Stylophone Gen X-2 advanced tips - Feedback, Drone Mode, Filter Tracking

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

Here are some advanced tips for the Stylophone Gen X-2, credit to ‪@StarskyCarr‬ for pointing out the filter tracking tip

0:00 Intro
0:12 Feedback
1:41 Filter tracking
2:15 Drone mode"

Stylophone Gen X-2 & Lofi-12 XT Acid Jam - Men Only Want One Thing And It's Disgusting Acid

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

Time for some more weekend acid it seems!

The good people over at Stylophone sent me the Gen X-2 so I can make some promotional work for them, but of course it needs a good test 😁so time for some acid😈

This jam uses the Korg SQ-1 as a sequencer to control it because the new Gen X-2 model has gate and CV inputs meaning I can create a sequence and get it to sync up with other gear where as the Gen X-1 was played by the stylus only. I'm also running the Gen X-2 through an unbranded Vintage Overdrive that my wife found as a freebie on Temu of all things. To my surprise it's actually pretty good and pairs nicely with the Gen X-2. I did have to use an inline isolator between the Gen X-2 and pedal though as it was generating a lot of digital noise otherwise.

The Lofi-12 XT is being used to add delay and reverb to the Gen X-2 and I'm using the new v1.5 feature of being able to sidechain external sources again because it's super useful for letting the kick cut through on things like this."

SONICWARE Introduces Lofi-12 XT v1.5 Update

video uploads by SONICWARE, and ChrisLody

"This update makes the Lofi-12 XT even more fun and versatile for your music creation.

Version 1.5 – Streamlined Workflow, Lively Performance

Exclusive Samples from Legendary Hip-Hop Producers Dibiase & Ski Beatz — Now in Lofi-12 XT!

• Reverse Sample Playback
• Upgraded Slicing
• Start Playback from Any Step in the Pattern
• Step Sound Preview
• 4 New Master Effects & Refined Control
- Snip Loop

- Remix

- Isolator
- Compressor
(Separated from the Sidechain Comp, which now supports external signal as its target source)
• Audio Export (Export patterns, songs, or individual tracks as audio files)
• Mix-Tape Recording Now Supports External Sources

• MIDI Note Map Feature along with various improvements and bug fixes."

CLICK FOR MORE »

Yamaha MU15 Demo Jam - (All sound is MU15, No Talking)

video upload by ChrisLody

"Recently a good friend and YouTuber ‪@clajmo‬ (Clarke Jaxton Motorbike) was nice enough to send me his Yamaha MU15 to play with. This jam is a result of playing around in Yamaha XGWorks to tweak the XG sound banks hidden parameters, then sequencing it all with the Sonicware Smpltrek.

I'll planning a nerdy deep dive on the MU15 because it very impressive for the era and it size. No external effects or even EQ were used on this video. All the sound is directly from the MU15 with only a little limiting used to get it up to sensible YouTube volume levels.

The MU15 is an 'XG' sound module which is an advanced extension of the 'GM' (general midi) standard. It has a huge amount of parameter inside to tweak, like per drum effects send, filter and envelope setting for example, so a lot can be achieved with it.

Btw I'm testing out some images in my jam video thumbnails to try to distinguish them from tutorials, still playing with the style etc at the mo."

Super Lofi Sampling - A Quest For Sonic Destruction - Akai S20 Tape & Koala Sampler

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"

"Just for a bit of fun I thought it would be fun to push lofi sampling to it's logical extremes using a Radio Shack cassette deck I found recently. Confusingly the tape deck is a "Radio Shack TRS-80" which I'm sure is also one of their old computer models so I guess this tape deck was originally designed to work with that computer, maybe even sold with it.

The Akai S20 from '97 has some decent features for reducing sample quality further so we can get into really extreme territory!

There's also a tip for making lo-fi samples on the Koala Sampler too."

Sonicware Liven Evoke Full Tutorial - Cinematic Ambient Synthesizer

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

Full Disclosure: I occasionally take on freelance work at Sonicware on an hourly rate producing synth & sample sound design, beta testing, checking English text and videos like this.

I've been a bit busy recently (I often say that, but more so than usual!) so this video has been a long time coming, sorry about that :)

For more information on the Liven Evoke please use these links:
https://sonicware.jp/pages/liven-evoke
Online manuals
https://sonicware.jp/pages/online_man...

CLICK FOR MORE »

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"

FM Synthesis - A Practical Tutorial Guide

video uploads by ChrisLody

"Here's something I've been meaning to get round to starting for ages, a practical guide to FM synthesis. In my experience FM tutorials usually over explain all the wrong things and rarely get as far as the important things like the predictable way operator ratios change the waveform and frequency responses. So I've tried to approach things from an entirely practical view point showing you how to make saw, square, noise etc with filter like responses."

