Patch Notes: Alex Epton

video by FACTmagazine

"Alex Epton is a multifaceted producer and composer (also known as XXXChange), whose in-house role at XL Recordings has seen him work with FKA twigs, Arca and Jamie xx.. IN 2019 he collaborated with cellist Lucinda Chua on the soundtrack for the documentary film 3OHA.

Epton’s own personal studio practice focuses heavily on hardware, including modular synthesis and tape loops. In this episode of Patch Notes, recorded ahead of the release of his new EP The Episodic Buffer Vol 2, he creates an experimental piece with a selection of Verbos Electronics modules and touchplate controller together with manipulated vocals.

“Iʼm not using any fancy loop length randomization here on this patch although thereʼs some clips of that implementation on my Instagram,” Epton says. “Also the Verbos Electronics YouYube page has a well explained example of how to set that up.”

“The basic set up here is: Row A – CV out hits voltage scaling then into a quantiser locking it to an arbitrary major scale then into the v/oct input on oscillator A. Row B – CV out hits voltage scaling then into a quantiser, chromatic this time, then into the v/oct input on oscillator B.”

“Each channel of control voyage processor has an input for additional voltage to be added to the sequencer control voltage. This is our first transpose input. Here both sequences are transposed by the master variable CV out on the touch plate keyboard.”

“Thereʼs a second transpose input for oscillator B on the secondary CV in on that oscillator. You can see in the video itʼs got tape on it because the attenuvertor knob that scales this input is super sensitive and prone to accidental nudging. This second layer of CV transposition Iʼm using to drop oscillator Bʼs pitch to make some tension harmonies agains the main sequence. These tension notes are linked to three individual gate outputs on the touch plate keyboard. Those are summed together before they hit the attenuvertor.”

“So with this set up Iʼm happy to have only eight steps because thereʼs a lot of variety that can still be achieved. Also some interesting chromaticism can happen in the harmony when the one CV stream is quantised chromatic VS locked to a scale. A few individual gate outs on the top of the sequencer are summed together to trigger the drum that comes in midway through.”

“Thatʼs pretty much it. I used a tape loop of some manipulated vocals to get some extra atmosphere / randomness going – something to react to. That loop is manipulated through the rooms. Everything comes together at ye olde Sony 8 channel mixer. And recorded into a UA Apollo twin. Also the synth outputs are feeding an oscilloscope in X/Y config.”

The Episodic Buffer Vol 2 is released on May 7. Epton has also created an exploratory video game as a companion piece to the EP, in which you guide a six-limbed being through a psychedelic world.

Listen to ‘Games’, the first single from the EP here: https://alexepton.ffm.to/games​
Alex Epton on Bandcamp: https://alexepton.bandcamp.com​
Alex Epton on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/alexepton/​"

Spectrasonics Distorted Reality - a classic sample CD from 1995

video by SynthMania

A bit of Spectrasonics history.

"In this video we listen to demos of banks from the classic sample CD "Distorted Reality" by Spectrasonics, from 1995. Very successful sample CD back in the day, and still eminently usable in modern music production.

00:00​ Introduction
03:10​ Iceland 1
04:13​ Cricket Choir
04:56​ Solia
05:50​ Lost Horizon
06:40​ Creepy
07:39​ Taj Mahal 1
09:00​ Insomniac
09:22​ Bonham Burn
09:47​ Pigheaded
10:01​ White Trash
10:21​ Trip-Hoppin'
10:35​ Ring-Hopper
10:58​ Funk on Fire
11:19​ Hard Core 2
11:41​ Wild Ways
13:05​ Distressed
13:56​ Megapad
16:47​ Ethereal
19:36​ Conclusion"

1979 Yamaha CS20M - 15 patches demo

video by Valmont

"8 user memory slots (!!!), 2 VCOs + VCA Sine, Multimode VCF, 2 EG, 1 LFO (Up to 100Hz!), Portamento and a bunch of parallel modulations.
It shares almost all the same chips as found in all the CS Serie (From the tiny CS5 to the huge CS80). Inside you can find: IG00150 LFO, IG00151 VCA, IG00153 VCO (Pulse/Saw), IG00156 VCF (HP/BP/LP), IG00158 Waveshaper (Sine/Tri) and the IG00159 EG.
All these chips cost a fortune now, I hope none breaks (: It's not like CEMs/SSMs were you can find reeditions, these parts were specially made for the CS and there are not many anymore.
Tho my unit has a noisy VCA distortion, that's the high frequency buzz you can hear. I'll service it soon! Notice how straight and thin this synth sounds - it is extremely stable, and thanks its memories, it seems like the perfect synth for live gigs.
The filter reminds me of the Oberheim SEM, but it's less bright, as Yamaha's engineers set the max cutoff frequency to... 7500Hz. So we get the same behavior as in some Arp 2600 revisions: a restrained filter spectrum! Tho this doesn't make the synth bad at all ;)
I'll also add the fact that this synth is probably of the best build quality I have ever seen. Super heavy, big comfy controls. Inside everything is made very cleverly, top quality electronics. Yamaha also explained the whole synth circuits in the harware manual, I mean... They really described how the VCOs work, the memory encoding, etc... (http://www.midimanuals.com/manuals/ya...​)
And despite being 42 years old, it is stable as hell, just like a brand new synth from these days. Japanese engineers were really good... Too good maybe ;)

