Signal Flow Podcast Ep2: Our favourite sequencers, under-the-radar modules & more

video upload by Signal Sounds

Chapters:
00:00 Intro
03:37 News roundup
07:13 Favourite sequencers
23:21 Under-the-radar modules
32:32 Current trends in Eurorack

"In this episode, Tom and Luke discuss their favourite sequencers, share some favourite under-the-radar brands and modules, and chat about some of the current trends in Eurorack, from multi-algorithmic digital powerhouses to manufacturer-specific ecosystems.

Thanks to everyone who commented on episode one! You can get in touch with questions, feedback and suggestions via signalflow@signalsounds.com

Some of the gear discussed:
https://signalsounds.com/xaoc-devices...
https://www.signalsounds.com/dannysou...
https://www.signalsounds.com/new-syst...
https://www.signalsounds.com/make-noi...
https://www.signalsounds.com/noise-en...
https://www.signalsounds.com/making-s...
https://signalsounds.com/fancyyyyy-sy...
https://alteredstatemachines.net/aris..."

The Unperson’s Rings video:

Mutable Instruments Rings is still one of the BEST modules!!

video upload by The Unperson

"Rings by Mutable Instruments is one of the few modules on my 'Never Sell' list. It will always be fun, always sound good, and always have new sounds to discover, and that is the sign of a very well designed module. Join me for 20 minutes of sound and discovery!

Please consider supporting my channel by checking out my patreon: / theunperson

#rings #mutableinstruments #eurorack

0:00 - Intro
1:35 - Overview
3:16 - Drone
7:23 - FM Synthesis!
11:51 - External Audio In
15:02 - Hidden Mode Overview
16:48 - Final Jam!"

New Systems Instruments DISCRETE MAP and DMAP / full breakdown

video upload by BRiES

"In this video I explain how I used DISCRETE MAP and the expander DMAP A/B/C in a track and along the way I demonstrate how the module works. This really is a unique sequencer. The expander makes so much sense as well.

Thanks to ‪@NewSystemsInstruments‬ for letting me have a go with these modules.

Featured song:"

DISCRETE TOPOGRAPHICS / full system jam with DISCRETE MAP and DMAP by New Systems Instruments

video upload by BRiES

Dialectical Sequencing - Talk at Gray Area, 18 June 2025

video upload by New Systems Instruments

"Thanks to Ryan at the Creative Resource Library at Gray Area for inviting me! They have events like this every month, and lend instruments, too:

https://grayarea.org/create/creative-...

Discrete map is a Eurorack module for dialectical sequencing and other quantizing functions:

https://nsinstruments.com/modules/dma...

00:00 Ryan's Introduction
00:56 0. Introduction
2:15 0.1 The hierarchical model
4:33 0.2 The dialectical model
6:04 0.3 Art and philosophy
9:31 1. Dialectical sequencing
9:37 1.1 GWF Hegel
11:00 1.2 Quantity and quality
12:34 1.3 Quantity becomes quality
18:59 1.4 Dialectical sequencing 1
20:26 1.5 Dialectical sequencing 2
21:29 2. History and hardware
21:48 2.1. Cybernetics
26:15 2.2. Louis and Bebe Barron
28:20 2.3. Source of uncertainty
30:04 2.4. Todd Barton "Krell Muzak"
32:18 2.5. Discrete Map
33:20 3. Patches
33:31 3.1. Basic patch
35:34 3.2. "Natural" quantization
36:46 3.3. Beat frequencies
39:16 The end
39:59 Questions"

Discrete Map Orientation and Patches

video upload by New Systems Instruments

"Orientation and some patches for the New Systems Instruments Discrete Map + A / B / C Expander. Discrete Map is a new kind of continuous-time Eurorack sequencer.

For more details: https://nsinstruments.com/modules/dma...

00:00 Preview
00:29 Overview
02:32 Intro: positional mode
04:54 Length mode
07:31 Complex LFO as X
11:21 Sequencing beat frequencies
14:10 Basic synchronization
16:25 Sync with a conventional sequencer
19:32 Sync with EOC
20:24 Graphic VCO
22:02 FM, sync, PWM, PM, etc.
24:58 Intro to waveshaping / bitcrushing
26:06 Bitcrushed Amen
27:11 Temporal Mixing
30:04 Sequential switch (after Ciani)
31:53 Harmonizer
33:22 Probability Sequencer"

Discrete Map first explorations

video upload by Todd Barton

"Just scratching the surface of this versatile module. More to come. . . For a complete unfolding see Divkid’s deep dive • Bend & Twist Time with Voltage Addressed S..." [2nd video here]

Crossing the threshold: New Systems Instruments’ “discrete map”

video upload by Electrum Modular

"New Systems Instruments sent me their new module, Discrete Map. It’s a deep module, with lots of potential uses, so I’ll be dedicating the next few videos to it. This first, introductory video uses it as a generative sequencer, extracting an evolving melody from a Lorenz chaos trajectory."

