Synths and Synthesis MkII: All gear is shit, Hail Satan

The Something Awful Forums > The Finer Arts > No More Drake > Musician's Lounge > Synths and Synthesis MkII: All gear is shit, Hail Satan

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Mr. Sharps: Jul 30, 2006; The only true law is that which leads to freedom. There is no other.

The worst synth is my eurorack because no matter how much I spend on it and how many hours I waste carefully crafting gorgeous patches I just end up using abletons native instruments for everything anyways.

# ¿ May 3, 2014 09:37

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# ¿ May 12, 2024 18:52

Mr. Sharps: Jul 30, 2006; The only true law is that which leads to freedom. There is no other.

FLX posted:

Could I have my hardware thread back, please?

I'm currently planning to build a suitcase-sized music setup, with 6U of Eurorack, a Korg Volca Beats and an Arturia MicroBrute. It's probably going to be a MIDI-free zone, which feels exciting after having MIDI as a core part of my system for so long. I might add a CVpal module though, to convert MIDI sequences from my iPad to CV ... so almost MIDI free, if this works well.

I also built an Ericasynth Polivoks VCF and a Razmasynth Super Warp Generator DIY kit, which should be fun to play with. Here's a picture:

I see a potential problem here. Your Turing Machine is not fully expanded.

# ¿ Jun 8, 2014 04:31

Mr. Sharps: Jul 30, 2006; The only true law is that which leads to freedom. There is no other.

Dotcom Jillionaire posted:

Wooo weee! I'm probably gonna regret saying this, but I think I'm about to start down the long long road of Eurorack modular gear. The two big things that have kept me away from Euro are the price and how I'd go about fitting it all into my current setup though the more I play around with CV and the more I read about certain modules the more I really want to start building a system.

Right now I've got an SH-101, Super Bass Station, and Mutable Instruments Anushri and I plan to use those as my sound engines (for now). I can expand my sonic capabilities down the road but for now I'm interested in CV processing and distribution. Also I've realized that some of the modules I'm looking at (like the Turing Machine and the PEG) come as kits or individual PCBs and this brings the cost down somewhat for me ($345 built vs $195 kit for the PEG, for example).

That Expert Sleepers Disting module really has me GASing and I'd probably start off with that plus a Turing, PEG, MI Yarns, and maybe one or two other interesting modules plugged into a Happy Endings kit. I'm wondering if anyone has some other recommendations on other non-filter, non-sound generation modules I might want to pick up from the get go as well as any info on other popular modules that come as a kit. I feel like this question is probably more appropriate for Muffs but figured I would ask anyway .

I'd ignore the uZeus power supply that the happy endings kit comes with and get synthroteks equivalent. http://store.synthrotek.com/Eurorack_5A_Power_Supply_System_DIY_Kit

Real easy to put together and provides a lot more power while occupying the same amount of rack space. Check out their Eko kit as well, a real simple delay with some cool quirks.

# ¿ Aug 16, 2014 05:05

Mr. Sharps: Jul 30, 2006; The only true law is that which leads to freedom. There is no other.

breaks posted:

Best bargain synths that aren't analog are all plugins really.

Even former bargain hardware like a Matrix 1k goes for several hundred now. It is a great synth with some flaws, some of which you can fix with a patched firmware. But even with it, it has issues like only processing midi input every 20ms or whatever it is exactly. And you need a software editor.

Probably minibrute et al are the best cheapies to be had at the moment.

Don't ^{forget ^{the ^{volca series !!!}}}

# ¿ Aug 25, 2014 05:32

Mr. Sharps: Jul 30, 2006; The only true law is that which leads to freedom. There is no other.

Went and spent a bunch of money on a wide angle lens because the other one just wasn't able to fit all my synth.

# ¿ Sep 1, 2014 07:08

Mr. Sharps: Jul 30, 2006; The only true law is that which leads to freedom. There is no other.

FLX posted:

Thanks That's some good info!!!

