Boss SDE-3 delay fully cranked on synth and drum machine

video upload by Richard DeHove

"Yet another delay pedal bought in hope of finding the perfect balance between size, sound and features. I'm still feeling good about this one: It's black, it's small, it has enough features to make it interesting, it takes line level easily, and it can bite hard.

So here's more audio noddlings than anyone might reasonably want. There's a short bit of blather at the start and then it's all audio with the DB-01 and LXR-02. The levels get maxed out a few times but I've kepy everything as is rather than using a limiter. Panning mode begins at 13:10 and continues for the rest of the video. In the drum machine examples the SDE-3 takes the right output and gives it a stereo output. The left side is centred in the mixer as a "dry" out. At times various drum sounds are panned left and right to varying degrees which means there's usually not an entire output going through the delay.

0:00 Blah blah about features
2:35 No more talk, basic sounds
3:30 Deep modulation, stereo
5:00 Heavy feedback, stereo
10:20 Offset knob, stereo
12:15 Wet-dry output
13:10 Panning mode
15:16 Terminator
17:26 Drone fun
20:48 Drums 1
21:59 Drums 2
22:58 Drums 3
23:28 Drums 4
24:35 Drums 5

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Dirty, rotten, filthy Multipoly - (5 sounds no talk)

video upload by Richard DeHove

"Beauty comes easily to the Multipoly, but what about filth? Happy to say that is excels here too. With some cross-modulation, high resonance and a touch of internal drive things dirty up quickly. As always, less is more. Most patches use a single layer with two oscillators, guitar amp drive and master EQ.

For now I'm still in 'standard synth' land with the Multipoly and have yet to touch the mod process page or motion sequencer. I even find adding parameters to the four white knobs a pain. The manual also shows two small mixer sections but I've yet to find them. Meh. It's not an intuitive synth and the manual may be comprehensive at 130+ pages but it's not particularly instructive.

On the plus side it does do weird very easily. In that it does remind me of my beloved Mono/Poly. In fact it delivers weird so well - and of course with perfect recall - that it makes me wonder whether I need the SyntrxII anymore?

0:00 Radio Grit
1:42 Root Canal
3:34 Poker Bass
4:06 X-Mod
4:55 Sickly

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Multipoly: Unbox, blather and some custom arp sounds

video upload by Richard DeHove

"I remember my Korg Mono/Poly with great love and nostalgia. My first synth, the machine that taught me about synthesizers, the machine I used in all my early live gigs. Many machines have been bought (and sold) since then trying to recapture some of the weird-arp magic. So the Multipoly was a natural.

Here I can't help but blather about such things and play my first few custom sounds using the Mono/Poly starter template.

Overall I'm extremely happy with it. It's complex, somewhat unfriendly, very menu-divey but has so much going on that the amusement longevity factor and overall usefulness score seem high. Strangely, the only area that has attracted no love from Korg is the arpegiator! Everywhere else there are options galore, but for the arp, almost nothing more than the original Mono/Poly offered. Hopefully in an update we'll get separate arps for each layer - at least.

For those who just want to hear the damn synth without my babbling over the top, there's a no-talk version on Patreon.

0:00 Unboxing
0:40 4-osc alternatives
2:00 One oscillator bass
2:32 Arp with FX
3:26 Manual cycling
4:00 Retro arp

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DB-01 sonic noodlings with Midicake Arp spice (no talk)

video upload by Richard DeHove

"The Midicake 'spice' here is using its new MIDI CC parameter controls to modulate parameters on the Strymon Timeline in real time. The delay parameters getting the four-channel CC treatment are mix, repeats, highpass and smear.

It's a just shame that all the Timeline delay parameters aren't available under each 'engine'. So, for example, the bit rate and sample rate parameters are only available on the lofi engine. Delays that could do this much better would be the Source Audio Nemesis or the Free the Tone Future factory - both of which I sold. Somewhat ironic since the reason I sold both of them were that their best parameters were too hard to access. Either would be brilliant with the MIDI CC power of Arp.

