Two Erica Synths DB-01s attempt Subharmonicon ambience

video by Richard DeHove

"Can two Erica Synths DB-01 Bassline machines achieve Subharmonicon-style ambience? They are wildly different in design and capabilities but the DB-01s can do a surprisingly good impression of "meandering ambience". Here I run through the entire setup and tweaks with less talking as the video goes on. What I did find is that the wonderful Polivoks filter won't be denied and the machines seemed to naturally gravitate to grit and filth and finally ended up in dark ambient territory. For contrast listen at 4:35 and then jump to 20:20. Both machines are running through the same Fabfilter Pro-R reverb setting at a 25% mix.

PS: The focus becomes steadily softer through the video. Why? Who knows, but it's the last time that camera will fail me. Next time, a new camera.

0:00 Intro blather
0:24 Adding steps and setting the scale
0:39 Step cycling
1:00 Setting the LFO
1:36 Polymeters
2:03 Percentage probabilities
2:39 Second LFO adjusted
3:08 Polymeter and LFO settings overview
3:23 Music finally starts!
3:37 Drone mode added
3:53 Setting the random pitch range
4:35 Subharmoniconicky yet?
6:45 Restricting pitch to one octave
8:15 One high; one low
8:55 LFOs to sample and hold
9:28 A few extra steps
11:06 Slowest possible synced LFO
12:40 Both set to two octave range
13:26 Thinning out the patterns
14:00 Grit appears
14:56 Both to triangle waveform
15:08 Getting dark and dirty
17:40 The Polivoks Revenge
20:20 Outro jam: the DB-01s back in character

My site: https://richarddehove.com/
Lots of downloads for supporters on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/richarddehove"

Richard DeHove Erica Synths DB-01 posts

Erica Synths DB-01 quick tip: Long steps

Richard DeHove

"The DB-01, good as it is, doesn't have sustain. But there are ways to achieve long sustained notes, as well as mixtures of long and short envelopes in a single pattern.

0:00 Quick overview
0:13 Gate length
0:35 Using gates for sustain
0:55 The LFO as an envelope
2:06 Modulation for sustain
3:00 Combinations"

You can find additional Erica Synths DB-01 quick tips by Richard DeHove here.

Erica Synths DB-01: Advanced randomization

video by Richard DeHove

"The DB-01 has some excellent randomization features. Go into play mode, press and hold a step and select either a percentage chance for that step to play; or select a ratio of plays to pattern cycles. With a little planning you can get some very long and complex patterns. Added to that is the pattern randomization page with all sorts of options that can be great starters:

0:00​ Intro and Play Mode
1:00​ Percentages in Play Mode
1:52​ Step cycles in Play Mode
3:11​ Randomize Pattern Mode
3:30​ Deleting modulations
4:20​ Accents
4:37​ Slides
4:44​ Filter modulation
5:12​ Pitch envelope
7:17​ Gate distribution
8:28​ Cycles and percentages
9:37​ Gate length
9:58​ Scales and note ranges
11:32​ Creating a user scale
13:50​ One-note scale
14:36​ Fixing the start point
17:08​ Saving settings per bank
18:42​ Scale bug on save settings

My site: https://richarddehove.com/​
Lots of downloads for supporters on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/richarddehove"

Erica Synths DB-01 demos by Richard DeHove

Using CV to create generative ambient with the DB-01

video by Richard DeHove

"The Erica Synths DB-01 plus a single Eurorack LFO module (the Erica Synths Drum Modulator) can achieve generative dark ambient. Seems unlikely but is really very straightforward. In this example it even sounds a bit like a thunderstorm. An Eventide Blackhole provides the obligatory big dark reverb and there's also some limiting in the DAW from a Fabfilter Pro-L.

0:00 Creating a pattern
1:00 Into drone mode
1:18 Clock out to LFO
1:48 CV input
2:30 Internal LFO
3:20 Gate in
3:58 Add reverb
4:40 Pitch CV in
6:00 Creating the storm

My site: https://richarddehove.com/
Lots of downloads for supporters on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/richarddehove"

Richard DeHove DB-01 posts

The DB-01 turns two: An interview with its designer, Girts Ozolins

video upload by Richard DeHove

"It's just over two years ago that the DB-01 was released into the wild. Gritty, aggressive and surprisingly deep, it may well eventually join the ranks of classic synths. Founder of Erica Synths and designer of the DB-01, Girts Ozolins, explains how the machine came to be, how it was designed and dives into history, engineering and future. Along the way we also get an insight into some of the design philosophies of Erica Synths.

0:00 Origins of the DB-01
2:24 Sequencer integration
4:16 The design process
11:00 Links to the 303?
13:20 The drive circuit
14:28 A happy surprise
15:35 The preset debate
17:30 Testing the sound
19:50 Latvian production
22:30 DB-01 component changes
23:00 Verion 2 ?