Regarding songs and jams and so on, here is my latest creation:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wAYcTpuxou8&index=1&list=PL5AAC61D0DF9D715D

Oh hey your post on the synths subreddit inspired me to get off my butt and try something that wasn't sampled into the computer or an aimless noise noodle with my rack.

http://youtu.be/u0NAVUhnDsE

Got any tips for live sequencing? Doing things live is very stressful.

# ¿ Sep 7, 2014 08:05

Mr. Sharps: Jul 30, 2006; The only true law is that which leads to freedom. There is no other.

Lichtenstein posted:

Yeah, I think that's the case - the manual entry for the NOISE3 waveform mentioned a "clangorous, metallic quality". Still, there's an inharmonic loop of blowing steam which worked well enough as a ghetto noise.

I'm currently trying to turn my mostly theoretical knowledge of what particular knobs do into something that doesn't sound like poo poo. I'm going through presets and it's kinda scary in how simple some solutions are that would never cross my mind (detune a piano by an octave and three semitones and you're halfway to a violin sound!). Other than reverse-enginnering the presets, I wonder if there is some sort of resource like this, that is not a patch library per se, but something that gives you an endgoal and some super rough tips on where to begin?

http://www.syntorial.com/ is great for learning how to match sounds though it's based on typical subtractive synth architecture and I have no idea how well it'd work for something like the SQ80.

# ¿ Sep 10, 2014 03:20

Mr. Sharps: Jul 30, 2006; The only true law is that which leads to freedom. There is no other.

magiccarpet posted:

How is everyone sequencing their modular? I figured I'd just drive it with Ableton but I'm starting to dig the HexInverter and that new Audio Damage gear.

I'm in so much trouble.

I control mine with ableton through a pittsburgh midi2 module (which is crap, don't get one) when I need the power of the piano roll. Otherwise I use a metropolis, couple of pressure points + a brains, an antimatter brain seed or my microbrute. The microbrute especially has surprised me with how well it integrates into the modular setup. For the price of one module you get a full synth voice and sequencer, an LFO and an EG. Nice.

# ¿ Oct 11, 2014 01:18

Mr. Sharps: Jul 30, 2006; The only true law is that which leads to freedom. There is no other.

I was messing around with learning my newest synthy acquisition (expert sleepers disting what what) and ended up with a nice sounding patch so I threw in some quick and dirty drums for a little 1V/OCTober thing.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PX531PsH5sU

# ¿ Oct 25, 2014 05:55

Mr. Sharps: Jul 30, 2006; The only true law is that which leads to freedom. There is no other.

it's halloween and tom waits always gives me the willies

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2K01Oy6Mbu0

OOGABOOGA

# ¿ Nov 1, 2014 08:47

Mr. Sharps: Jul 30, 2006; The only true law is that which leads to freedom. There is no other.

toadee posted:

So uhh, what's everyone's favorite Eurorack sequencer?

An intellijel metropolis + make noise brains 2x pressure points combo.

# ¿ Nov 5, 2014 03:59

Mr. Sharps: Jul 30, 2006; The only true law is that which leads to freedom. There is no other.

AxeBreaker posted:

I could be making "music" but instead I posted this.

Nah I'm pretty sure you're doing everything right, here.

# ¿ Nov 5, 2014 06:29

Mr. Sharps: Jul 30, 2006; The only true law is that which leads to freedom. There is no other.

Dotcom Jillionaire posted:

As long as we're reppin modular systems...

Case buddy!

Not even a week after I got that case they started selling the version with a removable lid.

# ¿ Nov 21, 2014 08:41

Mr. Sharps: Jul 30, 2006; The only true law is that which leads to freedom. There is no other.

Startyde posted:

Realtalk though, yeah

Why are people posting pics of their gorgeous racks with them switched off and unpatched

# ¿ Nov 22, 2014 23:03

Mr. Sharps: Jul 30, 2006; The only true law is that which leads to freedom. There is no other.

my timbres are double filtered for maximum purity

# ¿ Dec 10, 2014 00:17

Mr. Sharps: Jul 30, 2006; The only true law is that which leads to freedom. There is no other.

