Novation Circuit - Mainframe

Payton Carter

"Time to get back to to the Circuit! My Deluge arrives in a week, so I have to get all my unfinished projects recorded before I abandon the Circuit forever. hahaha, jkjkjk. I'll love the Circuit for the rest of my life.

All audio coming from the Circuit, minor post processing with Ozone Elements 9. Filmed on an Olympus OM-D E-M5 Mk2, Canon FD 50mm f1.8."

Novation Circuit - Firewall

Payton Carter

"This jam had some weird issue where the pad synth track was limited to 4 notes of polyphony instead of the usual 6, but only in certain patterns. If you programmed 6, notes would drop out randomly. It didn't happen until I went to record the track, which bummed me out a little. I wasn't able to resolve the problem, so if it seems like some notes are missing, that's why."

Novation Circuit - Tutorial - LFO Deep Dive

Published on Mar 5, 2020 Payton Carter

"If you liked this tutorial, consider checking out my music here! https://paytoncarter.bandcamp.com/

The Nova engine in the Circuit has some wonderfully deep modulation options. In this tutorial, we explore the LFO section of the Components editor and describe all of its parameters, try out some possible modulation options, and create a sweet synth patch!"

Payton Carter Circuit posts

Novation Circuit - Valiant

Published on Feb 29, 2020 Payton Carter

"It's been a while since I've played with the Circuit. I downloaded the Team Novation pack, hooked up an external MIDI keyboard, and sat down for a couple hours with the goal of just finishing a song. This is what came out of that session. Make sure to check out the tutorial if you want to see how I made this track.

All audio is coming from the Circuit, recorded straight into the Canon 80D. Mastering with Ozone Element 8."

Novation Circuit - Tutorial - How I made my track, "Valiant"

Published on Feb 29, 2020 Payton Carter

"I've had lots of requests for another tutorial, so I thought I would make one for my track 'Valiant'. This video goes through how I arrange tracks, why polyphonic synth patches are important, and how I perform the final song. If there are other parts of the workflow on the Circuit that you would like to see, let me know!"

Novation Circuit + Elektron Analog Keys - Confidence

Payton Carter

"A jam with lots of arpeggios. Analog Keys is doing bass, the two randomish arpeggios, and the solo. Circuit is doing drums and the two repeating arpeggios. This was honestly a lot of fun to write. I usually have a hard time combining gear because my brain only likes to focus on one thing at a time, but I think the digital character of the Circuit's Nova engine really complements the analog pedigree of the Keys. Let me tell you how difficult it is to change encoders on both instruments at the same time, though; the Circuit's have a linear response to speed, and the Keys' have an exponential response (I much prefer the Circuit's).


I don't know what's going on with the hand wiggling during the solo. I think I'm trying to send good vibratos to the Keys? Haha. Recording this made me remember how much I hate playing live. Ten takes later, and the first take is still the best one somehow.


The Circuit is being routed through the Analog Keys' input, and everything's recorded over USB through Overbridge in Reaper. The Analog Keys can actually function as a 2 input audio interface, which is basically what I'm doing here. Some mixing in post, and mastering in Ozone Elements.


Check out my music here - https://paytoncarter.bandcamp.com/"

Novation Circuit - Autonomy

Payton Carter

"This one's somewhere between the TRON: Legacy soundtrack and Oneohtrix Point Never. I'm using a couple of patches here that I'll be putting in an upcoming Circuit pack!

You'll notice a whole bunch of cuts in the video when switching between sessions. Normally, the synth patches are saved as part of the session, so even if they aren't part of the 64 patches currently on the Circuit, the patches associated with the session will play just fine. But there seems to be a bug: if you try and switch sessions without first pausing the Circuit, the patch doesn't actually switch, and it just maintains the last patch. This doesn't happen if you pause the Circuit, switch sessions, then play again. I made these patches in the Components editor as I was writing the song, so they weren't actually saved as presets. Because of that, when I want to switch sessions, I have to pause the session, wait for the FX to tail off, and then start the next session. I edited the audio and video to make the transitions seamless.

