VCA Panning Techniques

Although there are many purpose built panning modules on the market, such as the very excellent Make Noise X-Pan or Verbos Scan and Pan, some might view a specialty module dedicated to panning as a waste of one of our most precious resources: horizontal pitch, or more commonly known as HP. This instinct may be especially true in a smaller case, one with plethora of VCAs, or for someone who likes to patch in more methodical ways, and that instinct would be correct.

Panning is a simple concept. The audio appears to move back and forth in the stereo field creating a sense of motion in space. If done well, this technique of utilizing space can be very effective. In fact, it was a track by the always experimental Ras Thavas which lead me to seek out panning techniques because his use of it was so compelling. With Ras Thavas serving as the destination, I needed a guide. Allen Strange to the rescue, 1 and with a simple patch at that (huzzah!).

If you’re looking to pan a signal back and forth in the stereo field, all you need are an audio signal, a function generator, an inverter, and 2 VCAs. You start the patch by first multing an audio signal and patching each copy to their own individual VCA inputs. Use a function generator (an AD generator works great for this) to create an envelope. Even Attack and Decay (or Rise and Fall) times work best. Send a copy of that envelope to the CV input of VCA 1, while sending the other copy to an inverter en route to the CV input of VCA 2. Turn the gain or bias of VCA 1 to 0 (full CCW), and the gain or bias of VCA 2 to 1 (full CW). Both CV attenuators should be fully CW. This setup will ensure that as the volume rises in one channel, it lowers proportionally in the other channel.

Many envelope generators will output both a positive and negative version of the envelope. A negative output is great for patches like this because it means you can streamline the process and use fewer modules and patch points. In the panning patch above, simply route the negative version directly to the CV input of VCA 2 and eliminate the intermediary inverter.

If you use a cascading VCA, such as the excellent Intellijel Quad VCA, this patch is made even easier. The underlying principals remain the same, but this type of VCA allows you to cut out at least 3 cables and 2 modules from the patch and achieve the same results. Simply send your audio source to a mult and then to Inputs 1 and 2. Next send an envelope to CV Input 1. Turn the CV attenuator to full positive on CV Input 1, and full negative on CV Input 2. The design of the Quad VCA is such that incoming CV normals to the following channel unless something else is patched in to that channel’s CV input. The CV attenuverters do the rest. Be sure to set your bias to full CCW on Ch 1 and full CW on Ch 2.2 Monitor from outputs 1 and 2 as L/R channels.

This panning technique can be further enhanced by substituting a random signal from a stepped random generator or sample and hold. Simply replace the envelope with a random signal, and you’ll end up with pans that put notes in random spots across the stereo field. This method works particularly well with individual notes. Send the same gate or trigger for your note envelope to a mult, and also to your random generator/sample and hold module. Now every note is in a different spot across the stereo field. In Chapter 13 of his book, Allen Strange writes,

Complementary random voltages by means of an inverter produces a unique effect. Since the gain on one channel will constantly be the complement of the other, the sound will appear to move randomly back and forth in the stereo field. The previous patches involved continual motion of the sound on the stereo axis. [One can also] process the control LFO through a Sample/Hold before being applied to the invertor and VCAs. The effect here is that the sound will appear to jump from point to point across the field with each new timing pulse. The sample commands could be at a steady rate from any available timing pulse source, or the timing pulse source could be programmed by a sequencer, random voltage source, etc., to create various panning rhythms. The sampling pulses might also be generated from some external source via an envelope detector.

Other VCAs also have mechanisms that make panning a cinch, such as the Malekko Heavy Industries Quad VCA. Their method uses even fewer cables than the Intellijel VCA, requiring only 1 audio and 1 CV cable. Much like a dedicated panning module, when set up properly the Malekko Quad VCA handles the bulk of the work. They even provide the patch for you on page 6 of the manual.

Panning modules are great. I have of 3 of them (WMD AXYS, Verbos Scan and Pan, and Make Noise X-Pan), and recently ordered another (Metabolic Devices Papomi). But not all of us have the space or cost luxury for a dedicated module for panning, especially when it can be patched so easily, and with such fantastic results. Simply put, you can get great results with the building block tools you probably already have (you do have a function generator, VCA, and an inverter, right?). You don’t need a dedicated module.