Dotcom Jillionaire posted:

I put my modular back together today. Bought a 2nd power distribution board and had to install it. I'm able to fit a surprising amount of useful poo poo inside the case, behind the modules. I can't wait till I get it to the point where it's filled and I don't have to worry about reorganizing anything

A filled case gives off a completely different sort of anxiety imo.

# ¿ Dec 15, 2014 06:19

Mr. Sharps: Jul 30, 2006; The only true law is that which leads to freedom. There is no other.

http://www.synthtopia.com/content/2014/12/14/upbeat-berlin-school-synth-jam/#more-60307

well this was a surprise to find this evening

VVV Maybe something like the OP-1 or poo poo even the critter and guitari pocket piano / bolsa bass? OP-1 is pretty pricy but the C&G stuff is reasonably priced and also pretty fun to use to control other hardware synths. edit: oh straightforward interface uh i got nothin

Mr. Sharps fucked around with this message at 08:32 on Dec 15, 2014

# ¿ Dec 15, 2014 08:23

Mr. Sharps: Jul 30, 2006; The only true law is that which leads to freedom. There is no other.

Dotcom Jillionaire posted:

But getting back to Eurorack though....

I think I've filled out my system completely for the first time! It's a small system, I plan to keep it that way. Wondering if anyone has a critique. I'm mostly focused on rhythm and sequence generation and evolving patterns with a few unique sound sources and filter/envelope gen. The bottom row is stuff I may or may not substitute into the rack if I reconfigure things, so ignore those things.

Nice! Sort of similar to my own system, though yours seems to have a lot more random voltage sources.

Can you say much about the ardcore module? My friend has a little 3U skiff that's about half full right now and he's looking for modules that will give him a lot of flexibility in a small size. He wants to build something like a musique concrete workshop in a box, with sampling and sample mangling being paramount and I was wondering if the ardcore has anything like that up its sleeve.

Also this is just a throwout question but have you ever noticed the disting doing anything funky when using it as a voltage adder? Sometimes I like to run 1v/oct signals through it and randomly pitch them up and down in octaves with output from the brain seed, and I've noticed that every once in a while it seems to "sap" voltage from my metropolis and everything slowly dips in pitch until I wiggle knobs and press buttons. I thought it might be a problem with 5volt supply but I'm well within the tolerances on my power supply so who knows! It's rare and odd and only does it when the disting is in the signal chain.

# ¿ Dec 17, 2014 01:32

Mr. Sharps: Jul 30, 2006; The only true law is that which leads to freedom. There is no other.

I like the sample challenge idea because I just got an octatrack and I need a good reason to learn it more.

# ¿ Feb 2, 2015 07:53

Mr. Sharps: Jul 30, 2006; The only true law is that which leads to freedom. There is no other.

Psh speak for yourself.

Didn't say it was good music though.

# ¿ Mar 11, 2015 23:32

Mr. Sharps: Jul 30, 2006; The only true law is that which leads to freedom. There is no other.

net work error posted:

I like that it looks like it's in a tackle box. Have you ever taken your modular out fishing accidentally?

I haven't taken it fishing but I have it on good authority that it makes a great flotation device in the event of an accident.

# ¿ Mar 12, 2015 21:19

Mr. Sharps: Jul 30, 2006; The only true law is that which leads to freedom. There is no other.

Dotcom Jillionaire posted:

Tell us about your rig Mr Glass!

Looks like he's using the Synthrotek 6U + 1U case. I've got one as well, quite a good enclosure for a small system

Yeah it's the syntrotek case + their diy power supply kit. I built it up around the metropolis and it's all pretty much just standard synth architecture. It's fully duophonic, which is nice, and I use a shapeshifter as my primary osc so I can do all the fun wave table and FM stuff I want.

Edit: the case is international orange btw it's important to keep visibility high when patching.

