Public Library Modular Synthesizer Jam

Published on May 20, 2016 Jade Guitarmaker

"I made this patch using the Lawrence Public Library modular synthesizer. I love my library."

Update:

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small changes: pianola

video upload by Expert Sleepers

"We're delighted to announce 'pianola' by small changes.

small changes is the alter ego of Electrum Modular.

Their thoughtful and beautifully presented videos on modular synth composition have delighted us for some time, and their frequent use of the Expert Sleepers disting EX module made them an obvious choice for an Expert Sleepers label release.

'pianola' focusses specifically on Electrum Modular's interest in the work of minimalist composers, some well known and some less so.

Available in physical form as a limited edition cassette.

Each track on the album has its own video explaining the patch and compositional process in detail:

See Minimalism for Modular Electrum Modular for additional videos.

Music of the wind: a modular Aeolian harp

video upload by Electrum Modular

"Combine a modular synth with a wind gauge and you get what we might call an electro-aerophone: an electronic instrument that can transform the wind into music … and, in the process, reconnect us to our environment.

On this second trip to the park, I simulate an Aeolian harp with the help of an eight-band, resonating filter bank, a comparator, and an addressable sequential switch.

Previous episode (modular wind chime): • chiming with the breeze: wind as control v... [posted here]

My new album: https://smallchanges1.bandcamp.com/al...

Readings quoted:
Timothy Morton, “Of Matter and Meter: Environmental Form in Coleridge’s ‘Effusion 35’ and ‘The Eolian Harp,’” Literature Compass 5, no. 2 (2008): 310-335
Douglas Kahn, Earth Sound Earth Signal: Energies and Earth Magnitude in the Arts (University of California Press, 2013)
R. Selfridge, D. Moffat, E. J. Avital and J. D. Reiss, “Creating Real-Time Aeroacoustic Sound Effects Using Physically Informed Models,” J. Audio Eng. Soc. 66, no. 7/8 (2018): 594-607

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Terry Riley, Keyboard Study no.1 (as generative modular patch)

video upload by Electrum Modular

"There are several modular synth renditions of Terry Riley’s 'In C' out there, but none (as far as I know) of his keyboard studies, so here goes…

Although Riley played this piece in 1964-65, he did not write it down until the 1990s, and only published it in 2015: https://www.boosey.com/shop/prod/Rile...

His instructions in this book are pretty cryptic, so I try to explain the piece at the beginning of the movie.

I tend not to use MIDI in my modular (except when connecting it to an iPad or keyboard etc), as it’s less malleable than CV. But Expert Sleepers’ addition of a 'MIDI Player' algorithm to the Disting EX gave me the idea to use multiple MIDI files in a more generative way. Thank you to the tireless Os at Expert Sleepers for solving my technical issues (see Disting EX forum on modwiggler).

Robert Carl’s book, Terry Riley's In C:
https://www.google.com/books/edition/...

FWIW, my favorite piano recording of this piece is John Tilbury’s:
https://anothertimbre.bandcamp.com/al...
Released last year, but recorded 'in Hamburg in the late 1970s or early 80s—full details forgotten.'

Terry RILEY, 1972 photograph credit: © Bernard Perrine. All rights reserved 2023/Bridgeman Images"

Minimalism for Modular #5: Hans Otte's Book of Sounds

video upload by Electrum Modular

"An introduction to the ethereal music of Hans Otte, via a modular interpretation of two parts (2 and 7) from his Book of Sounds (1979-82).

Also contains several ideas for generative/aleatory sequencing in a modular system: in particular, decoupling pitch and gate, combining a multi-channel sample player (Disting EX) with a sequencer that has per-step gate outputs (0-Ctrl), and using a series of probabilistic gates (Missed Opportunities) to distribute/alternate pitch variations.

0:00 Introduction
1:41 First patch (Book of Sounds, part 7)
6:28 Second patch (Book of Sounds, part 2)

For those new to Hans Otte’s music, I would recommend his own rendition of The Book of Sounds:



And this 1995 album, Aquarian Music: • Siebengesang (Seven-Song)

PSP Pianoverb free download: https://www.pspaudioware.com/products...



