New Conductive Labs MRCC Live Stream for Synthesthesia 2021

video by Conductive Labs

"Join us for a live demonstration and Q&A for the new MRCC MIDI Router Control Center.
Tentative Schedule (ET USA)
1:40 Live – MRCC Demonstration 1
3:00 Live – MRCC Q&A 1
4:00 Live - The NDLR Demo and Q&A
5:00 Live – MRCC Demonstration 2
6:30 Live – MRCC Q&A 2
7:30 Live - MRCC and The NDLR Demo and Q&A
Join any time and skip, hop or jump around to what you want to see. Excuse us if we step out for a short break now and then."

Additional Conductive Labs MRCC posts

Reflections

Martin Peters

"This music is somewhat inspired by the beautiful music accompanying the slide show of the Node Live Blu-Ray. You hear the Sequentix Cirklon sequencing 2 voices of the Synthesizers.com Modular, the Oberheim SEM and the Mutable Instruments Stages which is configured as a Harmonic Oscillator. The NDLR is sequencing the Korg Odyssey and the DSI Mopho. The VCF of the Moog Polymoog is triggered by the gates of a separate Cirklon sequence. The solo is on the Moog Minimoog.

The title refers to questions spinning around in my head for which no one knows the answers to.

The track was recorded live to multi-track on the Behringer X32 Compact and mixed in Studio One afterwards. I hope you will enjoy it.

The track can be downloaded from Bandcamp."

Deckard's Continuum Dream

Christophe Duquesne

"A Deckard's Dream controlled by a Continuum in MPE mode (with some additional help from a Kijimi, a NDLR and Valhalla Supermassive).

I was kindly lent a Deckard's Dream and a Kijimi from Black Corporation: for quite a long time, I wanted to try the Deckard to control it with a Continuum and the result is quite impressive. It's very different from the Eagan Matrix (the internal engine of the Continuum) and brings a very interesting set of colors ... and of course, it has this signature sound that triggers some memories (and, by the way, the Valhalla Supermassive I use here, as all Valhalla DSP effects, is really a must have). The MPE implementation of the Deckard is a bit unusual, but Ok for the Continuum, and a great thing is that, as for the Eagan Matrix, a single control can influence several parameters, each with its specific range, which is highly important for expression, and you manage to get an interesting mix of your own control and the legacy envelopes and LFO (that you usually play with your fingers on a Continuum).

In the video, the Kijimi is controlled by an NDLR by Conductive Labs, also a pretty nice combo."

Nothing Fancy

Martin Peters

"Last week I thought it was time to do some maintenance on the Polymoog. Three keys in the lower region were not working and I wanted to investigate the keyboard dynamics. Jareth Lackey helped me a lot with the keyboard dynamics: Thanks for that. There is a little mod on the back side for the S-Trig input with a 1/8" jack bus, a BC182A transistor and a 10K resistor. It was already there when I bought it but the transistor got loose from the wiring. So I connected that again. And during tested it, I came up with this little tune. The Polymoog modded S-Trig input is connected to a gate output of the Cirklon. The Cirklon also sequences a bassline on the Synthesizers.com and a sequence on the SEM. The NDLR drives the Mopho with a sequence. The solo is on the Minimoog. It is recorded from the stereo output of my mixer. All very simple, nothing fancy. Hope you like it."

Polymoog with the top lid off.

Conductive Labs The NDLR

Note: Auction links are affiliate links for which the site may be compensated.

via this auction

"Four midi tracks, sequenced arpeggiator, chord player and drone machine! Swiss army knife of melodies. Excellent used condition w/ original box and USB cable."

