Hands On Experience Part I

A collection of recordings and patch ideas, focussing on manual manipulation and featuring Flight of Harmony's Choices joystick and Make Noise's Pressure Points touch keyboard.



First up, Choices is used to modulate the FM relationship of two VCOs and the time-base, or overall length, of a Plan B Polyphonic Envelope. Choices' manual gate was patched to the M10's cycle input to provide the trills.


trillkillkult

In this patch, Choices was used to manually trigger the envelope. Depending on the modulated envelope length, this sometimes results in trills. The joystick was used to modulate the pitch of the VCOs and provide the CV for an A-134-2 cross-fader.


crossover

A similar patch, minus the cross-fader, of 'chirps and cheeps' generated by a self-oscillating filter, FM'd by the modulated envelope.


bugsnbirds

Using a joystick is very intuitive and a lot of fun: move it, and you have a pretty good idea of what's going to happen. I considered getting Doepfer's A-174 because I like sprung joysticks. As it was out of stock and a new shipment of Choices had just arrived, I bought the f(h) module and have no regrets: unsprung joysticks have their own benefits and the manual gates are very useful. Choices has a hotter output than the A-174 and offers more control over in & ouputs. Match this up with an integrator, quantizer, cross-fader and a re-triggerable AD envelope for a dynamic performance tool.

PotD - Patch Collective

Live performance patch featuring 4 VCOs, 2 LPGs, 4 EGs, quantizer, analogue shift register, mux, Choices, Pressure Points, a bunch of mixers & VCAs and a pair of hands.

PotD_Patchcollective  by  navs

As you can tell from the long list of modules, this patch took some setting up, but was quite simple once I knew what I wanted. The combination of PP & Choices offered a variety of control options and made this patch come to life.

You can probably guess most of what's happening in the recording, so I won't go into detail. One tip I'd like to share with you, though, is how I controlled the Low Pass Gates as this was key to the patch. I mixed Choices Y output with the envelopes to open the LPGs for the sustained sounds and then close them for the short note runs. Really simple, but effective.

And if you're wondering how I achieved the slow, rising pitch in the sustained passages, that's the sound of a voltage-loaded but un-triggered Plan B M23 ASR!

Hands On Experience Part II

A collection of recordings and patch ideas, focussing on manual manipulation and featuring Flight of Harmony's Choices joystick and Make Noise's Pressure Points touch keyboard.



In this first Pressure Points patch, I fed the X & Y rows to an A-151 sequential switch and the bussed gate to a clock divider to generate an eight note sequence. The bussed press CV was used to provide volume control. This is a simple patch to overcome the limitations of only having one PP and also provides variation on an otherwise predictable sequence of notes, depending on the division you use to trigger the multiplexer.


eightpointplan

Variation on the above. Press CV used to provide mild pitch bend of a self-oscillating filter and modulate the frequency of an LFO .


whistler

In this patch I sent the press CV to a quantizer via a slew limiter to generate a glissando effect in addition to the main pitch CV. I used row X to set different slew rates, the effect of which you can hear towards the end of the recording.


gliss

One odd thing about capacitance is the fact that it is always changing. Have a listen to what happens when I touch the metal frame of my Doepfer case:


rackbuzz

Make Noises' Pressure Points brings the capacitive keyboard, best known from Buchla and Serge systems, to the Euro format. This sort of controller might not be as immediate as a joystick but it offers a wealth of subtle possibilities. PP is tweakable and, given the right settings and playing style, responsive. For best results with the press CV, a slew limiter like Maths is a must as is an exponential VCA for dynamic volume contours. It is possible to confuse the circuit with rapid finger movements or multiple presses but, as Tony Rolando points out, this is the nature of the beast. It'll be interesting to see what the promised Points Expander brings to the party.

To round things off, here is a last patch featuring both controllers:


idlehands

PP transposes the sequence and generates volume levels (both signals slewed by Maths). Choices provides panning control and cross-fades between the sine and PWM (row Y sets rate) outputs of a Plan B Model 15 VCO which is filtered by a M13 LPG. The manual gate is used to open a VCA containing the output of PP's row Z, which is used to change the speed of the clocking LFO.

For more programmer patch tips, run a search for the Rich Gold Serge book and Buchla Music Easel manual.

Patch Tips #5 LFO Freeze

Today's second patch tip - how to 'freeze' an LFO - comes courtesy of Dieter Doepfer.

