Utopia Theme Sequence

video upload by boxoftextures

"When I was a kid growing up in New York City in the early 1970s I would listen to WNEW-FM all the time, but especially from 10pm to 2am when Allison Steele, the Night Bird, was on the air. WNEW was a progressive rock station, not really the same meaning as today's term 'prog rock,' but more that the DJs played what they wanted with no playlists. And one night in 1974 Allison Steele played a song from a new band I'd never heard of before, Todd Rundgren's Utopia. I was 14, and I was instantly hooked. The song was over 14 minutes long, and was from a live show. I was heavily into keyboards and they had three keyboard players, one with a giant modular. The bass and drums were incredibly tight. And on top of that was Todd Rundgren, abandoning his pop stylings and going full on prog. And then, after being entranced through the first half of the tune, they all stopped, and the sequencer started up. That was it for me. Instant favorite, and started me down the path to synthesizers. Where I still am today.

So that sequence has pretty much always been in my head, and in a way influenced my entire life. It was life-changing for me. And so here it is, recreated. A 'simple' six-note sequence, but super fast, and constantly shifting. Six notes, but that section of the song is in 4/4. Except that the main lines are on the ones but the answering lines start on the 3 before the one beat. So you have six against four, and your four is being interrupted by the answering refrain. You're constantly off balance, but then again things are also constantly being resolved. And then they all pause, back at the sequence, and he rips into the most amazing guitar solo I've ever heard. The whole thing is genius. Todd Rundgren, perhaps at his peak.

Featuring Multiphonics CV-1 from Applied Acoustics Systems

Video captured with CleanShot X
Audio recorded with QuickTime Player
Voiceover recorded in Sound Studio using an AudioTechnica BHPS1 Broadcast Headset
Audio routing done with Loopback

Edited in DaVinci Resolve 17 on a MacBook Pro (16-inch, 2019)

Twitter: @selgart
Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/boxoftextures"

Voltage Modular Sequencer Chaining

video upload by boxoftextures

"Cherry Audio sent out a tweet the other day about how you could take two 8-step sequencers and wire them together to make a 16-step sequencer using a clock divider and an 8 x 1 switch module. Unfortunately they left out all the juicy bits on how to actually make it work. An exercise for the reader, as one might say. I've taken the liberty of stepping in and filling in all the missing details to actually make this thing work, and then thinking of a few ways one might take it further. Not a difficult patch but a bit of a dastardly yet ingenious hack, LOL, which I had a lot of fun figuring out. So I made an in-depth 20 minute video going through all the modules, connections, steps, and the reason why it all works."

Twitter: @selgart
Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/boxoftextures

Beat Bars Footswitch to MIDI adapter

video by boxoftextures

"This is not exactly a synth demo, but rather a demo of how to connect a "standard" sustain pedal to a laptop or iPad. Not too difficult a task but it took a little research to find a good pedal-to-USB adapter. I'm using the Beat Bars FS2M adapter, which I'm very happy with. 1/4" TRS jack on one end, micro USB on the other. Can take pretty much any one- or two-switch pedal and send it right to your computer. I mean, not that big a deal but didn't realize how much I missed having a pedal when using piano apps, for example. And yes, some MIDI keyboards have a pedal jack input, but with today's super-thin portable bluetooth MIDI keyboards that's perhaps starting to become a thing of the past.

Beat Bars https://beatbars.com/en/footswitch-to... CME Xkey Air https://xkeyair.com/ Screenflow from Telestream https://www.telestream.net/screenflow... DaVinci Resolve https://www.blackmagicdesign.com/prod... XLN Addictive Keys Studio Grand https://www.xlnaudio.com/products/add... Audio Technica BPHS1 broadcast headset https://www.audio-technica.com/en-us/...