CLICK FOR MORE »

Modular/Analog "RAM"? How to store generative melodies & rhythms using sample & hold and seq switch

loopop

TIMELINE:
0:00 Intro
0:30 Mutate & deviate
1:20 Frozen randomness
2:05 Push-button melody
3:40 How it works
4:20 Storage costs
4:45 Switch sequencing
5:05 Generative controls
5:45 Rhythmic dice roll

Previous parts of this series:

CLICK FOR MORE »

Things2Come

Martin Peters

"I recorded this video on the 3rd of May. But I was not sure if it was good enough to share. Since then, I have grown to like it more and more. The songs is very melancholic and kind of reflects the mood I am in lately. The solo reminds me somewhat of Dave Stewart in his National Health years. The song is very basic with only 5 tracks: the bass from the Synthesizers.com Modular driven by the Cirklon sequencer, 2 sequences generated by the NDLR driving the DSI Mopho and the Korg ARP Odyssey, the strings from the Roland JD-800 also driven by the NDLR and the solo in the Moog Minimoog. The Cirklon clocks the NDLR and also sequences the chord and chord-type changes.

The track was recorded live to multi-track in Studio One and I did some little mixing afterwards. Hope you will enjoy it.

The track is uploaded to Bandcamp. Search for Attorks and you will find it."

Conductive Labs NDLR: Creating Generative Music

Published on Apr 10, 2020 Oscillator Sink

"The NDLR can be a tricky device to classify. It is not a traditional sequencer, but it certainly does sequence. To call it an arpeggiator would be to undersell it significantly, but arpeggios are very much an intrinsic part of its DNA. It is obviously far away from a traditional midi controller but it offers hands on control over midi instruments.

So I think that maybe it's better to think about the NDLR in terms of how it influences your relationship with your instruments. When you use a keyboard controller, you are playing the role of performer. When using a sequencer your job is more that of composer, with the sequencer then in charge of the actual performance.

With the NDLR you are more acting like a band leader during a jam. You set up a musical environment with rules, and as the performance happens, you direct the flow of the music with broad strokes; the details are left up to the performers jamming away inside the NDLR.

This blurring of the line between composer and performer really speaks to my interest in generative music so in this video, starting with a blank slate, I look at how you can use the NDLR to create generative music, taking an in-depth look at some features that I think are really cool when working in that kind of environment.

Here's Loopop's video on the NDLR:" [posted here]

You can find additional posts featuring the NDLR here.

Improvisation with Cirklon and NDLR

Published on Feb 22, 2020 Martin Peters

"It has been a while for various reasons. But this afternoon I thought, let's do a quick improvisation to show off with the NDLR. I got the NDLR at the end of last December and it is a great source of inspiration. The Cirklon clocks the NDLR and sequences the NDLR's chord progressions by sending CC messages. The NDLR drives the Mopho and the Korg ARP Odyssey as the 2 motif's and the Roland JD-800 as the pad. The Cirklon drives the Synthesizers.com for the bass, the SEM, the Plaits and the Braids for the snare sound. Some soloing on the Moog Voyager Old School, the Moog Prodigy and the Moog Polymoog Synthesizer. This all is recorded in 1 take. Sorry for my bad camera work and the fact that the camera stopped after 15 minutes. Hope you enjoy it nevertheless."

Ambient poly synth jam with the NDLR, Deckard's Dream, OB-6, Peak, Dreadbox Abyss, Polymoon, Big Sky

Published on Dec 12, 2019 Jay Hosking

"A live, semi-improvised performance, all on hardware, and inspired by winter looming. I've long wanted to make a couple of videos about how the sequencer really determines where the music goes, and I thought there was no better example of this than the NDLR, which is such a beautiful little inspiration device. In my opinion, I think the NDLR thrives at making interesting ambient explorations, and I hope I've demonstrated that here.

I've also wanted to make a "poly synth jam" and show each of the poly synths I currrently have next to each other. Some really interesting things revealed themselves here: 1) the Peak is the clear winner for bass; 2) I like the OB-6 a lot better for plucks or shorter decays than I do for pads; 3) the Abyss holds its own among these bigger names and is a real gem with lots of personality; 4) the Deckard's Dream isn't particularly rich or versatile, but adds the most beauty to the track, and it's a joy to make a patch from scratch.