Check out my music here - https://paytoncarter.bandcamp.com/'

Depeche Mode's "Enjoy the Silence" performed (almost) entirely on the Novation Circuit

Published on Mar 3, 2020 Payton Carter

"Download my music here - https://paytoncarter.bandcamp.com

While I was growing up, my parents always had the 80's new wave radio playing in the house, so I got to know bands like The Cure, New Order, Talking Heads, Tears for Fears, and so on. Depeche Mode has always been one of my favorites, and I think their music has been a huge inspiration and influence for me. I thought it might be fun to try and recreate one of their tracks on the Novation Circuit.

Everything except for the guitar is coming from the Circuit. I overdubbed the guitar after recording the Circuit part. The synth patches are from Cuckoo's complete Circuit pack, and the drum samples are from the Post-Industrial Punch pack available from Novation. I also sampled chords from the Fairlight "Sarrar" sound (the choir sound) on Arturia's Analog Lab, which are playing on drum track 4. Audio was recorded into Reaper and mastered with Ozone Elements."

Novation Circuit - Endurance

Published on Mar 7, 2020 Payton Carter

"I'm a terrible guitarist (see the end of the video), but I'm slightly less terrible when I can cut out the half-decent parts! For this jam, I noodled around on my guitar for about five minutes with some chords in mind. I then chopped up the samples in Reaper and imported them into the Circuit. I'm playing the guitar samples on drum track 4 with the sample flip feature. The synth patches are from Cuckoo's complete Circuit pack, and the drum samples are from the factory Circuit pack."

Novation Circuit - Facade

Payton Carter

"Get my Circuit pack for free/pay-what-you-want: https://gumroad.com/l/MIDqA

A few weeks ago, I released a pack for the Novation Circuit (link above). This is the first "finished" track I've made with it.

Maybe it's a drum and bass type track? I don't know, I'm not good with genres. Definitely the fastest bpm I've ever tried.

100% made on the Circuit, with some mastering in Ozone Elements. Check out my music here - https://paytoncarter.bandcamp.com/"

Novation Circuit - Conquest

Payton Carter

"Hey y'all, it's time for another Circuit video! After going through half a dozen other instruments, I find that I really just gel with the Circuit. There's something about the simplicity in its workflow. It just makes songwriting fast and fun. I'll never be able to give it up!

Between a new baby and prime mountain biking season here in the desert, there's been little time for music making, so it felt good to finally get something recorded. This track uses the blankfor.ms Circuit pack. There are some awesome atmospheric synth patches in this pack. I also really enjoyed using the unconventional samples, mostly noise and foley-ish bits. Please excuse the multiple cuts in the video; transitions between sessions weren't sounding quite right, so I patched them together manually in post."

Novation Circuit - Content

video by Payton Carter

"Get my Circuit pack for free/pay-what-you-want: https://gumroad.com/l/MIDqA
Check out my music here: https://paytoncarter.bandcamp.com/

I needed to make something cheerful, so here's a loud and optimistic track using the BlankFor.ms Circuit pack."

Novation Circuit + Elektron Analog Keys - Hurry

Payton Carter

"A quick, high-energy pop jam on the Novation Circuit and Elektron Analog Keys. The Circuit is doing drums, and everything else is on the Keys. Recorded via Overbridge into Reaper, with some mixing in post and mastering in Ozone Elements."

Novation Circuit - Myopia

video upload by Payton Carter

"Get my Circuit pack for free/pay-what-you-want: https://gumroad.com/l/MIDqA

Hey, it's been a while. Here's a chill little jam on the Circuit.

There are a few cuts in the video. To avoid artifacts when transitioning between sessions, I stop playback in one session, let the FX tail off, and switch to the next session. I then combine the old session FX tail and new session in post."

Novation Circuit - Summit

video by Payton Carter

"I'm using a mix of the Shawn Rudiman and my own Circuit pack."

