MATRIXSYNTH: Search results for Richard DeHove


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Showing posts sorted by date for query Richard DeHove. Sort by relevance Show all posts

Monday, July 15, 2024

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

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

Thursday, July 11, 2024

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

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

Monday, July 01, 2024

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.

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

Monday, June 17, 2024

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

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

Monday, June 10, 2024

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

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

Thursday, June 06, 2024

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

Friday, May 31, 2024

Modor DR-2 tutorial Part 2: Special functions


video upload by Richard DeHove

"Part 2 in the guide to the Modor DR-2 drum machine. Here I cover a lot of the extra functions and front panel buttons. Again this isn't a sound design tutorial, just a guide to functionality.

At almost 30 minutes long I thought I should leave things there rather than trying to cover all the remaining functions since a lot of these rely on shortcuts. How many shortcuts can you assimilate in 30 minutes?

So Part 3 will cover the remaining features and after that the really fun stuff of sound design.

Finally, if you're listening through headphones and hear some high pitched noise, that's my mic picking up some RF noise which I've since, thankfully, solved. The DR-2 is dead quiet and clean.

0:00 Reverse
4:03 Transient click
4:45 Soft attack
6:26 Tilt filter
7:27 Parametric EQ
9:50 Break
11:47 Inspect value
13:35 Flam
15:10 Tuplets
18:04 Naming
19:15 Distortion
20:14 Set volume
21:58 Accents
24:08 Velocity modulation
25:30 Random functions

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

Sunday, May 19, 2024

Modor DR-2 tutorial Part 1: Getting started


video upload by Richard DeHove

"The Modor DR-2 is one of what I consider the 'Big Five' in the drum machine world. There's the DR-2, Perkons, Pulsar-23, Rtym MkII and the Alpha Base.

This is not a sound design video, nor do I go through the many sound models and parameter options, that's for later videos. This one is a guide to the DR-2's basic operations, although of course there's plenty of hits along the way. The intention is to explore the many functions of the DR-2 in an ongoing tutorial series.

I've admired this machine for a couple of years and am excited to have got this one on loan from Modor. So it was very cheeky of me to switch out all the knobs for big black grippy ones from Erica Synths, but, well, it just looked too sweet and clean and my Big Box of Knobs is always looking for opportunities.

Soundwise there is a limiter on the output just to avoid any surprises and my voice is damping the drum machine level whenever I speak, which should explain any volume fluctuations.

0:00 Overview
0:29 Power & firmware
1:00 Front panel
2:10 32nd notes
2:55 Sound models
4:37 Knobs
5:28 Ergonomics
6:50 Envelopes
7:55 Change patterns & kits
9:40 Bars
10:15 Track length
12:15 Muting
12:42 Play modes
14:15 Saving
16:41 Tilt filter
17:50 Clear tracks
18:57 Initialize
19:59 Copy & paste
20:55 Random fill
22:05 Random steps
23:59 Random value
25:17 Parameter locks
26:46 Alpha & beta channels
32:00 For next time

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

Friday, May 10, 2024

Arp87 delay on synth: Simple yet interesting, flavorsome yet mild


video upload by Richard DeHove

"No matter how many high-end delays you have there's always a place for a small and simple mono. The Walrus Audio Arp87 has a lot going for it: obvious operation, five delay modes, good sound, small footprint and tap tempo. Against that the modulation is a bit seasick and it's not cheap.

It's also rather Roland-esque in that it won't let you do anything too weird. It won't go anywhere near 100% wet, it has no delay time knob and it won't self-oscillate.

This was bought with my own money and it was annoyingly expensive. So nothing's perfect and perhaps this is just another stop on the never-ending delay pedal quest.

