Patch Challenge #9 - Make some Noise!

Help, I'm being chased by a horde of Zombies through a dark subway tunnel while more and more fully lit trains zip past from all directions causing me to jump left and right as if I was a bull fighter in a nightmare dreamt by Hemingway as he was riding a wounded Elephant.

In other words, I love it!

heheh! just needs genesis p. orridge shouting “DISCIPLINE!” over the top.

This is my entry for the 9th AE Modular patch challenge. This was about using the noise module as the main sound and CV source.

First I'm using a slow triangle LFO to fade unfiltered noise in and out using a VCA. Then I'm using the inverse of the same LFO to change the WASP filter cutoff frequency to get a more resonant noise sweep. A third voice has the noise signal going through a rather snappy envelope which then goes through the delay for the ticking of the clock. The 4th voice is just a VCO being controlled by the SEQ16 to add a mysterious background soundtrack. This is the only part that has nothing to do with the noise module at all.
The 5th part is another VCO which gets its CV from the S&H module which is fed by the noise and gets a clock from the SEQ16. Another envelope makes this snappy so we get completely random melody, whistles and bells. The whole mix going through the MultiFX unit to add space and more delay. Especially the random melody gets some nice delay effects from the MultiFX reverb.

this week I decided to do something a bit different, 
rather than focus on the end goal of some music... I thought Id setup up the rack as a 'noise workbench', 
and then use this to explore how noise can be shaped, and then used with various resonators.

this video is a kind of exploration of that process.
there are 3 short parts...  
part 1: AE modular , shaping/filtering AE noise, then passing it to the MultiFX as a kind of resonator
part 2: AE modular , shaping/filtering AE noise, then passing it to Mutable Instruments Elements (Eurorack)
part 3: AE modular , shaping/filtering AE noise, then passing it to Mutable Instruments Rings (Eurorack)




There is a lot of details on the 'patch' in the youtube notes,  but what I like about the patch, was by having HP, LP , BP all feeding into a mixer (4ATT/MIX) , I could alter the balance easily (I like that Nyle has this 'built in'), I also really found it useful having an envelope modulating the cutoff of the filter.

some things that didn't make the video (only so much time ) ,
using alternative noise sources :  I actually had the 3vcswitch feeding the filters, so I could switch in digital noise, or noise from the Koma Field Kit radio, this is interesting.
modulation - lfos and or s&h on : filters, noise rate, and also resonators parameters can really help bring sounds to life (they are less 'repetitive') 

anyway, this was a lot of fun, and before I break it down, I'll probably create some samples to use in future tracks.

another thing, that strikes me more and more, is easy it is to get AE modular interacting with the Eurorack, 
this is important to me, since Eurorack can get expensive, and so using AE modular as a equal partner, collaborating in patches, is an important part of my setup.

it made me think about the direction for my AE modular more, I think Id like the following (some of which don't  exist yet robertlanger  ) 
- another 4IO
- snappier envelopes (new 2env, and 2vca will do this I believe) 
- a shorter delay, with v/oct input  (reversed)  and with feedback send/return - for karplus strong
- multi band filter or eq (?) to use for filtering resonant body 
- noise, more colours





 

thetechnobear - the results with elements resonator are fabulous!
NightMachines - some great granular textures!

It's realy encouraging and inspiring to hear so much variety coming from noise as a base. So many ideas to try and explore!

Wow it really pays off to stay up late on Monday night! I really loved this challenge and enjoyed all the entries. Now I have to read up on Karplus Strong and need to experiment with how to achieve this with my AE by following NightMachines instructions.

Thanks to the weekly patch challenges and my own ambitions to send out a tutorial video every week, I am now spending almost all weekend patching, experimenting and filming which is the most I have spent with making music than ever before in my life and I love it!

It wasn't the guitar, it's not the piano, not the Ukulele (although that's not completely discounted yet) .. it's a little grey box with lots of knobs that squeaks (as my family likes to describe my compositions).

And it's this community here in the forum that is supportive and challenging and inspiring, I'm really glad you are all here!

sycophante,  it's simple but effective, I like the otherworldy atmosphere!

that's my favourite way of playing my synths - live in one take. Of course several takes are often needed to record everything as I want, if the juggling went wrong but it is the most rewarding experience, very immersive, it gives intense feeling of beeing the part of the music, so I pull for You thetechnobear!