Sound Design with Polyend Dreadbox Medusa (Ep.5) - Drones & FM

Published on Jun 1, 2020 Miltos Schimatariotis

"This new episode demonstrates the sound of analog FM in the Medusa and a good way to explore these FM capabilities of the synth is by creating Drones. Since this type of evolving sounds can be created in many different ways, here I 'm just giving you some general directions in order to find your own sound. I also demonstrate how you can alternate your FM timbres with wavetables for more diverse soundscape creation.
Beyοnd the sound design, this video also features an example of using the MIDI CC capabilities of the synth for controlling and modulating external effects (or other MIDI gear) with the internal LFOs and Envelopes.
Finally, don't miss the second half of the video with my 'stereo' Drone jam with two Medusas.
Lots of content in this one, I hope you 'll find it interesting! Thanks for watching and feel free to leave your comments or questions!

0:00 Intro
0:56 Exploring the Medusa FM sound
3:10 Drone sound design
8:35 Controlling and Modulating external effects
11:14 Drone jam with two Medusas

Find me also on Instagram:
https://www.instagram.com/miltos_schima/"

Drum Sounds on the Medusa Synthesizer

Published on Oct 1, 2018 Dreadbox

"Part 2 of a series of videos tweaking sounds on the Polyend & Dreadbox Medusa Synthesizer.
In this video Yannis creates a palette of Drum Sounds on the Medusa, which later uses in a sequence. Afterwards he tweaks the whole preset's sound."

Dreadbox Medusa - Synergy Bundle 128 presets and 64 seqs

LFOstore

"#Dreadbox#Polyend#DreadboxMedusa#Presets
Lfo team proudly presents its bundle soundset for greek creature - Dreadbox Medusa

Buy: https://sellfy.com/lfo/p/dreadbox-med...

"Synergy" Bundle contains 128 Modern and Retro single presets +64 modern sequences.

We spend much time to create:

Deep Leads & Basses
Beautiful Plucks
Modular movement sounds
FXs

Made by Nick Klimenko aka Chronos, a creator of "Organica" for Waldorf Blofeld & "WS Universe" for Korg Wavestation & Anton Sacral Reason author of "Stratosphere" for Wavestate.

Synergy sounds massive & deep and made as a part of our "Cinematic"
series patches (DeepMind, Wavestate,Argon8 etc)

Extend your Medusa sound universe with ummy presets!"

Tracker & Medusa Performance by Miltos Schimatariotis

video by Polyend

"A fresh Polyend Blog entry - Tracker & Medusa Performance by Miltos Schimatariotis

Showcasing some of the newest features of the Tracker v1.3 firmware. The MIDI chords step Fx (that feed the Medusa) and the Euclidean rhythm for some percussion and cymbal sounds. An approach to the arcade aesthetic, influenced by the onboard retro games.

Find the post at https://polyend.com/whats-up/miltos-s..."

Medusa Hybrid Synthesizer - The Grid modulators 2

Published on Jul 17, 2018 Polyend

"Medusa's Grid modulators can also be sequenced. Turned on and off as a modulation layer on top of a note sequence. Here you can see a short example of such use on a sequenced six-voice chord progression. Ciao @ Dreadbox !"

Polyend Medusa videos.

Polyphonic Sequence on Medusa

Published on Oct 3, 2018 Dreadbox

"Part 3 of a series of videos tweaking sounds and sequences on the Polyend & Dreadbox Medusa Synthesizer.
In this video Yannis creates a polyphonic sequence on the Medusa synthesizer, and later he edits parameters on steps."

Polyend Medusa - SOS Superbooth 2019 - Product Demo and Rundown

Published on May 13, 2019 Sound On Sound magazine

"Polyend show us their new updates to the Medusa."

Polyend Medusa

Medusa Synthesizer and String Quartet Performance feat. Solaria singing Mary Shelley's Poem

video upload by the machine in the botanical garden

"Medusa Synthesizer and String Quartet Performance feat. Solaria singing 'Oh listen while I sing to thee' by Mary Shelley. Take a journey through electronic and classical music, featuring the Medusa synthesizer by Polyend and Dreadbox and the voice of Solaria singing a poem by Mary Shelley. Additionally, a string quartet adds emotional depth to the performance. Help support the creation of new works by subscribing and sharing the video.

I have written the score with the Staffpad score player and editor. The library used for the string sounds is Berlin Strings from Orchestral tools (Staffpad version)."