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1 – All of the patch diagrams in this post were either directly ripped off, or else lightly modified from those found in Chapter 13, “Panning and Sound Location Control”, of Electronic Music Systems, Techniques, and Controls by Allen Strange (1983, reprinted 2022). You really should think about buying a copy. Its contents are proverbial gold.

2 – These settings will create movement starting from the far right of the stereo field to the far left, and back again as long as it’s running. Switch the outputs if you want left to right movement.

A 4ms Wonderland

Like many people, the flagship 4ms modules, Spherical Wavetable Navigator (SWN) and Spectral Multiband Resonator (SMR), immediately grabbed my attention upon first laying eyes on them. They’re beautiful, engaging, sound mesmerizing, and perhaps most importantly, full of blinkenlights. The best demos show the promise of drone heaven and the frolicking of gently pinged filters. Everything about them induces the worst sort of GAS.

The SMR was one of my first large Eurorack purchases. The second I heard the first demo of it on a YouTube video I was absolutely hooked. I wanted the sound of Fantasy Land (not to be confused with Fantasyland). Ringing bells harmonizing about as I modulate and play with sliders, so I found a decent deal on one and pulled the trigger.

Those first few patch dates were rough. The complexity of Modular synthesis in general still all but totally eluded me. I had very little understanding of voltage ranges, attenuators and offsets, and properly using CV. To add on, the SMR has the learning curve of a steep cliff, with deep shadows under every knob turn and flick of a switch. It’s incredibly dense, and highly intimidating for a beginner, so after those first few forays I put it aside with the hopes that I might revisit it when I could more properly understand how to use it. I tried again about a year later and had better results, but still not satisfying ones. Certainly not worth the money it costs or space it occupies. I thought of selling it, but those demos….

Fast forward to the end of summer 2023. The HS baseball season was over (I keep score for a local HS team and travel with them, and then do it again for summer ball) and I once again had some time to mess about with my synth. But instead of trying to play with the SMR and get something useful, I gave in to a serious case of GAS and ordered a SWN, the SMR’s sister module of equal beauty, size, cost, and complexity, along with equally beautiful sounds emanating from within its spheres. No one ever accused me of being smart.

But this time I took a different tact before trying to use it. Rather than simply plugging in cables to see what happens, I watched 2 demo videos by the ever-engaging Red Means Recording and loopop; over and over and over, while having the manual open to refer to the official documentation when needed or desired. I wanted to understand what this beast was and how it worked, not just have an idea of what it can do. Before I ever patched a single cable I’d watched the videos at least a dozen times, and read the manual in depth so that I might have a solid grasp of the controls.

I’m glad I did that. During my first session at the controls, I only needed to consult the manual for the different LFO and scale color coding. The controls were easy, and in some ways, already ingrained. I knew which knob I needed to twist for browsing the wavetables, and how to use the same knob to select a different wavetable sphere. Instinctively I knew how to change chords. The session seemed to flow easily and it was a good time, however brief. Who knew that RTFM was a good idea?

The next day I had more time, and I was due for a longer session on the synth. Being that I’d just recently finished a 3u 84hp subsystem dedicated to 4ms , I was eager to get to patching it in a more unified way. So I was off to the races. Not just with the SWN, but I was determined also to use the SMR in conjunction. My understanding of synthesis has come a long way since my first time sitting down with it, and I wanted my longing for something beautiful out of the SMR to finally be realized. Plus, because of my newly found understanding of the SWN, I had an idea. 💡

Although I’m sure that this idea is as far from original as could be, it was still an idea that I came up with independently, and I was determined to run with it. Those 6 Level CV inputs on the SMR just so happen to correspond to 6 LFO outputs that can send envelopes, gates, or triggers. Surely 4ms didn’t design this pair this conveniently on purpose!

And it was brilliant. The patch starts with continuous pinging of each filter in succession, while modulating the Spread which sends the pinging melody up and down the scale in very interesting ways. It’s then mixed with a drone from the SWN while modulating the areas within the wavetable sphere. The 4ms Dual EnvVCA was used to modulate the Scale on SMR, which was itself modulated by one of the envelope followers. Dual EnvVCA was also used to slowly modulate the wavetable. Everything was sent to both delay and reverb. There are loads of cables in this patch, but it wasn’t terribly difficult.

