Who becomes silverware first? - 10 minute LFO filter sweep and semi-generative Eurorack jam

video upload by thesrabbit

"This sonic experiment was inspired by the Dreadbox Erebus LFO having a whopping 10-minute long cycle time. Therefore, I thought it might be fun to run that LFO into every single filter I have with a CV input, including big analog polys with a VCF control input on the back intended for expression pedals. The honorary VCFs include: 2x Roland System-500 521, G-Storm Electro SH-2 and SH-5, Dreadbox Erebus, Oberheim OB-X8 (OB-X SEM LP mode), Sequential/Oberheim OB-6, Roland Juno-6.

Interestingly the filters on the big polys don't open all the way. I assume this has something to do with the inputs being calibrated for expression pedals rather than Eurorack CV. According to my oscilloscope, the Erebus LFO range is -5v and +5v. This is pretty typical for Eurorack. I set the cutoff at about 50% for all the filter modules. This seemed to work perfectly. But I was not able to do that with the polys. With the cutoff at 50%, the filters would open up all the way, but they wouldn't close nearly enough. I had to bring the cutoff completely down, and as a result, the filters on the polys wouldn't open up all the way. I did alternate takes where I walked around and tried to smoothly nudge each one up in order to get the filters fully open, but that was a disaster. In retrospect, I could have set up a one-shot MIDI LFO to do this and triggered it once at the right moment, but I already had enough things to worry about.

One of my audio interfaces is dead or dying, and it keeps ruining takes and sometimes crashes Logic. I finally turned it off and went with my lone Focusrite Scarlett 8i6, which has always been solid. But now I had an extra synth without an input and I wanted to have the polys on their own tracks so that I could blend them in with the Eurorack stuff to taste. And there's no possible way I could overdub since the whole point is to have one LFO sweeping all of the filters at the same time. I ended up resorting to an old 1989 JVC cassette deck to record the OB-6. So that shot at the opening of the video is legit. There's such a big wall of sound here that it's impossible to tell if it ended up adding any saturation. It definitely added some hiss and crackles but that's fine in this context. The cassette itself is ancient, cheap consumer grade, 60 minutes per side. I ended up recording over some 90's black metal that had been there since, well, the 90's.

To add to the grit and grime, I intentionally ran the filters from the Eurorack straight into the audio interface, bypassing the typical flow through VCAs. Ok, fine, I totally forgot about the VCAs, but it sounded extra dirty, so I didn't stress out too much. I certainly wasn't going to power everything back on, tune everything up and do another take because of it.

Obviously when the filters are closed or nearly closed for several minutes, there needs to be something to fill that gap. That's where the generative stuff comes in. There's 3 different sample and hold circuits feeding different things, including back into themselves in one case. Some voltage is running through different logic gates in conjunction with other, steady LFOs. Since I'm out of filters, the sound consists of pink noise through a VCA, triggered at random by a very short decay envelope. This runs into a recovery tape delay module, that gives sort of a slapback effect.Then there's a single oscillator, pitch controlled by another S/H circuit run through a quantizer and then running into the spring reverb tank. It's also triggered by the same random voltages triggering the noise hits. Then there's the Mutable Instruments Plaits, making the plinky plonky sounds, again everything triggered at random. It's running into the majestic Calsynth Typhoon.

The last thing to note is that the Erebus LFO also acts like an automated fader to increase and decrease the level of the VCA where all the rhythmic sounds are running through. I simply inverted the signal of the LFO output to do this. As the filters open up, the VCA level diminishes. When the filters fully close, the VCA level increases to maximum.

Last last thing. That knob twisting near the beginning isn't for sci-fi FX, though that's an added bonus. I was simply trying to get the LFO back to its "starting position." I didn't quite succeed. I don't believe the Erebus has any sort of LFO triggering mechanism to help with this. All good though.

FX: Audiothingies DoctorA delay and reverb, Boss DM-101 delay

No post processing other than a 30Hz low cut and slight limiting on the master"

Oberheim OB-X8: Sounds with Page 2 Features (including an OB-6 filter mode sweep)

video upload by thesrabbit

"Contents:

0:00 Intro (Notch Dream patch with delay)
3:27 Hell's Swells patch (with short plate reverb)
5:35 OB-XH patch (with delay and reverb)
6:50 OB-XH lower layer (dry)
7:11 OB-HX upper layer (dry)
7:31 Hell's Swells lower layer (dry)
7:53 Hell's Swells upper layer (dry)
8:16 Notch Dream lower layer (dry)
9:01 Notch Dream upper layer (dry)
9:51 LFooy patch (with delay)
11:01 Square Weirdo patch (with delay)
11:55 Crazy AF patch (with delay)
12:44 Dirtano patch (with reverb)
13:47 Notch Dream patch variation with MIDI Mod (with delay)
15:16 OB-6 filter mode patch variation with MIDI Mod (with built-in chorus and delay)
18:06 Outro with OB-X8 and OB-6 (Notch Dream patch and OB-6 filter mode patch with delay)

If you have an OB-X8 and you're not using the Page 2 features, you're missing out on half the synth. Nobody seems to talk about these features or explore them. The OB-X8 is indeed a very versatile synth capable of many different timbres, not just the classic sounds from the original OB series. There are so many things you can do with modulation envelopes, LFO phase inversion, different SEM filter modes, and layering, just to name a few things. The OB-6 is limited by comparison. I find it pretty frustrating to use sometimes after making sounds on the OB-X8. It does have other tricks up its sleeve of course, and it sounds beautiful. It's definitely its own brand of OB with its own flavor. Similarly, the addition of 3 SEM filter modes and ability to mix and match OB-8, OB-Xa, and OB-X components and features make the OB-X8 its own beast, and I feel like a lot of people don't really appreciate that. It is so much more than a reissue.