A Random Ambient Soundscape // Polyend-Dreadbox Medusa + Ventris Dual Reverb

Published on Nov 30, 2018 Genshi Media Group

"::| WARNING! HIGH FREQUENCIES AHEAD. CAUTION ADVISED |::

Again, just exploring the Polyend/Dreadbox Medusa with this random ambient sci-fi soundscape. Using all 6 Oscillators (with Wavetables on the Digital Oscillators) there is a ton of subtle modulation going on at almost every step of the sequence. The Medusa is paired up here with the Strymon El Capistan dTape Echo and the Source Audio Ventris Dual Reverb."

Medusa Hybrid Synthesizer - Music Demo Four

Published on Jul 25, 2018 Polyend

"Another Dreadbox & Polyend Medusa Hybrid Synthesizer music demo. All sounds besides the drums are made and recorded straight from Medusa's master audio output and properly mixed.

The video, sound design and audio composition by Piotr Raczyński.
Recorded 11.07.2018 in Polyend Hq."

Polyend Tracker Sessions #1: "MLT - Kiwi" (feat. Medusa and Tetra)

Miltos Schimatariotis

"Taking a break from the Medusa tutorials since Tracker arrived last week! This track started while experimenting with the various features of the Tracker but ended up finished and I even gave it a name: "Kiwi" 😊. One thing that I found impressive with the Tracker is that once you understand the workflow the creation process is really fast ..and fun!

Everything you hear in the video is programmed in the Tracker except the Medusa that I play live. The whole performance was recorded live in Cubase where I did the mastering for the released track. So no exports or stems and without a regular mixing process.

I would say that, in this case, the "trick" to get a good sound without 'regular mixing' is to pay some attention to your samples, one-shots, and of course your arrangement. But the nice thing with the 8 tracks of the Tracker is that it makes you be more 'resourceful' about your arrangement so it is quite difficult to overload your patterns.

Let me know what you think and if you would like to see a track walkthrough in a next video. Thanks for watching!

If you would like to support me, I have the track also available at:
https://mlt-music.bandcamp.com/"

Superbooth 2018: Polyend & Dreadbox Medusa - More Synth and Sequencer Than You Can Imagine!

Published on May 3, 2018 sonicstate

Polyend Dreadbox Medusa Superbooth 2018 (no talking)

Published on May 3, 2018 Bonedo Synthesizers

And a pic.

Note there was a previous incarnation of the Dreadbox Medusa announced back in July of 2017. That one was an orange on black stand alone version lacking the additional Polyend sequencer.

Polyend/Dreadbox Medusa + Moog Grandmother

Published on Dec 1, 2018 Genshi Media Group

"::| TO HEAR THE FULL RANGE OF FREQUENCIES, A GOOD PAIR OF HEADPHONES ARE HIGHLY RECOMMENDED |::

A short and simple tune inspired by a preset on the Polyend/Dreadbox Medusa, with a lead line coming from the Moog Grandmother. For effects, the Source Audio Ventris Dual Reverb on the Medusa, and the Strymon El Capistan on the Grandmother. This was also the first time editing a video using the LumaFusion app on an iPad Pro (I normally use Final Cut Pro X on my iMac.)"

Review: MEDUSA by PolyEnd and Dreadbox: It's all about the GRID

Published on Aug 27, 2018 loopop

"Medusa is an innovative new synth, the result of a collaboration between Dreadbox and PolyEnd. The core of what's new with Medusa is the GRID - a multi mode expressive interface that can be used as an instrument, a sequencer, a modulator, or any combination of the above."

Here's a clip timeline:

0:00 Intro
0:55 Overview
2:20 Grid hardware
3:00 Note mode
5:00 XYZ control
5:55 Grid mode
7:15 Param mods
7:45 Pad presets
8:40 Mod presets
9:55 Mod sequences
10:20 Oscillators
11:00 Analog vs digital
13:15 PWM, FM & sync
14:15 Wavetables
16:30 Filter modes
18:30 Envs & LFOs
22:40 Polyphony?
24:35 Connectivity
25:00 Pros & cons

Superbooth 2019: Polyend Medusa v2

Published on May 9, 2019 Future Music Magazine

Polyend team is glad to announce its participation in Berlin’s Superbooth convention at FEZ between 9th and 11th of May 2019.

At this year’s edition we'll be showcasing three new Eurorack modules, a major firmware update for the Medusa synth and reveal some nice pricing changes.

Polyend Anywhere sets your Eurorack system free.
- Power up your setup from any power bank.
- An inexpensive 20 000 mAh battery will power up several modules for a couple of hours.
- Take a walk to the nearby forest for the inspiration and bring your case with you.