0:00 Mono delay rant
1:26 Arp87 specs
3:21 Weak filter
4:16 Controls
5:23 Hidden mode
6:30 Seasick mod
7:36 Clock in woe
8:46 Momentary on
9:00 Max Repeats
9:10 Impressions
9:58 No more talk - Digital mode
11:44 Analog
14:05 Low-fi
16:05 Slapback
17:01 Tremolo
17:32 Digital
19:23 Analog
20:00 Low-fi

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

Tuesday, May 07, 2024

Creating a soundscape from pure resonance


video upload by Richard DeHove

"Who needs oscillators when you have self-oscillating resonance? Here the Erica Synths Acidbox III with high resonance is fed into a Fairfield Circuitry Roger That, then to a Gamechanger Audio Light reverb pedal and finally to the Erica Synths Zen Delay.

The Acidbox is configured so the right output feeds into the control CV input, but the box itself is getting no external audio, just it's own resonance.

The Roger That pedal provides a little extra texture and noise but is not an essential component. I tried all sorts of different pedals in this position including distortions, drives and bitcrushers but almost all of them had very little effect. I think there simply wasn't enough for those pedals to chew on.

The Light pedal is mainly on the 'harmonic' setting and I sometimes switch it to feedback. The Zen delay is on the tape ping-pong setting. Filter is on highpass in case things get out of hand and the drive knob adds some good grit.

The input gain on the Acidbox and Zen were fundamental to the sound. Both were usually quite low but if you want something with more noise and distortion it's there if you just pump those up.

A few years back I had a Lyra-8 which I always say is a great personal meditation machine. Yet imo it doesn't compare to this setup in terms of flexibility and expression. Here you can go high and delicate or low and cone-shaking, peaceful or disturbed all in a few knob turns. And what big glorious knobs they are.

I do believe this type of playing is personally very therapeutic. If I was an indulged academic I think it'd make an interesting research project to look at the brainwave state of someone engaged in prolonged resonant drone knob twiddlings. Might there be a connection between the played harmonics and brainwave frequencies and that in certain moods you'd gravitate to harmonics of that emotional state? Or would your playing perhaps reduce agitated brain frequencies toward a more dreamlike state? Who knows.

Lots of downloads for supporters on Patreon.

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

Friday, April 26, 2024

Crafting a bass drum on the LXR-02


video upload by Richard DeHove

"The strange and diabolic art of the bass drum. The bringer of strict order and strength when tamed; the cause of untold misery and chaos when adrift.

Here I try to show what arts and potions are available on the LXR-02 to give you mastery over this wicked imp.

0:00 The Roman Empire
0:28 Kick or bass?
1:47 Initialized sound
2:30 Oscillator
4:00 Amp envelope
5:05 Slope types
5:48 Pitch envelope
10:15 Boominess
11:30 Pillow attenuation*
12:16 Filters
16:58 Transient click
21:52 Adding noise
22:35 LFO

* Yes, this an attempted humour.

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

Thursday, April 18, 2024

A Zen-Bro romance told in resonant screams


video upload by Richard DeHove

"I have a bad habit of cranking the resonance on any machine I touch. It's so ingrained I did it at a friend's studio a little while back on an unfamiliar synth - and after a brief shriek decaying to an air-moving whomp I thanked the gods that the volume was set so low. I've used so many Polivoks-style filters in recent times I'm used to cranking the resonance with impunity.

Which brings me to the delicate love story between the Erica Synths Zen delay and the Behringer Pro-800. My trusty Rev2 is for sale and in its place I bought the Pro-800. Why trade down you may ask? Truth is I'm not a big poly player. The more polyphony you use the more simple the sound needs to be, in which case I wanted a simple yet knobby poly, and that's the Pro-800. Added bonus: no onboard effects. So when the Pro-800 arrived this week I teamed it with the Zen delay immediately.

So the romance is revealed: A brand new Pro-800 teamed with the Zen delay. The 800 is switched on for the first time, the resonance is cranked, the Zen's input drive and overdrive is engaged and almost immediately this gloriously jagged, gritty, and unpredictable darkness pours out.

Five minutes of first-time noodlings is a bit much I admit. And I was going to say all this over the top of the video but that felt wrong, like ads in a funeral service. So instead here it is. It is literally the first time I ever powered it on, to the point where I didn't even know how to save the sound or know whether I'm in tune, on the upside I pretty sure moved every knob and switch so if you want to replicate the sound, there it is.

