modey

Well, I have my Elektrons for detailed sequencing ?

Haven't visited this thread in a while, but this came up in my youtube recommendations today and is actually pretty amazing

Ah yes, the Blofeld investigation.

Nah, I'm building my own Teensy based thing to fit in a 1U space, based on a couple of schematics/sketches I found. The Dubledeca looks great though! I might take a look at the code and/or schematics and see how it compares to what I want to build. Get the Model:Samples instead imo. I know it's between two and three times the price of the Volca, but it's a lot more capable. I played a very spontaneous set lastnight using it. A friend had to cancel his set and asked me to fill in; I was already on my way and had my M:S with me, but with no patterns programmed into it. I sat at a table for 5 minutes choosing a kit of samples on a blank pattern, then plugged into the PA and played a surprisingly dynamic 25min set, everything generated on the fly, one pattern, 6 samples. It was ridiculous. I've never been able to do that so quickly with any other device. Also it works very well with an external battery pack; I found a cheap one that holds 4 AA batteries. I'm not sure how long it lasts on those, but I'll do some testing soon.

I'm very surprised by the price, it actually seems pretty cheap for what it's capable of. Yeah, same. The NerdSeq looks cool, but as well as the lack of keyboard control, for me modular has been about getting away from super detailed sequencing and just controlling things by chance etc. That said, I am about to build a MIDI to CV interface so I can use my OT to sequence my tiny setup.

lol maybe someday.. I was considering it, but the form factor and the promise of a battery pack (even if I have to 3D print one myself) sold it for me.

Sold a couple of eurorack bits and pieces (and my volca drum is soon to go as well, once I sample it thoroughly) and bought a Model:Samples. I couldn't resist; it's just so cute. It's nice to have an Elektron device that's a bit more lightweight and, interestingly, more limited. I'll probably use it mostly for drums, but I can imagine it being really nice with single cycle waves, especially with the wider octave range than on the octatrack. I also feel like I'm sometimes wasting the OT's tracks when just playing back a kick sample or something, so the M:S can take over some of the more simple playback duties.

Guys you'll never believe it! I just found a Mother32 for only 75 turtles!

I kinda did Volca Keys acid a few years back, turned out alright. I do miss the Keys actually, it's got a really unique gritty sound. oh shit if the final production model is white I'm getting one for sure.. even though I've got a friend's 606 on indefinite loan.

Good timing for a bump. I did the t-shirt design for next year's Square Sounds chiptune festival. Sadly they're not available for purchase without a ticket (maybe that'll change though?) but I figured I'd show them off here because it's one of my most idm designs lol also available in yellow on red, fluorescent green on black, and dark grey on black

I'm glad it's back to the "landscape" format. Looks like it's a bit smaller than it was before? Or at least smaller than I expected, around GB Micro size. The new dot matrix display looks pretty cool too. Hopefully we're not far off. It's been really interesting seeing it develop.

Yeah, PNW is great! My only minor complaints are that there's no pitch quantiser, and that everything is restricted to divisions or multiplications of the base tempo. That said, it's primarily a rhythm generator, so neither of those are a very big deal with the addition of a couple more modules.

A few of my utility/generator picks: Pamela's New Workout: a very solid clock utility but goes way beyond that, with LFOs, euclidean sequencing, loopable random generators, etc. Pairs nicely with a quantiser (I use 2hp Tune) so you can use the random generators as melody generators. Mutable Instruments Marbles: generative gate and note sequencing but with tons of modes and options to play with, and can be run at audio rate to get a super digital oscillator. Plus you can load custom scales into it, which can get microtonal, if that's what you're into. And Maths of course.. just watch the video For sound shaping, rather than a utility, I love Mutable Instruments Warps with the Parasites firmware. Lots of different options from waveshapers, vocoders to very nice delays (one of which has an open feedback path). Also I just thought of an interesting first pair, if you can afford it: Pamela's New Workout and Make Noise Erbe Verb. Using PNW's 8 outs to control the verb's parameters can get some very interesting effects, including really swishy drum sounds and pitch shifting.

sick

Just got a notification that the Autechre mixlr account is live again.. I can't remember if it was a legit one or not but posting it here just in case ? http://mixlr.com/autechre/?utm_source=new_broadcast_alert&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=alert

I'm still on 10.11 on my 2016 imac and 10.13 on my 2018 mbp. Was thinking of upgrading to 10.14 on both, but I can't now, right? Is there no way to do that? I never downloaded it when the notification came up.

What! The Draft 7.30 artwork is a masterpiece. The post-Exai tDR stuff pales in comparison imo (and I'm a tDR fanboy). Also, the Untilted typography works for me, the cap height of the smaller type matches the x height of the larger type.

OpenMPT is more true to the classic style of tracker music, which is great if you're composing mod/xm/etc stuff. Renoise is definitely more suited to more modern production, but when I want more accurate emulation of older trackers I'll use MPT. I usually stick with Renoise though.

I attended an Algorave workshop (which used TidalCycles) at a video game music composers' convention last weekend, and it got me motivated enough to finally actually install it and give it a go. I think a few people in Melbourne are going to start a live coding club as well, which should be nice ?

The delay was one of my favourite things about the volca keys lol Maybe I should get a neutron ?

lol this would have fit right in in the Australian early 00s breakcore scene

I did a breakcore once under a stupid alias, the label owner made up a ridiculous story about it too lol https://8-bitrecordings.bandcamp.com/album/cungog-hardcore-daddy

The best way to circuit bend is by adding patch points, so the original sound can be restored by removing cables. I played with a circuit bent 707 last year (and made a sample pack with it) that had patch points neatly down the side, and it made some great tones when patched. I'm an anti-purist. I'm all for modifying everything that can be practically modified. Why not get some crazy new tones out of gear that usually only provides a limited amount of sounds?

Banger album, tin shack or otherwise. Worth raising a nug to (dipped in potato&gravy), for sure.

Great points, thanks everyone. I think perhaps I'm letting it get to me a bit too much; I ended up creating something today that I'm very happy with (little snippit here), which probably could be stripped down a bit more, but actually reflects what @Nil said above re: empty spaces / incomplete melodies. Keeping my Digitone tracks a bit more sparse, rather than feeling like I need to balance each page of the sequencer with the others. I think it's a bit more difficult with the Digitone as it's practically begging to be used for lush melodies. Having said that, I've had some luck with "unwinding" a busy melody by setting trig conditions to various parts of it, ensuring it never gets a chance to play in full. I am also working on collabs, actually had a very Terminator 2 meets Metroid Prime soundtrack jam with a friend the other day ? should be editing that down soon. And have been talking to another friend about starting a 2x nord modular (or nord + octatrack) project, which will be interesting! Anyway, a bit off topic for the GAS thread (I'm sure there was a thread about what I'm talking about here a while ago?).. but to bring it back home, I'm getting kinda tempted to pick up one of the Intellijel Palette cases, and strip my eurorack setup right back to a few modules—maybe have more than will fit in the case, but switch things out for various minimal setups—tbh I got more out of eurorack when I was trying to push a small amount of modules to their limits. May be a phase, but selling a few things could help me get to superbooth next year (a vague fantasy!). I think the OP-Z is gonna go too. I like it but the double triggering is doing my head in. That said, they seem to be hard to sell, there's been one on facebook marketplace for weeks, at about 70% of the new price.