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Post by moruial on Sept 25, 2020 17:25:42 GMT
I've been working on that track for the AEther Waves Vol.II since a bit now, and it's currently stuck. I have absolutly no ideas where I want to go with the track in itself, but it's not the problem, I just run out of imagination and I'm searching for sound and new ideas on how to patch my AEM. Most of the time I come un with what I'd call a "regular patch". It's more or less an habit to patch in a certain way, for instence VCO => Filter => VCA => Multifx => Out. Not that there is a problem with this patch, but I alwaus end up with the kind of same sound all the time. And today, I'm looking for something new, new sound, new ideas, unexpected things.
So the idea is: what crazy thing have you found when patching? what idea do you have for an "unconvensional" patch? Any lead on fun patch idea that you came out with your modular?
And here is my AEm, if you have suggestion or maybe inspiration. 
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Jihel
Full Member
knobs, knobs, and knobs !
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Post by Jihel on Sept 25, 2020 18:15:25 GMT
Some ideas :
SEQ16 CV > S&H for modulates VCO and/or Filter. VCO > MultiFX > Filter ; modulate MultiFX-PAR with SEQ16 and/or S&H; use MIXER for splitting the different sounds (one channel for FX, one for Filter). |
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Post by MikMo on Sept 25, 2020 18:42:18 GMT
Send a bunch of SQR waves into the XOR of the logic module and modulate the frequencies slowly, or carefully adjust the frequencies manually. Rather brutal sounds that might not fit into most compositions, but also some nice flangey sounds.
More detailed:
SQR to logic 1A input
SQR to logic 1B input
XOR from logic 1 output to logic 2A input
Third SQR to logic 2B input
Take output from XOR 2 output
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Post by spacedog on Sept 25, 2020 20:59:41 GMT
Do things in a completely different order.
Use envelopes to modulate pitch and the sequencer to mess with the frequency cutoff. Set up the two WASP filters to sweep past each other to create some crazy BP effects - maybe one with an LFO and one with an envelope. DO some crazy VCS3 type frequency sweeps with one hand and filter cutoffs with the other.
Then you can get really crazy... 
Record everything and stay in key, then you can mix and match your various pieces. At that point, you may have something interesting, or it may spark an idea. I find that the sound design sparks my thinking and music drops out of that.
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Post by MikMo on Sept 25, 2020 21:54:41 GMT
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Post by spacedog on Sept 25, 2020 21:58:12 GMT
I did an album based on three random draws |
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Post by arti on Sept 25, 2020 22:09:27 GMT
Pay more attention to Delay CV input - put some lfo into it (with regular vco fed into IN) or envelope to modulate it. It's very underestimated feature, I explore it regularely and it never fails to amaze me.
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Post by funbun on Sept 25, 2020 22:48:16 GMT
Make use of that wavefolder get a second VCO and a signalamp.
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Lugia
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Ridiculously busy...ish.
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Post by Lugia on Sept 26, 2020 0:32:15 GMT
Gnarly sequenced FM! Take the output of the SEQ16, send that to half of the 2OSC. Then the output of that can go on to the mod input for the VCO. For even more bad craziness, use the same CV from the SEQ16 to modulate the NYLE so that it tracks the FM signal's behavior, but not the main pitched output from the VCO.
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Post by moruial on Sept 26, 2020 8:21:45 GMT
Send a bunch of SQR waves into the XOR of the logic module and modulate the frequencies slowly, or carefully adjust the frequencies manually. Rather brutal sounds that might not fit into most compositions, but also some nice flangey sounds. More detailed: SQR to logic 1A input SQR to logic 1B input XOR from logic 1 output to logic 2A input Third SQR to logic 2B input Take output from XOR 2 output That was a very fun idea! my patch end up like the machine was talking right from hell. i don't know if I'll every make use of that recording, but it was great fun nonetheless! Thank you for the idea! And thank for everyone else, your ideas are great and I'm about to try them all! |
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Post by funbun on Sept 26, 2020 20:09:21 GMT
The most important thing: Listen to lots of music. Not electronic music but listen to high art music. This is the most important step. Also go outside and listen to the sounds you hear. Listen to the city. Listen to the country. Listen to cars. Listen to trains. Listen to birds. Listen to trees. You should be able to synthesize all these sounds.
Buy the book Patch and Tweak if you haven't already. There are all kinds of patches scattered throughout the book.
Next use the Noise module for sound instead of the VOC. Use the filter to generate sound instead of the VCO. Use feedback to generate sound as oppose to the VCO.