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

Two DB-01s and a pod-load of CV

video upload by Richard DeHove

"The Erica Synths DB-01 sends and receives CV and includes a handy attenuator, so a little experimentation with CV can really extend the sound design possibilities. Here both DB-01s and a pod of Euro clocks and modulators (two Erica Synths Drum Modulators) are synced together. One DB-01 is the master feeding pitch CV into a mult and then into the second DB-01. Both units are getting filter CV inputs from the Drum Modulators. The main machine is sometimes going through a Microtubes B3K for extra overdrive goodness, and the second DB-01 get washy with an Earthquaker Devices Afterneath V3 - which also accepts CV. Hopefully this little demo gives you some ideas. A little CV goes a long way.

My site: https://richarddehove.com/ Lots of downloads for supporters on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/richarddehove"

Driving a second synth with the DB-01

video upload by Richard DeHove

"The DB-01 is usually stuck in the bass realm, but simply driving a second synth by MIDI can add an entirely new feel to a bass sequence. Here the DB-01 is driving a Vermona PerFourMer MkII. The DB-01 is going through a Boss RV-6 reverb, the PerFourMer through the Erica Synths Zen Delay (which seems to suit it so well). The second DB-01 makes a tiny cameo appearance with an effect sound. No other effects or processing than what you see.
Although the DB-01 is very happy driving other synths via MIDI or CV, it is surprisingly unhappy driving a second DB-01. Not only could I not get one DB-01 to drive the other, using CV seemed to somehow corrupt the pitch and I had to do a complete unit reset.

0:00 Intro blather
0:15 Basic pattern & setup
0:50 Added revern
1:09 SFX sound
1:27 Vermona sounds
1:39 Pattern starts, talk ends
2:25 Zen delay

My site: https://richarddehove.com/
Lots of downloads for supporters on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/richarddehove"

Erica Synths DB-01: Using it as a drum machine

Richard DeHove

"The DB-01 makes an interesting and unusual drum machine, keeping sync beautifully while being manually played. It also uses features which tend not to get as much love in the usual bass-duties mode, such as the triangle wave, drone mode and FM.

0:00 Creating a simple starter pattern
0:25 Adding pitch envelope
0:42 Copying and adding steps
1:38 Adding accents
1:46 Modifying the pitch envelope
2:22 Changing octaves
2:57 Filter modulation
3:29 VCA on drone mode & tweaking
4:17 LFO on the filter
4:40 Square wave nmode
5:08 Adding noise
5:27 LFO for basic beat
6:24 Step Roll mode
6:58 Fun noodlings
9:00 Changing the Arp pattern style
9:20 Arp in latch mode

https://www.patreon.com/richarddehove
On Patreon you'll also find some DB-01 loops in wav format"

Richard DeHove DB-01 posts

LXR-02 tutorial - Part 8: Euclidean triggers

video upload by Richard DeHove

"Part eight of a guide for the Erica Synths LXR-02 drum machine. This is with firmware 1.2. In some ways this is less of a tutorial and more of a fun exploration with the LXR-02 paired with a DB-01 Bassline and then a Vermona PerFourMer MkII with a Zen delay. The Euclidean triigers come from the LXR-02's pattern generator. In the first example one channel is dedicated to running the DB-01. The interesting sude effect of the triggering is that it adds sustain to the DB-01 sound. This means switching it on and off gives a very different quality to the sound. In the second example four channels of the LXR-02 trigger four different sounds on the Vermona PerFourMer. The fun comes from switching between channels on the LXR-02 to create rythmic variations. The Zen delay gives some extra complexity and dirt on top.
0:00 Technical setup
1:12 DB-01 pattern
1:44 DB-01 triggered
2:37 Changing the pitch
3:37 Euclidean jam
5:44 PerFourMer MkII setup
6:39 PerFourMer sounds
7:20 Fiddling with triggers
9:10 Zen delay
10:08 Overdrive
12:00 Kick fiddlings
13:00 More drive!

My site: https://richarddehove.com/
Lots of downloads for supporters on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/richarddehove"

LXR-02 tutorials by Richard DeHove

Erica Synths DB-01 Quick Tip: Filter Tracking

video by Richard DeHove

"The DB-01 doesn't have tracking by default, but it's easy to activate by CV. There's some other internal CV patching that can give interesting results as well!