Rant aside, my main motivation for this was to see how close I could get to emulating an OB-6 filter mode sweep. I think I got pretty good results here regardless if the sound is close or not, but I'll let you be the judge. Let me know what you think. There's no way to match perfectly because the filters sound different, and I believe a lot of it has to do with the differences in the oscillators, and maybe gain staging. The OB-X8 filters are more aggressive, with more prominent resonance. Crank the resonance on the OB-6 with the filter in the notch position. It barely does anything. Do the same on the OB-X8 and you'll hear those "sing-song harmonics" as you sweep the filter. And although they're not as loud as they are in the other filter modes, they are still very noticeable. There is also something magical about the high pass filter in the OB-6. Again it might be due to the oscillators. I find the high pass on the OB-6 very comforting, not that the one in the OB-X8 is bad in any way at all. It's just different. I also find the notch filter in the OB-X8 to be more "chewy". This is probably the result of it being more aggressive. In a battle of the filters, I'd choose the OB-X8 for lowpass and notch, and the OB-6 for bandpass and highpass. Anyway, I'm sorta ranting again.

Ultimately, I hope you enjoy these sounds and if you have an OB-X8, I strongly encourage you to explore all of the Page 2 features. I'm sure you've noticed that I have the pinstripe overlay for my X8. While I do prefer the pinstripe look, I really got it because it has the Page 2 function labels on it, and this is huge for me. Page 2 doesn't have to be menu-diving, it can simply be shift functions, which tons of synths have and they're easy to use. Having the labels and changing Page 2 parameters on the panel is a game changer for me. I don't have great eyes, so the small screen can get tiresome after awhile. If you don't want to splurge for the overlay (it's pretty expensive), maybe there's another option for adding labels to your synth. For me it's totally worth it.

Lastly, I think I may have inadvertently ripped someone off in the outro. It sounds like it could be from a movie, but I can't place it.

Enjoy the video.

MIDI Mod for iOS and Apple Silicon Macs:
https://apps.apple.com/us/app/midi-mo...

Bandcamp:
https://hypergol.bandcamp.com"

0000 0000 1000 0110 1001: Live in the studio by Hypergol (Oberheim OB-X8 instrumental)

video upload by thesrabbit

"Here's a live in studio version of track 3 from my latest EP "More Voices"

This track utilizes the first patch I made after unboxing the amazing OB-X8 from Oberheim. It's a nice, lush, unmistakably 'Oberheim' pad sound using the OB-Xa 24db filter. It starts off with the patch split, with an arp on the upper layer and then moves to double mode (stacked) with 4 voices panned hard left and 4 hard right. On the album version, I didn't do any stacking, opting to double track instead so that I could get the full 8 notes of polyphony. There are some challenges when limited to 4 notes, particularly with envelope triggering. It's fairly obvious here in the latter section of this live performance, as there are some notes that aren't nearly as soft as I'd like them to be. The beautiful modulated plate reverb from the Audiothingies Doctor A helps to make things less jarring. In this performance, I occasionally sweep the filter of both layers (rather poorly) with a foot pedal. The battery on my real camera is dead, so no fancy moody bokeh in this video, unfortunately.

Check out the original track over here on my bandcamp page:
https://hypergol.bandcamp.com/album/m..."

All the soft pads: OB-X8, OB-6, Nord Lead 2, JUNO-6, JX-3P, JP-8000, Reface CS, Eurorack

video upload by thesrabbit

"Warning: The recordings in this video have a LOT of bass, even with a 30Hz EQ low cut. Maybe some of that will get trimmed off in YouTube compression.

Contents:
0:00 OB-X8 with TAL chorus I
1:34 Nord Lead 2 with TAL chorus I
3:04 OB-6 with built-in chorus
4:36 Juno-6 with built-in chorus II
6:06 JX-3P with built-in chorus
7:35 JP-8000 with built-in slow chorus
9:06 Reface CS with built-in chorus
10:43 Polyphonic Eurorack with Mimeophon
12:14 OB-X8 with reverb
13:53 Nord Lead 2 with reverb
15:28 OB-6 with reverb
17:04 Juno-6 with reverb
18:41 JX-3P with reverb
20:15 JP-8000 with reverb
21:52 Reface CS with reverb
23:29 Polyphonic Eurorack with reverb

I had to reupload this due to being a Davinci Resolve noob. There were all sorts of weird artifacts in the audio with the original upload. Hopefully it's fixed now.

I'm not sure if there's a point to this video at all. I love soft pad sounds. They're warm and comforting. I decided to make a pad sound on the Roland JX-3P and one thing led to another and of course I had to make a similar sound on ALL of my analog and virtual analog polysynths, including Eurorack, as I now have all the components to make a 2-VCO 4-voice polysynth. All of these pads are based on a simple 2-oscillator sawtooth, with a little detuning and pitch mod to one of the oscillators, if possible. On the Juno I there's only 1 oscillator, so there's maybe a little more LFO to pitch than on the other synths.

In the beginning, you see me play the notes on the Oberheim OB-X8 (Yes, it's an X8 and not something vintage, I have a pinstripe overlay, mostly for the Page 2 labels). I used that "performance" to capture the MIDI, which is then routed to all the other synths that are featured here, including the Eurorack setup. Before tracking the modular stuff, I removed some notes from the recorded MIDI so that there wouldn't be all sorts of crazy unpredictable voice stealing.