Mr. Sharps fucked around with this message at 23:35 on Mar 12, 2015

# ¿ Mar 12, 2015 23:30

Mr. Sharps: Jul 30, 2006; The only true law is that which leads to freedom. There is no other.

never tried to make acid before. it's hard.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FxG2dClJcPE

# ¿ Apr 1, 2015 08:36

Mr. Sharps: Jul 30, 2006; The only true law is that which leads to freedom. There is no other.

A Winner is Jew posted:

Speaking of Zen Gardens, is it bad I kind of want one of these?

http://folktek.com/instruments/electrocoustic/luminist-garden

i love how all that folktek stuff looks. some of their kit + that new wood paneled eurorack system from bastl and you'd have a system that would look great just sitting in your studio doing nothing (like 90% of all modular hohohohohoho)

# ¿ Apr 3, 2015 05:51

Mr. Sharps: Jul 30, 2006; The only true law is that which leads to freedom. There is no other.

gonna need to carry a jewelers loupe to read those tiny lil LCDs

Mr. Sharps fucked around with this message at 09:56 on Apr 4, 2015

# ¿ Apr 4, 2015 02:08

Mr. Sharps: Jul 30, 2006; The only true law is that which leads to freedom. There is no other.

The Cleaner posted:

Oh gawd, this pic.

Despite my Minibrute sitting right next to the modular, I never bothered to see what it actually sounds like with an extra oscillator or two. I was thinking of this right before bed so I wake up early complete with delusions of grandeur. My manic plan was to saw out the keyboard of the Minibrute and build all the control panel into a new case. Then build a new little modular rig attached to it so I essentially have the Brute plus two extra osc a mixer and an 1/4 out back into the brute and basically hide/normal all the CV wires. Of course I'd call it a Megabrute and have the case painted all fancy and write an entire album with this great new amazing synth. It my head it looks like the coolest thing ever and sounded like a Sub 37.

It wasn't until about lunch time I realize it doesn't even sound that good with more oscillators.

man i dunno what you're even talking about my microbrute sounds BEASTLY with a couple extra oscillators*

_{*and filters and vcas and lfos and a wave shaper and copious delay and reverb}

# ¿ Apr 20, 2015 07:20

Mr. Sharps: Jul 30, 2006; The only true law is that which leads to freedom. There is no other.

DID SOMEONE SAY METROPOLIS??
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AO7mzE8stwg

# ¿ Apr 25, 2015 04:04

Mr. Sharps: Jul 30, 2006; The only true law is that which leads to freedom. There is no other.

Mr. Glass posted:

photo of said usb port:

i also just learned that the braids has a built-in quantizer, so the z8000 isn't quite as hopeless as it had seemed previously.

Oh that is clever as heck.

# ¿ Apr 26, 2015 04:55

Mr. Sharps: Jul 30, 2006; The only true law is that which leads to freedom. There is no other.

Mr. Glass posted:

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00R3B0AOK/ if you want to add one to your rig.

I'm afraid such a thing would compromise my cases (alleged) waterproof capabilities.

I live in Seattle, so this is important to me.

Mr. Sharps fucked around with this message at 03:18 on Apr 27, 2015

# ¿ Apr 26, 2015 05:27

Mr. Sharps: Jul 30, 2006; The only true law is that which leads to freedom. There is no other.

Mr. Glass posted:

you have a 1U rail so you can just get one of these

Oh shiiiiiiiiit! Now to source a used iPad and I'm SET.

# ¿ Apr 28, 2015 03:17

Mr. Sharps: Jul 30, 2006; The only true law is that which leads to freedom. There is no other.

Rageaholic Monkey posted:

It came out, was poo poo and very few people ended up buying one because of that.

And then Akai unveiled the Rhythm Wolf which was equally poo poo but at least the Akai rep showing it off at trade shows was a hilarious moron so some fun videos came from that.

timbre wolf isnt out yet and the rhythm wolf was first but yeah

# ¿ May 25, 2015 05:40

Mr. Sharps: Jul 30, 2006; The only true law is that which leads to freedom. There is no other.

