Waveformer

Published on Jan 18, 2019 Waveformer

Playlist:

1. Monolimp (Monologue, Volca FM, Novation Circuit)

A limping synth jam featuring the Korg Monologue, Volca FM, Novation Circuit and Zoom MS70-CDR.

The Novation Circuit is the master clock, with tempo 90 BPM. The Monologue and the Volca follow suit, but the delays on the MS-70CDRs have tempo set to 75 and 77 BPM, resulting in a limping 5/8-ish time signature.

2. Eclipse (Monologue, Volca FM, Novation Circuit, EHX720, MS-70CDR)

Total eclipse of the moon over Norway tonight. A mellow jam featuring the Korg Monologue, Volca FM, Novation Circuit, EHX720 Looper and Zoom MS70-CDR.

The chords were played into the EHX720 looper note by note from the Monologue. The Circuit is doing arp, base and drums. The Volca FM is doing a simple repeating pattern. And the Monologue is used for the solo.

3. Found Sound Jam by Waveformer

"Found sounds" from around the house turned into a 34 sample percussion set for the Novation Circuit. In other words, I walked around the house, hitting stuff, recorded the sounds, transfered them to the Novation Circuit groovebox, and created a percussive track using only those sounds. This jam is also featuring the Korg Monologue, Volca FM, and a pair of Zoom MS70-CDR effect pedals.

4. Ambient Melodica by Waveformer

Ambient jam with a melodica going into a Korg Kaoss Pad KP3, a Monotron for filtering and overdrive, and 2x MS-70CDRs for effects. The Korg Monologue chips in with a simple sequenced triangle wave. Some environmental noises were recorded and processed with the FieldScaper app on my iPhone before being transferred to the EHX 720 loop pedal.

5. DX106 by Waveformer

Hardware synth jam with some old friends - Roland Juno-106, Yamaha DX27, Alesis MMT8 sequencer, Korg Monologue, Korg Volca FM, and 3 Zoom MS-70CDRs. It's the first time in 15 years that I use the DX27, and the Juno-106 has also not been used a lot the latest years. The Juno-106 was my first synth, and the MMT-8 and the Juno were partners in crime for many years, before the MMT-8 was replaced with a series of DAWs. It's good to see them all back together again.

6. Avalanche by Waveformer

Winter vacation jam with Novation Circuit and Korg Kaoss Pad Mini 2S.

7. Ensoniq Dreams by Waveformer

Dreamy Pads from the Ensoniq EPS 16+ sampler, accompanied by arps from the Monologue and the Volca FM, melody from the Juno-106, with the Novation Circuit on drums, bass and some melodic pieces.

8. The Volcatron Chain v2 by Waveformer - Volca FM | Monotron | EHX 720 | Korg KP2S

A single chain with Korg Volca FM, Korg Monotron, Electro Harmonix 720 looper and Zoom MS-70CDR effects. The Monotron is distorting the Volca FM.

9. Polypatterns by Waveformer - Korg Monotron, Volca FM, Roland Juno-106, Novation Circuit

Polymetric patterns.

The Circuit is sequencing a 5/4 pattern for the Roland Juno-106. The Volca FM is playing a 13 bar pattern, with misc arp divisions during the performance. The Monologue is playing a 12 bar pattern in 3/4. Two Zoom MS-70CDRs are doing effects - panning, delay and reverb.

10. Circuit Arp & Ratchet by Waveformer - Novation Circuit

This jam is built from some basic arpeggiator patterns, and a Tangerine Dream style racheting pattern.

To build the long arpeggiator patterns and the racheting patterns, I used two of the new features in the Novation Circuit's v1.8 firmware - non-quantized recording and synth microstep editing.

Tempo on the Circuit is set to 40 BPM, but most steps uses 3 microsteps, so the effective tempo is 120 BPM. This way, I'm able to fit 3 x 16 bars into each pattern.

The arpeggiator on synth 1 was programmed manually by first adding 3 notes to each step and then using microstep edit mode (Gate + Shift) to spread the 3 notes evenly between the 6 available microsteps (using 3 microsteps per step).

The racheting patterns on synth 2 was programmed by setting pattern length to 1 and recording one step where I just hit one note multiple times until all 6 microsteps contained that note. The length was then reset to 16 bars again (effectively 3 x 16 bars, because of the 3 microsteps per step sequence programmed on synth 1). I duplicated this first step, and then, using microstep editing, I created different variations of this step - some with ratcheting (the same repeated note on all 6 steps) and some with just every other microstep used (using 3 microsteps per step) to match the pulse of synth 1. You can delete a microstep (in microstep editing mode) by selecting the note you want to delete and placing it on the same microstep as one of the other notes (remembering that all notes instances are the same note, and that one microstep can only hold one instance of that note).

The drums are pretty basic, but I had to keep track of where the downbeat was, as it mostly didn't fall on the first microstep of each step. Pencil and paper helps.

11. Korg Monologue, MicroFreak, Volca FM, Novation Circuit Jam - Hedgehog

A 20 minute jam with the Korg Monologue, Arturia MicroFreak, Korg Volca FM and Novation Circuit.

The MicroFreak is on chord duty, using a custom patch based on the SuperWave oscillator, and LFO modulating cutoff frequency, and a looping cycling envelope modulating both cutoff frequency directly and the LFO speed. I'm loving the modulation matrix on this thing. The Zoom MS-70CDR really does wonders with the rather simple MicroFreak patch, adding a phaser and delays to spread the chord out in a wide stereo image.

Korg Monologue is used for solos and some sequences, with vibrato, tremolo, delay and reverb on the effects side.

The VolcaFM plays an arpeggiated sequence of short melodic and percussive sounds, with a huge dose of delays and reverb, as more of a background ambience. Reminds me a bit of the "Universe" patch on the Korg M1.

The Circuit provides drums, percussion, bass and some more melodig patterns.

No Midi connections. Sequencers on all 4 synths/groovebox are set to the same tempo, and I just start and stop the sequencers manually.

12. Waveformer - Lullaby for the Moon - Korg Monologue, Volca FM, Novation Circuit

A soothing lullaby for the moon. Played on the Korg Monologue, Volca FM and Novation Circuit.

This one was recorded a year ago, before I started filming my performances and jams, so instead of my hands and gear, it features a night-time view from our living room.