into the darkness ... exploring Forge TME - VHIKK X ... dark ambient

video upload by substan

"A first test flight into dark sound spheres with the Forge TME - VHIKK X. The Befaco Oneiroi quickly proved to be a very suitable travel companion.

Recorded in one take.
Mastered in post."

Hypnotic Vhikk X OP-XY synth album | Sketches for My Sweetheart the Drone

video upload by Jay Hosking

"A live synth album for your workday, performed on a small setup.

00:00 - Relatively abstemious
07:21 - Occulta semina
13:39 - Trees under Venice
22:15 - Anthropodenial
25:38 - Walsham

Buy the album here:



Sometimes you try something so inspiring that you have to record everything you can from it, as fast as you can. SKETCHES FOR MY SWEETHEART THE DRONE is a collection of songs all recorded live within a 48-hour period.

For all songs, it's the same hardware setup: the FORGE TME Vhikk X (our titular drone) with Teenage Engineering OP-XY (drums, bass, and synth). The goal was to keep the songs simple, hypnotic, and most of the synth parts are played live over simple drum and bass sequences.

The end result is (I hope) a simmering background album, perfect for your work, emails, reading, or otherwise living your life. Thanks for listening."

Also see: The most incredible drone synth ever played | Vhikk X by FORGE TME

The most incredible drone synth ever played | Vhikk X by FORGE TME

video upload by Jay Hosking

"Exploring the most remarkable, evocative hardware drone/synth voice I've played in memory.

00:00 - intro interval drone
01:36 - another interval drone
03:02 - bass pulses
04:34 - bass ghosts
05:43 - sentimental interval drone
07:04 - happy accidents
08:01 - wavetable drone
09:01 - evil machine pulses
10:46 - deep dark drone
11:41 - ghostly drone
13:55 - beautiful melodic drone

Don't let the patch points and eurorack format fool you: the Vhikk X is a mostly standalone drone and synth voice that has oscillators, filter, and effects, and outputs at line level if you want it. The only thing it's really missing is a modulation source, which can be your fingers turning the knobs or, here, the Pamela's New Workout. I think Vhikk X and Pam's in a 32hp case would be the most interesting and unique drone synth I've ever heard, period. And then you can patch v/oct CV in, like with a Keystep, and play it like a mono synth!

This is a series of explorations on the Vhikk X, to show you the range of sounds it can produce. The Vhikk X is known for brutal or crushing sounds, but I think it has a lot of subtlety and beauty throughout it, and I've tried to show that here. Hopefully you agree.

I'm planning on turning the last patch into some sort of live performance with a bit of extra synth, so hopefully that will be up soon. For now, I hope this gives you an idea of why I'm so blown away by the Vhikk X.

Recorded to a stereo output with no additional audio processing."

See the Forge TME label below for more.

Check with dealers on the right for availability.

Forge TME VHIKK X - First look

video upload by John Schussler

"I have a VHIKK v1, and it's a fantastic drone/texture module. When Forge TME announced the VHIKK X I immediately joined the wait list.

Here's my vid on the original: [posted here]

The wait is over, and it has just arrived. Here's my first play with it.

Like the original, it has so much interactivity that you don't really have to modulate it with anything externally. But of course it gets even more lively when you do.

Here's a general overview of the sounds you get with minimal effort.

Other than a bit of reverb, this is all VHIKK X."

VHIKK X sound demo 1

video upload by Forge TME

"Playing around with Vhikk X.
Just a casual sound demo.. full video manual is in the works.
Apologies for the [lack of] lighting and for constantly obscuring the module...

All sounds are recorded direct from Vhikk X outputs, with some CV control added later in the video. V/Oct tracking is also demonstrated."

See the Forge TME label below for more.

Forge TME - VHIKK multi oscillator voice

video upload by Forge TME

"The vhikk is a multi-algorithm experimental synth voice for eurorack. It combines wavetable oscillators, filters and delay-based effects into one module with 9 different modes."


video upload by John Schussler

"The name of the company is Forge-TME. The module is VHIKK. No, I don't know what any of that means.

The module at its most basic is an oscillator. Several, actually, merged with a variety of self modulation, feedback, and delay connections that make it look, at first glance, like an all-in-one drone.

It ends up being more than that. It tracks 1v/oct just fine, so can be a melodic, even lead oscillator voice. I start this video with the basic drone side of things, but then move over to the sequenced pattern side, which is equally interesting.

I'm not going to try to explain the module in any detail, as its structure is too complicated. You're gonna have to RTFM for that (https://forge-tme.com/vhikk/). On the upside, that complexity doesn't make it hard to use. Wiggle the knobs and lots of great stuff comes out.

Sequencer: Stochastic IG. Envelope: Zadar

00:00 Intro
00:20 Drone - no pitch
04:45 Drone - pitch up
18:28 Slow sequence
23:00 Fast sequence"

"The vhikk twists, convulses and wails in a vortex haunted, spitting dirt and dust and time and raw energy. Rapid shadows, alien physics, pulsating artefacts, sometimes ridiculous, sometimes possessed.

The vhikk is a multi-algorithm sound source capable of traversing sonic planes complex, raw, dense, electric, erratic, dynamic.

The vhikk trades total control/comprehension/repeatability for a [hopefully fertile] dialogical experience and breadth of sonic palette. It is intrinsically ephemeral and is designed to encourage exploration and presence - with low cognitive overhead.

The vhikk is happy alone but thirsty for voltages. The produced output can be quite spectrally and temporally full and doesn't necessarily require [but definitely appreciates] further processing to synthesise musically useful material.

The Vhikk is a multi-algorithm experimental synth voice specialising in [but not limited to] complex drones and basses, rich textures, and dynamic sfx. It combines sound generation and effects processing into one module with 9 different modes.

The nature of the Vhikk makes it suitable for situations where a compact, ergonomic, and self-contained sound source would be welcome - for example smaller modular systems, or large systems where a strange sound source with minimised cognitive overhead would be desirable.

The general architecture consists of a bank of wavetable oscillators [the generator] sent through a filter section which then passes into a delay-based structure [the processor] - with the specific architecture and character of these sections dependent on the selected mode.

Some of the modes implement what is referred to here as 'cluster scanning' - a smooth crossfading scan through sets of frequency/wave pairs. Imagine a wavetable scan parameter but each distinct wave position also has an associated frequency offset. In the modes implementing cluster scanning these wave/frequency offsets are different for every oscillator.

The processor in general consists of a delay-based structure which can be smoothly transformed from something resembling a delay [distinct [albeit processed] repeats] to something resembling a reverb [diffused repeats, increasing echo density, modulation].

There is a frequency shifter integrated into the processor, either post delay-structure or in the feedback loop depending on mode and FEED position.

The X jack is a signal input which is merged with the generator pre-filter and passed into the processor. The graphic in the upper middle of the panel is a level indicator for the X input."

You can find additional details at https://forge-tme.com/vhikk/.