Stoicism //SIG+/XPO/QPAS/Mimeophon//

video upload by Aleatoric Machine

"A self-playing Eurorack modular synthesizer patch featuring Make Noise’s XPO, QPAS & Mimeophon, and Stochastic Instruments’ Stochastic Inspiration Generator (SIG+). Plus many more modules described below.

Everything you hear in this is coming from a single monophonic sequence from the SIG+ and a single Make Noise XPO. I’m pretty amazed by how much variety of tone and texture can come from this single oscillator, all at the same time. The different waveform outputs are each running through their own VCAs, filters, triggers, and effects, but the melodic content is all the same. I’ll go through the sequencing in a minute, but first I’m going to focus on the audio signal paths.

Overall, the XPO’s L & R modulation are controlled by a triangle LFO coming from Acid Rain’s Maestro.

The first output is the stereo square wave, which goes through QPAS and Mimeophon, then into the mixer. QPAS’s L & R rotation and Q are modulated by two different smooth random waves from ALM’s Pamela’s Pro Workout. Mimeophon’s repeats are modulated by a smooth random wave coming from Maestro. This voice is triggered by a bouncing ball coming from Make Noise’s Maths.

The second output is the mono triangle wave, which first goes through an Intellijel 1U VCA, then uses Intellijel’s 1U pedal I/O to go through a Chase Bliss Mood (repeats tuned up a 5th) and Chase Bliss Dark World, then into the mixer. This voice is triggered by another bouncing ball from another Maths.

The third output is the mono sawtooth wave, which goes through channel one of a Make Noise ModDemix, an Intellijel Morgasmatron (with panning controlled by separate LFOs going to the L & R FM1 inputs - LFO 1 coming from Mutable Instruments’ Tides and LFO 2 coming from Intellijel’s Rubicon 2), then a Happy Nerding FX Aid XL running a flanger algorithm, then into the mixer. This voice is triggered by a repetitive Euclidian rhythm coming from Acid Rain Constellation and Doepfer Dual ADSR.

The last output is the spike wave going through channel two of the ModDemix, a Doepfer Multimode VCF, and Strymon’s Magneto in shift mode, then into the mixer. Magneto’s repeats are modulated by another smooth random wave coming from Maestro. This voice is triggered by a slower Euclidean rhythm coming from Constellation and Make Noise’s Contour.

Each voice goes into Doepfer’s VC Stereo Mixer, which has a built in VCA on each channel. The level of each voice is independently controlled by a separate smooth random wave from Pam, so the mix is constantly evolving. The voltages coming from Pam are further slewed by Mutable Instruments’ Stages, since the smooth random wave from Pam can still have some sharp edges. Then the whole mix goes through a 2HP Verb, with the reverb mix modulated by another smooth random wave from Pam, and finally through Endorphines’ Golden Master, which connects directly to the Intellijel 7U Performance Case’s built in audio outputs.

Now for the melodic content and harmonic structure. This is all driven by Stochastic Instruments’ Stochastic Inspiration Generator (my first patch with it!). This is an incredible module. I won’t go into everything it does, as there are already a couple very helpful videos out there on that, but suffice it to say that it lives up to its name! I’m using multiple channels, each with its own tonality, then cycling through those via an ALM Boss Bow Two switch to determine which channel will control the v/oct pitch of the XPO. The Boss Bow’s channel is control by a sequence coming from another Stages. Channel one is just a low C, to establish the primary key. Channel two randomly selects pitches from a C major chord, with low C in the bass. Channel three selects pitches from an F minor chord, with an occasional 2nd and 4th and a low F in the bass. Channel 4 selects pitches from a D flat major chord, with an occasional 6th and a low D flat in the bass.

I’m not sure if this is indeterminate enough to be considered generative, since the harmonic content is fairly structured, even if the melody, rhythm, and balance of the parts are all random. It’s more, well, aleatoric. I hope you enjoy it (although I realize than if you are into this sort of thing, you are born of a special breed!)."