I used the built-in chorus on the JX-3P, so I figured it's only fair to use chorus on everything. I used the TAL Juno Chorus plugin on the OB-X8 and Nord Lead 2, setting 1. I used the built-in Chorus II on the Juno-6, and the "slow chorus" on the JP-8000. For the Sequential OB-6 and Yamaha Reface CS, I went for a similar type of slow chorus. The chorus on the OB-6 is very usable if you keep the rate low. There are sweet spots to be found. For Eurorack, I used the Mimeophon with a short delay time. It doesn't really do the chorus thing so much, but it does sort of act as a stereo widener. So if it sounds a little clangy, that's probably why.

Eurorack 4-voice poly is assembled like so:
Voice 1: 2 VCOs from the System-500 512, System-500 521 VCF, System-500 VCA, System-500 envelope
Voice 2: 2 Eowave Titan VCOs, System-500 521 VCF, System-500 VCA, System-500 envelope
Voice 3: 2 VCOs from the Wavefonix Dual CEM 3340, G-Storm SH5-VCF, Doepfer VCA, Doepfer Envelope
Voice 4: Dreadbox Erebus all internal VCOs, VCF, VCA, and envelope
All voices are mixed together and then fed into the Mimeophon
There is some additional filter modulation applied to all filters via the Erebus LFO

After the first round, all recordings are played again with the wonderfully lush Audiothingies DoctorA modulated plate reverb, approx 50/50 wet/dry mix."

Boss DM-101: First Jam with synths - Oberheim OB-X8 and Roland JP-8000

video upload by thesrabbit

"I got the DM-101 yesterday and immediately fell in love with the character and stereo modes in particular. I decided to make a quick jam that features my favorite mode so far, the stereo "pattern" mode. This mode has some nice stereo width and interesting tempo sync'd delay repeats. Since the repeats are a bit on the long side, for a BBD, there's plenty of lo-fi goodness, which almost sounds like a bit crusher.

I ran both the JP-8000 and OB-X8 into a mixer, and then FX sends from the mixer to the DM-101. I had no problems sending the mixer line-level signal to the 101. I thought I might have to use a re-amp box to bring the the level down, but I didn't have to, which is great.

I was lazy and recorded straight into Mainstage, which is not great because I couldn't mix the dry synth track and FX track after. Sometimes the balance is good, other times not so much. Oh well, it was a quick live jam so whatever. I just wanted to record something with this particular delay setting, which I have since saved as a preset of course.

Sorry the videography is so boring. My room is a total mess and I don't have anywhere good to position the camera right now.

All of the OB-X8 patches will be included in my upcoming soundset. Release date TBD."

Yamaha AN1x vs Oberheim OB-X8: Can an analog synth match the glory of a vintage VA???

video upload by thesrabbit

"A bit of a click-baity and facetious title. But there is a goal here. The Yamaha AN1x "005 Soar" preset is magical, majestic, glorious, epic, wonderful, etc. It uses 2 layers, or "scenes" as they're called on the AN1x. 1 layer is a soft floaty arpeggiated line and the other is an epic whooshing pad. It maxes out the use of onboard FX, using chorus, delay, and reverb. The FX mix is obviously very wet too, and maybe too much as it can get kind of muddy.

Anytime I get a synth that can do layers, I try to make a similar patch. It doesn't matter if it's an analog or digital synth. Some synths that I've tried have been the Sequential Rev2, Nord Lead 2, and Roland System-8. Out of those, the System-8 got pretty close, though not quite as epic. The other 2 didn't really impress me at all. So I guess you could say I'm still searching for something that can capture the magic of the original. And by the way, the goal isn't to make them sound exactly the same, but more to get similar epic vibes and feels. I just got the OB-X8, so I had to try it. I added delay and reverb from my go-to Audiothingies Doctor A. The dry/wet mix is about 50/50. The Audiothingies unit just seems to meld well with input sources, rather than taking them over. The arpeggiated layer uses the OB-Xa 24db low pass filter, and the pad layer uses the OB-X SEM 12db low pass filter. A winning combo, if you ask me!

Thoughts and opinions welcome in the comments."

OB Damned: OB-6, Modular with G-Storm Electro XaVCF, JUNO-6, JX-3P, TR-6S, PRO 2 (80's jam in C maj)

video upload by thesrabbit

"With all the excitement generated by the new Oberheim teasers, I thought it might be fun to do a jam with some classic Oberheim sounds. But really, this is really just an excuse to use this ridiculously complex Eurorack / Pro 2 patch that I made. It's a 4-note paraphonic patch, with each VCO in the rack being modulated by a sine wave from the Pro 2 (each individual Pro 2 oscillator is sent out of CV Ports 1-4). I'm also running the VCO outputs back into the Pro 2's CV inputs to modulate each oscillator's frequency and get true cross mod. Then I've got 8 VCO outputs (4 sawtooth and 4 square wave) going into the G-Storm Electro XaVCF, an OB-Xa filter clone, which is in LP 2-pole mode. With all that signal going into it, it produces a heavily overdriven sound, even without the resonance cranked. None of the sound is coming from the Pro 2 as it just acts as a modulation source. Classic 80's Oberheim sounds are coming from the OB-6, obviously. On bass is the Roland JUNO-6, and the JX-3P gets pad duty. Everything gets a heavy dose of Audiothingies Doctor A delay and reverb, except for the drums, which run through the MIDIVERB II for that nostalgic 80's gated reverb (preset 31, if you're wondering).