0:00​ Setting up filter tracking
0:45​ Tracking with noise
1:14​ LFO in noise mode
1:40​ Useful resonance
2:36​ Clock to Gate In
3:12​ Clock to CV In
3:55​ Odd 'delay' effect
4:30​ Adding white noise"

https://richarddehove.com/​
Lots of downloads for supporters on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/richarddehove​

Richard DeHove DB-01 posts

Erica Synths DB-01 tutorial - Part 1: Essentials

Richard DeHove

"Part 1 of a tutorial series for the Erica Synths DB-01 Bassline synth. The tutorial covers basic operations in the order in which you may need them. In this video:

0:00 Intro and setting the BPM
0:40 Enter notes
0:48 Play, Pause, Resume, Stop
1:00 Change the note / octave
1:35 Basic controls
2:32 Swing amount
3:08 Quick save
4:27 The configuration menu
5:10 Set the clock
5:31 Set the MIDI in channel
5:43 Set the MIDI out channel
5:51 Send MIDI clock
5:57 Bar follow mode
6:25 Set the output volume
7:00 Tuning, Backup, Calibrate, Reset
7:17 Check the firmware version
7:35 Set the sequence length / bars and steps
9:17 Bar follow in action
10:20 Copy and paste multiple steps
12:47 Copy and paste single steps
13:59 The LFO: shape, sync, reset
18:05 FM level and the LFO
19:10 - Demo jam using FM and the LFO -
24:11 Saving, copying and deleting patterns
27:00 Banks
28:50 Copying patterns from bank to bank

https://www.patreon.com/richarddehove"

Hardcore Krell with the DB-01

video upload by Richard DeHove

"When I explained to a friend that I was doing a Krell patch on the DB-01 they summed it up as: "Blips and bloops with added bass and distortion". That sort of hurt but actually seems quite accurate. The nature of a Krell patch is absolutely blips and bloops. At least using a DB-01 you avoid the next level of modular insult which is 'a $10,000 fart machine'.

On a more positive note, this little project does highlight that the Erica Synths DB-01 is a very fast and capable generative machine and an able sequencer.
(No other effects or processing of the sound other than what you see.)

0:00 Krell blather
0:37 Patch setup
2:30 Bass starter
2:48 Lead starter
4:14 Random but not krell
5:45 Random playback
6:32 Envelopes via LFOs
8:13 Krell time
10:41 No effects
10:55 Pause to sparsify
13:00 Lead VCA tweaks
14:00 More pitch control
17:37 Krellish
18:00 External CV crazytime

My site: https://richarddehove.com/
Lots of downloads for supporters on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/richarddehove"

Erica Synths DB-01 tutorial - Part 2: Advanced

Richard DeHove

Part 1 posted here

"Part 2 of a tutorial series for the Erica Synths DB-01 Bassline synth. The tutorial covers the more advanced functions such as step roll and randomization.
0:00 Step gate length
1:24 Accents
2:59 Slides
3:52 Pitch envelope
5:21 Filter modulation
9:26 Transpose
10:30 Scales
11:43 Arpeggiator
16:00 Arpeggiator patterns
17:58 Arpeggiator step roll
22:03 Randomization
23:12 Randomization parameters
24:03 A classic mistake!
25:25 Randomization customization
32:30 Saving randomization settings

https://www.patreon.com/richarddehove"

Erica Synths DB-01 Quick Tip: Drone mode

video by Richard DeHove

"Drone mode on the DB-01 is simple and obvious yet can add a lot of power and variation to even the most simple patterns. Here drone mode is combined with a saved scale and a synced LFO. You could easily adlib an entire song!

Effects used here are only what you see: a Carbon Copy Deluxe and an MXR Phase 45. The DB-01 is otherwise alone and unprocessed: no EQ, compression, limiting, volume change etc. And of course, just a single track.

For more on the DB-01 see my playlist of tutorial videos and tips: [previuos posts here]

My site: https://richarddehove.com/
Lots of downloads for supporters on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/richarddehove"

Erica Synths DB-01 tutorial - Part 3: MIDI & CV

Richard DeHove

You can find all parts in the series here.

"Part 3 of a tutorial series for the Erica Synths DB-01 Bassline synth. The tutorial covers such things as MIDI control, CV in, CV clock and pattern chaining. A short jam toward the end shows a small sample of the range of sounds when paired with a Moog DFAM.

0:00 Playing from an external keyboard
1:08 Keyboard mode
1:35 Setting the MIDI input channel
2:20 Portamento
2:45 External control of the arpeggiator
3:08 External control of step roll mode
4:03 Chaining patterns
5:05 Sync to external clock
5:46 CV inputs
6:10 Pitch CV in
7:05 Fixing knob lag
8:00 A Throbbing Gristle moment
9:50 DFAM pitch input
15:02 Filter CV input and jam"

Jam with two Erica Synths DB-01s: The Double DB March

video by Richard DeHove

"So I love the Erica Synths DB-01 so much I bought another one! But then I thought I'd better separate them a bit so got two cheap Joyo EQ units. What you hear in this jam is just the two DB-01s going through the EQ units and the delays. Left unit gets an EQ and the DuoTime; the right unit gets an EQ and the Rubberneck. There are no other instruments, no other processing, no limiting or compression, not even any volume changes applied in the DAW. Apart from cutting out some boring bits and errors what you see it what it is.