Even so the 800's resonance is not fully cranked, I had to back off a little just to retain the ability to hold an actual melody.

Whether the 800 is good for anything else, who knows - I haven't got past this sound yet and I must look up how to save it. What's clear though is that the 800's filter teams beautifully with some heavy drive. I can feel more teamings in the air - perhaps another stereo 'Roger That' outing?

One final thing worth mentioning: the Zen delay cost significantly more than the Pro-800. Makes you wonder where your synth dollar is best spent.

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

Tuesday, April 09, 2024

MidiCake Arp embiggens the smallest mono synths


video upload by Richard DeHove

"It's a rare day that I'll abandon the superb sequencers of the DB-01 for an external source. Much is lost when you go external - accents, filter modulation and pitch envelopes just for starters. Yet the MidiCake Arp gives in return: Powerful one-finger pattern-play, gate length modulation, 32nd notes and even patterns with portamento.

So here are five example Arp patterns ranging from somewhat cheesy to somewhat dark. Ideally I would have used lots of other effects, but I wanted to keep everything compact so one DB-01 gets the DM-2w delay, the other gets either the Astronaut reverb or Nemesis delay.

For some reason the Arp locks the DB-01s LFO sync to one rate, so the LFOs are always free-running. Other than that it was very smooth. The DB-01s are of course in "key" mode because that's what's needed to trigger them. A useful byproduct of this is that the DB-01 portamento can now be used in sequences!

The MidiCake Arp is an amazing little machine. Complex, but amazing. After many hours I know I'm just scratching around doing pretty obvious things yet that's still very satisfying. I rather like that its possibilities are so vast you can choose your own way into its abilities. In the five examples I mostly have 'play' mode enabled which means the patterns run as a continuously synced whole. In others 'play' mode is off and I manually trigger things (tracks 4 & 5), which is much more unforgiving, but gives a little more flexability. In any case you can see how simple the basic notes are against the complexity of the result.

As usual I've kept everything simple (ie without drums etc) so you can get a good idea what's going on. And no DAW post-processing of any sort.

0:00 Flutterings
0:56 Memories
2:16 Pokery
3:25 Sliders
4:42 Regrets

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

Thursday, March 28, 2024

The DB-01's second (undocumented) config menu


video upload by Richard DeHove

"In the words of Dr Strangelove "Why keep it a secret? Why didn't you tell the world?" Fortunately not jacketed in Cobalt-Thorium-G, yet still unannounced, the secondary config menu contains a few very useful options. I especially like the default starter note and the default gate length options. And as I mention in the video perhaps someone can better explain the calibrate CV In and MIDI Note Offset options. In any case since it's not mentioned anywhere else I thought it may be useful to at least put this basic guide out there.

Sincere thanks to @Phurniture for suggesting this video. I really appreciate everyone who takes the time to comment, it's by far the best part of Youtubing.

0:00 The secondary menu
1:01 SER - Serial number
1:18 CCI - Calibrate CV In
1:44 CCO - Calibrate CV Out
1:57 MIP - MIDI Instant Program Change
2:30 MNO - MIDI Note Offset
2:48 PBR - Pitch Bend Range
3:01 DCV - Default CV
3:24 DGA - Default Gate Length

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

Monday, March 25, 2024

The Dream of Allan Gray


video upload by Richard DeHove

"This is a single DB-01 drone track recorded exactly as you see it with no editing. Nor have any effects, compression, EQ or limiting etc been added in the DAW (other than the sci-fi movie talk samples). The DB-01 is running into the Light pedal on feedback mode. (Thanks to @aopaul for suggesting turning down the dry level which has entirely solved the noise issue into the Rat). From there it goes into the Rat, and then into the Shift Line Astronaut for some modulated stereo reverb.