I didn't rehearse this jam, just programmed a couple drum parts and went for it, staying in the key of C major the entire time, because the black keys are too hard to find in a jam for someone with my sub-par abilities. Also, having to use the octave keys on the OB-6 would throw another wrench in that I just can't really manage to deal with in a live situation. It's a shame, because the Eurorack patch sounds badass in F, hitting the bottom key on the Pro 2's keyboard. So if I had changed it up, it would have been going down to F and then coming back to C. Too advanced, I know.

Gear Summary
Modular: Eowave Titan Discrete Oscillators (x2), Roland System-500 512 Dual VCO, 530 Dual VCA, 540 Dual Env/LFO, 555 LAG/S&H, G-Storm Electro XaVCF and Spring Tank Reverb driver, modulated by the DSI/Sequential Pro 2 Synths: Sequential/Oberheim OB-6, Roland JUNO-6 and JX-3P
Drums: Roland TR-6S
Effects: Audiothingies Doctor A, Alesis MIDIVERB II"

Roland JUNO-6 with Tubbutec-66 Mod: Demo of some favorite features

video upload by thesrabbit

"A few months ago I had the Tubbutec-66 mod installed in my Roland JUNO-6. I did the full install, except for the CV input option. The basic install provides MIDI In/Out and some fun voice features like detune, different play modes with oscillator stacking, and portamento among other things. The full install adds three additional filter modulation sources: an audio rate triangle LFO, Sample and Hold (can be sync'd to MIDI clock), and a loopable global envelope. I think the loopable envelope is my favorite, just because the full ADSR (plus hold) makes it easier to dial in the modulation you want.

I used my favorite little effects box, the Audiothingies Doctor A for delay and reverb.

Some parts drag on a bit and may not be that pleasing to the ear. In that case, chapters are your friend.

0:00 Intro and epic slightly detuned stacked saws (3 voices, 2 oscs per voice)
3:13 Triangle LFO at audio rates (mostly annoying bells)
4:32 Arp with global filter envelope (in loop mode)
8:23 Poly portamento
12:02 Unison detune and sample and hold"

Fripper Tripper (Frippertronics with synths: DSI/Sequential Pro 2, Lyra-8, Boss RE-20, DD-20)

video upload by thesrabbit

"For Black Friday, I bought myself Boss DD-20 and RE-20 delay pedals specifically for exploring Frippertronics. They showed up yesterday and I promptly recorded my first jam. It starts with a simple 2 oscillator drone from the modular running through a spring reverb tank (1 Eowave Titan and 1 Roland 512 VCO) The melodies consist of different patches that I've made on the Pro 2, which is another recent purchase. A little further along I introduce the Lyra-8 into the mix, because anything experimental should probably include the Lyra. Unfortunately I didn't have its output level up high enough, and you can't really hear it in the repeats, which is a shame. Other than not getting output levels matched ahead of time, I'm pretty pleased with the result. The modular, Pro 2, and Lyra are also running through the Audiothingies Doctor A in parallel, which is set to a long ping pong delay and a very long modulated plate reverb. To add some tape warble, I fed an attenuated LFO from the Roland 540 module into the RE-20's expression pedal input, which adjusts the "twist" parameter. Everything runs through the DD-20 first, which has a delay time of 7.1 seconds and is set to the "modulated" delay type, then from there it runs into the RE-20. I wonder what it would sound like if the signal chain was reversed. I bet one could pull off mellotron strings vibes pretty easily with this setup."

Sax In The Acid Rain (Sequential OB-6, Pro-2, Doctor A, QuadraVerb, MIDIVerb II)

video upload by thesrabbit

"I got a real camera. You'll know the shots when you see them. Unfortunately I don't have a tripod yet so most of the footage is from my phone, which sucks in low light. Anyways... I've had this little movie "epilogue" like riff on the OB-6 for awhile now. Perfect for walking down the dark streets in a deluge of dystopian acid rain. It just needs a sweet sax lead over the top. I spent quite a few hours trying to get a saxxy sound out of the Pro-2. I figure it's the best synth I got for taking on that daunting task. I'm using both filters, all 5 envelopes, every type of drive, all character FX, linear FM, and just a bit of the onboard delay for some width and depth. It sounds pretty reedy in the lower registers but rounds out as you move up the keyboard. The OB sound is classic. Not much to say about that. Generous amounts of delay and reverb courtesy the Audiothingies Doctor A and then I'm running everything through a MIDIVerb II + QuadraVerb combo as a master reverb, which completes the future dystopian from an 80's low-budget movie perspective feels. "Sax in the Rain" was already taken. So you get a half-baked title to go with a half-baked 4K video and a half-baked thumbnail and a half-baked performance with a full-on run-on sentence. Someday I'll rework this into something proper and release it."

OB SuperVerb XVI: Sequential OB-6 + 2 X Alesis MIDIVerb II + QuadraVerb Plus + Audiothingies Dr. A

video upload by thesrabbit

"This is similar to my last vid, titled 'OB SuperVerb' [posted here], but now I've added the QuadraVerb Plus to the Alesis reverb stack. So, here we've got a MIDIVerb II on preset 28 (XLarge Warm 5 seconds) fed into a MIDIVerb II on preset 29 (XLarge Warm 15 seconds) fed into a QuadraVerb Plus on preset 75 (Taj Mahal). I've only tweaked a couple things on the QV, but it's very close to the stock preset sound.