So if you have any gear which hides its best stuff in tortured menus or multi-button secondary layers then the Midicake Arp may be the answer. Suddenly anything with MIDI CC control is instantly available for clocked modulation. It's beautiful.

Not to forget the DB-01. Two years in and the machine still fascinates. Here I start with the unloved parameter combo of the triangle wave and bandpass filter. Together they can be rather anaemic lacking both harmonics and bottom end. Yet with a little drive or sub and careful filtering they can still put in a respectable showing. usually I like a clocked LFO, or at least some note-reset phase LFO, but here it's all unclocked audio-rate goodness. I don't vary the LFO rate because it's roughly "tuned" to fit the full application of FM.

And if you can withstand a full 3+ minutes of solo DB-01 then you have definitely levelled up in the DB-01 club :D

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Nightverb automated by the Midicake Arp (no talk)

video upload by Richard DeHove

"Here's a somewhat chaotic collection of MIDI CC automation experiments using the Midicake Arp to generate the data. The Arp feeds the Nightverb synced data which affects the sounds coming in from the LXR-02. The Arp and LXR-02 are running from an external clock.

Originally I was blathering over the top about how it was all done but perhaps just seeing some of the twiddlings, especially toward the end of the video, may get the idea across just as well. I tried to give a wet and dry example of what's happening but this is all pulled from about a dozen or so meandering noodles so forgive me if they're not all perfectly structured. Headphones reveal some of the finer modulation timings. There's also a lot of unpleasant oddities but I thought them worth keeping to show the range of modulation.

The real star here is the Midicake Arp. The new v7 firmware is what opens up synced MIDI CC automation. Unless you've got a good dedicated sequencer, or take feeds from your DAW, chances are this hasn't been easily available. I remember looking into devices which would allow simple synchronized MIDI CC automation a few months ago and there weren't many choices. It's why I ended up selling my El Capistan. I bought that specifically for its "degrading loops" functionality but that only available by MIDI CC. In itself that's not too hard, but if you want it clock synced then that's another story.

Sending four channels of automation to the Nightverb, sometimes with extremely fast LFO-like modulations, did sometimes overload the Nightverb and require a power cycle. This usually happened if I flipped between intense presets while running.

If you have any high-end effect units chances are there are all sorts of interesting things available via MIDI CC. With Arp is very easy to access them in real-time sync. So congrats to Midicake for adding this excellent functionality!

0:00 Tippytap
0:40 Heavy gate
1:21 Distortomax
2:27 Bathroom War
3:30 Synth Mutant
5:08 Squarewaves

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Trying the new synth models on the Modor DR-2 (no talk)

video upload by Richard DeHove

"Firmware OS013 added four new synth models: saw, square, sine and FM. Here I give them an initial test. First impressions are good. The resonance is pleasantly harsh, the filters have some bite and the sine and FM models are a little quirky. The various quick demo tracks below test out a few different techniques including randomized filter amounts, randomized step fills, synth models panned hard left and right, and parameter locks.

As yet there's no way to play the sounds chromatically with an external keyboard or sequencer. That means inputting notes by the grid and setting the pitch one at a time with the pitch knob. That's not unusual for a machine that isn't designed to be chromatically played, but now that it does have synth sounds that playability would make these models much more versatile. It's easy to imagine a situation where you'd play a pair of synth models from an attached keyboard with velocity, filter randomizations and panning - all while the other four voices continue doing their drum thing. In the meantime there's still lots to enjoy. For example in the video you'll see me transpose various tracks up and down from the root note. An interesting ability.

As always there's absolutely no external processing or effects. This is raw DR-2. And if you'd like to see anything else specific about the DR-2 please let me know.

0:00 Three synths with locks
1:40 Resonant twiddlings
4:06 Res and distortion

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How to update the firmware on the Modor DR-2 drum machine

video upload by Richard DeHove

"Everything has its cost. To acquire glorious new features the cost here is the tedium of updating the firmware. Updating the Modor DR-2 isn't especially painful but it is slow. All up about 15 to 20 minutes for the entire job. For those on older machines: When you check your operating system, if you are on OS006 or older you will need to update your bootloader before trying to install new firmware.