Playlist: 1. FM Synthesis - Practical Tutorial 1 : Ratios, Basic Waveforms, Low Pass and High Pass Sounds

0:00 Intro
2:53 How the meters works
3:23 Operators and Algorithms
3:58 Carriers and Modulators
4:29 MEGA Synthesis envelope generator
5:48 Reface DX envelope generator
6:56 Adjusting algorithms and operators
8:35 Making a basic organ sound
9:47 Saw feedback
10:47 Square feedback
11:48 1:1 modulation (saw sounds)
13:03 Low pass like sweeps
14:12 1:2 modulation (square sounds)
15:34 2:1 etc modulation (band pass sounds)
16:37 Ratio chart
17:10 Quick demo bass patch
18:20 Summing up

2. FM Synthesis - Practical Tutorial 2 - Pad Example, Vibrato, Tremolo, Wubs and Wonk!, Reface DX

0:00 Coming Up
0:30 Intro
0:43 FM Diagrams - Quick saw patch
1:10 Non-integer ratios
3:37 Non-integer ratios with decay
4:10 Moving individual operators with the LFO (Vibrato and wonk)
5:42 Creating Tremolo
6:16 Wub-wubs!
6:35 "2x OSC" Algorithm detuned saws
7:23 Detuning operators away from each other
8:14 Liven Mega - Mild Pad
9:27 Pad example diagram
9:48 Pad example on Reface DX

3. FM Synthesis - Practical Tutorial 3 - How operator stacks work, truth about modulation, Reface DX

0:00 Coming Up
0:14 Intro
0:30 Additive synthesis vs FM
1:32 "Modulation creates sidebands"
1:54 Calculating 1-10 sidebands example
4:15 Calculating 1-1 sidebands example
5:40 Calculating 1-2 sidebands example
6:33 Calculating 1-5 sidebands example
7:29 Summarise 2 OP sidebands
7:48 1-1-10 sideband example
8:58 5-5-1 sideband example
9:24 2-1 with feedback example
10:20 Stacked modulator summary
11:00 "Disgusting Bass" example

4. FM Synthesis - Practical Tutorial 4 - Rate & Level Scaling, Velocity Expression, Reface DX, FB01

0:00 Coming Up
0:15 Intro
1:14 Aliasing noise
2:36 Level Scaling
4:32 Rate Scaling
5:40 Velocity Sensitivity
7:02 Funky Clavinet Example
10:36 Editing the Yamaha FB-01
11:28 Yamaha FB-01 weirdness
14:40 FB-01 Clav examined

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..."

FM Synthesis - A Practical Guide - Part 2 - Pad Example, Vibrato, Tremolo, Wubs and Wonk!

video upload by ChrisLody

Additional posts

"Here's something I've been meaning to get round to starting for ages, a practical guide to FM synthesis. In my experience FM tutorials usually over explain all the wrong things and rarely get as far as the important things like which setting will make usable sounds.

This episode covers using 2 operator 'stacks' to create a 2x OSC like setup, setting up vibrato, tremolo, LFO to filter like wub-wub sounds, 2 types of 'wonk' and a pad example.

The pad sound is inspired by Selected Ambient Works by Aphex Twin. I think more specifically it was inspired by the pad sound from Ageispolis but I haven't tried to recreate it exactly.

(I have a horrible cold at the moment so apologies for my voice!)

0:00 Coming Up
0:30 Intro
0:43 FM Diagrams - Quick saw patch
1:10 Non-integer ratios
3:37 Non-integer ratios with decay
4:10 Moving individual operators with the LFO (Vibrato and wonk)
5:42 Creating Tremolo
6:16 Wub-wubs!
6:35 "2x OSC" Algorithm detuned saws
7:23 Detuning operators away from each other
8:14 Liven Mega - Mild Pad
9:27 Pad example diagram
9:48 Pad example on Reface DX"

FM Synthesis - A Practical Guide - Part 1

video upload by ChrisLody

Additional posts

"Here's something I've been meaning to get round to starting for ages, a practical guide to FM synthesis. In my experience FM tutorials usually over explain all the wrong things and rarely get as far as the important things like the predictable way operator ratios change the waveform and frequency responses. So I've tried to approach things from an entirely practical view point showing you how to make saw, square, noise etc with filter like responses.