Alexander Holm's Salamander Grand Piano, downsized by j_e_f_f_g, and reformatted for the Disting: https://app.box.com/s/rxl1nz0zv5hl62c...

A special thank you to Silvia Otte, for generously providing the photographs of her late father.

'Le Sacrifice: Introduction' from Stravinsky’s Rite of Spring, played by the Philadelphia Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Leopold Stokowski (78rpm record, His Master's Voice, 1939):
https://archive.org/details/78_first-...

Processed through a bandpass filter, with frequency boost around 3mHZ, and combined with filtered white noise, etc. to create the vintage radio effect

Images of Hans Otte’s “On Earth” (Edition Kölnischer Kunstverein II):
https://archive.org/details/cd_editio...

Sources:
Amy C. Beal, American Experimental Music in West Germany from the Zero Hour to Reunification (University of California Press, 2006) – in particular, for the reference to Otte’s wartime experience.
Ingo Ahmels, Hans Otte: Klang Der Klänge (Schott Musik International, 2006)

Modules used:
Expert Sleepers' Disting EX and Disting Mk4
QuBit Bloom
Dnipro's Metamorph
Cutelab’s Missed Opportunities
Tesseract’s Sweet Sixteen Faderbank
Tesseract’s Step Fader II
ALM's Pamela's New Workout
ALM’s MFX
Doepfer’s Sequential Switch (A-151)
Low Gain Electronic’s Shortbus
Intellijel’s Quad VCA
Behringer Neutron
Make Noise’s 0-Ctrl"

Minimalism for Modular #3: Arvo Part

video upload by Electrum Modular

"There’s a tintinnabuli option hidden in Disting EX’s 'chord engine' algorithm, and it’s led me down the Arvo Part rabbit hole. Here are some ideas on how his unique and beautiful approach to music might be implemented in a modular system.

0:00 Fur Alina
2:31 Arvo Part-inspired piece

This latter piece is inspired by Part’s 'My Heart is in the Highlands' (2000). My favorite version is on this stunning album of guitar renditions of Arvo Part:
https://gunterherbig.bandcamp.com/alb...

NOTE: Although Arvo Part has never called himself a minimalist, and not all music critics embrace the term “Holy Minimalism,” I’m including him in this series on the basis of his return to tonality and to simple processes.

TECHNICAL NOTES FOR DISTING EX USERS:
For tintinnabuli, set the 'Chord Engine' parameters as follows:
7: operation mode: chord
8: harmony mode: SATB
19: Cantus firmus: alto (but here, it’s set to bass; experiment!)
20: Position: select your T-voice (closest or second closest note; above or below)

NOTE: You might be wondering what Disting Mk4 is doing in this patch! It is set to 'Euro to Buchla Converter' (updated version), to convert Bloom’s 0-5V output to the 0-10V needed for Step Fader’s cv inputs. I just realized how useful this algo is for scaling cv!

OTHER IDEAS FOR IMPLEMENTING TINTINNABULI IN YOUR MODULAR PATCHES:
1. For the M-voice, choose a 'pitch center' that is NOT the root of the T-voice triad
2. Try a different scale or chord
3. Try a lower or higher T-voices ('2nd position, superior/inferior' – or -2/+2)
4. Transpose your T-voice up or down an octave
5. Introduce a second M-voice, transposed up an octave and a third
6. Try a different sequencing of T- and M-voice (e.g., a rest in between them; or have the M-voice precede the T-voice, as in Variationen zur gesundung von Arinuschka)
7. Assign a different timbre to each voice

READING
I’ve found these books particularly useful:
Paul Hillier, Arvo Part (1997)
Leopold Brauneiss and Saale Kareda, ed., Arvo Part in Conversation (2012)
Andrew Shenton, ed., Cambridge Companion to Arvo Part (2012)"

Etherized: Modular Signals from a Planet in Crisis

video upload by Electrum Modular

"What do rising sea-levels sound like? How might we listen to the temperature of the oceans? What rhythms can we hear in the increased frequency of intense hurricanes/cylones? Can we imagine mounting CO2 emissions as a crescendo of dissonance?

