I perform in many different musical contexts, but this is my space to share more personal explorations of sound--synthesizers, modular, bass, samples and more.
This one is also revolutionary and has not caught on with a lot of people yet the sound that it gives is unbelievable I got to hear it here in Las Vegas. But the musicians that are mastering it absolutely love it
Congrats! So, are you happy? Is it worth it? Does it meet or surpass your expectations? How does it compare to Lyra-8? Does it have some of the same vibe to it?
Cheers! Yes, I am delighted and would say it surpasses my expectations so far by virtue of how engaging it is to play + explore. I never had a Lyra-8 so can't make a direct comparison. It is very easy to play melodically, change tunings, create interesting harmonic shapes.
It's a great 1st improvisation. I like that you focused on musicality since it's seems easy to go into wild sound design with Terra. Made me eager to receive mine (just did the bank transfert.. so in a week or so I guess)
@@nononononegative I don't remember the exact month--just used the sign-up form on their website at the time. I feel like it was over a year ago, which would coincide with Superbooth 2022... around which time I believe they opened up the wait list?
Thank you for taking the time to watch & listen--delighted to hear it resonated for you! I've been delinquent in making my next video, but I promise to keep the experiments coming!
Thats a nice collection and a good warm sound. Does the Echo Fix have clock in? I'm planning on getting a wavetable synth at some point and the Iridium or Hydrasynth are current options, but I do like the wavetable options on Udo Super 6 and Novation peak as well. What are your thoughts on the Iridium for this?
Cheers--appreciate your kind comments! Echo Fix does not have clock in; I simply tweaked the echo speed manually. Same for the Volante--I could've used MIDI to sync it with the Rytm, but I just tapped in the tempo. For the wavetable synth comparisons, I've heard plenty of demos of Hydrasynth, Super 6, and Peak but haven't actually played any of them myself. They all sound great! It comes down to what you value in a wavetable approach... if it's that crunchy, classic PPG-like sound then perhaps something like Waldorf M or the new 3rd Wave from Groove Synthesis might be to your taste. Iridium's various settings can get closer to that, but I feel it's designed around a more "modern" sound.
Glad you found it and were able to relax along with this piece! I don't have another long form version at the moment, but now that I know people may find something worthwhile in it, there is a motivation to consider longer edits for soundcloud next time.
Hi, does typhon have some kind of mpe. I have a few hardware synths. 2600, ms20, pro1 would these be able to do extra control using the linnstrument as this split and expression would be great addition. Thanks
No, Typhon doesn't have MPE. It does allow for custom MIDI CC mappings for a patch, so you could define what MIDI messages coming from LinnStrument do on the Typhon (which is actually what I did here.) You'd similarly be able to find expressive ways to control the other great instruments you named, too.
Sorry I didn't respond to your question earlier. No, I haven't yet had any hands-on experience with Hydrasynth. If we compare desktop to desktop, no keyboard controllers, Hydrasynth offers a more robust, playable set of pads. I've only heard demos, but for me the Iridium/Quantum palette is more to my taste. I also very much like the Iridium interface--which only gets better over time with the OS releases.
Boy that looks like too much fun. Thanks for the demo! Do you have any experience with Linnstrument + Software synths? If so, how does the latency feel? Especially with two beefy VSTs, I'm wondering how taxing all that midi data might be on my aging laptop....
Appreciate it--cheers! Yes, I've used LinnStrument with Arturia's Pigments (now v.4.0) and Spitfire Audio libraries in Ableton. I haven't encountered problematic issues of latency; it's more about how many instances of something I may have running at a time--managing CPU load. I don't feel like LinnStrument slows down the show. My MacBook Pro is running Monterey and it's the generation just prior to the M1 processor models.
So awesome and expressive! How much MIDI mapping is needed to get the Linnstrument to play well with the Easel Command? I'm very tempted to take the plunge and get a Linnstrument, but am hoping it will work well when just going directly into the USB host port of the Buchla.
Appreciate your comments and feedback! The Easel has a documented MIDI implementation chart that required little to no mapping. My LinnStrument does work well straight into the USB host on the Easel (that host module being an add-on I installed.) One thing I tweaked just for convenience were two "sliders" on LinnStrument--assignable to whatever MIDI CC you wish--to set the pitchbend depth on CC 9 and portamento rate on CC5. That's not a performance thing; I just pull up those two controls on LinnStrument before I play, set the parameters to what I want via the "sliders", then go back to regular control. That feature on LinnStrument is under the four 'Special' settings, 'CC FADERS'.
@@izzymonkey Appreciate the detailed answer, thank you! I guess it's time to start saving up for a Linnstrument. 😅 Have you tried splitting the oscillators on the Linnstrument for polyphony, so that you have for example the Mod Osc as a bass tone and the Principal Osc as the melodic line? I wonder if they would track consistently across both oscillators.
@@BulletproofFaces Yes indeed! I've used each split on LinnStrument for that purpose: Left for MIDI channel 3 (Mod Osc) and Right for channel 2 (Comp. Osc.) The tracking isn't an issue if you have the trims set appropriately.