In addition, I've got the Audiothingies Dr. A running in parallel, with my favorite go-to modulated plate reverb setting. This smoothes things out a bit as the Alesis stack on its own can get borderline clangerous, if that's a word. However, sometimes that clangy, feedback-like tone is just the ticket. I couldn't really decide on which version I like best, so I put them all here, including the "dry" OB-6 only version, which just has the internal FX. (DDL and BBD, with different delay times)

Which version is your favorite?

Contents:
0:00 Full Stack Developer Version (2 x MIDIVerb II + QuadraVerb with Dr. A plate reverb in parallel)
5:08 Alesis Reverb Stack Only (2 x MIDIVerb II + QuadraVerb)
10:15 Dr. A Only (Plate Algorithm)
15:21 OB-6 Only (No External FX)"

OB SuperVerb: Sequential OB-6, 2 X Alesis MIDIVERB II, Audiothingies Dr. A

video upload by thesrabbit

"I recently picked up a second Alesis MIDIVERB II to go with my existing one. I couldn't pass up the opportunity to try stacking these wonderfully lo-fi 80's machines. Signal chain is an aux send from Logic to the first MVII, which is on preset 28 (XLarge Warm 5 seconds), with the mix at 100% wet. Then from there it goes into the second MVII, which is on preset 29 (XLarge Warm 15 seconds), and the mix is up about half way, maybe a little more. The input level on the second unit is fairly low. If you turn it up, it's instant overdrive that sounds like out of control feedback. Sometimes that could be the exact sound you want. However, in this video I wanted to explore the softer side of the OB-6, so it's a delicate balancing act of wandering up to the edge of overdrive and feedback, and then backing away before it gets out of hand. You really need to react to the reverb as you're playing, and for this reason, I feel that the reverb itself becomes a part of the instrument.

The OB-6's effects are turned off. The only other effects used are from the Audiothingies Dr. A. There's some stereo delay to get a little more width and let some of those harmonics open up and shine. There's also a little bit of plate reverb to smooth things out. I think these units together in parallel are a great combo.

Contents:
0:00 Intro and Main Performance
5:50 Demo 2 (Chords from “On Hold”)
14:08 Demo 3 (Vintage Synth Brass)
15:08 Demo 4 (FM bandpass pad with high resonance)"

Synthsmoker: Generative 2-string Modular Drone Patch from the "Hypergolic" EP (Isolated Track)

video upload by thesrabbit

"Isolated track from 'Synthsmoker' from the 'Hypergolic' EP. You can stream and download the EP for free on bandcamp: https://hypergol.bandcamp.com/album/h...

'Synthsmoker' begins with a drone that's inspired by the Soma Labs Dvina, which is a 2-stringed, bowed instrument. I don't have a Dvina, but if and when I get one, I'm sure it will take years of practice to make good sounds with it. Until then, I thought I would find ways to make interesting 2-string bowed sounds. This isn't an emulation of the sound itself, but rather an emulation of the feeling, if that makes sense.

I apologize for the shaky video. This footage is from a patch diary that I made for myself, in case I ever want to re-create it. I never intended to share the video, but I think the patch is cool and interesting, so here it is. Just close your eyes if you'd rather listen to the track in peace and without distraction.

The patch consists of 2 parts: a continuously droning E flat, and a melody over the top. Imagine the drone sound as the low string, left open. The melody is then played on the high string.

The drone is made up of two oscillators, the Erica Synths Fusion VCO2, and the Synthesis Technologies e352 morphing wavetable oscillator. There is some FM applied to VCO2 as well as a little tube overdrive, sub-oscillator, and detune (which is like chorus). On the e352, all three axes (X, Y, Z) are being modulated by the same LFO, but with varying amounts of mod depth for each. The resulting sound is vaguely similar to something you might hear in "The Matrix". Each oscillator runs through a different filter. VCO2 runs through the G-Storm Electro XaVCF (OB-Xa clone), and the e352 runs through the Doepfer SEM. An LFO opens the XaVCF while closing the SEM, and then the reverse happens. This is easy to achieve as the SEM has an inverted input, so as voltage is high, the cutoff decreases, but when voltage is low it increases. This provides some additional movement/animation for that droning note.

The melody is just a single sawtooth output of a Roland System-500 512 VCO. Varying degrees of vibrato are applied via a modulated LFO. The melody is generated by random voltage being quantized to a particular scale by the Ladik Q-010. It's fed by the System-500 555 Sample and Hold circuit. The output of the quantizer is slewed by the 555's lag processor before being fed to the oscillator. The amount of slew is also being modulated by another LFO. Depending on the timing of all these variables, the result is either quite beautiful and musical, or sometimes it's a bit off or 'pitchy'. That's what makes it great, IMO. It has life to it. The output of the 512 then runs through the System-500 521 LPF, a personal favorite filter of mine.

There is a little analog delay and spring reverb on the melody, but most of the effects you hear are from the Audiothingies Dr. A desktop reverb and delay unit. I use it on pretty much everything.

I guess this is the only thing I've recorded with my modular setup that you could call a 'generative' patch. If I turn off the rig and turn it back on an hour later, it will continue to play by itself in the same manner as before. Tough it'll probably be out of tune. Anyway, I hope you enjoy it."

On Hold: Roland JUNO-6, JX-3P, Sequential OB-6, Dr. A Delay and Reverb

video upload by thesrabbit

"Your call is important to us. Please stay on the line and someone will be with you shortly.

What happens when you press the hold button on a JUNO-6 and play a chord, then do the same on a JX-3P, then play some wiry, stringy pad thingy on an OB-6, with a wash of delay and reverb from an Audiothingies Dr. A? Perhaps you'll get a piece of ambient music that's long enough to not loop even once before your call is answered by a real person. But probably not.