This piece uses a data sonification module (Loud Numbers) to translate spreadsheets of climate-change data into MIDI cc values. An interface (CV.OCD) then converts the MIDI to voltages to control my modular system. ADDAC’s Swell Physics’ CV inputs for swell size, agitation, offset, etc. are ideal for modelling the complex, unpredictable effect of rising sea levels, sea temperatures, and storm intensity, on ocean waves. Meanwhile, Disting EX’s 'spectral freeze' algorithm is processing ocean-related songs.

Despite the fixed data on the spreadsheets, this patch generates different sonic results each time it is played – thanks to the chaotic behavior of Swell Physics. I am planning a longer, ~30 minutes version for a public performance, with video visualization/projection of the data.

Data sources

Carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions: Our World in Data (University of Oxford/Global Change Data Lab), https://ourworldindata.org/co2-datase...

Annual sea-surface temperature anomaly – global: Australian Bureau of Metereology, http://www.bom.gov.au/cgi-bin/climate...

Category 3+ storms: Tropical Meteorology Project, Department of Atmospheric Science, Colorado State University (calculated from National Hurricane Center, the Central Pacific Hurricane Center and the Joint Typhoon Warning Center), https://tropical.atmos.colostate.edu/...

Global Average Absolute Sea Level Change, 1880-2023: United States Environmental Protection Agency (data soures: CSIRO, NOAA), https://www.epa.gov/climate-indicator...

Loud Numbers’ VCV Rack module: https://www.loudnumbers.net/tools"

Allemande (Disting EX's Poly Wavetable)

video upload by Electrum Modular

"I've been working on the Allemande from J. S. Bach's French Suite No. 4 in E-flat, BWV 815, and was frustrated that I couldn't hear all those long, held notes. Rather than select one of its cheesy organ presets, I decided to connect the piano to my (smaller) Eurorack case. It worked well with all of the polyphonic algorithms on the Disting EX, but the Poly Wavetable gives you the most options for using keyboard velocity not just to control volume but also to shape the timbre - via filter cutoff, wavetable position, etc. I set the envelope times/levels/curves so that the held notes would remain audible, but in the background.

Here is how I connected the piano to the modular: USB Midi cable - DOREMIDI midi host - 5-pin MIDI cable - TRS adaptor cable - MIDIXO breakout, which connected to the rear of the Disting via 4-pin ribbon cable. If there's a more direct way to connect them, please let me know in the comments!

Further patch notes in the video.

Other gear used:
ALM's Pamela's New Workout
Mutable Instruments' Beads
Tesseract's Sweet Sixteen
Expert Sleeper's Disting Mk4
Intellijel's Out

EQ and compression in Logic Pro

Keywords: #eurorack #modular #piano #Bach"

minimalism for modular #6: melodic expansion/contraction with pamela

video upload by Electrum Modular

"You don’t need a fancy sequencer to do minimalist-style additive sequencing. Here’s a trick that involves a module that’s in a lot of people’s racks: Pamela’s New Workout.
Also announcing my new album – 'pianola,' by 'small changes' (my artist name). It’s a collection of minimalist pieces produced on the modular, all featuring piano multisamples on the Disting EX. It’s now available on Bandcamp:"

Minimalism for Modular #I: Additive Sequencing

Patches for minimalist music #I: additive sequencing video upload by Electrum Modular

"In this new series of videos, I’ll be applying the ideas and techniques of minimalist composers to modular synthesis.

First up: the linear additive process.

Modules used:
Tesseract’s Step Fader II
Expert Sleeper’s Disting EX
ALM’s MFX
ALM’s Pamela’s New Workout

Hapi/xylophone multisamples downloaded (free) from: https://bedroomproducersblog.com/2011...