The left unit is on a very simple 16-step pattern with a synced LFO and put in drone mode. The right unit has an unsynced LFO and a 64-step pattern. From time to time I play the units manually in keyboard mode (which overrides the pattern), and a couple of times the right unit as an arpeggio.

Certainly it would be better with further processing and drums but I thought it more useful to leave it exactly as played where you can directly see the effect of all the knob movements. Sometimes a very slight movement can have a big effect. The sub-oscillator is especially quirky."

A DB-01 noodle: Gates as ghost notes

video upload by Richard DeHove

"Ghost notes (or grace notes) are little extra hits or embellishments that add a subtle extra feel or layer. With the DB-01 the CV gate input and CV VCF inputs are perfect for this. Here I use the Fractio Solum by Noise Engineering to provide the gate signals. The LFO into the VCF CV is from the Erica Synths Drum Modulator dual LFO. Both are synced to the same clock as the DB-01. To give the programmed notes on the DB-01 a bit of extra initial envelope the internal LFO is set to reset with each note.
There are three audio examples. The effect is reasonably subtle so if you watch the actual notes on the timeline versus the audio "hits" then the ghost note effect is more obvious. You can also see the trigger light on the Fractio (the white cable) to see when the gate is firing. Pattern three has an odd 4/3 gate timing which produces somewhat off-beat hits.
I think the main value in the ghost notes is to create variations of standard patterns that can help maintain interest and movement. And they're fun to play with :D

0:00 Intro blather
0:25 Pattern one
1:00 Add an LFO
2:23 Pattern two
4:02 Pattern three

My site: https://richarddehove.com/
Lots of downloads for supporters on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/richarddehove"

Finding Throbbing Gristle on a DB-01

video upload by Richard DeHove

"What happens when you push audio-rate CV modulation into the DB-01 ? All sorts of interesting squawks and overtones. Here I experiment with feeding the audio output of a Schlappi Engineering Interstellar Radio into the filter and pitch CV inputs of the Erica Synths DB-01. After a short blab session explaining the basic parameters I switch to a slow FM drone and the Throbbing Gristle fun begins. For fans of the 20 Jazz Funk Greats album, the end of this video attempts to channel the memory of the wonderous Hamburger Lady.
The effects used are what you see: a Boss GEB-7 bass EQ, then into a Donner White Tape delay, and finally a Boss RV-6 reverb on the 'delay and reverb' mode. No DAW effects used except for some very gentle limiting on the master output.

0:00 Intro blabbing
2:20 Pattern noodling
4:50 Setting up the Gristle
6:00 Daisy the Cow
6:40 Throbbing begins
9:00 Maximum Gristle

My site: https://richarddehove.com/
Lots of downloads for supporters on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/richarddehove"

Norand Mono and a DB-01 - noodlings (no talking)

video upload by Richard DeHove

"Both the Norand Mono and the Erica Synths DB-01 are best known for furiously zipping along through 16-step patterns, although both can easily move into very different realms. While fiddling with the filter and resonance on the Norand (and applying envelopes separately to both) I came across an interesting effect where they sometimes seem to split off into two voices. I couldn't quite decide whether it was spooky, or had a sort of Arabian flavor. The DB-01 seemed a natural fit so I added a very simple drone-mode pattern. Both machines have an added touch of Valhalla delay in Reaper but are otherwise as you see them here.

My site: https://richarddehove.com/
Lots of downloads for supporters on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/richarddehove"

Two White Tape delays in series with a DB-01

video upload by Richard DeHove

"The White Tape delay by Donner is a cheap, simple, dual delay. The left and right channels are totally independent with their own rate, level and feedback. The units handle line level well and were very happy with chewing on the Erica Synths DB-01 Bassline.
The delays themselves are not overly exciting in any way, the mix doesn't go very high (certainly not 100%) and in keeping with the "tape" idea tend to be a bit low-fi. But as a pair of cheap and cheerful stereo-ish delays in series they do an excellent job and delivering somewhat dubby-sounding thickness.
In the second half of the demo I switch the DB-01 into drone mode and let the FM control the pitch, modulated by the S&H LFO. This is where the two delays seemed most happy giving real thickness but without the drenched fuzziness of a reverb.
0:00 Overview babble
1:24 Weedy pattern
1:48 Full feedback
2:09 Full mix
2:40 In series
3:44 Delay times?
5:23 Seasick droning

My site: https://richarddehove.com/
Lots of downloads for supporters on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/richarddehove"