How To Make FM Formant Growl Bass Sounds on Sonicware Liven XFM - Accessible Tutorial

video upload by ChrisLody ChrisLody

"I was planning a different tutorial today but after being asked if this was possible I got a bit obsessed with working it out last night so thanks to Dino Goldie for prompting me to make this video. I find pretty much all aspects of sound design interesting and I've always wondered how these FM bass sounds were synthesized so I'm glad I looked into it, the XFM is pretty good at them!

As I say in the video this is designed to be an accessible tutorial as the Liven series has attracted a few visually impaired users. Let me know if this was clear and easy to understand or I totally messed it up :)"

ChrisLody Sonicware Liven posts

How To Edit Korg NTS-1 'WAVES' Oscillator - Korg NTS1 Tutorial

Published on Apr 21, 2020 ChrisLody

"Just a quick tutorial video on how to edit the Korg NTS-1 'WAVES' oscillator. The WAVES oscillator is a custom oscillator for the NTS-1 that comes pre-installed. It's got a lot more depth than the other oscillator settings but unfortunately the details aren't really covered properly in the manual or anywhere on the net that I can find. So here is my exploration of it. It can be an extremely gritty sounding oscillator, or layered set of waveforms when pushed."

ChrisLody NTS-1 posts

100% Korg Ds-10 - Neighbourhood Watch by ChrisLody

YouTube via ChrisLody
"This was a bit of an experiment in minimalism for me. All the audio was sequenced on korg Ds-10. I tried to change the patterns as little as possible throughout the sequence while still trying to keep it interesting.

The video was filmed from my studio window on my cameras low light setting for the smear effect. I thought I was going mad when after a few minutes of watching the playback the bushes seemed to spell a word that seemed quite fitting...."

Berlin School Ambient-ish Jam - Zoom R8, Gen R-8, ELZ_1 play, PSS-380

video upload by ChrisLody

"Full Disclosure: I occasionally take on freelance work at Sonicware and Stylophone on an hourly rate producing synth & sample sound design, beta testing, checking English text, video manuals, promo content etc. This video wasn't paid for directly but as a result of my work with Sonicware and Stylophone it is marked as Paid Promotion

So I feel very lucky this year to have worked with a few wonderful companies, mainly Sonicware and Stylophone. Obviously I've been sent the gear I've worked on for Sonicware as you'll see it all over my channel, but also Stylophone were very nice to me and sent me a Gen R-8 from their vaults!

I'm also lucky that my wife (and in-laws) appreciates my second job/hobby and buys me music gear for Christmas, that's where the Zoom R8 multitrack recorder I'm using here came from. I bought a Zoom Livetrak L-6 this year for my dawless jams which I love, but it records all it's channel simultaneously so layering is not possible. Layering is an interesting way of working which I've often used on the channel with a four track tape recorder, mixer and a send effect (most often a Zoom 1201), but this replaces the need for all that with a lot more features to boot.

What surprised me the most about the R8 is that you can record, mix and even master a whole track without relying on a DAW. All effects etc you hear are the R8 alone here. It has a send reverb slot, a send chorus/delay slot and then a single insert effects chain. The insert effect can only be doing one thing at once so you'll typically record through it onto an audio track or you can record dry and re-record (bounce) through it later if you prefer. There are a number of algorithms which are just a number of effects slots in a chain which can be configured to your liking. You switch algorithms, channel, contents and settings or preset of the insert effect depending what you need it for and when. This information is not well presented in the manual though so I geeked out and made a spreadsheet to show more simply which algorithms can contain which type of effect and which can be synced to tempo. That's available here: https://mega.nz/file/quxm3CoD#H1-u2Db... (I printed and laminated these, yes I know how to nerd)

Perhaps the only let down about the R8 is there's no sync options, though it's not really expecting you to work that way. You can have the metronome on headphones only which may be the way to do things, but I suspect I end up recording and panning a click from a Volca/Liven as a way around this.