Thanks for the replies! Picked up a Linnstrument and am trying to get these two to play well together, but I can't get the envelope to trigger properly when doing the MIDI channel 2/3 split. When I use MIDI channel 1, the envelope triggers fine, but each Linnstrument key then affects both oscillators at the same time. When I pick channel 2 or 3, the pitch can be controlled separately but the envelope doesn't trigger when pressing the keys. Any ideas? 🙏
@@BulletproofFaces No worries--glad to help. The behavior you describe is just as the Buchla 208c MIDI implementation specifies. I have the link here: buchla.com/guides/208C_208MIDI_Implementation.pdf With the 'keyboard' switch on for either/both voice, you'll get that behavior on MIDI channel 1. This is a cool feature because you can choose an oscillator like the Mod Osc as the bass tone, like in your earlier example, but leave its 'keyboard' switch off. Use the 208C's sequencer voltages to trigger the pulser and patch that to open a gate for the bass. Play a split on LinnStrument with MIDI channel 3, use the other split for channel 1, keep the Complex Osc 'keyboard' switch on, patch the EG to open its gate, and there you have a pulsing beat for bass with pitches you control and a "lead" line you perform. You'll also see that the 208C MIDI implementation maps very low MIDI notes/pitches--Note On for note # 6-8 (F# to Ab)--sent over MIDI channels 1, 2, 3, 4, or 5 to trigger the Envelope Generator. There's a similar setup for the sequencer, random trigger, and pulser. Using the LinnStrument sequencer to send some of those pitches allows you to create interesting behaviors in the Buchla that you can then "perform".
Great set up you have there. I'm trying to sync up my Linnstrument with midi coming out of Moog Grandmother and into Linnstrument and connect Linnstrument to PC with usb but when I switch to midi I don't get sound from VST instrument and when I switch to USB I dont't get midi from Grandmother..is there a way to have both working at same time. I can do it with my Komplete Kontrol keyboard ok. Many thanks I'm also using a Elektron Digitakt with Midi going to Grandmother, just for syncing clock though.
Very kind of you--cheers! Glad you were able to check out the video. Speaking of great set-ups, I'll bet the Moog + Elektron make a lovely pair, and Digitakt can sample the Moog for even more variation. Would it work in your case to run LinnStrument into Grandmother (MIDI DIN) and then the Moog into the PC (USB)? With MIDI channel selections, that may be a way to control either the Moog and/or VSTs should you wish. Clock could still come from Digitakt into LinnStrument, then to Grandmother? The MIDI DIN/USB setting on LinnStrument is a global parameter, so when you switch between them I'm not surprised you only get the one type of output. I would also love to see a firmware update to allow for the Right or Left split to have its own DIN/USB assignment. I have LinnStrument controlling Arturia Pigments (via USB) at times, then using MIDI DIN for the hardware. I'll sometimes capture/sample some audio from a hardware instrument into the Octatrack, then switch to a LinnStrument preset that uses USB to overlay something from Pigments (running as a VST in Ableton.)
@@izzymonkey Yeah, some great sounds you got going there..what's the Irridium synth? I have yet to try different set ups to find out the best way of working, to be honest, just got Grandmother a couple of weeks ago and Digitakt at weekend so all abit new and I'm amazed I got it set up all linked last night lol. I've had Linnstrument for a while now but don't use it much, thinking of selling but then I seen your other video about setting it up and wondered if I can use it in my set up, much smaller footprint than my komplete Kontrol 49 MKii. yeah, that set up may work, not sure what you mean with midi channel selections though, sorry, still learning. I'm definitely wanting to sample Moog, just focusing on getting my set up right the now and learning how to use sequncer in Digitakt. I love Pigments, it's great for MPE. I use Cubase 11 pro. I done this simple track last night, programmed drums and had Grandmother play arpeggio and this was midi'd to keyboard and that was using Unify VST with 3 sound sources, Cello, Male Mongolian Chants and Female Vocals, loved the sound and how it all worked, first time doing this and it was one take with a bit of automation while mixing. I managed to seperate all the tracks from digitakt. The Grandmother was going into the Digitakt's input L, maybe should just put that into Interface as I couldn't get the channel to pan, just stay on left side, whereas all the drum ones let me pan themetc..all great fun though. Thanks so much for getting back to me. soundcloud.com/user-37796426/hidden?
@@izzymonkey I tried that set up but either I wasn’t doing something right or it’s not for me, couldn’t get my head round what was happening. When I played grandmother, the vst instrument came through as well as itself, so basically didn’t need Linnstrument. I’ll need to look into the Linnstrument more before I decide if I’m going to sell it. I would like another synth , was thinking about get the RYTM since that has full analogue built in and would link up to Digitakt.
@@Indianabones007 It sounds to me that you had some success at least: the Moog and your VST communicate just fine. If you wish to use LinnStrument as a controller for both the Moog and Unify VST at the same time--perhaps like in this video where I have each split controlling its own instrument--that's where the MIDI channels come into play. I don't know if Grandmother will transmit incoming MIDI (on its MIDI In jack) over USB, but I suspect it might. It would then be a matter of experimenting with which MIDI channels each listens to: for example Grandmother listening on MIDI channel #1 and Unify on any channel(s) *but* #1. I certainly didn't need LinnStrument in my setup, but as you point out, it takes up much less space than other keyboards I had. The real reason for me to keep it is purely its wanton, expressive qualities! I guess the grid layout also helps to shake up my approach + thinking over a standard key instrument. [The Iridium is the desktop version of Waldorf's Quantum and Iridium Keys synthesizers. It's MPE-capable, with many powerful, crazy synthesis engines--up to three per voice.]
Cheers! What a lovely thing to say. 💜 It is, just as you mentioned, so very tactile. I also deeply appreciate how Roger Linn made this instrument configurable to the degree that I can even dial in the appropriate CC value to set the Buchla's pitchbend value to a full +/- 12 semitones. Then, it's trivial to match that with the "Pitch/X" setting. Every time I think, "blerg, I wish I could set this thing to do..." I totally CAN! 😄
Thank you! ❤️ For each split (right & left) on the LinnStrument, I have the bottom row set to be the Arpeggiator control. I'll use those in an upcoming video. The strip allows you to govern the subdivisions per split. I'm connected via MIDI DIN here, but the Easel Command has a USB host that I can use instead.