Modules Used:
4ms Spherical Wavetable Navigator
4ms Spectral Multiband Resonator
4ms Dual EnvVCA
Vongon Polyphrase
Vongon Ultrasheer

Performed and recorded in 1 take in AUM via the Expert Sleepers ES-9.


FX Sends (and Returns Too)

As I was restructuring my synth into Subsystems, I was adamant that I wanted a varied and flexible outboard FX section. Although I love Eurorack FX, I’m fairly convinced that many FX are better outside of the case, rather than a module in it. Modulation sounds great on some FX, like delay, but causes chaos in others, like reverb. I’m know that there are lots of great pedals that aren’t in euro form, and that pedal companies have been perfecting FX for decades. The first stereo reverb, for instance, came about long before Eurorack was even invented. Why reinvent the wheel, or limit myself to only euro FX? That’s counterproductive and boring.

But I also had a logistics problem. FX sends and returns are traditionally handled through a patchbay, and as mightily as I tried, I couldn’t imagine a good way to implement a patch bay in my Eurorack system. Patchbays make connecting audio gear simple and intuitive. I use them all the time on my recording/editing desk. But this time it was not meant to be. The Eurorack specific patchbays on the market aren’t quite flexible enough. The Patchulator and Patchulator Pro don’t offer full-time access to every effect from any given number of sources. Theoretically I wanted to be able to play all 10 of my effects simultaneously, with 10 different sources. A patch bay makes this easy, but without one I’d have to come up with something different.

That something different took a while to assemble, and for all I know may not even be the best way. But even if it isn’t the most efficient way, it’s a way that works. I can run any source to any effect at any time. I can chain effects with ease. I don’t have to do any unplugging and plugging in of pedals. They’re all available, all the time. Awesome.

I long searched for a send/return module that would meet all of my needs. It had to have stereo inputs and outputs, fairly small (because I knew I would need 9 or 10 of them), a way to control the send level, and a way to mix from 100% dry to 100% wet. There are several Eurorack send/return modules, but few are fully featured. After testing a couple, the one that fit the bill best is the Knob Farm Ferry. It has everything I was looking for. It can function in mono or in stereo, has send level (which also functions as a crossfader with a switch), mixes from full dry to full wet, and all in just 4hp. To top it off, the Ferry even includes the requisite TRS > Dual TS insert cables to connect your line level outboard effects and pedals. A nice set, I might add, and not something you’d find on Amazon for a couple bucks with generic plastic connectors and cheap cabling.

Since I have 10 pedals I wanted to use as FX with my synth, I knew I needed at least 9 Ferries. I already had a Strymon AA.1 that I was determined to use so I ordered 8 more Ferries in 3 separate batches. Knob Farm even sent me a free Ooots, a very excellent output module that I use with my satellite synth.

The modules themselves have been installed for a while, but I procrastinated fiercely with getting everything patched in. Patching in 10 separate pedals, all with stereo I/O (and some with MIDI) is quite the chore, and I was dreading it. I didn’t want a proverbial rat’s nest, which meant careful labeling and deliberate cable routing with lots of Velcro cable ties to keep things as orderly as possible.

Does it work?

Once I had everything patched in came the nit-picky task of testing. Are all the modules connected to their pedals correctly? Are all of the modules set up correctly for stereo sends and returns? We’re about to find out.

For this type of testing I’ve found that very simple sources work best. They’re easy to patch, and give good, regular feedback if something is amiss down the chain. Today I set up as simple a patch as I could muster: the “Final” output from Brenso into CUNSA being used in LPG mode, with an envelope from Falistri modulating the LPG, and the EOF gate striking the wavefolder of Brenso. Falistri was set to cycle at a fairly slow rate; about 72bpm. This gave me constant boings, with some space between to let the FX tell me whether they were working or not.

I manually patched that boing to each and every Ferry, and from each Ferry to my output module (Expert Sleepers ES-9), ensuring that everything was set correctly. All mono/stereo switches were set to stereo, the Gain/Xfade knob switches to gain. I then tested the wet/dry mixing, and gain of each. Of course I also took the time to ensure that the effects were working, and had some fun, particularly with the delays, despite such a monotonous source. It took about an hour, and although I ran into 2 separate problems (I had inputs and outputs mixed up on the Oto Bam and Boum), everything went about as smoothly as it could. Nice!