Twitter: @selgart
Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/boxoftextures"

VM2500 Walk-through

video by boxoftextures

"Cherry Audio recently released their VM2500 Collection, basically recreations of the ARP 2500 series of modules and I had to immediately purchase a set. This is more of a deep dive than my more usual synth demos, both because there are a lot of modules in the set, although I only cover some of them, but also because with modular systems there's simply a huge amount of options available in how you set everything up. Which is the basic idea of course. In this video I walk you through a number of different patches, going over these particular modules and how I used them but also getting into general modular principles. I'm assuming at least some prior knowledge of how synthesis works as this isn't really a Beginning Modular Synthesis course, although I've thought of doing a series along those lines to be honest, but even if you're a beginner you should at least be able to get an idea of what I'm aiming for.

The patches I make here include just a basic does-this-make-noise patch, then a "typical" synth patch, although it feels to me like a typical '70s ARP sound. I follow those up with two sequencer-driven patches and then a self-playing generative type of patch. Kind of a wide range there.

The Voltage Modular VM2500 Collection, from Cherry Audio - https://store.cherryaudio.com/bundles...​

Audio and video captured in CleanShot X on a MacBook Pro
Edited in DaVinci Resolve 17

Dymo Label Maker photo from the History’s Dumpster web site - http://historysdumpster.blogspot.com/...​

Twitter: @selgart
Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/boxoftextures"

UNO Synth Pro first patch

video by boxoftextures

"Got my UNO Synth Pro today and am super happy about it. Did a quick-minute, handheld, camera mic video of a bass pulses patch that I made, first one. Patch is my own but there are still some things left over from the preset, like the arpeggio patterns, for example. I made a second patch, not in this video, after I figured out how to initialize things so was able to start from scratch on that one.

Gotta say I think this thing's a winner. Sounds great, easy to program, will fit in a backpack no problem, even came with a USB-charging battery power supply which was a nice touch. I've literally had the thing for an hour or so and totally love it already.

Cast of characters:
UNO Synth Pro (Desktop)
iLoud Micro Monitors

Twitter: @selgart
Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/boxoftextures"

BLEASS Shimmer (Mac)

video by boxoftextures

"OK, two videos in two days, a new record for me. But I saw that BLEASS released their iPad plug-ins for desktops and I immediately bought them all. Then I loaded them up in Logic and tried them in my randomly opened last used file, which happened to be my video intro and outro track. As soon as I loaded the Shimmer plug-in and heard how it just totally transformed things I knew I had to record it all. I know I sound a little ridiculous but it was kind of a magical jaw-dropping moment when I pressed the Shimmer plug-in "power" button and it kicked in. And I (almost) never use presets, but I liked this one so much that I didn't bother to change it except for fading the dry/wet mix in and out.

Synth drone sound is done in Phase Plant, by the way.

BLEASS plug-ins: https://www.bleass.com/​
Phase Plant: https://kilohearts.com/products/phase...​

Twitter: @selgart
Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/boxoftextures​
SHOW LESS"

GForce OB-E quick demo

video by boxoftextures

"Quick demo of the OB-E synth software from GForce, makers of the fine M-Tron software among other things. The patch is my own, freshly made. Had no idea this was coming out, and when I saw it this morning was more or less an instabuy. When I was a lad in high school I'd go to Sam Ash on 48th Street in New York City on my way home from high school in the '70s and play all the synths until they'd kick me out, often when it got busy once folks got off work but more often probably because I'd accidentally made some horrid and/or way too loud sound. I played Minimoogs, ARPs, and the Oberheims, and eventually saved up enough to get my first Minimoog. But there was no way I was ever going to be able to get one of those Oberheim Four- or eight-voices as they cost a small fortune at the time. And kind of still do, I suppose. But this software emulation comes darn close. It has the flavor of the eight-voice, and it sounds fantastic. It's also modern, meaning because it's software there are handy shortcuts to make patch programming a bit easier than on the original hardware version. Had great fun making this first patch, and can see getting lost in it for the next week or two. Highly recommended.

You can find the GForce OB-E at https://www.gforcesoftware.com/produc...

Twitter: @selgart
Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/boxoftextures"

See the announcement post for additional demos and details.