"Novum! New Systems Instruments has created a unique and innovative approach to generating sequences with Discrete Map.

New Systems Instruments consistently surprises with innovative designs! Discrete Map fits right in, taking a simple concept and turning it on its head. At its core, it’s an 8-step sequencer that can output a traditional step-by-step sequence. The pitch values are set using the eight upper faders, but what makes it truly special are the eight lower faders, which determine which step is played at any given moment.

The sequencer’s X input accepts any signal, a clock, an LFO, or even another sequence. The lower faders set threshold values, and the switches below them define whether they react to a rising or falling edge. This means the sequence jumps to different steps based on the incoming signal, creating a highly controllable form of randomness! The results are striking! Complex rhythms and surprising melodies that become even more dynamic when paired with the expander for voltage-controlled step selection.

Discrete Map also includes an onboard oscillator. A switch toggles between a slow and fast frequency range. When slow, it functions as a standard step sequencer. Another switch changes from Position mode (explained above) to Length mode, where the lower faders control step duration. When switched to the fast mode tho, it becomes a graphic oscillator that tracks V/Oct.

To round out the package, Discrete Map includes additional utilities for better integration with other modules. The precision adder for example allows an external voltage to transpose the entire sequence.

The A/B/C Expander further enhances functionality, adding three assignable groups for the steps. Each group gains CV-controllable threshold values and dedicated gate outputs for active steps. And because that´s not enough there's also a sequential switch. Several discrete maps and A/B/C expanders can be linked together!

Overall, an incredibly well-thought-out and entirely fresh approach to sequence generation!

Features:

8-step sequencer for a single track
Generates sequences based on any input signal
8 lower faders to position steps in time
8 upper faders to set step values
One-shot mode
Oscillator mode with V/Oct tracking
Adjustable output voltage range (-5V to 5V / 0V to 5V / 0V to 2.5V)
Precision adder for transposing sequences
Gate output
Ramp output for internal clock signal"

And an overview from DivKid:

Bend & Twist Time with Voltage Addressed Sequencing // Discrete Map from New Systems Instruments
video upload by DivKid

"Here’s the new Discrete Map and expander from New Systems Instruments. Deeply routed in influence from the Buchla MARF & a Serge Modular style approach to sequencing, coupled with a heady mix of physics and electronics (as New Systems Instruments do so well) the Discrete Map allows you to use voltages to bend and manipulate a time map across 8 stages of voltages. From basic to more advanced sequencing, unique time and rhythm creation to some bonkers graphic VCO applications there’s a lot we get into in the video."

BAF 2025: New Systems Instruments Discrete Map

video upload by sonicstate

"At BAF 2025 we met up with Evan at New Systems Instruments who introduced us to Discrete Map, their new sequencer concept. Discrete Map takes external signals which can be modified by the relative position of the sliders on the front panel to set amounts and timings of triggers, step lengths and more.

The sequencer also runs at audio rate or in one shot mode making its application very versatile. Discrete* Map* is due for release in March 2025."

BAF 2024: New Systems Instruments - New Modules

video upload by sonicstate

"At Buchla and Friends 2024, Sonic State caught up with Evan from New Systems Instruments to discuss their latest modular offerings. Evan showcased three main modules: the Triphase Oscillator, the Harmonic Shift Oscillator, and the Inertia function generator.

The Triphase Oscillator offers three phases of a sawtooth oscillator with a bipolar mixer, allowing for extensive control and the creation of unique super saw sounds. On the other hand, the Harmonic Shift Oscillator provides control over level and stride which controls the spacing between harmonics, enabling users to create a wide range of sounds with non-integer spacing between harmonics. This FM-inspired oscillator introduces a unique twist by omitting negative frequencies typically associated with inharmonic FM. The Inertia function generator, with its rise and fall momentum controls, allows users to shape snappy envelopes, add peaks, and even function as an LFO at extreme settings. Additionally, it can serve as a versatile filter, producing squelchy filter sounds.

All of these modules are currently available on the New Systems Instruments website and selected stores. The Triphase Oscillator is priced at $385, the Harmonic Shift Oscillator at $365, and the Inertia function generator at around $345.

https://nsinstruments.com/"

Jamuary 11, 2024: Lost

video upload by stujay

"Lots of Instruo here. Main melody = Cs-L panned left, Ts-L+Neoni (FM'd) panned right. Assists from Make Noise Mimeophon and New Systems Instruments Inertia. Harmonaig on quantizing duty, melody played on Doepfer Trautonium ribbon controller. Big bass at the end is Therevox Ondes VCO. A touch of weirdness courtesy of Slate+Ash Spectres."