Next time you're on hold, imagine that you're listening to beautiful synths instead of a 10-second monotonous loop.

Jokes and sarcasm aside, I just realized this track is somewhat similar to another ambient pad track I did a long time ago. Only that was done on an iPad with a $5 synth app, recorded with a $5 multi-tracking app, and probably "mastered" in Audacity (free open-source). I remember using a total cheap POS MIDI controller to play it, but it worked and the result was a decent piece of recorded music. That was before I knew squat about synths, other than the cutoff knob did interesting things. Anyway, here's that if you're interested: https://steveconnelly.bandcamp.com/tr..."

Roland Alpha Juno Chorus Compared to the legends: JUNO-6, JX-3P, JX-10, JU-06A (60 and 106 models)

video upload by thesrabbit

"The Roland Alpha Juno 1, 2, and MKS-50 have the same legendary BBD chorus chips as the rest of the 80's Roland classics, with one major difference: variable chorus rate! I've gone through and mapped out the actual chorus rates of all possible values, from 0 to 127. I've also measured the chorus rates of every Roland synth I own, and found which chorus rate values on the Alpha Juno best align with each of them. This includes the JUNO-6, JX-3P, JX-10, and JU-06A, which has built-in JUNO-60 and JUNO-106 emulations.

Contents:
0:00 Intro
0:46 Baseline patch on the JUNO-6
1:58 Baseline patch on other synths
5:32 Overview of comparison
5:56 JUNO-6 vs Alpha Juno
13:30 JX-3P vs Alpha Juno
17:53 JU-06A Juno-60 model vs Alpha Juno
23:56 JU-06A Juno-106 model vs Alpha Juno
28:43 JX-10 vs Alpha Juno
32:58 JUNO-6 Chorus 1 vs JX-3P
33:58 JUNO-6 Chorus 2 vs JU-06A Chorus 1
35:22 JUNO-6 Chorus 2 vs JX-10 Chorus 1
36:26 Wrap-up
37:14 Measurement method

For a full rundown of my findings, look no further: https://eokuwwy.blogspot.com/2021/06/...

If you are interested in hearing how the chorus on the Alpha Juno compares to the other Roland giants, then this video is for you! There's a small section at the end that shows how I measured the chorus rates, so you can do the same.

This is not intended to see how the Alpha Juno stacks up overall sound wise against the others and there is no real patch matching. That would have taken way too long, and this video is already long enough. I'd suggest heading over to Starsky-Carr's channel if you're interested in that sort of thing (his Alpha Juno vs 106 video is definitely worth the watch)."

Roland IR3109 VCF Showdown: JUNO-6, JU-06A, JX-3P sonic traits compared

video by thesrabbit

"This video features several filter sweeps at full resonance, which means there will be very high frequencies at high volumes. Please exercise caution while watching and listening!

Contents:
0:00 Intro
0:27 Init Sounds
1:01 Sub Oscillator
2:06 Filter Sweeps (and copyright claims smh) 0% resonance
4:28 Filter Sweeps 50% resonance
6:45 Filter Sweeps 100% resonance
9:52 Envelope Filter Sweeps at full resonance and 100% key follow
14:42 Arp/Seq Saw+Sub Envelope to VCF only, Key Follow 100% - ENV Decay Sweep from max to min
19:26 Arp/Seq Saw+Sub Envelope to VCF and VCA, Key Follow 100% - ENV Decay Sweep from max to min
24:08 Arp/Seq Saw+Sub Envelope to VCF and VCA, Key Follow 0% - ENV Decay Sweep from max to min
29:02 Arp/Seq Saw+Sub Envelope to VCF and VCA, Key Follow 50% - ENV Decay Sweep from max to min
34:04 Arp/Seq ENV Attack
38:39 ENV Release Time, Key Follow 100%
41:30 Manual Pulse Width
43:35 LFO PWM
47:26 Chorus
51:43 4-note polyphony, max envelope times, 100% resonance, 100% key follow, sawtooth
53:34 4-note polyphony, max envelope times, 100% resonance, 0% key follow, sawtooth
55:13 4-note polyphony, max envelope times, 100% resonance, 50% key follow, sawtooth
57:07 4-note polyphony, max envelope times, 100% resonance, 100% key follow, square wave

In this video, I present a (very long) comparison of three synths from Roland: JUNO-6, JU-06A, and JX-3P. All three of these use the same legendary IR3109 analog VCF chip. In the case of the JU-06A (JUNO-60 digital recreation) this VCF chip is modeled with Roland's ACB tech. My JX-3P has about a 30% resonance boost, which brings it closer to JUNO territory. A JX-3P from the factory has very mellow resonance that doesn't really even squelch. Anyone with a JX-3P can perform this "mod" as no special skills are required (see link below to my vid where I did this).

This video will probably benefit me more than anyone else, but who knows? Some may find it interesting or useful. The goal here is to compare and discover differences and similarities between these synths when it comes to key sonic traits, such as: the sound of the filter at high resonance, filter key follow behavior, envelopes, VCA (in gate mode and envelope mode), Chorus, and Pulse Width. If that sounds boring, feel free to move along to a channel that does more lively comparisons. There are plenty of good options out there! I may do a patch comparison at some point down the road.

There is no talking in this video. I don't want to sway anyone's opinion with my commentary. Rather, it is just a simple presentation with visuals and on-screen text to indicate what's going on. I did my best to match the settings for each sound. Feel free to let me know in the comments if I screwed something up.

Lastly, any additional noise and hiss beyond the innate noise of the chorus circuit is totally my fault. I had 2 other inputs cranked on my mixer unnecessarily.

