Squarp Instruments Hermod Eurorack Module Videos by Sunshine Jones

Published on Apr 14, 2018 Sunshine Jones

Playlist (descriptions for each below):
HERMOD CURSORY INVESTIGATION
HERMOD INPUT CONTROLLERS
SQUARP HEMOD - TRANSPOSE SEQUENCE
HERMOD TRANSPOSITION // TWO
OK, WELL WHAT ABOUT REAL TIME ANALOG SEQUENCE RECORDING?
3AM DANCEFLOOR MADNESS
HERMOD - SEQUENCING TIME
HERMOD // CHANGE SEQUENCE VIA CV
QUICK & DIRTY CV RECORDING

Descriptions:


1. HERMOD CURSORY INVESTIGATION
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Well, I've been at this about half an hour and here's a little premature treat for you.

Track one:
A 2/3/4 octave arpeggiating bassline made from the intellijel Dixie's sub and square, quad VCA, dual ADSR using the Roland 521 filter.

Track two:
A kick drum from the 1010 BitBox

Track three:
A single note playing out of a Doepfer A-110-2 into a Wasp filter being triggered by a slow AR from the quadra, and then into the 521
Both tracks 1 & 2 are heading into the @twohpmodular Rev and it's all mixed in the Mixup.

Big deal. What's wonderful here is the Squarp HERMOD!

Things you're gonna hate:

The screen is just teensy. It's so small. I love small, so I'm happier than $@&#, but folks are always complaining about small.
Things I'm sad about:

The clock.
It doesn't advance in steps per gate. It's one of those approximating clocks that averages the ticks into a tempo. I wish wish wish that this could do both. That would make it flawless for my purposes.

Things you're gonna love:
Absolutely everything else. This thing is just LOVELY.
There is so much (read that at SO MUCH) to explore here.
I'm gonna try to go slowly, and really take it all in, and perhaps give you some closer angles to really show you.

I love this thing already. It's absolutely legit.

2. HERMOD INPUT CONTROLLERS
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I spent some of this morning exploring connectivity.
Something interesting about the Squarp Hermod is its diverse connectivity options.

I was exited to consider the module as basically a 8 channel CV/Gate expander for my beloved Pyramid sequencer. But this goes much further than that.

INTERNAL:
The Hermod operates as its own clock and sequence source. Thus it could be a replacement for the Pyramid in a smaller situation. Perhaps in any situation. It was really cool to connect it up to the Frequency Central Device last night and just sit out of the studio and play and learn about it in another room.

MIDI IN & OUT:
In these clips I'm illustrating how a variety of controllers can send midi data into the Hermod, but the same it true going out. So clocks and notes and parts can be integrated from right within the module.

Controllers:
Arturia Keystep ✔️
Squarp Pyramid ✔️
Isla Instruments Kordbot ✔️
Elektron Oktatrack 〰
Korg NanoKontrol ✔️
Roland SH-01A/K25M ➕➖
Emu X49 ✔️ .

USB HOST:
This was fun. The Arturia Keystep is simply connected via this port using the supplied USB cable and we get power and midi and it's go time.

The Roland Boutiques did not work the same way. I wasn't able to get USB/Midi out of them into the Hermod. However, as straight up midi input devices they worked just fine.

USB DEVICE:
this appears to be for connecting the Hermod to a computer. Mounting the SD card to your desktop and perhaps using it with Ableton or something. I don't use computers for music anymore so I didn't test that function.
But the whole thing is that this is much more than an extension of my primary sequencer. This is a really adorable, well designed device which is an additional sequencer based in the modular case.
I didn't experience any connectivity hassles at all. Apart from some devices not working via USB/MIDI (a method I don't plan to make use of) and the Octatrack being a confusing process (surprise!) everything just plugged in and worked.

I'm intrigued, more and more.
Now on to clocks and synchronization.

3. SQUARP HEMOD - TRANSPOSE SEQUENCE
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Ok, so I know that the Squarp Hermod is capable of chaining songs and being quite in depth, but for myself, in performance (both live and production) I really like to mess with everything. Part of what makes analog sequencing so fun is the ability to transpose and further modify a sequence once it's established. There's a lot to be said for the beauty and healing power of repetition (I'm all for it) but to adjust musically is a very powerful thing.

I was afraid that perhaps the Hermod wouldn't be capable of this. But as you can see it does it very well.

Here I have applied a setting in the mod matrix instructing the output pitch to be adjusted at the root note level when voltage arrives into CV input A.

It's meant to be tuned in semitones, but it's actually not quite right yet. So even with a note pitch scale added, it's a little funny. But it's also really fun, and it works.

For people wondering about "midi input" I think you'll find the Hermod to be deeply hands on. Modulation, pitch bend, voltage and note information can all be routed to many things at once to control and adjust pretty much every parameter of the sequencer. It's not the same as "MIDI CC" in the sense of pre set controls, but with the mod matrix, you can do anything you would like to get done. Save your setups as templates and it's go time every time.

4. HERMOD TRANSPOSITION // TWO

After declaring my album finished, I took a very long walk into the hills, had a great cry, made some furious notes, and took my sweet nieces to the cinema to see isle of dogs, and when I got home I sat still, and listened.

I dreamt all night of duality, the confrontation of voices which neither understand, nor care to, and all of the inherent inadequacy of attempting to create art, and allow it to move out of the house and live its own life.

The forces against this process are awe inspiring, and yet in no way worth a moment of your time.