I’m using Dan Warburton’s terms, from 'A Working Terminology for Minimal Music' (1988) http://www.paristransatlantic.com/mag..."

Inverted echoes (a modular patch idea)

video upload by Electrum Modular

"The aim here – besides trying out the TSNM as an expressive keyboard – was to generate an inverted echo, so that a descending melody comes back as an ascending one, or vice versa. (I stole this idea from Bach, who often used contrapuntal inversion, playing the theme “upside-down”).

Mutable Instruments’ Beads (in delay mode) is perfect for this, but any module with a long delay would work. The other crucial ingredient is a multi-channel mixer/attenuverter such as Make Noise Maths (here, I’m using Acid Rain’s Junction).

Other modules used:
Intellijel’s Bifold
Intellijel’s Dixie II+
Intellijel’s Scales
Shakmat’s Banshee Reach
ALM’s Pamela’s New Workout
ALM’s MFX
ALM’s Pip Slope
Make Noise Optomix
Bela Gliss
Doboz’s TSNM
Doepfer A 121-3
Mutable Instruments’ Plaits
ST Modular’s Shikensa
Befaco MixIV
Disting Mk4"

chiming with the breeze: wind as control voltage

video upload by Electrum Modular

"I’ve been wondering what it would be like to use a wind gauge as a source of random modulation for a modular synthesizer. Surprisingly, there’s nothing on the modular stores and forums about this, but I went ahead and purchased a cheap anemometer and spent an afternoon patching an electronic 'wind chime' in the local park. Field recording of the wind rustling leaves and birds chirping was added to the mix in Logic.

My new album:



Stuff mentioned in this video:
Yosoo Wind Sensor Trans, Anemometer (unfortunately no longer $40!)
Addac’s Swell Physics module (see my video: [posted here]
Instruo’s Scion module
Koma Electronic’s Sensei module (+ temperature and light sensors)

Books referred to:
Don Ihde, Heidegger, Technologies: Postphenomenological Perspectives (New York: Fordham University Press, 2010) Bernard Stiegler, Technics and Time, 2: Disorientation, trans. Stephen Barker (Stanford: Stanford University Press, 2008)

David M. Kaplan, ed., Philosophy, Technology, and the Environment (Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, 2017)"

Ritardando (Disting EX's Granulator)

video upload by Electrum Modular

"Exploring the feature-packed granulator algorithm on the Disting EX, controlled via i2C by Tesseract Modular’s Sweet Sixteen faderbank. Thanks to Ed for supplying the Rachmaninoff piano sample. Detailed patch notes in the video.

#eurorack #modular #granularsynthesis #ambient #electronicmusic"

Sonic sculptures (generative modular music)

video upload by Electrum Modular

"(For Paula)

This patch was inspired by hours (weeks?) of listening to Morton Feldman’s exquisite music. It ended up quite different harmonically from Feldman’s pieces, partly due to the limitations of a modular system. The envelope generators and attenuators required some tweaking to get that balance between repetition and divergence, revolving and evolving. In retrospect, I could have left longer silences between notes.
NOTE: no delay effect used here, as it would have reintroduced a pulse.

“Almost all of Feldman’s music is slow and soft. Only at first sight is this a limitation. I see it rather as a narrow door, to whose dimensions one has to adapt oneself (as in Alice in Wonderland) before one can pass through it into a state of being that is expressed in Feldman’s music. Only when one has become accustomed to the dimness of the light can one begin to perceive the richness and variety which is the material of the music...Feldman sees sounds as reverberating endlessly, never getting lost, changing their resonances as they die away, or rather not die away, but recede from our ears, and soft because softness is compelling, because an insidious invasion of our senses is more effective than a frontal attack.”” -- Cornelius Cardew, quoted by John Tilbury in “On Playing Feldman”

Video sequences from Works of Calder (d. Herbert Matter, 1950), an experimental film featuring a soundtrack by John Cage; available at archive.org.