A very slow LFO on the DB-01 opens the filter enough to better activate the feedback on the Light pedal which gives the periods of relative peace and intensity. The DB-01 is also on random playback with a handful of notes on bar 1 and the other three bars empty. The Astronaut pedal has a very slow modulating octave shift in the reverb and the Light pedal has a very slow shift in which optical sensor pair is active. All these slow modulations deliver the needed variation.

The old video is all from 'Vampyr', a 1932 Danish-German horror movie. That's combined, somewhat oddly perhaps, with audio samples from the 1953 sci-fi classic "It Came From Outer Space". It wasn't hard to find the good bits in that since I first sampled it way back in the day on my old EPS. We even had a song in our live set which used one of the quotes from the movie as it's main hook "Our mission was to another world". Good days. Of course I couldn't re-use that same sample here :D

The title of this video comes from the original full title of the Vampyr movie: 'Vampyr – Der Traum des Allan Gray' or in English, 'The Dream of Allan Gray'.

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

Tuesday, March 19, 2024

A Rat, a DB-01 and a Light pedal cranked for filth and feedback


video upload by Richard DeHove

"I've always wanted ferocious feedback on a synth, just like them geetar players get. The obvious choices are a FreqOut or even an old Boss FB-2. But how about a Gamechanger Audio Light reverb pedal and a Rat ? One reason I got the Light pedal was its interesting modes, gate and drive. By itself a lot of the options feel very underpowered when fed by the DB-01. But add a Rat after the reverb and everything comes alive.

Here I first try the Light pedal's Reflect mode which is a dirty delay, then the Feedback mode. The Rat is vital to crank the Light pedal's effect although it does add a huge amount of noise. Ideally I'd add a noise gate after the rat and then a delay. Perhaps even a pitch shifting delay to try to get a little more pitch control over the feedback.

With it's little Rat friend the Light pedal now seems a lot more useful.

As usual there's absolutely no other audio processing than what you see.

0:00 Starter sound
1:25 Reflect cranked
2:42 Light pedal options
4:48 Feedback mode
8:28 Sequenced feedback
9:25 Keys feedback

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

Friday, March 15, 2024

LXR-02 does the DFAM & beyond (5 kits, no talk)


video upload by Richard DeHove

"I recently made the somewhat rash suggestion to try an LXR-02 emulation of the DFAM. Here it is, sort of. At first I thought I'd use only one voice of the LXR. So in all five kits demoed here Voice 1 or 2 tends to claim almost all the LFOs and be a clock-synced complex sound.

But the LXR-02 and DFAM are such very different beasts it seemed odd to be so restrictive. Instead I've gone for a two or three voice 16-step kit and pattern that attempts to capture the flavor of the DFAM rather than strict technical parameters.

The speed of all parts is 73bpm, a couple of the kits use the internal ping-pong delay, and where there is definite pitch it's always on C - just makes things easier for sampling and later processing.

The result is not exactly DFAMish. Demo 2 even sounds bit chiptune to me. But I've never yet owned any two machines which could exactly replicate the other. As an exercise though it's a bit of fun! All LXR-02 challenges happily considered.

On the plus side the LXR-02's ability to store presets is a massive bonus but the constant click-and-twiddle is no match for the knob-filled interface of the DFAM/Edge.

All five kits are on my Patreon. Unused voices (typically 4, 5 and 6) are mostly on the default sounds.

As usual there is absolutely no extra processing of the sound. It's all completely raw LXR-02.

0:00 Demo 1: Slapper
1:00 Demo 2: Chiptune
1:56 Demo 3: Saw
3:06 Demo 4: Frogpond
4:23 Demo 5: Decay

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

Wednesday, March 06, 2024

Behringer Edge with the DB-01


video upload by Richard DeHove

"The Edge-DFAM class of machines is an odd category. Not a very good as a synth due to the constant (and necessary) manipulation of the oscillator frequencies. Not particularly good as a drum machine due to the 8-step limitations and the delicate juggling required to squeeze out multiple sounds. And not so great live since there are no presets and too many parameters to easily morph to a different sound. OTOH if you want a random percussion chaos layer then it's the perfect solution.

