A Buoyant Blue

Published on May 28, 2013 davidryle·112 videos

"A demo of a new Dave Dixon Analog Shift Register module.

This is a real time recorded session using the modular synthesizer. The ASR module is lacking a finished front panel but it is on order. I used a scratch 2U panel from an earlier MFOS Quad Voltage Quantizer build to house the panel parts & PCB. The build went well right off. There is a bit of drift in the looping function but I didn't use it here on this video. Most likely a component change would help with that.

Rather than a straight demo video, I decided to try to use the ASR in a more musical way to demonstrate one of the benefits of having it in the modular synth. The Dave Dixon design is very stable which is a nice compliment to the dual CGS ASR in my setup.

I am using a Q960 sequencer as master clock and pitch sequence duties for the main 7 step line as well as the second and third row as the 14 step counter-melodic line. The main output is the bass line and the other three voices are the ASR lines which build in the beginning to a chord structure in C Aug7. The counter melody is in C Maj. All pitch cv's were processed with a trio of Q171's and Q172 quantizers from Synthesizers.com.

Other sequences are Q119 and STG VMS for a very faint discord line as well as a rapid arpeggio which come & go at the end.

I tapped into the last gate out of the main line on the Q960 to trigger a slew-down pitched tone for the beginning note. An Yves Usson (build by STG Soundlabs) gate delay was used along with a Q961 Interface for gate timing on this crucial event.

A Synthetic Sound Labs Touch Tempo LFO is employed to create a faster timing for the dissonant line and the arpeggio. The Moon Modular 554 and 563 provide gate timings for these.

Inspired by the sound of the ASR controlled vco's, I was trying for a pleasant, ambient Eno-esque feeling to this piece."