Make a mental list of all the ways to make sound in your current synth. Once you have a firm understanding of this, then it's time to start patching in way your never thought of.
It's a process. It's about your abilities and limitations, the synths abilities and limitations. It's a dialog. The machine reacts to you; you react to the machine. This process produces new sound, new music, and new ways of making sound and music.
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Lugia
Wiki Editors
Ridiculously busy...ish.
Posts: 556
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Post by Lugia on Sept 27, 2020 1:02:36 GMT
The most important thing: Listen to lots of music. Not electronic music but listen high art music. This is the most important step. Also go outside and listen to the sounds you hear. Listen to the city. Listen to the country. Listen to cars. Listen to trains. Listen to birds. Listen to trees. SPOT-ON!!!! This is the same precise advice given to me many years ago by my first composition prof, who said that the REAL "first job" by any composer worth anyone's time is that they have to listen to EVERYTHING. There's several reasons...one, obviously, is to be familiar with how to recreate sounds in synthesis. But then, that knowledge lets you go SO much farther...especially into sonic transformative processes, where YOU have to become the "instrument" to transform the sonic landscape around you. Stockhausen was big on this concept starting in the mid-1960s with his own ensemble's works, but you also have compositions like "Aus den Sieben Tagen" or "Spiral", where the transformative sonic process winds up turning into a process for transforming the musician! |
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Jihel
Full Member
knobs, knobs, and knobs !
Posts: 241
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Post by Jihel on Sept 27, 2020 8:37:38 GMT
The most important thing: Listen to lots of music. Not electronic music but listen to high art music. This is the most important step. Also go outside and listen to the sounds you hear. Listen to the city. Listen to the country. Listen to cars. Listen to trains. Listen to birds. Listen to trees... Agree ! This is the most important things to do before learning composition and, of course, to be open-minded... |
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Post by MaxRichardson97 on Sept 27, 2020 13:33:51 GMT
The most important thing: Listen to lots of music. Not electronic music but listen to high art music. This is the most important step. Also go outside and listen to the sounds you hear. Listen to the city. Listen to the country. Listen to cars. Listen to trains. Listen to birds. Listen to trees. You should be able to synthesize all these sounds. Buy the book Patch and Tweak if you haven't already. There are all kinds of patches scattered throughout the book. Next use the Noise module for sound instead of the VOC. Use the filter to generate sound instead of the VCO. Use feedback to generate sound as oppose to the VCO. Make a mental list of all the ways to make sound in your current synth. Once you have a firm understanding of this, then it's time to start patching in way your never thought of. It's a process. It's about your abilities and limitations, the synths abilities and limitations. It's a dialog. The machine reacts to you; you react to the machine. This process produces new sound, new music, and new ways of making sound and music. I have never heard of Patch and Tweak! Does it mainly focus on synthesis as opposed to concrete? There's loads of papers on concrete I found dead useful when studying for my MA, really eye opening. |
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Jihel
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knobs, knobs, and knobs !
Posts: 241
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Post by Jihel on Sept 27, 2020 13:45:50 GMT
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Post by spacedog on Sept 27, 2020 15:06:05 GMT
Top book, well worth having. Absolutely chock full of interestng ideas. Despite being solidly based around EuroRack, the principles still apply. It's well written as well (IMO). |
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Post by MaxRichardson97 on Sept 27, 2020 23:10:16 GMT
Top book, well worth having. Absolutely chock full of interestng ideas. Despite being solidly based around EuroRack, the principles still apply. It's well written as well (IMO). Amazing, cheers! Might well take a look into getting hold of it at some point |
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Post by funbun on Sept 28, 2020 2:28:25 GMT
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Post by rockysmalls on Sept 28, 2020 10:25:29 GMT
Top book, well worth having. Absolutely chock full of interestng ideas. Despite being solidly based around EuroRack, the principles still apply. It's well written as well (IMO). Amazing, cheers! Might well take a look into getting hold of it at some point et al, £60 seems a lot of large for what looks like a very nice glossy coffee table book.. for those of us on a more ‘restricted’ budget.. and i guess that’s why we are all here in AE land .. i mean.. £60 gets you two , possibly 3 discrete AE modules to play with .. any road, it’s probably been mentioned elsewhere on the forum but this 50 page PDF compiled by the muffwiggler community is full of descriptions of oblique things to try in ‘voltageland’ and has a nice Explanations section too! costs nothing... here is a link to the Version 2 pdf download: The Book of Bad Ideas V2 - GRAB IT! |
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Post by spacedog on Sept 28, 2020 10:27:16 GMT
There are a couple of other books as well (well, there are more than a couple), but these are good for different reasons. A Guide to Modular Worlds (SynMag) is a good, basic, introduction to modular synthesis and can be picked up for just under 30GBP (remember to buy the translated version). This one is a bit more basic than Patch and Tweak and may appeal to users with less experience. It also has some nice interviews. Personally, I would go straight for Patch and Tweak.