The three thousand cheers, kisses, and resounding "yes" must have value, and meaning.

The silence, and the odd "meh" here and there may not rule the universe. It really seems to at times - we spend a lot of time talking shit, heckling, and sneering don't we? - but look for the pin and you'll see that these are the voices of fear, just more of the same.
Acknowledge that fear comes to every party, but the appropriate response is to get it all dancing, swaying, cheering and free.

What's happening here?
The Squarp Hermod is sequencing two voices and sending a clock.
Voice 1 is the Roland modular 512 and 521 playing a duophonic chord into the 2hp Verb.

The second voice is the Frequency Central Device playing a hand coded arpeggio into the Strymon Megneto (which I've still got for another week!)

The voltage is being transposed using the Mutable Instruments Links (precision adder) and that's moving the chords around by hand.
Such a pretty and pleasing solution to all this sea water I've just emerged from.

If you're at loose ends today, remember, you're not alone. I love you, and it's gonna be ok.

5. OK, WELL WHAT ABOUT REAL TIME ANALOG SEQUENCE RECORDING?
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Well?

What's happening here is a 2 step sequence from the Doepfer A-155 is adjusted to 5 steps, and in real time recorded into the Squarp Hermod using the through channel for the active track, and inputs A-B as CV and Gate (respectively.)

This means that the analog sequences created with the Doepfer can seamlessly be saved and transported. Re routed. Duplicated. Heck, it would be pretty dope to bring the A-155, work out the sequence with the audience, record it, and then move on and work out another one, and another one in real time.

What a far out experience that would be, right?
Let's do it!

6. 3AM DANCEFLOOR MADNESS
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I've always been the sort of person who dances for hours. I can't just start and stop when a tune I like comes in. I need to trust the DJ and even the space I'm in. I want to go on the adventure, and learn something new about music, about frequencies, about myself.
I tend to pull back, and think about leaving when the music gets to pedantic, or butch. It's just not my thing.

I'm more willing to take the long road with the likes of DJ Harvey, Prins Thomas, DJ Three, Doc Martin , and my new local loves Tobin Ellsworth and Benjamin K than someone fancy with a laptop from somewhere doing some kind of dog and pony show.

You show me yours baby, and I will absolutely show you mine.

So what's happening here?

Simple.

I've programmed an arpeggio in G and varied the last notes of the last 2 or 4 cycles with the Squarp Hermod.

The sound is the intellijel Dixie II + mixed with the Doepfer A-110-2 and the Wasp filter (through the quad VCA and quadra)

I've connected the 1v/oct through the quadratt and set it to +/- to change the shape of the pitch voltage and how it effects the cv1 input of the filter.

The second voice is an octaving set of single notes from the Roland 512 and 521 VCO/VCF singing out through the Intellijel Dual VCA into the 2hp Verb and it's just lovely.

See? Simple.

Doesn't even need any drums. It's already peak hour deep dance floor magic to me.

7. HERMOD - SEQUENCING TIME
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One of my favorite things to do is sequence time. Sending a clock and playing with that clock in real time to advance the steps of a sequence differently over time.

I like to change how the steps advance over the course of a song and create melodic and rhythmic changes. Deep techno tricks.
Unfortunately, at present, the Squarp Hermod doesn't do this. The clock averages and so sending different clocks doesn't advance the steps differently, but rather it establishes a new over all tempo.
So what I've done here is program a simple scale into the Roland Boutique SH-01A's step sequencer, and created a track on Hermod which is sending a gate into the external clock input.
This means the every time the SH-01A receives a gate, it plays the next note.

Notice that the sound isn't coming out of the SH-01A. I'm just using the sequencer. This means that any step sequencer (module, or otherwise) can be used this way.

Sequence your sequencers, play with time, accidents can make magic!

8. HERMOD // CHANGE SEQUENCE VIA CV
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What?

This is the last one today, it's pouring rain in San Francisco and I've just gotta get out in it!

I've programmed a scale going up into sequence 1, and a second going down into sequence 2 of the Squarp Hermod.

Next I've set the MOD MATRIX for each sequence to change the sequence from incoming voltage at CV A input.

Connect that to an intellijel quadratt in UNI mode and press play!
I switch between sequence 1 and 2 and point out how to tell which sequence we're on.

Then it gets fun:
I connect an LFO from Busycircuits Pamela's new workout and start modulating the pattern changes. Now the quadratt acts as an attenuator restricting the voltage of the LFO (and thus the number of sequences it is choosing from.)

Finally I bring in a sampled kick drum.
This is going to get really really fun live. I can't wait.

9. QUICK & DIRTY CV RECORDING
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Here's a third example of an effort to simplify and come up with a way to create secondary pattern sequences which offer variety and complexity to a bassline.

In this example I'm simply recording the voltage from the Doepfer A-174 Joy Stick into a modulation track in the Squarp Hermod sequencer.

As you can see, what you put in, is just what you get out. It's instant and could be really fun.

I don't suppose there is any real limit to what you put in, or how you put it in - for example I could have just recorded my other more laborious examples and played them back. Saved them for later.
That's a pretty inspired idea, and thank you, but I am looking for something much more present tense, and connected and performed right now.

I dig this as a method, but I prefer how the other two examples actually sound. I can hear the gates, and the patterns and really appreciate how they feel working together.
But this is still very interesting.

Seems like it's time to get my hands on a 4ms PEG don't you?