0:00​ - Fonk Bass
0:13​ - 2-Lead
0:24​ - Synth 1
0:33​ - Synth 2
0:42​ - Multimode Bass
0:54​ - Saw Lead
1:10​ - Resonance
1:21​ - Moog-Like 1
1:29​ - Moog-Like 2
1:37​ - SnH
1:51​ - BP Arp
1:57​ - LP Arp
2:07​ - PW Bass
2:19​ - Chord Lead
2:41​ - HP Lead"

“IOLabs Flux 28 - Ambient” by Friendly Noise

video by Friendly Noise

"IO Labs Flux, Roland System 500, Strymon Magneto, Noise Engineering Basimilus Iteritas Alter, Native Instruments Plaits, SSF Vortices, ALM Akemie’s Taiko, North Coast Synthesis MKS 007 Leapfrog filter, Mutable Instruments Branches, Intellijel Plonk, WMD Crucible."

EMS VOCODER 2000 SN 12053

Note: Auction links are affiliate links for which the site may be compensated.

via this auction

Additional Tone Tweakers Listings

"Professionally serviced and working perfectly. We had our tech replace the power supply capacitors as a preventative measure.

This unit is currently set to 240v and was originally in use in Germany. The plug is a 2 prong European plug. It can be switched between 240v and 115v via a switch on the back panel.

sn1205x"

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WatchBay Vocal Mix'

video by Major OSC

An all Roland Jupiter-X cover of the Bay Watch theme with "The Hoff" from supporting member, Major OSC.

http://majorosc.com/

Roland EF-303 Groovebox Synthesizer Sequencer SN ZN70607

Note: Auction links are affiliate links for which the site may be compensated.

via this auction

I never noticed there's a ground connector on the back similar to a turntable. Thought that was interesting. How many synths have ground connectors on the outside?

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ASM Hydrasynth Desktop Polyphonic Wave Morphing Synthesizer

Note: Auction links are affiliate links for which the site may be compensated.

via this auction

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Moog Subharmonicon Workshop

video by Patchwerks Seattle

"Patchwerks is hosting a Moog Subharmonicon Workshop with Moog!

Click this link to have a chance to win a Moog Subharmonicon! http://bit.ly/patchwerksgiveaway​"

https://patchwerks.com/

Introducing Metropolix!

video by Intellijel

"The Intellijel Metropolix is a unique and powerful Eurorack format musical sequencer. With an abundance of hands-on, tactile controls and a wealth of modulation possibilities (both internal and external) you can quickly and easily create infectiously musical sequences that are never boring. Even the simplest riff can be brought to life with seemingly endless options to create variations or real-time manipulations. Equally at home in the studio or a live improvised performance, the Metropolix is sure to become a staple source of fresh ideas and killer riffs in your creative process.

On first blush, it appears to be a simple 8-stage sequencer — but there is far more functionality than first meets the eye:

● There are two tracks (TRK 1 and TRK 2) that are variants of the single master pitch/gate sequencer, which is programmed via the PITCH sliders, PULSE COUNT and GATE TYPE switches. Each track interprets the master sequence in a variety of ways — creating complementary sequence variations that enable you to generate counterpoint, polyrhythms, and all manner of sonic movement (both subtle and extreme). Each of these tracks has its own playback ORDER, sequence LENgth, clock DIVision, SWING amount, SLIDE time, and track GATE lengths. Other track-based sequence variables are accessible from the TRACK MENU, and include Pitch Slider inversion; sequence note range; track transposition; and more. In addition, Tracks 1 & 2 both have multiple lanes of per-stage playback parameters, including: GATE override; PITCH override; RATCHet count; PROBability of playback; ACCUMulating transposition, and a dedicated CV lane. Each stage also has a SKIP feature, and a pitch SLIDE option.

● 8 separate and individual MODulation lanes are accessed via the MOD button. Each MOD lane has 8-stages of modulation values and its own playback ORDER, LENgth, and clock DIVision; and each lane is routable to one of Metropolix’ two assignable outputs or to dozens of internal destinations, allowing for some sophisticated and powerful self-modulation.

● A trio of AUX inputs allows for external modulation of user-assignable sequencer parameters for even greater variation, while two assignable CTRL knobs give you direct access to the parameters you want to adjust most frequently during a performance. With dedicated Pitch/Gate outputs for both Track 1 and Track 2; two totally user-assignable outputs (A and B); and internal MOD routing, Metropolix features a wealth of patching opportunities.

● Metropolix also features a Loopy mode, allowing you to instantly play back short sub-sequences, or even “play” the stage buttons directly (like a ‘keyboard’).

● Metropolix stores up to 64 preset configurations (in 8 banks of 8 presets), and all live settings are stored in EPROM, ensuring that your Metropolix will always power up exactly as you left it — even if you haven’t saved them to a preset. By default presets can change all the structural (menu-based) elements of your sequencer without overwriting the front panel controls, but full recall is also available.

● The operation of the Metropolix is optimized for live performance and jamming, with quick access to all the most important performance parameters, and the ability to greatly affect your sequences with a single slider or switch."

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