By the way the small glockenspiel was part of my present from my in-laws. I've never had much luck recording them because of the huge spike in volume when the bar is hit (transient) so I almost gave up, but after studying the effects I saw the R8 has a 'slow attack' effect which was perfect for this as it completely kills the clackiness of the hit. Nice one. I'm recording through one of the two built in mics for that btw.

A quick word about the Stylophone Gen R-8, it's a dirty little beast. It's been kind of wild to get to grips with and I'm finding it's not suited to quite a lot of patches I'd normally make, smooth basses are out of the question for example because it sounds like the oscillator resets at the start of each new note (maybe the envelope, idk) so there's always a percussive click. Plus the filter sound is agro with settings that would normally tame it, it refuses to be calm. But for more aggressive tones it's very nice so I'll probably use it mostly for that!"

https://chrislody.bandcamp.com

FM Synthesis - A Practical Guide - Part 3 - How operator stacks work, the truth about modulation

video upload by ChrisLody

Additional posts

"If you'd like to support the channel you can grab a 'Pay What You Want' album from my Bandcamp or an instrument, kit or badge from my Etsy.
https://chrislody.bandcamp.com
https://www.etsy.com/uk/shop/SymetriC..."

Sonicware Lofi-12 XT Now Shipping w/ "Try Now, Intro Deal!"

Playlist:
Lofi-12 XT [Basic Workflow] - Sonicware
Lofi-12 XT [Post-Apoc. / Cyberpunk Jam] - Sonicware
Sonicware Lofi-12 XT Sound Demo (no talking) Ambient, IDM and Dub Techno - Limbic Bits
Sonicware Lofi-12 XT - Drill n Bass Preset Patterns - ChrisLody
Sonicware Lofi-12 XT Full Tutorial - Portable Sampler Groovebox - ChrisLody

"Lofi-12 XT, announced on Kickstarter in '23, is now proudly completed!
https://sonicware.jp/pages/lofi12xt

・12/24kHz Early-Digital Sound Sampling
　with 12BIT Sampler mode

・Intuitive & Non-stop Beat Making
　with 8-Track Sequencer

・Powerful Signal Processing :
　8 x Insert FX, Delay, Reverb and Master FX

・Effortless Background Mix-Tape Recording

・Versatile Connectivity with Other Devices

・Extensive sample library of over 2,500 samples"

"Try Now, Intro Deal!" details:

"The MSRP for Standard Black is $499 (Limited Retro color $559), but we want as many people as possible to use it and spread the word about its fascination. So we are launching our 'Try Now, Intro Deal!' campaign at our dealers. [check with dealers on the right]

"Try Now, Intro Deal!" campaign prices:
Standard Black color: $399
Limited Retro color: $429

[Standard Black €469 (Limited Retro €499) in Germany, Standard Black £399 (Limited Retro £429) in UK]"

Noise Hero Kit Now Available

YouTube Uploaded by ChrisLody on Mar 18, 2011

"Noise Hero kits are now available to buy from http://www.symetricolour.etsy.com in USD and http://www.folksy.com/shops/ChrisDodsworthDesign in the GBP. There is also a pre built version for sale.

The Noise Hero is a lofi noise maker with a lot of routing options built onto a piece of stripboard using a 4093 quad nand chip. This video shows some of the example sounds that are located on the CD rom that comes with the noise hero.

For more about the Noise Hero see this youtube video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gd9QBBueroA"


Uploaded by ChrisLody on Feb 16, 2010

"First build test of my Noise Hero (previously known as ill logic)

Noise hero is a little 4093 based noise maker which is available to buy from http://www.symetricolour.etsy.com in USD and http://www.folksy.com/shops/ChrisDodsworthDesign in the GBP. There is also a kit version available. I may also produce a boxed version depending on demand.

It is controlled by 5 knobs, 8 switches and one push button.

It has 3 oscillators (Yellow, Green and Blue knobs). Osc 1 produces audio frequency ranges whilst osc 2 and 3 produce LFO and audio freqencies.

Osc 1 goes to the output through a simple passive filter (Red knob) while osc 3 can be switched to the output but bypasses the filter.