A few links that may be handy:
Modor's download page: https://modormusic.com/downloads.html
Send SX for Windows: https://www.bome.com/products/sendsx
SysEx Librarian for Mac: https://www.snoize.com/SysExLibrarian/

0:00 Checking your current firmware
0:56 MIDI input
1:08 Modor sysex file
1:37 Sysex app
2:30 Readme
2:58 Send SX how-to
3:49 Set the speed - IMPORTANT !
4:02 Open the sysex file
4:17 Power into upgrade mode
4:32 Send the sysex file
5:02 Overflow error !!!
6:05 Try again - but slower
7:18 Success !

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Syntrx II: Say hello to my little friends

video upload by Richard DeHove

"The Syntrx II is typically marketed as a type of modular synth and with many modular performances there's no keyboard. My Syntrx skills aren't at the "no keyboard" level yet so as a variation I thought why not use that versatile star of many situations, the trusty DB-01? It has a keyboard mode and while I'm at it I can feed the signal into the Syntrx.

So a few quick pokes of the matrix and the DB-01 was alive as a source. Even better the DB-01 controls were affecting the Syntrx tones in some FM-ish way. In fact all the DB-01 parameters were doing something to the main pitch!

So that was very interesting and over the course of a couple of hours I tried to isolate and refine the effect. I failed utterly. The more I fiddled the muddier it got. So I went back to the original and this is the result. Truly I don't know what's going on here but it worked. And instead of tweaking the knobs on the Syntrx all the tweaking happens on the DB-01. The sound has definite DB-01 flavors yet is clearly beyond what the DB-01 could do alone.

The routing I attempted was for the processed DB-01 signal to go out of the Syntrx and into the Zen. The core Syntrx sound went through the internal reverb of the Syntrx then to the DAW. So there's two stereo pairs. The sound is exactly as you see it - there has been absolutely no EQ, compression or effects added.

The video is my mashup of two US civil defense videos from the 1950s.

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Never mind the polysynths here's the wet reverb (no talk)

video upload by Richard DeHove

"It feels like the good old days of punk to replace a poly synth with a mono. Sure it's never going to do everything a real poly can do, and yes of course it's going to be drenched in reverb because that's the trick, but nuts to those expensive polys, we're improvising.

Star of the show is the Erica Synths Nightverb. It's ideally suited to the job because it has excellent tone-shaping controls. But any reverb that can go 100% wet will do. Synths are the DB-01 and LXR-02 drum machine. Using a drum machine and a reverb to replace a poly synth is especially satisfying. In fact the LXR has some useful features for this: you can cue up separate tones on each voice and then use the faders as a tone mixer, and you can assign velocity sensitivity to some or all parts.

It's a bit rough and digital at times, but bollocks to that.

0:00 DB-01 pad
0:52 Sweet LXR-02
1:47 Testing tones
3:52 Runs
4:27 Dirty digital

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An industrial drumkit for the Modor DR-2 (no external FX, no talk)

video upload by Richard DeHove

"The original concept for the DR-2 saw it as an enhanced 909. That's pretty much irrelevant now as the DR-2 has been developed into something far deeper. Yet you can still see traces of its origins in the step entry and many of the core sounds. Personally I'm not a fan of the 909 mainly because it keeps you penned into a defined territory of sound where weirdness is not allowed. I like odd sounds in my drum machines.

I think the great balancing act with drum machines is between providing immediate excellent drum sounds, and providing enough tweakable range to allow genuine sound design and experimentation. At one end you have untweakable machines like the 606; at the other extreme are samplers where the range becomes so vast you can get distracted by endless sample banks. One solution is to have both, but that leads to different problems where you have too many one-trick machines.