"Get my Circuit pack for free/pay-what-you-want: https://gumroad.com/l/MIDqA"

FREE Novation Circuit Pack! 32 patches, 64 samples

Payton Carter

"A collection of synth patches and samples for the Novation Circuit groovebox, focused on usability and versatility.
Get it for free (or pay-what-you-want): https://gum.co/MIDqA"

Making a Dark Trap Beat with the Novation Circuit

video by Gabe Miller Music

"I show the making of a moody, dark Kid Cudi inspired hip hop / trap beat on the Novation Circuit, including dealing with packs, 808s, effects, and microsteps.
Get my $5 sample pack: https://gumroad.com/l/gabeoneshots
Payton Carter's pack: https://gumroad.com/l/MIDqA"

Making Modern Drum and Bass (Novation Circuit)

Gabe Miller Music

Get my $5 sample pack: https://gumroad.com/l/gabeoneshots
Payton Carter's pack: https://gumroad.com/l/MIDqA
The Force Truly Evil pack: https://isotonikstudios.com/product/b...

"I show the making of two drum and bass jams on the Novation Circuit, including a Monstercat / Metrik style modern banger, and some Noisia influenced grit."

Novation Circuit - Tutorial - Making a synth patch from scratch in Components

Published on Mar 1, 2020 Payton Carter

"If you liked this tutorial, consider checking out my music.
https://paytoncarter.bandcamp.com/

In this tutorial, we go over making a pad synth patch from scratch using the Novation Components editor for the Circuit. If you liked this tutorial or would like to see other topics covered, make sure to let me know in the comments!"

Novation Circuit Chillstep Jam

video by Gabe Miller Music

A chillstep jam on the Novation circuit, made using these three packs:
My $5 sample pack: https://gumroad.com/l/gabeoneshots
Payton Carter's pack: https://gumroad.com/l/MIDqA
The Force Truly Evil pack: https://isotonikstudios.com/product/b...

It's Enough // OP-Z ambience with Valhalla Supermassive

Payton Carter

"Get my Circuit pack for free/pay-what-you-want: https://gumroad.com/l/MIDqA

Here's a little track with just the Teenage Engineering OP-Z running through the amazing free effects VST from Valhalla DSP, Supermassive. All dry synth sounds are coming from the OP-Z. I copied the audio in Reaper on four different tracks, each with a different Supermassive preset. I then did some automation of the Supermassive wet/dry level and track levels. There's also processing with Ozone Elements. I accidentally had the gain on my audio interface set super low, so apologies for the noise; let's just call it lo-fi."

Elektron Digitakt - Expectations (a sleepytime jam)

Published on Apr 28, 2020 Payton Carter

"I've had a difficult time lately with creative slumps and what I perceive to be musical failures. Sometimes I'll look back on my older tracks and think I haven't made anything I like in months. I've gone through buying and selling some gear with the expectation that once I get [piece of gear], it will be all I need, and then I can start making real music. In the last year, I've bought and subsequently sold a MicroFreak, OP-Z, iPad, Model D, and DeepMind; the Circuit (my first hardware) is the only one I've kept. Obviously, it's not the gear.

I'm sure many of you are like me in that there are hundreds of unfinished tracks sitting on your hard drive. Especially lately, I feel like nothing I've made meets the imaginary expectations I set for a good track. The chord progression is weak, I can't find the right bass sound, there's not enough movement or tension... I end up abandoning the project, and the only thing I gain is a little more frustration. Making music hasn't really been enjoyable lately, which makes me really sad.

Yesterday I decided I need to step back and just finish a new song, with the understanding that it doesn't need to be the greatest thing in the world. I started on this track and tried to just push through, ignoring second guesses and distractions. I've always admired Will Wiesenfeld's work as Geotic, because his music just radiates emotion. It's joyful, it's heartbreaking, it's nostalgic—not afraid to wear its heart on its sleeve. I tried to capture a similar kind of feeling in this song. It's simple and not the most interesting track in the world, but it fills me with optimism. Whatever you create, it is good enough.

On another note, the lack of stereo sampling on the Digitakt is really bumming me out more than I thought it would."

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Some notes on that here: https://www.elektronauts.com/t/your-stereo-samples-on-the-digitakt/40089