The FX are in, and now it’s time to jam.

Stereo Ping Pong Delay In Eurorack (and outside too!)

Ping Pong delay is easy, right? Just tick a box in a plugin, or flick a switch on your handy stereo delay unit and you’re done, right? Well, sure, but that’s all digital. What I’m talking about is ping pong delay, old school. Patching 2 mono, analog delay units in order to create ping pong delay in the stereo field.

When I first started thinking about how to do this, very few ideas came to mind. Of course there is the pseudo ping pong trick of setting one delay time at X with the other delay at 2X, which would give you a repeat on one side then the other. But that only works for exactly 1 repeat per channel. If there is any feedback, the first delay will sound again each time the second plays, which means it’s not really ping pong at all. It’s only kinda sorta ping pong. I wanted something better. The real McCoy.

As I started to research analog ping pong patching via Google, I was quickly dismayed. There aren’t really any good sources I could find to explain the method for patching ping pong delay. Nothing. Nada. After I couldn’t find the info I was after via research, I decided to ask. I asked on an audio engineer forum. Crickets. I asked a home studio group on Facebook and was met with “Just use a plugin. It sounds the same”, as if that’s a good answer to the question of how to patch analog hardware. I looked in my own studio recording books, which were all silent on the matter. It’s as if this information just doesn’t exist, or, more accurately, was outdated by the time the internet arrived, and the knowledge on how to perform this studio trick was simply never recorded digitally. It’s a lost art from the days of yore when everything had to be patched manually, and no one outside of studios used it. A voodoo spell that not even those inside of professional working studios seem to use any longer. Analog ping pong delay is dead.

After searching for what seemed like forever, I finally happed upon a video which explains using 2 analog delays in ping pong fashion, with the aid of a desktop mixer. The patch is fairly simple, even if it’s not intuitive.

Sound Source > Ch 1 input (panned center)
Ch 1 Aux Send > Delay 1 input
Delay 1 > split directly to Ch 2 input (panned hard left) and Delay 2 Input
Delay 2 > Ch 3 input (panned hard right)
Ch 3 Aux Send > Delay 1 input
Mixer Stereo Output

Be sure that both delays are set to the same time. Be extra sure that the feedback (repeats) for both delays are set to the minimum (1 repeat). The Aux Send of input 3 (Delay 2) controls the number of repeats. BEWARE: This is a feedback patch. It can get out of control very quickly. Use the Aux Send wisely.

But I don’t have a desktop mixer, and although they can be had inexpensively, I didn’t really have much use for one outside of wanting to do tape echo ping pong delay. I used to have a Xaoc Devices Praga in my eurorack synth, which would have been ideal, but I sold it in favor of decentralized mixing alongside using a matrix mixer. Hmmmm….

A matrix mixer is nothing if not a set of inputs, sends and returns. “I think I can make this work, even in the context of my matrix mixer being full stereo”, I thought. And sure enough, after several drafts in my Notability folder for synth patching, and experimenting with dummy cable theory, I had a solid plan. I just didn’t know if it would work.

The theory with a matrix mixer is the same, but because mine is stereo, I had to use make clever use of some dummy cables in order to defeat L> R normalization at the inputs to ensure everything was in the correct channel at the outputs, while still having access to the dry and wet signals independently to mix their respective levels later in an output mixer. To mix the dry and wet in the matrix as it’s patched would leave the dry signal in the left channel only. No good.

Sound source > Input 1L, with dummy cable in 1R
Output AL/R > mono mixer > Delay 1
Delay 1 > Input 2L, with dummy cable in 2R
Output BL > Delay 2
Delay 2 > Input 3R, with a dummy cable in 3L (it is not necessary to use a dummy cable here, but I’m using one for consistency)
Output CL > Output Mixer (Pan Center)
Output DL/R > Output Mixer (Pan L/R respective, or use a stereo input)

Knobs with an X are fully CCW (off). Knobs with a green check are mixed to taste. Knob with the red check is controlling feedback for the repeats. BEWARE: Ch 3A is feedback from Delay 2 to Delay 1. It can easily run away out of control and blow your speakers, headphones, and/or ear drums. Use it sparingly.