Title image: Tentoonstelling Kinetische Plastiek Am. beeldhouwer Alexander Calder in Stedelij, Bestanddeelnr (October 2, 1969); creative commons.

Modules used:
Expert Sleepers’ Disting EX
Disting mk4
ALM’s Pamela’s New Workout
Behringer Neutron
ALM’s Pip Slope x2
Make Noise Maths
Intellijel Quad VCA
Tesseract’s Sweet Sixteen"

Jade Rose: Electrum (modular series pt. 7)

Published on Aug 1, 2017 Jade Rose

"This is a cyberpunk improvisation recorded on the Freestate FX modular in the Lawrence Library. Higher quality link https://soundcloud.com/user-249275247... [embed below]

The little box in front of me is a volca keys which is doing the chord and arp stuff, everything else is done on the modular. I added some fx and sparkles after as usual."



All parts here.

Minimalism for Modular #2: Ann Southam's "Rivers"

video upload by Electrum Modular

"I’ve been playing Ann Southam’s exquisite pieces on the piano for a few months, and have been discovering lots of ideas in them that could be applied to a modular system.

This video is also a tribute to a composer who should be a household name like Steve Reich, Philip Glass, and Terry Riley.

0:00 Introduction
1:07 Rivers 1st set
4:22 Rivers 2nd set
7:18 Rivers 3rd set

Previous video in this series: [posted here]
Earlier video on polychords on the Subharmonicon: [posted here]

A great starting point for those curious about Southam is Christina Petrowska-Quilico’s recording – amazingly, the only recording – of Rivers:

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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."

minimalism for modular #4: sample + hold + phase

video upload by Electrum Modular

"Tiny changes over time are essential to minimalist (and ambient) pieces. This video demonstrates how to create gradually evolving sequences with a sequencer and a “sample and hold” that are NOT perfectly synchronized. Any sequencer and “sample and hold” will work! Detailed patch notes included.

The piano multisample is Alexander Holm's Salamander Grand Piano, downsized by j_e_f_f_g. I have reformatted the filenames so they work on a Disting - you can download them free from:
https://app.box.com/s/rxl1nz0zv5hl62c...

Modules used:
Expert Sleepers' Disting EX and Disting Mk4
QuBit Bloom
ALM's Pamela's New Workout
Dnipro's Metamorph
Alright Devices' Chronoblob
Intellijel's Scales"

Interlocking hands: Minimalist generative piano (Qu-bit Bloom, Disting EX)

video upload by Electrum Modular

"Recently I’ve been playing minimalist pieces on the piano (Phillip Glass, Howard Skempton) that involve both polyrhythms and overlapping hands.
For this video, I transferred the idea to my modular system, splitting an F minor sixth chord across two sequencer channels, and clocking the channels at different rates (x2, x3).
The sequencer (Qu-bit Bloom) generates 64 variations on this pattern, a stage sequencer selects 12 of them, and a multisample player (Disting EX) performs them. Further details in the patch notes.

Other modules used:
Disting mk4
Dnipro Metamorph
ALM’s Pamela’s New Workout
Doepfer sequential switch"

Switches + Faders = Power Sequencer!

video upload by Electrum Modular

"I love my main sequencer (Qu-bit Bloom), but it doesn’t have cv control over sequence length, direction, clock rate, glide, etc.
Then I realized that I had two ingredients to build a more patch-programmable sequencer:
Disting’s Multi-Switch mode, which offers up to 6 customizable switches, and a fader bank, Tesseract Modular's Sweet Sixteen...

Further details in the patch notes

Other modules used:

Shakmat's Banshee Reach
Intellijel's Dixie II+
Mutable Instruments’ Beads
Make Noise Maths
Expert Sleepers’ Disting Ex
Pamela's New Workout
Quad VCA
Dnipro Metamorph
Alright Devices' Chronoblob
Doepfer A121-3 filter
ALM's MFX
Behringer Neutron"