Here's chipsynth MD (from which I stole a diagram :) https://www.plogue.com/products

Details on different types of FM (its actually phase modulation)
• Comparing Exponential, Linear, and Th... [posted here]
• The difference between FM and Phase M... [here]

0:00 Intro
2:53 How the meters works
3:23 Operators and Algorithms
3:58 Carriers and Modulators
4:29 MEGA Synthesis envelope generator
5:48 Reface DX envelope generator
6:56 Adjusting algorithms and operators
8:35 Making a basic organ sound
9:47 Saw feedback
10:47 Square feedback
11:48 1:1 modulation (saw sounds)
13:03 Low pass like sweeps
14:12 1:2 modulation (square sounds)
15:34 2:1 etc modulation (band pass sounds)
16:37 Ratio chart
17:10 Quick demo bass patch
18:20 Summing up"

Sonicware CyDrums Full Tutorial - Wavetable Drum Synthesizer and Drum Machine

video upload by ChrisLody

"Full Disclosure: I occasionally take on freelance work at Sonicware on an hourly rate producing synth & sample sound design, beta testing, checking English text and videos like this.



0:00 Teaser
0:30 Intro
1:41 About this tutorial
2:15 Powering on, playing patterns, volume control, func button, system menu
3:13 Front panel overview, master volume, select tracks silently, menu buttons, external source
6:34 Common screen elements
7:21 Memory structure
8:11 Project 1, selecting and loading patterns, queuing patterns, switching patterns immediately
9:12 Performing preset patterns, mute button, global mute, mute modes, mixer, global mix, tempo menu, reload BPM, global BPM, reload pattern, stutter sequence mode, random sequence mode, dice function
13:48 Performance mode, varispeed, all release, all length, revert, all stutter

CLICK FOR MORE »

Standard Lody Acid - Sonicware CyDrums, Volca Bass, NTS-3

video upload by ChrisLody

"You may have noticed the complete lack of CyDrums tutorial on the channel despite being about 2 months since it was launched. Well events have conspired against me a bit on this one, I've just been too damn busy during the week and exhausted at the weekend to get it done. But, fingers crossed, I might have time to get it done soon.

With that in mind I thought it would be a good exercise to refresh my memory a bit on how it all works, so I plugged it in a within a few minutes I'd built a kit and I'd written a beat I really wanted to flesh out which is why this jam happened.

This is kind of my standard fare when it comes to jams like this. I think I've developed a bit of a groove that I tend to find comfy when it comes to the arrangement and I feel I was firmly sat in that today, hence the title. I probably need to learn some new tricks!

I've had the NTS-3 a while but it's not been used enough so far for me to really explore it so hopefully it will pop up more."

Sonicware Ambient Ø Sample Manipulation Experiement - Speak Clearly....

video upload by ChrisLody

"I had a an hour or so free time this afternoon to do something experimental, messing with the Ambient 0's Noise layer for the purposes of sample manipulation.

I found the tape deck shown, a Genexxa CTR-96, in a charity shop recently and bought it immediately as it had a tape inside. That's always in 'insta-buy' scenario for me and it paid off. On the tape is the phrase you hear, 'You should speak clearly to get the best recognition accuracy, full stop'. The lady repeats this 3 time on the 3 getting slower and sounding more frustrated. There seem to be children making noise in the background so my best guess is she was a teacher and was trying out some 90s speech to text which wasn't working well (it didn't back then), but I'm not sure. The rest of the tape is full of unintelligible voices of children in the presumed classroom. The tape deck has multiple playback speeds so I used High in order to be able to record the whole phrase in the sample time allowed on the Amb0, then pitched it back down afterwards.

So that's sampled into the Amb0 and then I use it's LFOs to mostly control pitch. In hindsight I should have also routed the level and cutoff, maybe in the future. It can do some interesting things with the stepped LFO shapes to pitch as they contain sections that stop moving so the speech is still recognisable. Also the reverse delay is very good for glitching things as you can hear at the end."

Ambient 0 v1.5 - Microtonal Ambient Techno Jam

video upload by ChrisLody

"So Sonicware dropped a new firmware update for the Ambient 0 on Friday which fixes bug and adds a bunch of new features, main details below.

So this jam uses the Noise channel to process external audio by filtering it and panning it around, plus the hands on control for that is great fun. I've also dialled in a Pure Minor temperament and I'm using the new Osc Level target to create an envelope like decay using a one shot LFO. Hopefully you'll be able to hear some of the new temperament in this, particularly in the melody line. Because of the way temperaments work (video soon) they all need a root note assigning to them and this can be abused to get things even more wonky which is what I've done here by setting it to Ab which I'm sure is the wrong key. All in all some very nice additions which make the Amb0 even more appealing to me."

https://sonicware.jp/pages/downloads

CLICK FOR MORE »

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

The Dual - Stylophone CPM DS-2 + 2xSQ1 jam - Song-a-day 2025

video upload by ChrisLody

"I've been wanting to upload something with the Stylophone CPM DS-2 for ages. It's a very fine bit of gear, mostly designed to make slowly evolving drone sounds. But luckily it's also equip with Eurorack compatible inputs meaning the drone oscillators can play tuneful stuff too. It also has an LFO with a reset function meaning it can be used for basic envelope duties.