This method also makes use of a separate mono mixer to act as a send for both the source and Delay 2 to Delay 1. It what helps make the magic happen. Without the mixer, I couldn’t get the source and Delay 2 to Delay 1 without getting channels mixed up. Everything must remain on discrete channels in the matrix. As a result of the several dummy cables, Ch A’s outputs are discrete channels being used in a dual mono setup rather than in stereo, with those signals being mixed separately before going to delay 1. It was the only way to accomplish the task of sending both the source and Delay 2 inputs to Delay 1 while keeping those signals unmixed and discrete inside of the matrix mixer for final output.

Heed the inputs and outputs used very closely. It seems a bit odd, but it ensures that the stereo field is intact and signals remain properly separated until the final output mix. Deviate at your own peril.

The dry output is from Ch C, with the wet stereo output from Ch D. Pan the Ch C output to the center, with Ch D being panned L/R respectively.

This patch can likely be simplified (and perhaps sound better as a result) by splitting the audio at the Delay 1 output rather than relying on the matrix mixer to send the output of Delay 1 to Delay 2. This experiment, however, is for another day.

Although I haven’t pondered the nitty gritty of this patch in a mono matrix mixer, I think it would likely be a better tool for the job, but my first inclination is that you would need 5 outputs, and not the standard 4.

Enjoy!

Jamuary 2409: A Tape Delay Experiment

One thing I’m not afraid to admit is that I’m a delay junkie. I love delays. Analog delays, digital delays, reverse delays, pitched delays, but most especially tape delays. I love tape delays so much I have a real one. Uh, make that 2 of them. But I’ll also admit, a bit more tentatively in a misguided effort at fooling myself, that I haven’t really gotten much use from a stereo pair. I’ve gotten decent use from one, but not very much at all from the other.

One thing that I’d always wanted to do was to do old school ping pong delay with my 2 tape echoes. In a world of simple-to-use plugins, ping pong delay is normally just a check box or button click away, but in the analog hardware world, it takes careful and deliberate patching, along with lots of level adjustments along the way. In fact, it seems that ping pong delay with analog gear is a lost art. A dark magic lost in the olden times when you had to patch everything manually. The patch itself is not terribly hard, but it’s also not necessarily intuitive, which makes figuring it out a challenge. It also takes a piece of gear that I don’t have: a standard desktop mixer. And not even a super fancy one. As long as it has 3 inputs and an AUX send, we’re good. I don’t have a performance mixer in Eurorack either. At least not after I sold the Xaoc Devices Praga (which would have been perfect for this).

But I do have a stereo matrix mixer, and the will to use it.

I’ll breakdown the patch in a post later this week, but suffice to say that it worked a treat. I got my ping pong delay. It took a fair amount of finagling, particularly with feedback, but I got what I wanted. As soon as I introduced any feedback into the system, it would tend toward self-oscillation, as one might expect. But one fancy trick about tape delays is that they do The Thing. You know, when feedback starts to build, and you can hear it, but it’s just on the edge, not blowing your speakers, riding a wave of sonic beauty, underneath your melody. It really is voodoo. Of course you can go overboard, but tape delays make it a bit easier to ride the wave rather than have it blow up on you. I’m sure the matrix mixer design helps too.

One thing I discovered about the AI Synthesis 018 Stereo Matrix Mixer is that, probably because it does not introduce any gain, is that it can control feedback fairly easily. Despite feedback running rampantly toward the end of the patch, it never once got out of control, and allowed me to play the tape delay via the echo levels, as well as the EQ knobs of each echo, creating some nice stereo swirl and howling tone changes, without being overly worried about a runaway train of feedback blowing my cans and my ears to smitherines.

My apologies for the repetitive sequence. This really was an experimental session for me, from figuring out the minutiae of ping pong delay, to playing with feedback through my tape echoes. I’ve never done either, and it was surely a treat.

Enjoy!

Modules Used:
Oxi One
Frap Tools Brenso
Frap Tools Falistri
Frap Tools 333
Frap Tools CUNSA
AI Synthesis 018 Stereo Matrix Mixer
Knob Farm Ferry
Echofix EF-X2
Vongon Ultrasheer

Performed and recorded in 1 take in AUM via the Expert Sleepers ES-9.