Where does the DR-2 sit? You can certainly feel it's 909 roots in that those sorts of kits and sounds fall out of the machine with almost no effort. You can hear that sound in many DR-2 demos: tight bass drums with rimshots, hats and snappy snares. But the parameters are wide enough, and the available drum models weird enough, that you can get away from that quite easily.

That was the aim here: Can the DR-2 move into a more industrial sound without any external processing? It's easy enough to dirty things up with fuzz and EQ, but what about the raw sound?

In the two demo tracks I use a single set of drum models (from left to right): Tom, Ride cymbal, Noise bassdrum, Claps, Claps, and Rumble bassdrum. Each pattern has a slightly tweaked version of those same drum models saved as a kit. I've used the internal tilt filter, parametric EQ and distortion. I'm not game to use the compressors yet - I still need to learn how to tame them.

On the first track I start with just two sounds and am using a polyrhythmic clock in 8/12 time on channel 3. It gives an unsettling feel and constant variation to what is otherwise a simple 16-step pattern.

Of course there's no processing or effects other than what you see. It's pure DR-2. Even the volume between patterns is unaltered.

(And as per the thumbnail image: The DR-2 needs an all-black version).

0:00 Arhythmia
2:02 Dirty Tom

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Syntrx II: First patch

video upload by Richard DeHove

"A few years back almost all my hardware was modular gear. A beautiful 15u all-black monster. A wondrous thing it was with a most fetching array of clock-synced lights. Problem was I never made any music with it. It was lots of fun arranging the modules though. I still have about 80hp left of a few favorites I couldn't part with: Interstellar Radio, the Erica LFOs and some utilities.

I mention this because the Syntrx II is often described as a modular system in a box. Sections are "patched" via the matrix. I've had the Syntrx for an embarrassingly long time and never done anything with it other than admire its good looks. In fact I sold my OB-6 to help pay for it. Yet somehow it just hasn't called.

So here's my first attempt at coherent sound. It took a day to get going. Figuring how to clear the matrix and patch anything took several hours. A couple of hours after that and we have this. It's not much. I tried to get a stereo field happening - and succeeded briefly - then somehow lost it. I was also getting excellent low rubber resonance swells but somehow lost them as well by the time I was ready to record. I battled for quite a while to stop overloading the filter and that seems to have worked.

So I certainly wouldn't say it's easy to get going. Of course that's just me. So far there's nothing here that other reasonably deep synths couldn't do. I know the Syntrx can go way deeper, but I don't want to just make random complex noise. Perhaps the question is how complex can you get while staying somewhat musical? And where is your own subjective boundary of music?

I wasn't going to upload this as I wasn't very happy with it, but then I thought its value is as an example of a 'first try' with a complex machine.

As usual there is no processing or effects other than what you see - the Syntrx itself. The only other element are the vocal samples which are taken from one of my favorite B-grade sci-fi movies: The Time Travellers (1964). It has an excellent score btw.

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The ongoing quest for a good simple delay: The Marshall EH-1 Echohead

video upload by Richard DeHove

"Enter the vast realm of Pedal Land and choose your quest. Will it be the ever-popular Quest for the Ultimate Reverb, or will you choose an easy side quest like The Best Classic Phaser? How about one of the original favorites: The Quest for Best Simple Delay.

But what do you call simple? Is the lack of a tap tempo too simple? Does it need more than one core sound? What about the delay length? Is the pedal's physical size important? Will you be happy with mono? Is it simple if it had dual-function knobs?

My idea of a good simple delay is a small footprint, good sound (of course), reasonable delay length, tap tempo, and maybe at least one other sound-shaping function. I don't want any hidden functions or mystery knobs. It needs to have just enough features so you don't keep wanting to slide in your big stereo unit instead.

I recently bought the Arp87 delay to satisfy these criteria and it's a good delay. But I don't use it often enough to remember what the "X" knob does and I've already forgotten how to get into the hidden fifth mode.

Enter the now discontinued Marshall EH-1 Echohead. It satisfies all my criteria and is cheap. It's sort of ugly though quirky enough to get a pass. The knobs are unreadable (I can feel a reknob coming) but with a tap tempo attached and the level set permanently at maximum the only knobs to worry about are the delay type and the feedback.