Minky Starshine quick demo—Glass Pad

video by boxoftextures

"Quick demo of the Minky Starshine additive synth. Not even a demo, really, just a chord progression I came up with while making the patch. I got this originally in 2004 according to my records, so I've had it now for 17 years LOL. Got this because there was no way was ever going to be able to get an Alpha Syntauri even though that was almost 20 years earlier. Made by Expert Sleepers, the same folks now make make the Disting and other Eurorack modules. Super happy they're still keeping it modern OS compatible. Like many older soft synths the interface is now super tiny, mostly because at the time nobody could have possibly imagined today's high-res monitors. Everything still works though so I'm not complaining. I suppose if this were a modern app everything would be scalable live animation in 3D but none of that's really necessary to be honest.

Minky Starshine is basically an additive synthesizer with a subtractive filter, with three LFOs and some envelope generators, and you can use all those to modulate the harmonics. Makes the sound shift and shimmer in interesting ways, or you can "just" make your regular old synth patches too. Surprisingly flexible despite at first glance having not all that many controls. And as a bonus it's delightfully psychedelic too. You can still buy it for remarkably little money (iLok account required) and it still sounds great even after several decades.

You can find Minky Starshine at https://www.expert-sleepers.co.uk/min...

Twitter: @selgart
Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/boxoftextures"

Minky Starshine was first featured on the site back in 2008 here.

CherryCherry Audio Releases Polymode Synthesizer Plugin

Polymode patches video by boxoftextures

"OK, I’ve owned the new Cherry Audio Polymode Synthesizer for about an hour and a half and have already made five fine patches. Should have full patching video ready tomorrow. Totally worth getting even if you already have the Polymode Module.

Polymode Synthesizer: https://cherryaudio.com/instruments/p...​

Twitter: @selgart
Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/boxoftextures​

©2021 Box of Textures Music"
---
Cherry Audio Polymode was released today. It was actually previously released as a module version as you can see in additional posts here. The following is a quick promo video for the new release.

Cherry Audio | Polymode Synthesizer
video by Cherry Audio

"The latest Cherry Audio instrument is here! Joining the ranks of the lauded DCO-106, CA2600, and MG-1 Plus comes the Polymode Synthesizer.

The Polymode Synthesizer is inspired by the groundbreaking Moog Polymoog synthesizer. One of the world’s first polyphonic synthesizers, its unique multiple parallel filter implementation and mod routings give it a sound like no other synth, The original Polymoog sounded incredible but could be challenging to operate and was prone to breakdowns.

Cherry Audio’s Polymode sidesteps all of the drawbacks of the original instrument and massively expands its capabilities. With a streamlined user interface and immense modulation capabilities, Polymode sets a new standard for animated, sonically evolving string, pad, and choral tones."

Gauss-based iPad Frippertronics—Prayer for the New Year

boxoftextures

"Prayer for the New Year

Slow music—Gauss-based iPad Frippertronics

Recorded on 1 January 2021

Performed on LinnStrument
Recorded live in AUM on an iPad Pro

Featuring

Pipa, from Klevgrand
Ravenscroft 275, from VI Labs Audio
iSEM, from Arturia
BlackHole, from Eventide
ADverb2, from Audio Damage

Frippertronics provided by Gauss,
from Ruismaker by Bram Bos

Lasers from Plugg LaserPod
No video effects were used

Video recorded using a GoPro Hero5 Black
and an iPhone 11 Pro Max using FiLMiC Pro

Edited in ScreenFlow

Twitter: @selgart
Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/boxoftextures

©2021 Box of Textures Music"

Boxing Day

boxoftextures

"Recorded live in Logic Pro X

Played on a LinnStrument

Featuring:
Synplant, from Sonic Charge
Phase Plant, from Kilohearts
SynthMaster, from KV331 Audio
LuSH-101, from D16 Group

MAnalyzer and MStereoScope, from MeldaProduction"

Twitter: @selgart
Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/boxoftextures

ArpBud demo tune

boxoftextures

"A quick demo of ArpBud, but really it was just an excuse for me put together the core of a new arpeggio-based tune. ArpBud has Tal-U-No-LX playing a semi-ratcheted arpeggio with echoes created by a Nembrini Delay. Then Redshrike screams its feedback-y heart out. Still needs a rich pad of some sort, and perhaps a thundering bass as well. Maybe throw in a Mellotron or organ as well. My prog roots run deep, I suppose.