Osc 3 modulates osc 1's pitch by the ammount set by the orange knob. This modulation can be shaped by 2 shapers which can be switched on and off. Osc 3 can also gate osc 2.

Osc 2 can gate osc 1 and passes through an inverter after which it can gate osc 3.

There is also a push button to trigger the unit (actually a power button), a switch to lock the power on, a power led indicator and a battery cap switch which lets the unit run for a short time after power off for springy type noises.

A certain configuration can even produce sounds that stop after a time determined by osc 3 which is good for maker sound effects. (see 4:44 onward)

The knobs all go backward as you may have noticed. This is because I'm using logarithmic knobs which make the oscillators easier to contol when wired up the wrong way round.

This is my first build. Everything works perfectly but I found I'd barely alloed myself enough room to fit everything on the stripboard. I'll make the next one bigger.

I'm keeping this one!"

90s (ish) Ambient DnB - Nord Lead 12 Voice, Zoom 1201, FAB Echo, SmplTrek

video upload by ChrisLody

"In the spirit of trying something new here's an attempt at a genre I've never tried before, Ambient DnB. This is something I've always admired when it's pulled off well, frantic background beats with smooth foreground sounds. Not bad for a first go this I think

The SmplTrek is doing most of the heavy lifting here. I used it's 'chop to drumkit' feature to chop up one of my own drum breaks, pitch it up and sequence it into a few variations.

I'm running the output in a kind of parallel processing sort of set up with two channels of the drum breaks hard panned, one high pass filtered and routed to my external reverb on the Zoom 1201 to give me tweaking control of the high frequencies and the other left drum and low pass filtered. Bass and strings also come from the output that is not routed to reverb but these use the internal reverb.

I then play some occasionally successful staccato lead sounds from the Nord Lead through a modded Fab Echo and that's about it."

https://chrislody.bandcamp.com

Clavia Nord Lead 1(1995-97) Retro Review and Tutorial

Published on Feb 18, 2019 ChrisLody

"This is my Clavia Nord Lead 1, an early virtual analog synthesizer from 1996. The first Nord Lead was manufactured between 1995-1997 and originally came in a 4 voice version which was later supplemented with an expansion and an updated 12 voice version that had the same functionality as the expanded synth. I'll show you how to use most of the functions, showing how the oscillators and filters sound and talking about some of it's strengths and weaknesses."

ChrisLody Nord Lead videos

SONICWARE Liven XFM Shifting Ambient Textures Tutorial

video upload by ChrisLody

"Just a quickie this one while I get into the swing of making regular tutorials again, in fact it took me much longer to decide what to record today than it did to actually record it. This video shows how you can make shifting ambient textures on a Soniware Liven XFM using it's X-LFO feature with an attempt at showing how the Color setting affects morphing."

ChrisLody Liven posts

Retro Review & Demo - Waddington's Compute-A-Tune Toy Sequencer

Published on Feb 3, 2019 ChrisLody

"This is the Waddington's Compute-A-Tune which is a tiny toy sequencer and keyboard that was released, at my best guest, in the late 1970's or early 1980's. Cool little thing I hope you'll agree :D

Here's the song I made with it:"

#Jamuary Day 21 - Waddingtons Compute-A-Tone Toy Sequencer

Published on Jan 21, 2019 ChrisLody

"Day 21 of Jamuary

I have to confess that I made this back on the 5th of Jan as part of Jamuary but made a better tune immediately after. Time is short today though. This was made using only the 1970s maybe 1980s Waddigtons Compute-A-Tune toy sequencer and a 4 track. For me it invokes the sound of cold war number stations, the little musical bits in between all the code. Like something from The Lincolnshire Poacher broadcast."