Speaking Of Mimosa….

I don’t fully recall how I made this patch. It was completely unplanned, and patching was a fairly stream of consciousness-like affair. I do remember taking advice from the always wonderful Elaine on YouTube in his patch using Dradd, suggesting that it’s beneficial to allow Dradd space to breathe by not modulating it, or at least not too heavily. In this patch I chose the “not at all” route (even if there are cables plugged in).

This patch started life as a sequence, but rather than allowing the sequence to be a melody, I sampled it in Morphagene which forms the ever shifting bed of pads, and also played the sequence through a completely wet Dradd for some looping/granular action. After a bit, Mimosa makes its entrance and slowly starts to overtake the signal until it’s blown out by distortion at the end.

To date this is my favorite patch that I’ve recorded. The beauty of Mimosa stands strong, front and center. Performed and recorded in 1 take in AUM via the Expert Sleepers ES-9.

Modules Used (that I can recall):
Pladask Elektrisk Dradd
Make Noise Morphagene
Bizarre Jezabel Mimosa
AI Synthesis 018 Stereo Matrix Mixer




A Jamuary Nugget

My Jamuary 2416 patch was a straight salvage job. An attempt at saving what beauty existed within a complete mess of a patch. I recorded for quite a while before I was able to get the 17 minute window of something decent I felt good enough about. It’s a snippet from a long recording, much of it me fumbling around with one thing or another. But one other nugget from that recording, and a part I may ultimately like more than my longer patch, was this almost 2 minute snippet right at the beginning before I went and messed it up.

Enjoy!

Jamuary 2416 – Pre-Patch: Why And Why Not

I’m a planner. I mean, sometimes I’ll sit down with no idea what I’m patching that day, and allow things to flow organically, but most of my patches entail a great deal of (over)thinking. Patch sketches, signal paths, patch diagrams, all obsessively pondered and carefully considered well before I actually patch it. I find it a good brain exercise to imagine how a patch works before patching it, then seeking the correct algorithm of sound and control based on a set of parameters that I understand. Oftentimes I’ll patch an entire voice, or more, before I even turn the synth on to hear what I’m creating. I’ve already imagined it in my head and thought about it so much that entire patches are sometimes in 3/4 form before I ever hear a note or make an adjustment. Today is one such day. I started thinking about this patch a month or more ago when I first purchased Odessa. I have notes stolen taken from Tom Churchill’s patch breakdown of making chords out of a single sequence and a slew of sample and hold modules, and I was going to do an adaptation of that.

I had planned on a late Jamuary entry for yesterday, but it just wasn’t to be. Life and all that. But one thing I did want to do, in order to actually get started and stop charting and making diagrams, was to patch in as much as I could while I did have a little time.

I’ve taken this approach to patching many times. I like to plan my wiggle and wiggle my plan, and it’s generally been a fairly successful endeavor. Sure, I’d often have to make adjustments or small changes to hone the patch in, but I never expected a perfect patch without ever having listened to a note before it’s largely done. Making changes and adjustments was part of the plan.

But today’s plan was terrible. Or at least the execution of it was. Not only did I patch in the basic frame of the patch beforehand, pitch and sequencer gates going to the right places, envelopes and audio to VCAs, filters patched in, etc., but I also decided to patch in modulation too. And all before doing the most basic of tasks: tuning my oscillators. And, boy, was this patch job a massive pile of shit. Nothing sounded even close to what I wanted, and I had no idea where to even start to draw it in. I couldn’t even get my oscillators in tune without unpatching more than I was willing to do.

Once everything was plugged it, there was no going back. The patch involved a Shelob sized web of cables spanning back and forth across the synth, and paring back would have been more difficult than just starting over. But I didn’t really want to do that, so I decided to salvage a portion of the patch, and just not record what was bad. So that’s what I did.

Odessa started out life in this patch as the background. Chords to support a main sequence being played by Sofia. A cloud of ever-changing notes to shimmer about as the sequence skates along. Instead, it turned out to be the only voice. And one that isn’t a never ending blur of rolling chords from a cadre of sample and holds, but all 5 voices stopped on whatever pitch was the last sent to the various v/oct inputs on Hel when I pressed stop on the sequencer, and some rearranged and more focused modulation. A drone of sorts. And not a bad one either.