Then there's Allen Strange's book, Electronic Music: Systems, Techniques and Controls, which has been discussed here previously. Don't try to buy a real copy at the moment, unless you have some serious money to burn, for example here or vaguely cheaper here. As many have said on this forum, and elsewhere, this is an excellent and detailed book. A few forum members can probably make a pdf available upon request.
Allen Strange's book is more demanding, but also very rewarding, and just an hour sitting with it will create ideas that you'll be itching to make real - all IMO, of course If applied carefully, it could easily become the basis for a number of Patch Challenges. |
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Post by spacedog on Sept 28, 2020 10:28:30 GMT
Amazing, cheers! Might well take a look into getting hold of it at some point et al, £60 seems a lot of large for what looks like a very nice glossy coffee table book.. for those of us on a more ‘restricted’ budget.. and i guess that’s why we are all here in AE land .. i mean.. £60 gets you two , possibly 3 discrete AE modules to play with .. any road, it’s probably been mentioned elsewhere on the forum but this 50 page PDF compiled by the muffwiggler community is full of descriptions of oblique things to try in ‘voltageland’ and has a nice Explanations section too! costs nothing... here is a link to the Version 2 pdf download: The Book of Bad Ideas V2 - GRAB IT!I was just about to come on to that next, good call
To be fair, Patch and Tweak is much more than just a glossy coffee table book though. It is a decent purchase, but I accept that it is not cheap. Sadly, it's a niche subject and a well-produced book, which adds up to that price. I find that I can sit with it and it fires off ideas - but it is also gear porn to those who are addicted to Euro(C)rack...
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Jihel
Full Member
knobs, knobs, and knobs !
Posts: 241
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Post by Jihel on Sept 28, 2020 10:59:56 GMT
moruial et al, £60 seems a lot of large for what looks like a very nice glossy coffee table book.. for those of us on a more ‘restricted’ budget.. and i guess that’s why we are all here in AE land .. i mean.. £60 gets you two , possibly 3 discrete AE modules to play with .. any road, it’s probably been mentioned elsewhere on the forum but this 50 page PDF compiled by the muffwiggler community is full of descriptions of oblique things to try in ‘voltageland’ and has a nice Explanations section too! costs nothing... here is a link to the Version 2 pdf download: The Book of Bad Ideas V2 - GRAB IT! Agree with you, it's an expensive book (66 € in France) and I preferred to buy used modules (3 for the price !). Anyway, I borrowed the book in a good library near my home and I wrote down the informations that interested me. Thank you for the link "The Book of Bad Ideas V2". The chapter 4 give other interesting ressources to download. |
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Jihel
Full Member
knobs, knobs, and knobs !
Posts: 241
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Post by Jihel on Sept 28, 2020 11:18:54 GMT
Interesting articles about synth :
Patches for Doepfer Eurorack modules (ugly site! but give good ideas for AEM) :
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Post by MaxRichardson97 on Sept 28, 2020 11:55:10 GMT
Given that this thread seems to have turned into book club, this is a great paper - but very dense! Likewise for this, push through and they've got some really interesting ideas. |
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Post by rockysmalls on Sept 28, 2020 11:55:52 GMT
moruial et al, £60 seems a lot of large for what looks like a very nice glossy coffee table book.. for those of us on a more ‘restricted’ budget.. and i guess that’s why we are all here in AE land .. i mean.. £60 gets you two , possibly 3 discrete AE modules to play with .. any road, it’s probably been mentioned elsewhere on the forum but this 50 page PDF compiled by the muffwiggler community is full of descriptions of oblique things to try in ‘voltageland’ and has a nice Explanations section too! costs nothing... here is a link to the Version 2 pdf download: The Book of Bad Ideas V2 - GRAB IT! Agree with you, it's an expensive book (66 € in France) and I preferred to buy used modules (3 for the price !). Anyway, I borrowed the book in a good library near my home and I wrote down the informations that interested me. Thank you for the link "The Book of Bad Ideas V2". The chapter 4 give other interesting ressources to download. Libraries!! i had almost forgotten about such joys . i wonder if my local one is open in the current situation?.. might put in a request and see if they will get the Patch et Tweak tome.. |
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