AUM
Tal-U-No-LX
Nembrini Delay
ArpBud
Redshrike

Also, this was played, recorded, edited, and uploaded to YouTube entirely on an iPad Pro.

Wanted to mention that the video editing was done in LumaFusion. Note that I bought the app yesterday and from never touching it before I went to an almost finished video in about three hours. An excellent video app. The "almost" bit is because I had to spend some additional time to figure out how to do scrolling credits. Not difficult but a somewhat odd and interesting technique, which I'm glad I now know how to do.

You can find me on Twitter at https://twitter.com/selgart
I also have a Patreon at https://www.patreon.com/boxoftextures"

Polymode drone demo - Voltage Modular

boxoftextures

"Another excellent module for Voltage Modular, from Cherry Audio. Kind of a whole synth actually rather than just one module. It's based on the Polymoog, although it has a lot of added features because it's modular, which means you can throw half a dozen LFOs at the resonators, say, if you would ever feel like doing such a ridiculous thing. But who would ever think of doing something like that anyway?

I put together a fizzing and buzzing and moving around drone patch today. It uses the Polymode module, far too many LFOs, and a reverb. Everything's internal to the Voltage Modular app, with nothing external except for an Arturia Keystep, on which I pressed only two keys for the whole thing. You can of course make much more than drones with the Polymode but as soon as I saw all those control voltage jacks on the resonator I knew what I had to do.

The Polymode module sounds great, is quite useful, and is surprisingly inexpensive. Not many of us will ever get our hands on a Polymoog but the Polymode synth module is certainly within the reach of far more of us.

You can find me on Twitter at https://twitter.com/selgart
I also have a Patreon at https://www.patreon.com/boxoftextures"

Matrix Dude synth: first contact

boxoftextures

"My first contact with Matrix Dude, a new synth app from Digituria. I really like this app. It's kind of Minimoog-ish but with a lot more possibilities for modulation. Easy to use, sounds good, it's even bright and colorful!

A few notes though. One is that this is more or less an alpha version, still very much in development. As such, things will definitely be changing in the app. Many for the better I'm sure but things in this video may also be changed or eliminated. So be sure to remember the early-in-development status of the app when I'm adjusting the fine tuning of the oscillators a number of times, for example. I've spoken with the developers and they know about this and are definitely working on the tuning algorithms. I'm also told the look and feel of the app may be changing substantially so followup videos may look quite different.

All that being said, I had a lot of fun patching up sounds in Matrix Dude. Was quick and easy, and it sounds darn good. Looking forward to future updates to the app.

Lastly, I was going to make a quick one-minute tune as the outro music but ultimately decided the bass sound didn't really mesh with the arpeggio sound as it had a bit too much in the high frequencies. Next version I'm thinking I'll greatly lower the envelope 2 amount so you don't get as much of a burst of high frequency energy at the start of each note. It's fine with just the arpeggios there at the end but I was definitely planning something a bit more musical as a short demo of what you could do. Same with the lead sound, might soften the attack of the envelope just a bit to make it a bit less percussive at the beginning of a note.

You can find me on Twitter at https://twitter.com/selgart
I also have a Patreon at https://www.patreon.com/boxoftextures

Digituria is at https://digituria.co
Matrix Dude is at https://digituria.co/products/matrix-..."

Four Months In - Return to New York

boxoftextures

"Is it a travel video? Or is it a rail fan video? Or even, is it a music video? Nobody knows. Overcast day for an Amtrak train from Boston to New York, basically the entire view of the Manhattan skyline as we go from the Bronx through Queens and then into the tunnel to Manhattan.