But instead of just putting it through some reverb and calling this failed patch a day, I decided, with the help of the Non-Linear Memory Machine and my trusty Vongon Ultrasheer, to make it a mostly wet affair. To see if I could make chicken salad out of chicken shit.

I also decided late in the recording process to add in Misosa as a send from my mixer. You know: for some doom. During that process I mistakenly made a feedback loop.. The wet reverb sent to Mimosa, which is then output to the Reverb send. Fortunately everything remained calm enough and didn’t get out of control. Disaster averted.

I’m definitely going to try the original patch again, only I won’t patch it in beforehand. At least I won’t patch in anything beyond the skeleton. I’ll leave modulation to more careful trial and error. I’ll give it a real chance before smothering it in random LFOs and cycling envelopes.

Modules Used:
Oxi One
Xaoc Devices Odessa + Hel
Xaoc Devices Tallin
Xaoc Devices Katowice
Xaoc Devices Zagrzeb
Xaoc Devices Batumi + Poti
Xaoc Devices Zadar + Nin
Xaoc Devices Samara II
AI Synthesis 018 Stereo Matrix Mixer
Bizarre Jezabel Mimosa
Calsynth Twiigs
Knob Farm Ferry
Holocene Electronics Non-Linear Memory Machine
Vongon Ultrasheer

Performed and recorded in 1 take in AUM via the Expert Sleepers ES-9.



Jamuary 2408

Although I was initially quite pleased with my Jamuary 2406 recording, upon listening back closely I realized there was something not right. Once the delays faded in, I could only hear them in the Right channel, but not the Left. In fact, I couldn’t hear any of the melody in the Left channel with any real clarity. Chords are there. The granular processing is there. Reverb on the chords and granular processing is there. But the melody is all but completely missing. So rather than start a brand new patch from scratch, I decided to both fix and improve upon this one. I really liked the direction Jamuary 2406 was taking, and so felt like experimenting and pushing it was a better move than abandoning a promising patch in its infancy without exploring the possibilities.

Troubleshooting a problem is rarely any fun. Sure, there’s the knowledge gained as a result of your toil, and if there’s a problem maybe it’ll be fixed. If you conceptually plan your troubleshooting section you can cut down on time, but the process itself is tedious and time consuming. I want to do cool new stuff, not fix old stuff that doesn’t work right. But sometimes the frustration and tsunami of cuss words as potential solutions fail one after another and available avenues begin to dwindle pays off big and can teach you valuable lessons.

The problem with the recorded patch is that the melody is scarcely present in the left channel. It’s there, but just barely. The right channel comes in clear, its brightness piercing first through silence, then through a thick fog of delay, reverb, and grains spewed about in every direction. The patch is designed so that the melody should be prominent. The left channel is the “Main” output of the Joranalogue Fold 6, with the right channel being the “Alt” output. Both outputs go to individual channels of the Rabid Elephant Natural Gate with identical settings, and on to the matrix mixer. I knew the problem was likely to be in the left channel’s audio path, but didn’t discount the possibility of the control path being an issue, or the that there could be an equipment malfunction (which seemed the least likely).

So onwards I trekked through a web of cables, many of which either coming from or going to very crowded modules, to find my problem. I had thought about the possibilities and made a fairly detailed examination of the patch so that I could streamline the process, and I’m glad I did. I started at the beginning (the VCO), and moved methodically through the audio and control paths of each channel, and then Bam! I found my discrepancy. The “Material” switch did not match. The right channel was on the hardest surface, while the left channel was on the softest. I wanted the attack of the softer surface, and so switched the left channel downwards, but then the melody was now just barely there in both channels.

And this is why troubleshooting is so valuable. Because you may learn something crucial in the process, which was absolutely the case today. Although I’m very familiar with LPGs, I have several that I really enjoy using and have had several others, Natural Gate is new to me, so I had no idea why the level dropped so much between the different surfaces. It turns out that mimicking the real world was definitely a priority when designing the attacks for their different material settings. Not only does the softer material have a slower attack, it’s also a lot quieter. A gate to the “Hit” input is not enough to bring a quieter sound up to a good listening level. So after RTFM, I discovered that an envelope to the “CTRL” input was what I needed. And although it helped, it still didn’t do the trick. So I looked back at my written plan, and saw starkly:

“I’m unclear on how the different attenuators function.”