Yamaha V50 & SmplTrek v3.2 - Proper Cheese Jam

video upload by ChrisLody

"If you'd like to support the channel you can grab a 'Pay What You Want' album from my Bandcamp.
https://chrislody.bandcamp.com"

S.I.T.F.L - Ms20, MiniBrute, Ambient 0, Lofi-12 XT, Zoom R8 Jam - Song-a-day 2025

video upload by ChrisLody

https://chrislody.bandcamp.com

Legacy Tapes - Golden Error

YouTube Published on Apr 15, 2012 by ChrisLody

"Part of the Legacy Tapes series.

In this track i used a Yamaha Pss-780, a Korg poly-800, a Korg MS10, a Yamaha QX-5 sequencer, an Inkel mixer and an Akai HX-M11 tape recorder. All equipment dates from 1991 or earlier.

A modern computer was used to emulate an Atari ST running PSSED to edit sounds in the Pss780."

Update: SoundCloud here: http://soundcloud.com/chrislody/sets/legacy-tapes/

Super Lazy Sci Fi Soundtrack 3 - SmplTrek Liven MEGA Korg Volca Keys NTS1

video upload by ChrisLody

https://chrislody.bandcamp.com
https://www.etsy.com/uk/shop/SymetriC...

"The Synth Tray 2 saga continues. It's now grown a little to include a battery bank to power the NTS-1 that you can see tucked under the cables behind the SmlpTrek. This has 2 outputs so it's also able to power my handmade midi thru box now I've made a cable for it, you can see it at the top right. I've also added a Little Bear MC5 mixer which is sat behind the ELZ_1 play. This is really just a temporary fix because I plan to replace it with a Bastl Bestie when I can justify dropping £200 on one.

So a bit about how this is all setup. The SmplTrek is controlling all the midi in this setup with multiple midi tracks set to different channels. The midi out goes to the midi thru splitter box which then connects into the Liven MEGA and Korg Volca Keys. The SmplTrek is also playing the deep pad from the beginning which was sampled out of the ELZ_1 play into it, and the drum loop. When I'm using this in a sofa session I mix the external gear on the Little Bear MC5 and monitor all the audio through the SmplTrek and usually add a little of my send effect to the output, but this time when I recorded it for this video I connected all the separate instrument outputs to my audio interface instead to give me a greater level of control over the final mix.

The Korg Volca connects through the NTS1 in this jam and I'm using the Hammond Eggs Music - Haze reverb. It contains a high pass filter so it's great for making top end pad/string type sounds. I checked this list of available plugins for the NTS1 recently and found loads of new stuff I didn't know about. Mine is absolutely full now :)

I'm using the ELZ_1 play to play the Liven MEGA here and using the LFO set to a speed of zero as a upward pitch bend. The current firmware of the ELZ_1 play has no 'local control off' function which makes it hard to use as a controller and sound module while composing in a setup like this as playing external midi channels also triggers the internal sound engine. I've suggested adding 'local control off' as an option, so fingers crossed for that one.

The MiniDisc player isn't really part of the setup I've been using, but it was nice to see it fit neatly with everything else :) I was planning to record the output down a global track on the SmplTrek, but they're mono so the ambience lost something when I did that, so I resorted to just playing it live and looping the track. The ambient recording is of my home town of Boston, Lincolnshire, UK.

The NTS1 is being used as an insert effect here (the Volca Keys is passing straight through) but once I buy a Bastl Bestie there is a way to use that in a send/return configuration which will be very useful from such a smaller mixer."

Volca Modular - Advanced Tips & Tricks - Waveshaping, 3rd Envelope, 3rd Oscillator, Source Crosstalk

video upload by ChrisLody

"This video includes so tips, tricks, hacks and patch ideas.

"Here's my original Volca Modular tips and tricks video: [below]

Here's my Volca Modular patch sheets: https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fo/32jz5c...