New Systems Instruments #jamuary2024 no 1

video upload by New Systems Instruments

"Apologies for the unedited mix. Patch notes: audio out from the keyboard is going directly to the mixer and also to the Eurorack, landing in the sync input of a Triphase. Triphase out 1 and 2 are going to two Inertias configured for frequency division. So basically, frequency multiplication followed by division. The noise is pink noise through two VCAs, modulated by a fast and a slow LFO."

https://nsinstruments.com/

When Mathematics & Physics Influence Eurorack Modular // New Systems Instruments at Knobcon 2023

video upload by DivKid

"It was great to see New Systems Instruments at Knobcon 2023 and learn about some of their modules. They caught my eye around their release and their "a bit like Serge but from a mathematical" approach certainly fascinates me. We look at Inertia, a function generator that has inertia, an resonance like overshoot of voltage travelling as well as the oscillators."

NSI are here // https://nsinstruments.com

Midiverse - TV Knobcon 2023

video uploads by Midiverse - TV

Playlist:
Steady State Fate - Knobcon 2023 - Midiverse - TV
New Systems Instruments - Knobcon 2023 - Midiverse - TV
Kilpatrick Audio - Knobcon 2023 - Midiverse - TV
Karltron - Knobcon 2023 - Midiverse - TV
SetonixSynth / Tidbit Audio - Knobcon 2023 - Midiverse - TV
Infrasonic Audio - Knobcon 2023 - Midiverse - TV

More info @
https://midiversetv.blogspot.com
@midiverse_modular on Instagram

“Finding the Right Words” (Triphase + Babel)

video upload by New Systems Instruments

"(Use headphones/good speakers or the hf might be too piercing.) Patch notes: another duophonic Triphase patch. Each mix out is going into Babel as the only input, taking the XSOME output, which means Babel is functioning as an octaver/saw-to-triangle shaper. These are going to the left and right inputs of the Quad Mid Side, then the L-R and X inputs are attenuated to narrow the mix (in stereo, X is just a second L-R). Output through some long reverb, pretty low in the mix. I’m using two channels of the Quad LFO plus two Phase Expanders to modulate the center of the two Babels and 2/3 phases of the Triphases. The Triphases are tuned to cancel the first two harmonics, so on top of Babel’s octaving that is being disturbed by LFOs to center, the pitch is much higher but there’s a whole bunch of sub harmonics that come out and blend with the higher frequency triangle waves.

Modules and more info at https://nsinstruments.com"

Warm Nights

video upload by New Systems Instruments

"Patch Notes: this is a polyphonic Triphase patch. Both Triphases are set up to emphasize the first harmonic, by blending the top two phases at around +-90deg. Two phases of the quad LFO and phase expander modulate the first phase of each Triphase. A little bit of the third phase is blended negatively which helps to ensure we don’t entirely remove the fundamental. These are going through a stereo low pass filter (MMM), which is following the notes in an interesting way. After buffering the volt per octave for each Triphase, It’s sent into Babel to get the maximum. This is then sent through an Inertia with a slow rise time and a bit of rise momentum, so the slew is limited and you get interesting filter sweeps that get more dramatic the bigger a jump you make with the notes. Lastly, the two modulated Triphase outputs are mixed together and sent into a second Inertia configured as a filter with a good bit of resonance and some skew on the frequency to make the resonances saw-like and give it that characteristic distorted feel. This is drenched in reverb and buried way back in the mix.

Triphase and the other modules are available on https://nsinstruments.com/
#eurorack #ambient #ambientmusic #dronemusic #modular #modularsynth"

Patch Notes: Stone Hall (Babel/Triphase/HSO/Inertia)

video upload by New Systems Instruments

"This is mostly a video about Babel, and techniques to use it at audio rate. But IMO when Eurorack modules are done right, they show us universal things about music. Hopefully this generates some useful ideas for whatever modules you have.

For more information on these modules, check out https://nsinstruments.com"

Stone Halls: Babel/Triphase/HSO/Inertia

video upload by New Systems Instruments

"Patch Notes: I'm going to make a video about the patch soon (trying something new). But here's some quick notes. Babel is the heart of this piece. Everything is going into it and modulating each other. Mixing is just the most basic form of modulation, so think of this as advanced mixing. There's three voices: two Triphase Oscillators and a Harmonic Shift Oscillator. One of the Triphases is droning. The HSO is doing the lower voice and the other Triphase the upper. Inertia is detecting the variation in amplitude and exaggerating it with momentum, then feeding that back to change the timbre of the Triphases as well as the center for Babel's modulation. Now just what all of that means...that'll be the subject of the next video.