Conductive Labs NDLR — Sequencing
Black Corporation Deckard's Dream + Meris Polymoon — Pad
Sequential/Oberheim OB-6 — Motif 1 (brighter arp)
Dreadbox Abyss + Strymon Big Sky — Motif 2 (mellower arp)
Novation Peak — Drone (bass monster)

Written and performed within a 24-hour period, and uploaded as is, with only a little compression/limiting on the master.

https://jayhosking.bandcamp.com/"

The NDLR in Blue

via iSapien

"Conductive Labs NDLR Limited Edition Blue MIDI Synth Controller #synthesizer ⁦
@matrixsynth"

Conductive Labs MRCC (MIDI Router Control Center) by Conductive Labs - sneak peak

Published on Sep 6, 2019 Conductive Labs

"Conductive Labs demos the MRCC (MIDI Router Control Center) early sneak peek prototype from KnobCon 2019.

We'll be linking to the KICKSTARTER campaign as soon it becomes available."

Update: it's now on Kickstarter here.

Conductive Labs brought us the NDLR. Thanks to Simo for the head up!

Synth Jams by Jay Hosking

Published on Jul 26, 2019 Jay Hosking

Spotted the first video in the playlist above on discchord.com. The Playlist contains 21 videos. You can use the player controls to skip around. Descriptions for each are below. All videos feature various gear so you should be able to get an idea of some of the capabilities of each featured. You can check out Jay Hosking's music at https://jayhosking.bandcamp.com/.

Note, more will likely get added over time. The following playlist is as of this post:

1. Jam w/ Vermona PERfourMER MkII, Elektron Analog Rytm MkII, OTO Bam, Styrmon Big Sky, Fugue Machine

A live, semi-improvised performance, all on hardware, and inspired by some pretty tough news that has me sentimental.

I loved the Elektron Analog Four MkII so much that I picked up the Analog Rytm MkII. My feelings on the Rytm are mixed. On the one hand, it's missing that spontaneity and spark of units like the Arturia DrumBrute Impact and Teenage Engineering OP-Z, with no readymade performance effects, roller bar, or global randomization, and a slower workflow. On the other hand, I really like its analogue sound engines, any unused tracks can be converted into impressive analogue mono synths, it does beautiful things to samples, and like all Elektron boxes it integrates the effects into the sequencer really nicely.

As for the Vermona PERfourMER MkII, I'd been pining over it for ages, and it was fun to finally tinker with it. The Perfourmer definitely excels in the mid- and high- range, and I love how the independent voices making really interesting voices for chords.

Vermona PERfourMER MkII + OTO Bam — Three synths (left chord note, right chord note, melody)
Vermona PERfourMER MkII + Strymon Big Sky — Bass chord note synth
Elektron Analog Rytm MkII — Drums, samples, sample melody, punchy bass
Fugue Machine (iOS) — Sequencing
IK Multimedia iRig Pro Duo — MIDI out from iOS

Written and performed within a 24-hour period, and uploaded as is, with only a little sidechain compression on the Perfourmer (to emphasize the sound that the Rytm was already making), and compression/limiting on the master.

https://jayhosking.bandcamp.com/

CLICK FOR MORE »

Create Brian Eno style generative music: 20 ideas and tools for Ableton, Eurorack, DAWless and VCV

Published on Apr 24, 2019 loopop

“Generative Music” is a term coined by Brian Eno to describe music that is always different and changing, generated by a system but led by creative guidelines, rather than typical music which follows a set of predetermined notes intended to be played the same way every time.

This video includes 20 ideas and even more tools for creating generative music inspired by Brian Eno's generative work. It's focused on ideas rather than one platform, and covers eurorack, iOS, VCV and Ableton tools for creating generative and probability based music.