Enjoy!

JX-3P filter resonance boost:" [posted here]

Polyphonic Eurorack: First Try and Walkthrough

video by thesrabbit

"Here's my first attempt at polyphony within a modular system. I've got 4 distinct voices, each with its own oscillator, filter, amp, and envelope. To make things more interesting, I added a sort of sub-oscillator to the first voice, though it can sound quite dissonant depending upon when that voice is triggered.

There is a very detailed rundown after the demo "performance", but to summarize:
Each voice is a single sawtooth wave, with the addition of a square wave sub-oscillator on voice 1. All 4 oscillators run through their own low pass filter. The first 2 run through filters 1 and 2 on the System-500 521 dual VCF module. The 3rd oscillator runs through the LPF on the System-500 505 module. The 4th oscillator runs through the LPF on the MS-20 Mini. From there, each voice has its own VCA, and then the output of those VCAs are routed to the System-500 530 module, which acts as a stereo mixer. Voices 1 and 3 are panned to the left, 2 and 4 are panned to the right. This produces an effect similar to auto-panning. All four voices run through a BBD and spring reverb tank, which adds a ton of extra grit. Each voice has its own dedicated envelope generator. The first 2 have the System-500 540's envelopes. The 3rd voice uses a single ADSR from the Dreadbox Ataxia. The 4th voice simply uses EG2 on the MS-20 Mini.

I did my best to get a similar sound out of each voice, though it's far from perfect. However, that's really the whole point of this experiment: to do something that no standard polysynth can do.

In the demo, I've got aux sends setup in Logic to the Audiothingies Dr. A for delay, and for reverb I've got my favorite Alesis MIDIVerb II and Quadraverb combo. These effects run in parallel and were recorded in real time along with the dry output of my mixer. I tried to mix in the effects so that they're about 55/45 dry/wet.

Modules used:
Roland System-500: 512, 521, 505, 530, 540
2HP VCO (x2)
Polyend Poly 2
Arcus Audio buffered mult
Pittsburgh Modular Giraffe (x2)
Blue Lantern Subharmonics
Manhattan Analog DTM
Doepfer Dual VCA (x2)
Dreadbox Ataxia
Erica Synths PICO BBD
G-Storm Electro Spring Reverb Tank Driver
Korg MS-20 Mini"

Intro to "Spiral" Draft (Vangelis Cover) - Roland System-500, Audiothingies Doctor A, OB-6, Lyra-8

video by thesrabbit

"This started off as an exercise on how to do auto-panning within a Eurorack system, without having any mixer modules with pan controls or CV panning inputs. I thought about what sort of musical piece would be a good way to test out my explorations, and the answer is "Spiral" by Vangelis, of course! The intro is probably my favorite synth piece of all time. The breakdown of the patch used here for the main sequence is as follows, from left to right:

Roland System-500 512 Dual VCO:
One oscillator sawtooth and pulse wave out, range set to 16' (should have done 32'). PWM is applied via an LFO.

Roland System-500 521 Dual VCF:
Oscillator sawtooth and pulse coming into the filter's mixer, level of the pulse wave is 100%, and the level of the sawtooth is about 50%
Cutoff set low to start with, resonance about half-way up. The cutoff inputs are fed from the outputs of an envelope generator and an LFO. Playing with the levels of these inputs in real time along with the resonance knob is critical to capturing the vibe of the original sequence and delivers that pulsating sound.

Roland System-500 505 Dual VCF:
Output of the 521 is going to the input of the first filter in the 505. I'm only using this module for its built-in VCA. The cutoff is open all the way. This does add some extra brightness to the sound, but my other VCA's are all used up in this patch. Once the signal runs through the 505's VCA output, it is effectively a complete single synth voice, ready to be recorded or routed to a mixer, etc.

Buffered Multiple:
The first mult input is the output of an envelope generator from the Dreadbox Ataxia. One of the mult's outputs is routed to one of the 521's cutoff inputs and another one of the mult's outputs is routed to the 505's VCA level input. The second mult input is the output of the 505's VCA. Two outputs of the second mult are routed to the inputs of each VCA in a Doepfer Dual VCA module on the far right. Using a buffered mult means that the outputs have exact copies of the input signal. Having 2 identical copies of the single synth voice is critical to the auto-panning process.

Dreadbox Utopia:
The triangle LFO of the Utopia is routed to both the pulse width input of the 512 oscillator and to one of the cutoff inputs on the 521 VCF. The rate of this LFO is pretty slow. This slow modulation of the pulse width and filter is another critical component to recreating the vibe of the original sound.

Dreadbox Ataxia:
Mod 1 is setup as a standard ADSR envelope. Its output is split and sent to one of the 521's cutoff inputs and the 505's VCA level input. This is already mentioned above in the "Buffered Multiple" section. Attack is 0, the decay is set to around 40% and sustain and release are probably no more than 10%. This envelope is triggered by the gate of incoming notes from the sequencer.
Mod 2 is setup as a fairly slow LFO, with a wave shape that's somewhere between a triangle and a sawtooth. Its output is split into 2 with a passive mult and routed to the "rise" and "fall" inputs of the Make Noise Function module.

Make Noise Function:
This is setup to basically function as a slow triangle-ish LFO with a positive and negative output. The positive output is routed to the CV input of VCA 1 of the Doepfer Dual VCA module, and the negative output is routed to the CV input of VCA 2. Cycle mode is enabled and the "rise" and "fall" parameters are continuously manipulated in real-time via the output of an LFO from the Dreadbox Ataxia. The net effect of this is that audio doesn't simply sweep from left to right at a steady even pace. The panning speed changes in accordance with the signal coming from the Dreadbox Ataxia's LFO. This variable panning speed in conjunction with external stereo delay creates a nice swirling spacey effect.

