"🎵 Welcome to Cheerful Electronics OPL Studio - First Contact! 🎛️ In this sound design experiment, we dive deep into the world of FM synthesis using the powerful OPL Studio, exploring retro sounds inspired by classic OPL3 chips. Whether you're a fan of chip music, vintage FM synths, or curious about pushing the limits of sound design, this video is your perfect starting point.
Get ready for rich, textured tones and quirky sonic explorations as we showcase the raw potential of OPL Studio. This first contact session covers live tweaking, patch creation, and modulation — perfect for anyone diving into retro synth workflows or looking for viral FM synthesis content.
If you're into chiptune, retro game soundtracks, or nostalgic hardware-driven music, you'll feel right at home. Watch now and get inspired to experiment with your own OPL3-based synths and plugins!"
OPL Studio is the ultimate OPL2 / OPL3 synthesizer! It gives you almost limitless control over what you can do with the OPL3 synthesizer chip.
Features of OPL Studio
OPL Studio has a long list of features. To name a bunch of them:
Integrated patch editor to edit predefined instruments and create your own Load and save instrument banks from popular formats such as *.BNK, *.SB, *.O3, ect.
Patch linking to layer up to 4 instrument patches for even more complex sounds Polyphonic sequence editor to create up to 32 drum and 32 melody sequences Quad sequencer to live play up to four sequences
Composer module that lets you create complete songs from your sequences Midi channel mixer
from Dani:
"One of my favorite aspects of modular synthesis is that signals we can hear are made of the same basic building block as signals which provide control and modulation -- they're all just voltage moving at different rates!
When we use an audio signal in the place of control voltage, we're touching into a technique broadly known as audio-rate modulation. Using audio-rate modulation in the Whimsical Raps ecosystem is incredibly rewarding, as it can unlock unexpected behaviors in familiar and new modules alike.
Here, Mangrove (our formant oscillator) modulates Silhouette's (our new 'signal combiner') SPOT, which is mixing six audio channels from Just Friends (our six-voice digital oscillator). I noticed that sending Mangrove into SPOT bleeds Mangrove's audio signal into the mix, so I tuned Mangrove to harmonize with Just Friends. This endowed FORMANT changes with new power, adding harmonic depth to the chaotic modulation -- notice the sizzle around 0:30 as FORMANT is cranked up.
Once INTONE adds distance between the ratios of Just Friends' oscillations, I reduce FORMANT to a low-frequency grumble -- I particularly enjoyed Silhouette's delayed vocalizations of these changes across the stereo field. Manually scanning SPOT offsets the input channels we're highlighting, which reveals the new INTONE-spread pitches. Increasing FORMANT introduces audible discontinuities as Mangrove regains its pitch, which are unique in the left and right channels. A final INTONE adjustment is added for performative spice, which is caught by the bucket-brigade device for a muted splash of stereo color."
2. Whimsical Patching // 2. Self-Patch Feedback
from Dani:
"One of the most exciting facets of Silhouette's design is how the sound palette changes and, really _unlocks_, via self-patching. For example, patching SHADOW back to the various INPUTS allows for SPOT-controlled regeneration.
In this video, a chord from Just Friends and a 'kick' from Mangrove is spread across the INPUTS. SHADOW is patched into the sixth input, which makes SPOT's modulator act as a temperamental levee -- just as the level of the signal's feedback seems to overtake the output from LIGHT and RIGHT, a small nudge engages the strange attractor and SPOT surveys an ever-changing landscape of pulses and tones.
I'm particularly enthralled by the way that SPOT and its modulator become a macro control -- panning and voice distribution are linked to the depth of the self-patch's influence. This becomes apparent when SHADOW is patched into the third input, which creates a different stereo terrain.
Self-patching is very rewarding across the entire Mannequins lineup -- eg. a channel from Just Friends patched back to its own INTONE will create a wonderfully complex undercurrent to its otherwise predictable movement."
from Dani:
"I love multing signals used for pitch to other elements of a patch. As notes jump octaves, other parameters change in-kind, which creates a lot of interrelated surprises.
