Strange Patching: Phasing Simulation with QPAS

Published on Apr 17, 2019 MAKEN0ISE

MAKEN0ISE Strange Patching

"In the section of his book that covers Phasing, Allen Strange uses a series of band pass filters to illustrate the concept. As he writes,

“A spectrally rich signal is taken, in parallel, to three or more band pass filters. The filter outputs, the three pass bands, are mixed at unity gain with the original unprocessed spectrum. Each filter must be offset to a different center frequency.. the filter should not be allowed to go into oscillation.

“A slow repetitive control voltage such as a sinewave from an LFO will then cause each filter to sweep through the applied signal, selectively passing different portions of the spectrum…. By mixing the pass-bands with the original spectrum, there will then be varying degrees of phase-cancellation in the signal, producing continually varying multiple notch cancellations or nulls. The effect will be more pronounced if the control voltage for each filter is attenuated a bit differently so that the nulls are not exactly in parallel.”

Allen Strange wrote the book on modular synthesizers in the 1970s. Electronic Music: Systems, Techniques, and Controls. Unfortunately since the expanded 1982 edition, it has never been reprinted, and in today’s landscape where more people have access to modular synths than ever before, very few have access to the knowledge contained within. This video series will explore patches both basic and advanced from Strange’s text. Even the simplest patches here yield kernels of knowledge that can be expanded upon in infinite ways. I have been heavily influenced by Strange since long before I became a modular synth educator. Please share this knowledge far and wide."

Strange Patching: QPAS Gong

Published on Feb 13, 2019 MAKEN0ISE

"This patch uses two low pass filters in parallel to simulate a long ringing bell or gong sound.

Two VCOs are tuned to a perfect fourth apart, and then ring modded together. The result of this is patched one filter, while the unaltered output of one of the VCOs is patched to the other. They are then mixed together and gated using a percussive envelope with a long tail.

Allen Strange wrote the book on modular synthesizers in the 1970s. Electronic Music: Systems, Techniques, and Controls. Unfortunately since the expanded 1982 edition, it has never been reprinted, and in today’s landscape where more people have access to modular synths than ever before, very few have access to the knowledge contained within. This video series will explore patches both basic and advanced from Strange’s text. Even the simplest patches here yield kernels of knowledge that can be expanded upon in infinite ways. I have been heavily influenced by Strange since long before I became a modular synth educator. Please share this knowledge far and wide."

Strange Patching: FM Trills

Published on Nov 28, 2018 MAKEN0ISE

"As Allen Strange put it, one way to describe sub-audio FM is as pitch ornamentation. A series of trills can be produced with a sub-audio square wave controlling the exponential FM of an oscillator.

In this video, Strange's patch is explained and created using MATHS, modDemix, and Pressure Points. Then we explore an alternate "digital" version of the patch using TEMPI and René."

MAKEN0ISE Strange Patching:

Strange Patching: Parallel Envelopes

Published on Jun 6, 2018 MAKEN0ISE

"Allen Strange wrote the book on modular synthesizers in the 1970s. Electronic Music: Systems, Techniques, and Controls. Unfortunately since the expanded 1982 edition, it has never been reprinted, and in today’s landscape where more people have access to modular synths than ever before, very few have access to the knowledge contained within. This video series will explore patches both basic and advanced from Strange’s text. Even the simplest patches here yield kernels of knowledge that can be expanded upon in infinite ways. I have been heavily influenced by Strange since long before I became a modular synth educator. Please share this knowledge far and wide.

This video shows parallel envelope patching to create two simultaneous note events with different shapes and durations."

MAKEN0ISE Allen Strange

Strange Envelopes: Pitch Envelopes for Slurs and Glissandi

Published on Apr 4, 2018 MAKEN0ISE

"Allen Strange wrote the book on modular synthesizers in the 1970s. Electronic Music: Systems, Techniques, and Controls. Unfortunately since the expanded 1982 edition, it has never been reprinted, and in today’s landscape where more people have access to modular synths than ever before, very few have access to the knowledge contained within. This video series will explore patches both basic and advanced from Strange’s text. Even the simplest patches here yield kernels of knowledge that can be expanded upon in infinite ways. I have been heavily influenced by Strange since long before I became a modular synth educator. Please share this knowledge far and wide.

This video shows using envelopes for pitch rather than amplitude, using the "keyboard" of Pressure Points for amplitude instead: a reversal of the most typical patch. The result is variable-volume slurs, which can be changed to glissandi by patching a sample and hold in series."

All parts here.