-wire everything in this new configuration, though.

Here is a patch making use of the General CV and Quad Operator being controlled with a Voltage Block and Trigger Riot. I used the Trigger Riot to create a harmonic counter to the GCV by feeding one of the GCV's channels into a Typhoon on a pitched delay preset and triggering the freeze function. I also recorded a passage from the GCV into the Nebulae, which comes in at around 1:25. I just randomly scrubbed through the sample to create smeary chordal textures. Sloppy, improvised and unprepared as always, but there's a lot of interesting potential with this setup, and I will probably try to record something more deliberate/focused with it eventually.

That's Italiano!

Here's an old video that I wanted to transfer over to BitChute from YouTube. It's a short clip of a DIY cassette loop with a sample of an old Soft Cell song on it. I always thought the line "Pizzas scream like open sores!" was really funny, so it seemed like a natural choice to use it for a cassette loop.

I figure this is relevant to the sort of content I post here. Truth be told though, the main reason I'm re-posting it is because it has my now-deceased cat Niji in it. I didn't want to scrub that from YT without putting it up somewhere else first.

I started setting up this patch yesterday and fleshed it out a bit more this morning. It consists of a few modulated sound sources going to my mixer/output module. I used the mixer's mutes to open and close channels at random to produce bursts of chopped, stuttering, tape-style cut-ups.

Unfortunately, the mixer's mute buttons are very small and awkwardly placed, so working them live is very touch-and-go. I don't like this lack of control, but I suppose looking at the situation more philosophically, it provides another element of chance by way of accidentally fat-fingering the wrong button(s). Either way, I want to build myself a mute module with more ergonomic button placement to put in front of the mixer. Ergonomics aside, such a module will also allow me to add effects (delay, reverb, filtering) to individual channels before they hit the mixer, so that I can mute channels without chopping off the tail/sweep of spacial/envelope-generating effects (the mixer I'm using has no effect sends).

I originally uploaded this yesterday [4/6/21], but only noticed after the fact that the audio was slightly out of sync with the video due to an editing glitch. This was something I couldn't reconcile with my OCD. I had to re-upload it in order to preserve my sanity. I apologize for the upload-spamming as a result.
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Here is a patch I was messing around with this morning. Ironically, what started out as an attempt to recreate some Hawkwind-esque synth textures turned into something rather bird-like. I played around with this a while, trying to get something fairly naturalistic. Frankly, it's pretty half-baked in that respect as no one's going to mistake this for real birdsong, but I still think it was an interesting effort.

To create the sounds, I used a Benjolin to trigger both trig inputs of a Maths, which I used to shape the envelope used to ping two filters and a VCA being fed by a Doepfer VCO (sine output pitched all the way up). I modulated the pitch of the VCO with the Benjolin and a Doepfer A118-2. I wanted to use some reverb to give the impression of a large field or a wide-open meadow, though I went completely overboard with it in my eagerness to make use of an old outboard reverb rack I finally got a power supply for yesterday so it sounds totally unnatural.

Endless technical problems with recording videos as always. This, among other things, has kept me from documenting much of anything this month, but I finally got around to recording this improvised session with some of my modular gear last night. The patch consists of a Pro-1 cross-modulated with a Benjolin, which is being processed with a slew limiter, with a dual APC and low pass filter thrown in for good measure.

I didn't really plan anything for this patch. I just tried what seemed like interesting connections until I'd more or less used up every available CV input and output to create some chaotic, inter-dependent modulation structures before noodling aimlessly. I edited the video down from fifteen minutes or so to cut out all the excessively meandering bits where I clearly had no idea what I was doing.

This abstract generative ambient patch was created, again, using similar techniques from previous patches, but uses different/additional sound sources, CV generators and routing configurations. I created a droning, rhythmic backbone in the form of a 78 RPM lathe sample being looped throughout to give it a bit more structure.

Channeling some morose and embittered, ghostly atmospheres inspired by Current 93, Nurse With Wound, Thomas Ligotti and -other tragedies-.

I've gotten behind on things. This was originally recorded on the last day of January, but for various reasons, I haven't been able to finish anything for upload until now. Anyway, this is a slightly shorter recording of another noisy generative patch. The approach here was similar to the first one, though I re-patched everything from scratch, doing things a bit more deliberately this time around and employing more looped back sample recording through feedback loops.

Still, the patch left something to be desired. I continue to struggle with achieving an ideal balance of dynamics, motion, sounds and silences, which becomes particularly challenging with certain modules here, as the main sound source simply cycles through its library of user samples in order, and the only real way to disrupt, or at least partially mask, the rote order of what samples are heard is to feed it chaotic triggers in order to hopefully make it stop and start reading samples at reliably indiscernible intervals, and with reliably chaotic looping patterns and pattern lengths for the samples themselves.

Another problem has to do with my ego playing tricks on me. About the only thing that I can count on is that it all sounds great until I actually hit the record button and start listening critically. Focus and intent are two more things to work on.

Here is a quick and somewhat lopsided rehearsal/run through of a series of sequences for an old school EBM track. The mixing/EQ'ing are not very good and the whole track is very rudimentary, but I might polish it more if I don't get too bored with it before I decide to start a new patch.

The "get out!" sample was taken from the Judy Garland Speaks! 2-CD set.

Around a week or so ago, I started working on a patch designed to produce sample and oscillator-based generative cut-ups. After encountering endless technical problems and BSOD's while attempting to record videos with my ancient computer, I've finally managed to get a serviceable recording of the patch running unattended.

Unfortunately, in between trying to get things working properly (I'm still ironing out some of the kinks), the patch was slowly being tweaked and augmented. After a while, the patching and inter-modulation all became so convoluted, I couldn't seem to control it effectively anymore. The documented results are a bit of a disappointment considering, but I was so frustrated with everything, I just decided to capture what I could and rip up the patch to start over.

Around March/April of 2020, I made the decision to finally start putting together a modular synth after several years of hemming and hawing about it. Initially, I got interested in the eurorack format from a sound designer's perspective; The idea of having a very immediate, hands-on interface for generating and shaping abstract sounds really appealed to me.

I did not get into it planning to make sequenced music. Musical events happened largely by accident in the process of familiarizing myself with modules and I found that I really enjoyed the process of programming sequences. As such, my setup works double duty as a sandbox for sound design and as a general-purpose groovebox. While it's a lot of fun to crank out little ditties, I still have a lot to learn about programming certain modules and mixing things live.

Lastly, I know the video quality leaves a lot to be desired. After seeing the results, I quickly ordered a much newer (and presumably much better) webcam, so any future uploads should have significantly improved image quality and jitter.