In this video, crow is translating a randomized arpeggio via monome's Max for Live devices: pitch is sent to output 1 and note-on events are sent to output 2. Pitch is patched to Mangrove's V/8 input, and that same note sequence is multed over to Silhouette's SPOT modulator. This means that the pitches we hear are also affecting the position of SPOT, which controls the spread of our inputs in the stereo field.
Just Friends is working as a grouped envelope generator, taking the note-on events from crow output 2 via 6N's input (which pulses all the channels). We also self-patched 3N's output to JF's TIME parameter, which creates a nice ebb-and-flow of note durations. 5N and 6N are patched to Meng Qi's DPLPG to gate Mangrove's PPM SINE and PWM outputs, which are respectively sent into Silhouette's fifth and second inputs.
We also add some cross-modulation by using Silhouette's SHADOW audio signal to control JF's CURVE parameter, which builds an organic volatility into our patch -- as audio is filtered through SHADOW, it tickles its own envelope shape. We additionally mult SHADOW and feed it back into Silhouette's ALL jack, completing our patch with a bit of feedback.
Throughout the video, I hand-play SPOT's sweet spots, which really showcases the sheer width the module can imbue. 9:00 adds a brighter hard-left delay to our hard-right melody. Moving from 12:00 to 3:00 brings the melody center and adds a softer timbre to our delayed signal. 3:00 gives just the right amount of swelling feedback, while jaunts down to 6:00 invert the spread with sharp bursts of our PWM into the delay with every clockwise scan.
Though it's the most patch cables we've used in this series, I wanted to showcase how Silhouette can really shine in a small system. Regardless of whether you've got Silhouette in your arsenal, have fun multing V/8 into anything + everything and try cross-modulating envelopes with the audio signals they're shaping!"
Today I am exploring various synth and percussion elements through the JHS Colour Box v2 for that lovely vintage console saturation. Or downright savage noise when pushed harder, if that's your bag. A/B comparison effect on/bypass except the last section, got lost in the moment on that one. Tried my best to mind the levels, but now and then the volume is a bit inconsistent. Some normalization applied to remedy some of that, you understand. The EQ applied some nice touches, really helps pick out some sweet spots here and there. Recorded direct on iPhone via EPM6 mixer via Go:Mixer:Pro-X.
0:00 Novation Bass Station II
0:44 Bass Station II
1:22 Bass Station II
2:01 Oberheim DX
3:10 Behringer 2600
3:45 Eurorack 208HP Percussion System
5:15 Pittsburgh Modular Taiga
6:06 Roland JX-3P via Big Sky on Hall reverb"
"Join me play through all of Pete Townshends DX1 patches. Then listen to another 64 sounds I have collected/made over the last 15 years. I have 2 DX Ram cartridges that I can plug into the DX1 at the same time!
"Can we bring this Yamaha CS80 back to life? Did the fender Rhodes destroy it? Let's find out!
For some reason the audio goes slightly out of sync at the end not sure why?
As a Cs80 novice I did my best to check all its parameters however I feel I would need more time to realise how it works. So this video is more of a record of what I found after the repair. There is more work to be done with this poor synthesiser so a detailed inspection is needed.
"High-quality Wavetable Oscillators with Spectral Wave Morphing
Spline features three state of the art wavetable oscillators. The large selection of built-in wavetable sets can be morphed in new and in familiar ways. Freely combine wavetable sets and morph algorithms to create a vast sonic palette before ever leaving the oscillators.
Familiar Filters for any Occasion
You loved the filters in Odin 2 and they're back here! Including new variants not seen before.
Drag and Drop Modulation
Unhindered workflow: Simply select a modulation source, drag the target knob and things get moving.
Get Glitchy with Enablements
Enable or disable any processing module per note or as a running sequence. For example, swap oscillators mid-melody or sequence drastic sound changes to completely reshape your audio.
Shape Your Sound with Spline Modulators
All XY-Pads can be automatically driven by Spline curves. Just draw in your desired motion. Spline will handle the rest.
Big Selection of Internal FX
Spline features a comprehensive list of post-processing FX, all integrated into the internal modulation and enablements systems."
"As legend has it, when the Fender Rhodes was turned on the CS-80 blew up! Let us investigate what has happened to the Yamaha CS-80.
This CS-80 belongs to Pete Townshend and is housed at the University Of West London.