Of course they're great fun to twiddle and make unexpected discoveries. They also pair up pretty well with more conventional machines to produce a more complex result than you'd get with 'ordinary' synths.

Having owned both the DFAM and Edge I'm happy but hesitant to admit that in a 1:1 matchup I'd choose the Edge. This is entirely due to the MIDI clock options: The sequence must always start at the start - duh. Some people say the DFAM sounds better (whatever that means) but I'm not feeling anything radically different. My only complaint is that the LPF feels murky and doesn't interact with the resonance control in a pleasing way. The HPF is much superior imo and saves the filter section. Of course it may be that I've now been trained by prolonged Polivoks filter exposure to expect satisfying grit and tortured screaming.

Back on the topic of 'Would I use it live', the more I thought about that the more I thought I'd use the LXR-02 instead. Perhaps a video 'The LXR-02 does the DFAM' would be good?

It may also be of interest to note the use of the DB-01 gate output connected to the noise level in Demo 1. It generates some noise percussion when playing normally because of the gate length but this largely disappears when playing the arpeggiator's much shorter gate length.

As usual there are absolutely no external effects or DAW processing.

0:00 Unboxing
1:25 The setup
1:42 MIDI reset
2:27 Clock divider
3:13 Tuning
4:05 Demo 1: Cheese
4:39 Demo 2: Swinger
5:19 Demo 3: Rubber
6:22 Demo 4: Wired

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

Thursday, February 29, 2024

The drum machine pedalboard Ep2: Monomyth and Acidbox III


video upload by Richard DeHove

"The second episode in the series which explores different pedal and routing combinations with the LXR-02 drum machine. This time it's Joyo's Darkglass Microtubes X-Ultra clone 'Monomyth' and the Erica Synths Acidbox III. Taking just a stereo pair out, the left side goes into the Monomyth, which is a bass pre-amp with EQ; and the right side goes into the Acidbox and then to the Nemesis stereo delay.

The kits on the LXR-02 have been slightly tweaked in the panning to push the more kick-like sounds to the Monomyth. They've also been programmed with the effects on, so can sound a bit odd when dry.

Four demo tracks here which mainly speak for themselves although I should mention the last demo 'Transient' is interesting in headphones where you can pick out the big effect the Acidbox has on the transients. In hindsight it may have been better not to twiddle the knobs on that one so much, but it's hard to resist that gigantic filter knob :D

The only thing added in the DAW was a brickwall limiter to catch some of the peaks, otherwise everything is as you see it.

0:00 Talk about routing and devices
1:55 Demo 1: Scratchy
2:58 Demo 2: Fat & Thin
4:40 Demo 3: Industrial
6:33 Demo 4: Transient

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

Tuesday, February 20, 2024

DB-01 does the DFAM


video upload by Richard DeHove

"What do you get with a full parameter randomization and an LFO modulating FM? Played in the usual way you're almost certain to get a dog's breakfast. But with some careful step arpeggiation it can start to come together in a very DFAM-like way. If you're particularly lucky you may even be able to get the equivalent of four or five progressive sections from a single pattern.

The setup is a little bit involved so if you're impatient to see whether the DFAM sound is achieved just skip to the demo chunks at the end. My favorite is the DAF demo. These were named after creating them - don't think for a moment you can decide what you want ahead of time :D As usual the Gods will deliver to you what they see fit.

The Zen delay is proving a little "smoothing" and rhythmic coherence but other wise what you see is what you get. There's no further processing. Some of the demo tracks are slightly chopped since it's very easy to wander off the path into techno-Gristle land. Visually there's a few sections where the waveform display is missing, so my apologies, in the excitement of twiddling I forgot to switch it on :(

0:00 A mild example
0:42 LFO setup
1:56 Randomizer
2:40 Arp settings
3:42 Set scale
4:25 Roll the dice!
5:45 FM LFO issue
7:11 Demo 1: Warm Featherette
8:00 Demo 2: Funky Gabber
8:34 Demo 3: Bandpassed
10:10 Demo 4: DAF
10:42 Demo 5: Noisetown

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