Just a note: I get frustrated making Eurorack videos where the music ends up secondary to the content, but you need music to explain the modules. So the solution (hindsight is duh) is to just separate these, and give patches two videos. Or at least, I'm hoping that works out the way I'm imagining.

These are all available from https://nsinstruments.com"

Afternoon Musing #ambient #dronemusic #eurorack #modular

video upload by New Systems Instruments

"Patch notes: This is two triphase oscillators modulated from four phases of an Quad LFO+Phase Expander pair, mixed together, then fed into Inertia configured as a filter with a bit of resonance skew. The inertia filter parameters are what I’m adjusting. Buried in the background is the unfiltered mix fed through Babel, taking the XSOME mix, with one of the phases of the LFO modulating CENTER."

Harmonic Shift Oscillator as a double Percussive + Melodic Voice #ambient #darkambient #eurorack

video upload by New Systems Instruments

"July 4 sale ends today! Save 10% at nsinstruments.com w code NATIONSARELIES

Patch Notes: output is one of the HSO outs (the other is just going to the oscilloscope), through the VCA. The V/O input is driven by a keyboard going through one Inertia which is giving it just a bit of portamento. That Inertia also has pitch cv negatively modulating the rate so that it slews less on lower frequencies. The keyboard trigger output is going to some manual switches (ADDAC 304) so I can control which envelope to trigger. Two Inertias are acting as envelopes, one for the more percussive sound and one for the melodic sound. They’re joined in Babel via the ANY (maximum) out and sent to the VCA. The Inertia doing the percussive envelope also has the second order out going to the harmonic stride CV; the Inertia doing the melodic envelope has the second order going to the harmonic level cv. Last, pitch cv is going to the percussive inertia fall time, such that higher notes fall faster than lower notes."

Triphase Oscillator: an epic analogue VCO from New Systems Instruments

video upload by Tom Churchill

"The Triphase Oscillator from New Systems Instruments is a complex analogue VCO that’s based around the concept of phase cancellation, which is a key part of the sound of everything from chorus and phaser effects to PWM and supersaws. And as you’ll hear, it can sound absolutely huge.

Just like the other New Systems modules, the Triphase Oscillator is deceptively minimal on the surface - it’s essentially a triple sawtooth oscillator with voltage-controllable phase of each, and a bipolar mixer to combine them - but its relatively simple architecture unlocks a whole world of rich, complex sound design. In this video, I give an overview of its features and build some patches so you can hear what it’s capable of.

Thanks to New Systems Instruments for supplying the module. All opinions are my own. Find out more and check out the manual at https://nsinstruments.com/modules/tri...

More stuff from me:
https://tomchurchill.bandcamp.com/
https://soundcloud.com/tomchurchill
https://www.instagram.com/tomchurchill/"

See this post for an additional demo and details on the Triphase Oscillator.

New Systems Instruments Inertia, Harmonic Shift Oscillator, Babel & Quad LFO

video upload by Tom Churchill

"This video is about New Systems Instruments - one of the most innovative and underrated brands in Eurorack.

I’m looking at four modules: the Harmonic Shift Oscillator, a unique analogue VCO; Inertia, a ‘universal movement simulator’ or function generator that can be anything from an envelope to a filter depending on how you patch it; Babel, which is a one-of-a-kind analogue logic and intermodulation utility; and the new Quad LFO with Phase Expander.

I give a quick overview of each module before building some patches with various configurations of the modules to demonstrate a range of sounds and techniques.

Chapters:
00:00 Preview
00:56 Introduction
02:48 Harmonic Shift Oscillator overview
05:56 Inertia overview
11:15 Quad LFO and Babel overview
13:33 Harmonic Shift Oscillator: basic bass voice
16:22 Inertia as a waveshaping VCO with FM
18:54 Harmonic sequencing for techno loops
21:13 Drones with Inertia as a complex filter
24:32 Exploring FM on Harmonic Shift Oscillator
27:06 Experimenting with percussive effects
29:22 Complex wave combinations with Babel
32:00 Final thoughts

Find out more about the modules on the New Systems Instruments website (and do check out the manuals - they’re incredible!): https://nsinstruments.com/

Big thanks to New Systems Instruments’ distributor, Signal Sounds - https://www.signalsounds.com/ - who hooked me up with Harmonic Shift Oscillator, Inertia and Quad LFO to use in this video. All opinions are my own.

More stuff from me:
https://tomchurchill.bandcamp.com/
https://soundcloud.com/tomchurchill
https://www.instagram.com/tomchurchill/"