"Join me in this passive examination of a faulty SMPS from a Yamaha DX1.
It belongs to Pete Townshend and is housed at The University of West London. https://www.uwl.ac.uk/study/study-fac...
Disclaimer:
Working with mains voltage is extremely dangerous.
Music from my forthcoming ATMOS single Moon Tides written in collaboration with Dan Abel.
https://open.spotify.com/artist/27hh3..."
"I had to make some new system disks for the Waldorf Wave that belongs to Pete Townshend."
"Luckily I was able to do it with amodern USB to Floppy drive. I made one that was the same version of Pets disk but was also able to make a newer version as well!"
https://www.uwl.ac.uk/study/study-fac...
"My family and I went on vacation this week and had a great time. Some things came up at work and frustratingly, I feel I wasn't entirely as present as I'd have liked to have been. Kind of ruined a lot of things for me, but, despite that we had fun.
My oldest daughter, as usual, wanted a stuffy. We went to a store and she decided she wanted to wait to get something at a different place (because she usually liked the stuffed animals there. So later that day we drove down and - to her dismay - the new stuffed animals there were for little kids. We asked how she could tell, but she said she could. She did not want them. But we didn't have time to go back to the other place (since this was a restaurant and we were going to be eating dinner and the other place would be closed). I drove back up afterwards, looking for any place that might sell something similar, but nowhere did. The next day we knew a snow storm was coming in, a huge one. So she was very sad that we wouldn't be able to go back - but I was proud of her for two reasons: 1) She was able to hold off getting something now for the hopes of something better. 2) She didn't just grab something at the second place, because she knew she didn't want those. And although she cried and was very sad, she did not get something there. I was proud of her for that.
The next morning, we decided to go out in the storm and we did end up getting that stuffy for her. I got her something extra too because I was proud of her for waiting.
As for this track - well, I'm trying to see - do I really need that SX-240? Just because it's pretty? Basically, I have found the Prophet 10 actually does sound almost identical to the SX-240. As cool/nice as it is, I can't just keep all this stuff. There's just too much stuff here and I can make the same or better stuff without some of these synths in my studio.
Sequential Prophet 10 REV4 Rhodes Electric Piano MKI Fractal Audio FM3 for FX"
"The Korg Rhythm 55 (KR-55) is a very nice and punchy sounding rhythm unit that is also very easily modifiable. Adding clock sync, trigger inputs and audio outputs is really just a matter of soldering some wires in the right places and connecting them to sockets. (well if you want a proprer 24 PPQN DinSync you need to add some components for the clocking part).
Here is a demo of a unit that has 10 trigger inputs sequenced by the Roland TR-8s and which audio is running into the TR-8s too in order to add FX.
All drum sounds are from the KR-55.
You can also still have the built in KR-55 patterns running and play/record some more parts on top of them if you like. So sync and play at the same time.
By enabling external sequencing the trigger inputs mod broadens the KR-55 territory and you can hear that is can easily fit into contemporary musical genres.
One peculiar thing about this unit is that it has 12 sounds but only 10 trigger possibilities. Indeed the 2 toms and 2 congas share the same trigger so there is no way in this unit to have both toms and congas sound at the same time.
There is a very nice technical article about this drum machine if you’re interested in such knowledge here: https://electricdruid.net/analogue-dr..."
"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!"
"Spec run down of ZXXN 📻🔈🔥
What it is and where to get it - below.....
Available at: https://x1l3.bigcartel.com/
ZXXN is a 4HP FM radio and bluetooth receiver. As well as Fm radio and bluetooth, it also has an SD card slot and a USB port for streaming audio files. It also has an audio aux input which when hit with a eurorack level signal will saturate at the output. A remote control comes with the module which on top of allowing you to be lazy, also lets you manually input FM channel frequencies and select a number of EQ presets.
The demo here was created using the ZXXN fed through a drail module. With several takes grabbed by hitting record at what i thought were prime moments that fit with the scene. A section in the second half is recorded using the bluetooth receiver and youtube streamed to it from my phone.