This was something I hadn't thought of doing until I saw Chris Muir's Periodicity for the Buchla. I could see how one could achieve this if the LFO was digitally generated, but wondered if there was an analogue solution and asked Dieter after the workshop.

He explained that there was indeed a very simple, if imprecise, analogue circuit but, given a VCLFO like the A-147, it could also be patched by feeding a negative voltage to the LFO's CV input and forcing it to slow down to a crawl.

As you can hear, this works well for short durations, less so for longer ones:



In the patch, I sent the -ve signal to the A-147 via a VCA, which I opened with a manual gate from a Choices joystick. On release of the gate, the LFO races back up to its original speed and continues more or less where it left off.

Thanks for the tip Dieter!

Release: Best of Patch of the Day

I've just released The Best of Patch of the Day Vol. 1, which is available from my bandcamp page for three Euros.



The EP contains some patches from the past plus one new recording. Prebloom is a live performance featuring a Cwejman RES-4 & CTG-VC, Toppobrillo TWF, Doepfer A-143-1, Plan B Model 15 & Harvestman Hertz Donut VCOs, Makenoise Pressure Points and f(h) Choices joystick. I'll leave you to figure out the patch configuration from my previous examples!

4MS Rotating Clock Divider

First impressions of the 4MS Rotating Clock Divider.

This colourful module is an update on the classic clock divider design, offering even and un-even divisions of 1 to 64 and a unique rotate function to shift the resulting triggers along its eight outputs.

Here's a run-through featuring four voices. Towards the end, a random CV is applied to the rotate function.



The next example focusses on the rotate function, which is addressed via a CV. While this is more complicated than stepping with a gate, it allows programmed timing-changes with a sequencer or preset controller like Pressure Points.



The RCD outputs triggers, rather than gates. This is useful for percussive material, but has implications for certain logic gating functions. In this example, the main clock is AND-gated by the /4 output, first with a Doepfer A-160, then with the RCD.



The RCD will also function as an audio sub-divider. Here too, the results are different to the A-160 because of the lack of gates.



Sine wave source mixed with 'divided' signal. Choices joystick used to first rotate and then also change pitch.

The following example uses the RCD as a simple three-voice sequencer. The clock is reset on the first beat of the bar until the 1:25 mark (shortly after the FM index riser). Thereafter, the divisions are allowed to run free until about 1:50 (after the decay of the open high hat is lengthened) when it is snapped back into sync. A joystick was used to provide the rotate CV.



This was a lot of fun, but it did highlight an issue common to both the RCD and A-160: neither play 'on the one'. This is apparent when the drums are faded in (0:30). The cymbal denotes the down-beat, the RCD is playing off-beat. This can be 'corrected' on the A-160 with a logic inverter but, as the RCD outputs triggers, this is not possible. Another thing that became clear was the need for some planning with a programmer to set appropriate divisions, rather than wiggling a joystick!

The RCD got me thinking and working in a way I hadn't previously and I wanted to see whether the A-160/ 1 could compete. In this recording I mimicked the previous patch with the Doepfer clocking modules and fed four different reset triggers via an A-151 sequential switch which I stepped with a manual gate.



This resulted in less drastic changes than rotating divisions, but the shifting rhythmical patterns were no less musical or interesting. I also got the impression that the Doepfer divider had a bit more 'funk' than the 4MS, but this might just be down to timing inaccuracies on the part of the A-160.

The 4MS Rotating Clock Divider is mesmerizing, immediate and a lot of fun. Having easy access to un-even divisions was a revelation and the reset possibilities allow for complex rhythmic patterns. I'm not sure I'd want it as the only clock divider in my system, but it could certainly fulfill that role.

To wrap things up, today's Patch of the Day features the RCD and Plan B's M23 ASR.


shufti

Two VCOs, panned left and right receive shifted pitch and trigger information. A Wogglebug provides a random CV to rotate the RCD, modulate Maths' envelope length and transpose the sequence.

Monday Sport

A couple of action shots of the Toppobrillo Sport Modulator.





Mounted alongside Maths, PP + Brains, A-151 & Choices, the SM makes a great addition to the team.

A Simple Case of Brawn over Brains

Got a spare 3U rack that you'd like to use on your desktop to house performance modules like Pressure Points and Choices?

Unscrew these:



Take them to your local Schlosser and get him to fashion them like this with his Schlagschere:



Screw them back in place and enjoy!



Thanks to Max Kruppa in Kreuzberg for their time and effort.