The EH-1 was released in 2006 joining a range of similarly-styled effects that started in 1998. I couldn't find out when they were discontinued so it's hard to know how old my unit may be. I'm guessing they finished up around 2014. Anyone have any info on this?

Anyway it's been flawless so far, no noise, pot crackle, jack issues or feezes and I've had it running for days at a stretch. It's so good I might even let my Arp87 go (but the DM-2w definitely stays).

As usual there is no external processing or limiting. Slight volume changes that happen when I talk is because the music is ducked against my voice.

0:00 Intro gumpf & specs
2:10 Mono test
3:38 The six algorithms
4:44 Tap tempo
6:17 Ping Pong
7:09 Analog
7:28 Tape
7:54 Multitap
8:07 Reverse
8:21 Filtered
8:36 Slow sounds
11:01 Slow tape
12:04 Slow reverse
12:30 Filter blips
13:20 Conclusion

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The polyrhythmic clocks and Euclidean sequencer of the Modor DR-2

video upload by Richard DeHove

"Euclidean sequencers are fun, but nowhere near as much fun as polyrhythmic clocks. Turns out every track on the Modor DR-2 has three clocks. Here I demonstrate some very tame examples sticking mainly to time signatures that won't disrupt the metabolism. Truly strange options abound, the vast majority of which could turn any simple pattern into a jazzified moosh worthy of an opening night of free-form interpretive dance at a modern art gallery.

If my examples here aren't too horrendous I may have another go at some more challenging. For example, mismatched time signatures partially sticjed back together with delicately timed flams and tuplets.

Also demoed here is the Euclidean sequencer. This is a more common feature of many drum machines. What makes this one a little different is that you can have up to 64 steps and hits in each track.

0:00 Activating the clocks
2:15 Assign a clock
2:48 Simple example
4:47 Warping a basic pattern
5:54 Warping a complex pattern
11:03 Euclidean sequencer

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My website: https://richarddehove.com/
My other channel 'IntraCosmos' of long-play dark ambient textures: / @intracosmos"

Nightverb: Drone and freeze demo (no talk)

video upload by Richard DeHove

"Here's the Erica Synths Nightverb paired with a DB-01 and Gamechanger Audio Light pedal; then with a DB-01 and Zen delay. In both cases I'm testing drone and freeze settings. The knob position of the Nightverb reflect the actual values. I'm still getting used to the freeze and in hindsight would probably have been better used with some more pad-like chord, but live 'n learn guvna. Routing-wise the Nightverb is always at the end of the chain. When using the freeze function its useful to have a second effect in series so the contrast between the frozen reverb and the dry sound isn't too jarring.

Headphones will help hear some of the beautiful grit and superlow bass.

So after a couple of weeks use what's my opinion of the Nightverb? Well, have you ever used one of the 90s digital synths that has just a single knob or slider to change parameter values? They're a colossal pain to program and feel like they're trying to force you into just jumping between presets. Then compare that to a knob-per-function synth. That's where I am with the Nightverb: Reverb that you play, an instrument that can be tweaked to suit the moment, backed up then cranked. After all, one of the main advantages of hardware over software is that you can do "real time automation" as you play, and it's fun. In fact in all this time I still haven't saved a single Nightverb sound :)

As usual there is no processing in the DAW other than once or twice where I manually adjusted the volume. But there's no effects, compression or limiting etc. Sometimes there's a little high-frequency which is from the Zen. There is no sound source connected to the Acidbox, it's generating it's own sound from high resonance and the LFO. Let me know if there's anything else you want to see and hear.

0:00 Storm (Acidbox & Zen)
1:55 Pinger (Acidbox & Zen)
3:18 Ripper (DB-01 & Light)
6:43 Sleepytime (Acidbox & Zen)

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Many thanks to my kind patrons who keep this channel ad-free
My website: https://richarddehove.com/"

An Erica trio: LXR-02, Nightverb & Zen delay

video upload by Richard DeHove

"Two related patterns on the LXR-02 with manual playing over the top. The set-up is simple: A single stereo pair out with the left going to the Zen delay (then out in stereo); and the right going to the Nightverb (also out in stereo).