By “different attenuators” I meant specifically those for the “CTRL” inputs. So I turned them. Better but still not quite right, I turned them some more. The same, just louder. A quick adjustment to the envelope, and I was in business. 2 channels playing what I wanted at the correct level. Success. My problem was fixed, and I learned something about Natural Gate that I will now use forever.

But I didn’t want to just correct the technical problem, hit record, and move on. There were improvements I wanted to make too. I wanted to tame some of the modulation, and I wanted something that was a lot more wet so we could move the patch in a more abstract direction. I’d start with the melody line, but then fade it in and out throughout, while continuously sending the melody to a highly modulated Holocene Electronics Non-Linear Memory Machine and Error Electrinics Brinta, with those going through the beautiful Vongon Ultrasheer reverb.

So I busted out my trusty 0hp attenuators and went to town adjusting and tempering the modulation from NLC”s The Hypster and Joranalogue Filter 8, and played with the modulation settings on the Error Instruments Brinta. I also adjusted some of the settings on the Bizarre Jezabel Seju Stereo (as well as the attenuation on its modulation), which is filtering chords from the Acid Rain Technology Chainsaw.

The patch is still not perfect. I like many of the sounds, but it’s time to start thinking about arrangement, pace, and getting to the business of composition, not just building a nice sounding patch. It’s time to start evaluating what is missing and what needs to be trimmed or de-emphasized. What needs to happen to turn this patch into something special.

Jamuary 2406

Today’s Jamuary is a much better effort than yesterday, and actually accomplished the result I was after, even if by using a different method than I originally imagined to attain it.

After pondering the patch for several hours last night, I came to the conclusion that a shift register wasn’t the right tool for this particular chord job, particularly with such a fast moving sequence. There was too much change too quickly. I didn’t want chords shifting as the same rate of the melody, but much slower. So after consulting my Notability folder where I write down stolen patch notes from YouTube videos, I happed upon a very interesting patch by the quite soothing, always creative, and ever educational Tom Churchill that essentially does exactly what I was wanting to do, so I decided This Is The Way.

When I walked into my studio space this evening, I was set to make the chords I badly failed at yesterday. I immediately undid yesterday’s web of patch cables to help scrub my brain, but while doing so decided to use the same set of modules, with a couple of small exceptions. I’d need to use a clock divider, not a shift register, a cascading buffered mult for 4 identical copies of the pitch CV, and as many S&H modules as I would want voices in the chords. I decided to simplify it and change a couple of modules in order to streamline things a bit.

If I was happy with anything from yesterday, it was the direction of the sequenced melody line. It wasn’t perfect but it was a good start, and I wanted to pull on that thread more to see what might lie beneath. I also decided to stick with the Chainsaw for my chords. Since nailing the chords was a primary goal, I decided on simpler 3 note chords to keep things relatively tamed. Add to that the Chainsaw is self contained, keeping tuning easier. Today I used some chaos from Orbit 3 to modulate Fold 6, rather than an envelope, and I think the envelope is better for this kind of source material. In fact, I didn’t use a separate envelope at all, but Natural Gate for the melody line. I also chose to simplify the filter on the chords, so used Seju Stereo rather than Pkhia and its 3 simultaneous stereo outputs.

There were other changes too, but I won’t make this long story even longer. Suffice to say that I’m quite happy with how this one turned out.

This piece was performed and recorded via the Expert Sleepers ES-9 in AUM on iPad in 1 take.

Modules Used:
Oxi One
Doepfer A-160-2 Clock Divider
Calsynth Changes (Mutable Instruments Stages)
2hp Buff
Joranalogue Generate 3
Joranalogue Fold 6
Joranalogue Orbit 3
Joranalogue Filter 8 (in LFO mode)
Rabid Elephant Natural Gate
AI Synthesis 018 Stereo Matrix Mixer
Acid Rain Technology Chainsaw
Bizarre Jezabel Seju Stereo
Holocene Electronics Non-Linear Memory Machine
Error Instruments Brinta
Nonlinearcircuits The Hypster
Knob Farm Ferry
Vongon Ultrasheer

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