TIMELINE OF IDEAS AND TOOLS:

0:00 Defining Generative

1:05 Simple randomization – Ableton MIDI LFO Max4Live device

2:10 Scaling random pitch – Ableton Random and Scale MIDI effects

2:50 Pitch to modal chords - Harmonaig from Instruo, with arpeggiation by Quaid Megaslope and Boss Bow Tie from ALM playing Rings from Mutable Instruments

CLICK FOR MORE »

Further Explorations // NDLR + Medusa + Magneto + Clouds

Published on Dec 7, 2018 Genshi Media Group

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

This didn't turn out quite how I had hoped, and I almost didn't upload it, but then I thought "why not" as I want to be able to show all of my little noodlings, bad or good. This is further ambient explorations with the Polyend/Dreadbox Medusa Hybrid synth as sequenced by the Conductive Labs NDLR (which is sequencing each Oscillator of the Medusa on their own MIDI Channels.) The Medusa is then going into the Strymon Magneto 4-Head dTape Echo and the Mutable Instruments Clouds Eurorack modules. The Retro Mechanical Labs Guitar Pedal Interface module is handling the Eurorack to Instrument Level audio coming out."

The NDLR - Nav the Knobs

Published on Nov 27, 2018 Conductive Labs

"The NDLR - Navigating the knobs. A demo of how to navigate around and a quick tour of the menus and editors of the final NDLR user interface.

We'll be making some more polished videos in a month or two, just wanted to get some info in front of your eyeballs!"

Conductive Labs NDLR + Dreadbox/Polyend Medusa (Reworked Version)

Published on Nov 21, 2018 Genshi Media Group

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

So this is a reworked version of the previous video. Specifically, I found that the Conductive Labs NDLR has a MIDI Polychain feature where I can spread the MIDI Channels of the PAD out to play Channels 4,5,6 - so that means I was able to turn the Dreadbox/Polyend Medusa's 6 Oscillators (using it's MIDI Channel per Oscillator feature) into a 3 Part Monophonic and 1 Part (three note) Polyphonic synth! Also, I added the Moog DFAM which is being Clocked Sync'd from the NDLR. A touch of Native Instruments Replika delay on the DFAM, and Valhalla Vintage Verb on the Medusa."

Conductive Labs NDLR Launch Party Demo Performance

Published on Nov 19, 2018 Genshi Media Group

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

This was a demo performance I did for Conductive Labs NDLR launch party on November 18th, 2018. Local folks who contributed to the crowdfunding were able to pick up their NDLRs in person, while others will start seeing theirs in the mail these next coming weeks!

My performance was a bit rough due to the Arturia Keystep not behaving. I was using the Keystep for two things: first, to switch between the "Chords" of the NDLR (same as hitting the buttons on the NDLR) but set so that Velocity would change the number of notes the PAD on the NDLR would play (so a light key press would play about 3 or 4 notes, and a hard key press would play 8 notes of the PAD. Also, the modulation strip on the Keystep was used to change the Octave range of the PAD) - and second, to switch over to play additional sounds direct off the Waldorf Blofeld, while the NDLR was Arpeggiating the first four sounds. Considering I put all of this together a couple of hours before the performance, it didn't turn out too bad."

The NDLR // with Waldorf XTk & Micro Q, Moog Sub 37, ARP Odyssey

Published on Aug 31, 2018 Genshi Media Group

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

Another beta test demo of the Conductive Labs NDLR Sequenced Arpeggiator, this time with hardware synths. The NDLR is connected and driving the synths as follows (by order of appearance):

• NDLR MOTIF 1 - Moog Sub 37 on MIDI Channel 2
• NDLR MOTIF 2 - ARP Odyssey on MIDI Channel 1
• NDLR DRONE - Waldorf Micro Q on MIDI Channel 3
• NDLR PAD - Waldorf Microwave XTk on MIDI Channel 4"

Beta Testing the Conductive Labs NDLR with U-HE "Dark Zebra" soft synth

Published on Aug 27, 2018 Genshi Media Group

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

This is a quick demo video of the Conductive Labs NDLR during my beta testing of their pre-production unit. The NDLR is a "Sequenced Arpeggiator" device that can be used with both software and hardware synths; shown here being used with 4 instances of U-HE Dark Zebra soft synth running in Ableton Live. (I added a drum track afterward for flavor.)"