Some of the voices are panned hard left for Zen-only effect; others right-only for the Nightverb; and some have a little of both. Only using a single stereo pair makes things easy to setup and gives the option to blend between the effects per voice with the pan control.

The Nightverb shows preset 2 "The Temple" but in fact every control is in its actual position. I've happily learned how to use the low and high damp since my "first day" Nightverb video :) The Zen of course is always in WYSIWYG mode. Half the LXR-02 voices are programmed, the other I play manually with the auto-roll function on 16ths. In both patterns the Nightverb and Zen stay on the same settings and I concentrate on playing the LXR-02. There is absolutely no post-processing of any kind, not even output limiting, everything is as you see it.

As always let me know if there's anything you want see in upcoming videos.

0:00 Rubberman
2:49 Wet DAF

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Nightverb: First day noodlings (no talk)

video upload by Richard DeHove

"Beware the title: 'First day noodlings'. This isn't a collection of pristine patches or sweetly controlled tone-perfect spaces. It is literally me with the Nightverb on day one twiddling the knobs trying to understand the various interactions and calibrations. But I figure that will be of interest to some. And since my daughter always laughs at how "incredibly niche" my channel is, well, surely it can't hurt.

I'm honored to have Nightverb serial number 0006 sent to me gratis by Erica Synths. Technically that should earn the "paid promotion" tag, and yet, saying that on this random hodge-podge doesn't seem quite right. And since I'm almost qualified as a member of the Erica Synths 10% discount club I think I've earned a pass on this one. Of course the truth is I would have bought this anyway if Erica Synths hadn't sent it to me, so at least this way I didn't have to sell anything - yay!

But about the Nightverb. It's armoured, beautiful and alive with grippy knobs. Reverb has never been so much fun or so fast to program. About halfway through the video I learn that 'late reflections' combined with 'infinite feedback' equals noise - but that's what day one gets you. Give it a few months and I'm sure all this will look painfully awkward. I also had the gain quite high and neglected to touch the low and high damp controls at all, but there's only so many parameters I can deal with fresh at one time. More videos to come of course.

I'm looking forward to pairing the Nightverb with the Zen Delay and Acidbox III though for this first outing I thought it should stay pure. Of course there are absolutely no DAW effects, EQ or limiting. I can certainly see cases in the future where a delay after the reverb could make for some interesting creations. Even so, just with the trusty DB-01 I did enjoy the pseudo poly-synth effect going 100% wet. Likewise the pre-delay with early reflections and feedback gave a good industrial delay. So much more I could say but I'll leave that for a talkie video.

If there's anything specific about the Nightverb I can answer, or a particular sort of audio demo you'd like to hear, let me know and I'll try to cover them in a second video.

0:00 Poly from mono
2:34 Bass riff 1
4:30 Squelchy
6:16 Fairy interlude
6:54 Drummy thing
8:52 Bass riff 2
11:20 Pixie dance
12:43 Bass riff 3
16:04 High arp
18:54 Growler

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My website: https://richarddehove.com/"

Midicake Arp and The One Finger Jam (no talk)

video upload by Richard DeHove

"Something's wrong if you're making music but not having fun. It should all be fun. But writing good, coherent, interesting and long patterns is difficult (for me) and often liable not to be much fun. The usual path is to make a good 16-step pattern, copy it, add some variations, and bump to 32 steps. Then what about little fills and other bits? Now you're talking about "song mode" and other mathematical duties.

So the idea here was: Let's use the Arp to create long patterns, then hit record on the DB-01 and just feed in the result. I did try that and it worked a treat. But as an alternative you can just manually "play" the entire thing on the Arp - which is what I did here.

It took a bit of practice to get the timing right and I wouldn't want to be playing the entire "song" to a live audience with one finger unless there were a few other things running to cover in case of a mistake. Of course in the studio no one can hear you scream after five errors in a row.