0:00 Intro
1:23 Waveshaping
2:05 Quick and dirty waveshaping
2:55 Source crosstalk (Mod & Fold controls on modulator source oscillator)
4:40 Mini breadboard idea
5:20 Quick and dirty waveshaping method 2
7:00 Modulator source wonkiness
9:18 Func 2 as saw oscillator
(I should have mentioned here that using the lower CV output socket with nothing connected to the CV socket gives different result which may also be useful)
11:50 Func 2 as pulse oscillator
12:32 Ratio fine control
15:38 3rd Envelope"

Volca Modular - How To Make Square Wave PWM Noise - Advanced Tips & Tricks

video upload by ChrisLody

"Here's a bunch of tips to get a bit more out of the Korg Volca Modular. Using the gate input of Function 1 you can create square, pulse and pwm sounds as well as making shapeable noise and use the woggle at audio rate.

Patch cards for the stages along the way are available here and now include a version with an LFO sent to pulse width that uses a smoothed version of the gate as a simple envelope:

https://www.dropbox.com/sh/l6c592egul..."

Nord Lead Synth Pads & Field Recording - Epic Sci-Fi Ambient Music

Published on Mar 21, 2020 ChrisLody

"I'm not sure that 'Epic Sci-Fi Ambient' is a thing but this is definitely sci-fi and somewhere between epic and ambient, so I'm sticking with it.

So with this one I pretty much made what I actually set out to, which was a Blade Runner ish inspired soundscape 'nice' ambient thing. I'm using the Clavia Nord Lead 12 Voice for pads and lead/bass (I made the pad sound this morning, not sure if the lead/bass is one of mine or a preset tbh), Sony MiniDisc MZ-N710 with a field recording I made of passing cars in the rain back in the early 2000's, both with a boat load of Zoom 1201 reverb. I chose to most random bunch of chords ever but somehow it hangs together.

Absolutely the kind of soothing music I'm looking for at the moment!"

http://chrislody.bandcamp.com

Technic SX-K350 - Cheesy Home Keyboard Synthy Pop Stuff

Published on Mar 16, 2019 ChrisLody

"This Technics SX-K350 has been languishing in my attic for a couple of years because it was faulty when I first connected it up after purchasing it and hauling it home. It's volume control had malfunctioned so it was playing well over it's maximum volume and making tons of noise. I assumed it would be more difficult that the 30 minutes it took me to remove, disassemble, clean and re-solder the volume slider or I would have done it much sooner. It's still a bit on the wonk, the audio is panned over about 50% and one of the outputs doesn't work so I’m using the headphone socket, but I think that may be more trouble to fix that it's worth. It weighs an absolute tone btw.

It's got a few usable sounds on it, especially if you like making utter cheese! Here I have the String Ensemble sound set up as a left hand split with Brass and Cosmic layered in the right hand. Interestingly it has midi with multi channel support for different layers and sync for it's drums and sequencer so I'll have to have a go at that at some point. This is just the output of the SX-K350 with a pinch of reverb to tie it all together."

Technics SX-350 via Midi - Synthwave Horror Theme

Published on Mar 16, 2019 ChrisLody

"I had a quick go with the Technics SX-350 via midi just to test it functions. I was disappointed to find to that the drums can't be sequenced which is a shame, but then thrilled to discover that all the 'poly' sounds can be played over a seven octave range! Not only that but it sounds pretty damn nice over that seven octaves too. So here is some John Carpenter inspired synthwave horror soundtrack stuff on the Guitar setting with Celeste turned on and plenty of Zoom 1201 reverb."

Sonicware LIVEN MEGA Synthesis User Demos

video upload by Limbic Bits

Two demos - audio only demo from Limbic Bits above, and an overview from ChrisLody below. See the announcement post here (directly below if you are coming off the main page)

Sonicware Liven TextureLab Sound Demo (no talking)

0:00 Stage 5-1
1:10 Club
1:47 Soil
3:00 Void
4:23 Cammy's Impro
5:08 Ambient
6:13 Sea
7:35 PADS
11:58 BASS / LEAD
14:37 Mallets / Bells
17:03 EFX / Drones / Percussion
18:58 Some Drum Samples

Liven MEGA SYNTHESIS - Retro Game Music Production Machine

video upload by ChrisLody

Sonicware Liven XFM Prototype - Demo 3 - Bass and Strings

video by ChrisLody

ChrisLody Sonicware Liven demos