Rageaholic Monkey posted:

Oh right Since they were both similar broken products, I forget that they weren't different versions of the same thing.

well the timbre wolf is just four rhythm wolf bass sections (the worst part of the rhythm wolf) lashed together to make one big worst thing. the lack of any sort of news post NAMM makes me think that it's probably been scrapped. if you're looking to get your hands on one, the dumpsters behind akai are probably the place to start!

# ¿ May 25, 2015 06:13

Mr. Sharps: Jul 30, 2006; The only true law is that which leads to freedom. There is no other.

SineRider posted:

Decided to treat my eurorack with a Qu-bit Nano Rand. Module is pretty great so far!

Sweet I just got one myself a couple weeks ago. Is the knob on yours a little off kilter? Mine is, but everything seems to work fine.

edit: also the best part about the nano rand is that it came with a cool rainbow ribbon cable.

# ¿ May 26, 2015 23:17

Mr. Sharps: Jul 30, 2006; The only true law is that which leads to freedom. There is no other.

tried summoning satan last night but ran out of patch cables before i could get it to work

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uzTBKE9HHug

# ¿ May 29, 2015 00:37

Mr. Sharps: Jul 30, 2006; The only true law is that which leads to freedom. There is no other.

cubicle gangster posted:

e: could I use my shruthi to generate a clocked audio signal, and convert that to cv/use it directly? being able to do it with a midi channel would be great.

Take a click from whatever, make sure it's good and loud, feed that into the signal input on the first channel of maths, give it an instantaneous attack and longer decay, take the end of rise gate from maths channel one as your clock. This is how I used to clock my setup using ableton/a four track tape recorder. Works a treat.

# ¿ Jun 3, 2015 21:21

Mr. Sharps: Jul 30, 2006; The only true law is that which leads to freedom. There is no other.

cubicle gangster posted:

Just placed the pre order for an elements, I am officially going modular.
Also sent out the invoice that's paying for the shared system today. Sooon...

you're getting the super cool black and gold edition one right? right?????

# ¿ Jun 12, 2015 05:36

Mr. Sharps: Jul 30, 2006; The only true law is that which leads to freedom. There is no other.

Mr. Glass posted:

wow, Clouds is extremely cool. so good for creating drones and background textures. there's so much to this thing that i feel like i haven't even scratched the surface. i can see the delay mode coming in really handy too.

i'm trying to figure out what to do case-wise though. i've got way too much to fit in my briefcase now and that kind of bums me out. thinking about trying to build a 4x104hp suitcase myself but i'm pretty new to doing anything useful with wood

peep this

http://mqtthiqs.github.io/parasites/clouds.html

# ¿ Jun 23, 2015 07:08

Mr. Sharps: Jul 30, 2006; The only true law is that which leads to freedom. There is no other.

NonzeroCircle posted:

Filters maybe? Hi-pass any elements with unwanted low end, should help clear things up. Do you have anything after your main outs on the modular? If you're recording to a PC you can probably get away with some eqing to add back some sparkle.

Filters is right, high pass is your best friend. It also helps me to think in terms of texture as well as frequency.

# ¿ Jun 26, 2015 21:34

Mr. Sharps: Jul 30, 2006; The only true law is that which leads to freedom. There is no other.

that MI Clouds might make for the prettiest reverb I ever heard.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aLJu2PFkwds

# ¿ Jun 27, 2015 05:12

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# ¿ May 12, 2024 18:52

Mr. Sharps: Jul 30, 2006; The only true law is that which leads to freedom. There is no other.

sofullofhate posted:

Since nobody seems to be paying attention to the Post & Comment thread anymore, here's a track I just bounced:

https://soundcloud.com/mattwalters/ympektid-tomorrowland

Feedback greatly welcomed.

This is 100% modular for the synths; the drums and FX are plugins in Live. I feel like I'm starting to get a workflow sorted with the modular and it feels good.

Good mix of thump and sizzle. Care to share your workflow? I feel like everybody does it differently.

# ¿ Jun 29, 2015 09:15

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