Live-playing the DB-01s like this you lose various programmable goodness like the pitch envelopes, filter mod and accents; but on the flipside you can use portamento on the sequence (although I didn't here) and can use the Arp to set and vary the gate lengths. For example the top DB-01 is playing the high blippy theme on the Arp channel 3 and the longer three-note bass prod on channel 4. It can seemingly produce two sounds almost simultaneously because channel 3 has a short gate and high octave, while channel 4 has a long gate and low octave.

When you think about it that is pretty amazing work for an arpeggiator! It's like instant program change on a synth with no programs.

In this piece all the music is coming from the two DB-01s, with a drum track added afterwards in the DAW. I chopped it up a little to make a 90-second jam (instead of the 8-minute director's cut) but it is essentially live-played. There are no DAW effects, no extra layers or EQ.

After all this intricate fun it seems to me that calling the Midicake Arp an "arp" is monstrously understated. I see it more like your synths are big dumb blue-ribbon bovines standing around in a field and the Arp is a supercharged border collie begging to chase them through a Marine bootcamp obstacle course. Make those machines sweat! They cost enough.

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My website: https://richarddehove.com/"

7 kits and 7 patterns for the Modor DR-2 (no talk)

video upload by Richard DeHove

"A series of example patterns and kits using various techniques on the Modor DR-2. This is pure DR-2 with no other effects or processing. I tried to cover a range of styles showing off some of the sonic powers of this excellent drum synth.

Most of these are very dynamic with strong transients. I considered adding a compressor or limiter on the output in the DAW, but (as usual) thought it best to leave them completely raw.

Please let me know if you have any specific requests for particular sounds or kits and I'll do my best to cover them in the next demo.

0:00 March
0:32 Snappy
1:02 Reverb
1:44 Rock
2:14 Heartbeat
2:55 Poker
3:26 Tapdance

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The "slot machine" method of random writing with the DB-01

video upload by Richard DeHove

"Slot machines (AKA pokies and speilautomat) supposedly get a lot of their appeal through the fast cycle of anticipation and reward. And if you don't get the reward you wanted then you can instantly run the cycle again. Wins are reinforced by pretty lights and little tunes.

Well, that sounds a lot like small-chunk randomization with the DB-01: Quick randomizations of a few steps and with instant rewards. Except you won't be broke at the end.

I'm always trying to find fun ways to write patterns and this method is, imo, one of the best. Although it's specific to the DB-01 you could just as easily take a MIDI-Out feed and power other machines.

I also think it's very interesting to see the actual process people use to write patterns. If you've got a favorite method please share it in the comments.

0:00 The idea
0:49 Full random?
1:24 The usual way
2:29 Little chunks
4:55 More chunks
7:50 16-steps
8:52 Example 2
15:01 Example 3

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"Let's Take a 20 Megaton Surface Burst" - a DB-01 solo

video upload by Richard DeHove

"How many parts can a mono synth play in one pass? Here I think the DB-01 does a good job simulating three or four tracks and yet this is all just one live take, plus vocal samples on top for color. Music-wise there are no edits, no automation, no DAW EQ or any other effects. Everything is exactly as you see it.

The DB-01 runs into the Darkglass B3K, then to the Zen delay, and is then output in stereo to the Boss SL-2 Slicer. You'll notice the DB-01's resonance is at 100% with 50% drive. The Zen delay's input is being overdriven slightly and there is again about 50% drive there as well. Filter is set to highpass.

It's always tempting to start adding extra layers to these pieces, especially drums, but I like the simplicity and 'purity' of a DB-01 on its own. Hopefully that also makes it more useful as a demo of the DB-01 and effects.

Quotes and video are from the 1982 documentary 'The Atomic Cafe', an excellent movie which is a compilation of old newsreels and military training clips set to music and news commentary of the times.

Lots of downloads for supporters on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/richarddehove
Many thanks to my kind patrons who keep this channel ad-free
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