Music details: Arturia V Collection synths, but most sounds are from Pigments, one of my favorite soft synths. All sounds are original patches I made for this tune. In fact, our motto is:

Box of Textures: never* sullying your ears with a preset

Recorded into Logic Pro X on a 16-inch, 2019 MacBook Pro using their new Live Loops feature, because that's how I've preferred to work ever since I got Digital Performer seemingly a thousand years ago.

I like making these travel videos and their accompanying soundtracks. Apparently though it seems I only travel from right to left. I'll try to work on that for the next one but to be fair it's only the second one of these I've done recently.

You can find me on Twitter at https://twitter.com/selgart
I also have a Patreon at https://www.patreon.com/boxoftextures

As always, headphones recommended."

Grand Canyon

Published on Mar 25, 2020 boxoftextures

"Flew from New York to LA for New Years, back in the olden times when that sort of thing used to be possible. And may one day yet be again one hopes.

Music is three tracks of Moog One recorded into Ableton Live. As usual, no presets were harmed in the making of this video, although a few new ones may have been created at the time.

You can find me on Twitter at https://twitter.com/selgart
I also have a Patreon at https://www.patreon.com/boxoftextures"

SunVox Tracker Basics

Published on Mar 18, 2020 boxoftextures

"SunVox has been around for a long time on practically every platform. Heck, they even have a Palm Pilot version if that's what you need. I did this video on my iPad Pro but I could have just as easily done it with the Mac version, say, as they're basically identical.

This is a First Contact™ video. The app's not at all new but this is the first time I've really delved into it. In other words, please forgive me if I missed something truly obvious. Definitely looking forward to digging in deeper.

I really only touched the tracker parts of the app, and only one pattern, but there's a lot more to it than that. There are several synthesizer modules, and you can also make complex arrangements on the fly by making multiple patterns. You can add bits of randomness and uncertainty as well in order to make things perhaps more organic or maybe even self-playing possibly, although to be honest I've only barely scratched the surface and not gotten anywhere near those things yet.

I made this video mostly as a very basic demo for folks who've never seen a tracker before, or were wondering how one might be different from a sequencer. The simple answer is that a tracker is perhaps "lighter" than a sequencer in that you can do everything in it just by typing things in on your keyboard. You could just as easily do what I did on an iPhone while waiting for a bus rather than at home on an iPad or a computer, and that's kind of the point. Heck, you could probably do it just as easily on a Game Boy maybe. Not going to give up my laptop or my regular software, but I can actually do music on the fly on my phone at a moment's notice, and that definitely has value.

You can find me on Twitter at https://twitter.com/selgart
I also have a Patreon at https://www.patreon.com/boxoftextures

SunVox is at https://www.warmplace.ru/soft/sunvox/
The SunVox iPad/iPhone app is at https://apps.apple.com/app/sunvox/id3..."

BLEASS alpha iOS synthesizer

Published on Feb 2, 2020 boxoftextures

"The BLEASS alpha synthesizer app is a solid new entry in the 2020 iOS synth pantheon. Clean interface and easy to program yet still has modulation power and sounds darn good. Can definitely see using this all the time.

This is a First Touch™ video as the app was released only about 10 hours before recording. In other words, please forgive me if I missed something truly obvious as this was the first time I used it. Definitely looking forward to digging in deeper.

As usual, no presets were harmed in the making of this video, although a few new ones may have been created at the time.

You can find me on Twitter at https://twitter.com/selgart
I also have a Patreon at https://www.patreon.com/boxoftextures

BLEASS is at https://www.bleass.com
The BLEAS alpha synthesizer is at https://apps.apple.com/us/app/bleass-..."

ContinuuMini first improv

Published on Jan 30, 2019 boxoftextures

"First recording of the Haken ContinuuMini. I had it for maybe 20 minutes, and while I feel I can improve hitting the notes exactly with a little practice the thing just feels totally natural. Arpeggio is the IK Multimedia Uno, lead line is the ContinuuMini only with no external effects."

Iceland 2018

Published on Sep 23, 2018 boxoftextures

"Traveled the ring road in Iceland. Counterclockwise, one week. Totally recommended."