I ended with 2 Korg SQ-1's after I bought my Ms20 Mini last year as John (Acrelid) offered it to me at a price I couldn't resist. So here they're clocked together so I can have 2 pitches going to the two different oscillators. There's only one LFO reset so the top SQ1 is used for gates, but the bottom one is set to a different length of steps which makes for some interesting stuff.

The Bastl Bestie and Volcas are doing bog standard stuff. All audio is passing through the reverb in the CPM DS-2"

Amb0 Acid - Ambient 0 CPM DS-2 - Song-a-Day 2025 Jam

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 someone casually asked me if the Ambient 0 could manage acid which I took as a challenge naturally. Yes it can as it turns out. So file this under non-ambient 0 again.

So the Ambient 0 can do a pretty respectable of some acidic. It's not really using many of it features to do this but it is damn good fun. To create this patch I started with the standard patch that loads in an empty pattern in the drone layer which uses a saw wave and turned the release down. I turned the resonance up to max, assigned LFO 1 to cutoff , set it's shape to RMP- and set the trigger to 1 so it works like a 1 shot decaying envelope. I also set the voice mode to Legato and turned the glide up to 30. The it's just a case of programming an acid pattern and getting it to slide by programming overlapping notes. The one shot LFO is a substitute for an envelope but feels a bit different to use. Speed is reversed compared to the way an envelope works and turning the LFO amount up in this case drives the cutoff down and it influences it more but it's still playable. The built in distortion and reverb sounded really nice on this too but I decided to go with the ones built into the Zoom r8 as then they wouldn't change as the patterns were loaded on the Liven.

As well as having worked on the Ambient 0 I've also been lucky enough to have a Stylophone CPM DS-2 in the studio since the end of last year. It's a very cool bit of kit and I was also lucky enough to work for them on their stall at Bristronica last year too showing people how to use them. It's designed as a drone synth but it's Eurorack compatible so will accept CV for pitch so it can be bullied into playing melodic and bass parts too. So it's connected to a Korg SQ1 here and is playing the high melodic layer. I've got both oscillators tracking pitch but Drone 2's output is fed into Drone 1's cutoff input for some filter FM goodness"

26th of #Jamuary - Number Station Jam - Liven Lofi-6 Nord Lead

video upload by ChrisLody

"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...

Another sombre one from me for #Jamuary2025 , current mood I guess.

So a little bit of background. I grew up in a village in the middle of nowhere in Lincolnshire UK during the 80s. Out of boredom sometimes I would sometimes tune through the dial on my little radio and see what I could hear from around the world. I would occasionally pick up really strange transmissions including morse code and what I now know to be 'Number Stations'. They were supposedly used to transmit information to operatives behind enemy lines and would often be sent on the shortwave band as it was capable of transmitting over very long distances due to being able to bounce off the atmosphere around the curvature of the earth. The long distance nature of short wave transmission leads to all sorts of strange distortion. These have been used since the first world war but were most common during the cold war."

Divide by Zero - Non-Ambient 0 Jam - 19th of #jamuary2025

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 a few things happen this week to inspire this jam.

Firstly I discovered the absolutely wonderful 'Synth Nerd Covers' by ‪@nicolaneeco‬ which have rekindled my desire to play more keys, like properly play more keys. This jam was kind of an attempt to get there but didn't really scratch the itch because I got a bit distracted playing with the Amb0 LFOs. Hopefully more proper keys playing to come. Watching those covers also had the unfortunate affect of leaving me with the desire to buy a large expensive polysynth. I've promised myself I'll make jams with the gear I own before I do that but it's still likely to happen later this year.

Second was the new v1.1 update was released for the Ambient 0 so that got me thinking about playing around with it again.

Thirdly I received a comment describing the Ambient 0 as 'a one trick pony for new age background music'. Long story short I've had a very tiring start to the year due to illness and I really couldn't be bothered to respond to that so I deleted it. But that reminded me that I haven't used it very much am I'm fully aware of how capable it is. It's a pretty well stocked multitimbral polysynth with more than enough power for creating all sorts of sounds, so that's where this came from.

Anyway, still struggling to find time for Jamuary jams. It's the 19th already and I've done 4 🙄"