Doepfer Dual VCA:
Each VCA's input is an exact copy of the output of the 505's VCA (the complete synth voice). The CV input levels on each VCA are maxed out and the gain control is maxed on the second VCA. The positive output of the Make Noise Function is routed to VCA 1's CV input and the negative output is routed to VCA 2's CV input. As the positive output of the Make Noise Function increases (moves up and away from zero), what this does is effectively pull the level of VCA 2's output down (by applying negative voltage) while simultaneously pushing the level of VCA 1's output up. As the positive and negative output from the Make Noise Function approaches 0, the level of VCA 1 drops and the level of VCA 2 increases (as the pullback applied to the maxed out gain level of VCA 2 diminishes). This is the final piece of the auto-panning puzzle. The output of VCA 1 is then connected to an input on a desktop mixer that's panned hard left and the output of VCA 2 is connected to an input on the same mixer that's panned hard right."

BladerVerb II: Sequential OB-6, Alesis MDIVerb II, Source Audio Ventris, CME XKey (poly aftertouch)

video by thesrabbit

"Inspired by feedback received from my last video [posted here], I wanted to do some more Blade Runnery things with the same foundation as last time: Sequential OB-6 GeoSynths 016 preset with internal FX turned off, Alesis MIDIVerb II preset 29 "XLarge Warm 15 sec.", and the CME XKey 37 for poly aftertouch. Someone brought up the vintage knob and of course I totally forgot about that until after I recorded the last vid. This time I dialed it up to somewhere between 10 and 11 o'clock. Another person suggested maybe using an Alesis Quadraverb or Wedge to get that modulated swirl reverb going, a characteristic of the Lexicon 224 sound used in the original Blade Runner soundtrack. I don't have either of those, but I do have another unit that's capable of modulated reverb for days, the Source Audio Ventris Dual Reverb. I thought it would be fun to put that at the end of the chain, after the MIDIVerb II. I set it to E-Dome, mod depth pretty high, and the mod speed very slow. In the video, you can see the light on the Ventris glowing, that indicates its internal LFO speed used for modulation. In order to have any sort of clarity, I had to dial the mix on the MIDIVerb II back to about 50/50 dry/wet, which is less than I would like for this type of sound.

After the main tune, I play a small rendition with varying degrees of effects so you can get a better idea of what each "layer" sounds like: OB-6 completely dry, OB-6 with MIDIVerb II only, OB-6 with Ventris only, and just for fun, the OB-6 with its own internal FX (closer to the sound of the original 016 GeoSynths preset)

Something happened when I patched this up and I might have a bad cable running to the MIDIVerb II from my patchbay. The signal coming into the MVII is a bit weak on one of the channels. The unit still emits a stereo signal filled with spacious reverb, but it's as if there's an extended pre-delay happening on one side. After a while there's so much reverb built up that you don't really notice. I didn't notice it when playing, but I definitely did when setting up the little demo of each FX layer afterwards. Unfortunately, I did not capture the dry output of the synth, so there was no way to go back and fix it.

Once again there is no post processing. You're only hearing the synth running through the two reverb units. That's it."

Follow-up to this post.

Blade Runner Theme Jam/Cover: Sequential OB-6, Alesis MIDIVerb II, CME XKey 37 with Poly Aftertouch

video by thesrabbit

"Like the title says, the music is obviously from the movie Blade Runner, the legendary soundtrack by the mighty Vangelis. This isn't really intended to be a cover per se, but more of a Blade Runner Theme inspired jam to check out some new gear that I acquired over the weekend. I don't even know if I'm playing the right notes or if I'm in the right key, so please don't be offended if I have butchered some things. In fact, I may have borrowed from the Blade Runner 2049 soundtrack without realizing it, since I watched that movie recently. So I'd better give props to all the greats: Vangelis, Hans Zimmer, and Benjamin Wallfisch.

Background:
Fresh in over the weekend is the Alesis MIDIVerb II rack unit and CME XKey 37 (with poly aftertouch). Tonight I turned on the MIDIVerb II for the first time and quickly found preset 29, "XLarge Warm 15 seconds". It seems to work very well with the Sequential OB-6 on the GeoSynths 016 preset. Is the MIDIVerb II a poor man's Lexicon 224? Probably not, but I think it still sounds very nice and has that thing called "character". It's definitely very digital and very 80's. The CME XKey 37 is plugged straight into the MIDI In port of the OB-6. This is my first time ever trying to play anything with polyphonic aftertouch. For those who are not aware, the keyboard of the OB-6 does not transmit polyphonic aftertouch, but the synth responds to it over MIDI. I set the sensitivity on the XKey as low as possible (I think), but as you can see (and hear), I still struggled a lot to control it, and that's with hardly any aftertouch depth dialed in on the synth, like 2 semitones of pitch bend at maximum pressure. The effects on the synth are turned off and there are no other effects besides the MIDIVerb II. The mix on the MIDIVerb II is approximately 45% dry and 55% wet. There is no additional processing. The sound you're hearing is straight out of the MIDIVerb II's outputs directly into a Focusrite audio interface, recorded to a single stereo track.

I think it sounds pretty good. Imagine what it would sound like played by someone who can actually play.

For OB-6 owners, you can find the GeoSynths preset here as part of the Evolution Volume 1 set: https://www.geosynths.com/dsi-ob6​"