It's a nice compact module that for 4HP serves as a really versatile tool for sound design and the gathering of sounds. Or, you can just use it to turn your eurorack into an audio player if you fancy the inherent light show that might come with that 🙂"
"Phantasmal Force micro midi controller is available here:
https://distropolisgoods.com/
I haven’t posted in a little while … i’ve been working on the beta firmware for the Phantasmal Force for several months. Here is an improvisational demonstration of the new ARP button mode.
I’m triggering the OPL Studio with three different sequences sent from the Phantasmal Force. The OPL studio is multi timbral so it is capable of playing back different FM tones on each midi channel. It is an amazing device for those looking to explore 80s FM sounds within the context of a hypothetical OS developed to control all of the OPL chip parameters. Truly incredible.
The NTS-3 takes a bit of learning, but is slowly becoming a fave of mine for adding reverb, delays and interactive effects.  Such a great deal for what it costs.
I’m hoping to release a version 2.0 of the Phantasmal Force firmware within the next couple weeks … maybe even sooner. With that, I intend to release a kit version for sale as well."
"OPL Studio is the ultimate OPL2 / OPL3 synthesizer! It gives you almost limitless control over what you can do with the OPL3 synthesizer chip.
Features of OPL Studio
OPL Studio has a long list of features. To name a bunch of them:
Integrated patch editor to edit predefined instruments and create your own
Load and save instrument banks from popular formats such as *.BNK, *.SB, *.O3, ect.
Patch linking to layer up to 4 instrument patches for even more complex sounds
Polyphonic sequence editor to create up to 32 drum and 32 melody sequences Quad sequencer to live play up to four sequences
Composer module that lets you create complete songs from your sequences Midi channel mixer
"This video will demo the absolutely amazing Novation MiniNova synthesizer's vocoder section that contains more than 30 presets. Many of the presets are expressive-aggressive base sounds highly suitable as really cool sound effects in movies - but also for rhythmic effects or experimental support of vocals and choirs in songs. Consequently, gently dosed compression and a little bit of reverb needed to be added in post production. That's all. The rest of the effects are straight out of the MiniNova. This versatile baby synthesizer comes in a nice blue color with 3 octaves and mini keys. Wow! Great sound engine.
Video clips were recorded in 4K (60 fps) on a Panasonic Lumix GH5 and were edited in Adobe Premiere Pro running on a HP Zbook 15 G6. Audio was recorded in 96 KHz 32 bit directly into the Solid State Logic SSL 2+ USB-C audio interface via an Apple iPad Pro running Cubasis 3. All audio output has been processed in Adobe Audition for optimal broadcasting."
"This is a video demonstrating the sounds of the RS909 by TipTop Audio.
What can you expect from a modular rim shot? Well I was hoping for a high quality reproduction of the TR-909, which I got. It is a well put together sound module that cuts nicely through the mix. However, I was also hoping for some wildness, some creativity that goes well beyond the original. Unfortunately I didn't get that. The knob turning doesn't really inspire me to take the music to a new place. Still, a really nice rim shot though!
"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."
"I made this video on the 26th, 27th and today the 28th, so it's not a jam but a regular video. The main subject of this video is patching from scratch. With infinite possibilities, where do you begin? For me it's often a patchpoint I haven't used much or don't understand well. I had just finished the Mysteresis video and new ideas pop in when you're done and doing something completely different like cooking or cleaning. Since I've been working with Echophon feedback, I wondered if I could do something different with Mimeophon. Feedback doesn't really work, but how about clocking Mimeophon with Wogglebug, which is clocked by Mimeophon? I call it a clock feedback loop but don't know if there's a name for it. The fun obviously begins when you're going audio rate. The results were interesting, but not as spectacular as I hoped for. Second subject of this video is the Spectraphon Noise + Chaos mode which was added in the lastest firmware. The clock feedback delay and the SP were a nice combo and at the end of the session I finally got something worth sharing. I ended the video with a stock scene from a tibetan bowl player because it looked interesting and it had this relaxing vibe. This morning I patched up the Spectraphon to make bowls, so the stock video makes sense. It sounded very nice! So here's how one idea leads to another and adds up to your knowledge and experience. It's something you can't really learn from a book, you just need to let it happen and learn as you go. So it's noise and chaos from both Mimeophon and Spectraphon, and definitely in the patching process :).
Without a goal and without expectations, because a modular will always take a different route. So always keep that recorder running...."