Polyend Poly 2 your ultimate MIDI to CV converter. Also available in the standalone version.
- Control your modular setup with any MIDI hardware or software device.
- Set, save and recall your parameter presets using simple menu displayed on an OLED screen.
- Trigger up to 8 voices with different settings: first/next/midi channel/midi notes.
- Twelve configurable outputs: Gate (5 or 10V), Pitch (V/Oct or Hz/V), Velocity, CC and Clock with tempo divisions. - Using Smart Thru you can daisy chain multiple units to get more voices.
- Musical scales filter onboard.
- MPE compatibility.

Polyend Preset allows you to create, recall and sequence multiple output parameters and much more.

- A single press of a button immediately recalls up to 9 different CV output values.
- Variable values per output: notes (1V/Oct), Gates, constant values (0-10V), recorded CV automation. - 32 banks of 32 presets (1024 presets in total).
- An instant preset recall will allow you to create a custom grid controller. - Sequence your preset banks with CV input (use Gates or 0-10V).
- Record and send out voltage changes up to 30 seconds per output.
- 32 musical scales onboard.

The Medusa firmware update v2.0 will bring interesting enhancements. Just to name a few:

- Refined Grid workflow allows you to randomise notes/chords per step and set the TIE note length. Record your sequences in the live mode and transpose them on the fly.

- The new modulation options with enhanced Drone mode for uncanny ambiences.

- Improved randomisation algorithm will generate synth presets and impressive sequences with a press of one button.

- Grid pads now work as long as you hold a modulator pad pressed which is excellent for performance.

- The new set of Wavetables and Presets.


Medusa Hybrid Synthesizer - Music Demo Seven

Published on Aug 13, 2018 Polyend

"The last one from the series of Dreadbox & Polyend Medusa Hybrid Synthesizer music demos. All sounds besides the drums are made and recorded straight from Medusa's master audio output. No wavetables were harmed during the shot of this video.

The video, sound design and audio composition by Piotr Raczyński.
Recorded 11.07.2018 in Polyend HQ."

Previous demos.

AMBIENT Polyend MEDUSA - The Touch of Medusa

Published on May 16, 2020 Alba Ecstasy

"Synth patches 👉 https://www.albaecstasy.ro
This #ambient track would be the first, quite simple (but expressive - thanks to the grid's sensitivity!) tune I made on my first day, on the #Polyend - Dreadbox #Medusa.

If you find the solo play a little bit out of tune it’s because of two reasons: I’m still getting use to play on the pads, but more important is that I set to the X axis the pitch bend so I can play vibrato. Since I not always pressing exactly in the middle of the pad, this is the result. For the moment!
Because, man! I love this grid! X,Y, Z sensitive, wow! I’m not even detailing about those 6 oscillators, 5 LFO and 5 envelopes and all the goodies!
This box is made for ambient, no doubt!

Delay - Waves H-Delay
Reverb - Eventide Blackhole.

Hope you'll enjoy this one!
ae"

A Smooth Sequence on Medusa Synthesizer

Published on Sep 29, 2018 Dreadbox

"Part 1 of a series of videos tweaking sounds on the Polyend & Dreadbox Medusa Synthesizer.
In this video Yannis records a simple sequence using Medusa's Grid and afterwards he tweaks the sound from Monophonic to Paraphonic mode."

Improvising with Polyend Medusa

Published on Jun 14, 2019 Peter Kirn

"Playing around with the Polyend Medusa and its unique approach to sound and performance. All live, just light compression and a touch of reverb added."

Peter Kirn Polyend Medusa videos.

Polyend Tracker Sessions #2: "MLT - Cantaloupe" (feat. Medusa and Virus TI Snow)

Miltos Schimatariotis

Here is my next little song made for my Polyend Tracker series. This time, except for the constant presence of the Medusa, the Tracker is also accompanied by the Virus TI and some live keyboard playing with a sound from the Atom library by Audio Modern. In this track, I had a good chance to test the Tracker as a MIDI sequencer too, including both notes and CC messages, and the whole process is pretty straight forward. I have also upgraded the Trackers firmware to 1.1 which now features a reverb along with the delay. So there are more possibilities now for atmospheric tracks and better production overall.
After a few more Tracker Sessions I 'll probably start to also upload some walkthroughs (or tips&tricks etc). Let me know if you would be interested in something like that or if you have any other ideas. The Medusa sound design series will continue too but the song videos help me in that department because they give me ideas for new, "real world" patches.

It took a while to upload a new video but I recently did a small upgrade in video gear too. I 've got a very nice Olympus Em-10 MK3 and some lights, so I made sure to take a lot of shots in this video to get the hang of them 😄. Hopefully, there will be a noticeable upgrade in picture quality in my next videos too, so stay tuned!

Thanks for watching and feel free to leave your comments or questions!

My Polyend Tracker songs are also available in Bandcamp: https://mlt-music.bandcamp.com/"