Dreamy Detuned PERFourMER - May 2018 Long awaited another live session with the PERfourMER. Dreamy live track recorded with the Vermona PERfourMER. Sit back and enjoy!
Glad to see (/hear) you back on here. But be careful, I found this in the comments section on the RA review of the PERFourMER: "Without exaggerating, I would kill someone for this." I still think they actually are exaggerating, but you never know! :-/
this is an incredible session of hands on synthesis control and sonic workmanship, glad to find this demo but now wish I had bought one years ago already!
it is so beautiful the arrangement and the soundscaping on the synth. I hear it very often and aalt it is one of the final motivation to buy a Perfourmer thank you a lot!!!!
Mesmerizing! Just discovered this synth and this vid does it for me, analogue heaven :) Is the composition your own? With the help of sequencer "add-ons" or programmed yourself? Cause it has a special quality. The detuning, sounds, rhythm.
Yeah buddy! You know lately I've been playing around with the FM a lot. It gets these great worbely BoC-like pads that are just fantastic. I've been hounding Marc Doty to review one of these so that more people buy them so they stay in business.
TheRustyPeppers I often photograph my settings because of the sheer time it would take to write down the position of all 75 knobs and 16 switches, even if digitized, that's still 91 entries. Seems a lot easier when I'm just fiddling though. I can tell you while I have been sequencing the Perfourmer using a Arturia Keystep (because that allows two hands free to play the knobs) I most often play a keyboard. Anyone who fails to actually play the synth is missing out on a whole world of dynamic control. Here are a few fun habits I've been falling into: 1) I have a technique when playing polyphonic where I will get all the four VCOs fairly in tune with one another, then I'll set one VCO an octave higher. Since the Perfourmer randomizes which key is assigned to which note, it tends to make even the simplest chords more interesting because the high note will shuffle around. 2) I have a "Worbling Detune" technique where if I'm playing live and I want to quickly make a paddy part sound like it's being run through a tape deck with a bad motor (ala BoC) I will set a few of the VCOs to square (maybe two) and the rest on ramp. Then I'll keep the LFO's on varying slow speeds making sure the intercept knob is around 3-o-clock. Then I'll move the FM knobs just a tinge to the left. The pitch will be modulated by the LFO giving it a truly interesting dynamic sound. Best part is, if you want to ditch that going back to a very clean sound, simply turn the FM knob to the center detent, no need to re-tune the synth. 3) Having four completely independent VCOs is a true luxury and many times in unison mode, I'll use all kind of tricks to allow the speed of my playing dynamics to actuate certain variances. All kinds of things like: a. What I call "waterfall" glides where you set each glide progressively longer so that pitches fall into one another at uneven speeds as a transition from one note to another occurs. b. I sometimes set up a two high octave VCOs with a short attack and then have two lower bassier VCOs on a long attack with different filter settings so I can get one sound if I play staccato and a big 'Voice of God' sweeping rumble to come in as I go more legato. It's a really cool technique that you can control simply by the nuances of your playing (as opposed to having to twist a knob, push a pedal or mess with a mod wheel). This same technique can be used on any monosynth with more than one assignable ADSR. So I can use the same technique on the Arturia Minibrute to set the filter to really open wide on a lower attack so as I play more legato, it starts to go nutso! It adds so much depth and emotion to a line and there are so many things you can do. Like for instance, you can set it up so that 2 VCOs are root and octave notes on short attack. Then tune two other VCOs to a 3rd and 5th on a much longer attack. As you do runs you can control when those come in simply by how long you hold the notes. Okay, wow I really wrote a phonebook didn't I? So much more. It's a process of discovery. I even figured out how to get the THX theme out of this by accident using the ADSR to modulate pitch. And I LOVE how there is no Q compensation. So you can use the resonance to cut lows out of notes giving it a thinner sound if desired (makes up for the thing not having a high-pass filter). Hope some of that helps out! Other than the fact that some of my filter and volume knobs are becoming harder to turn (I have no idea what's going on there) this IS the greatest modern synth ever made. I would buy 3 more if I could.
@@wizardmix How easy or hard are these to program? And how good are they for pads? I'm really tempted, I've been through so many polys in my search for the ultimate pad machine.
@@sw_909 I'm obviously a bit of a fanboy with the Vermona. I think it's one of the greatest modern synths ever made because of how versatile it is and how great it sounds in each one of those roles. The answer to the first question comes down to what you're accustomed to, how you intend to use it (studio / live) and what you're looking to get out of it? I primarily use my Vermona with keys but it's definitely just as fun and interesting being sequenced. I've used it live but it's definitely paced more for studio use (though I stress live is not impossible). The Vermona (obviously) is about as manual and fully polyphonic as you can get with no ability to save patches. So it is a lot of knob-turning and a lot of noodling but it's not what I'd call "hard" work. It's what I call a joy. That said, you may not be like me. My best advice is to watch this video: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-dNQfzF2LvSs.html -- if at the end of it, you're inspired, then the Vermona is definitely your jam because it essentially is everything an Oberheim 4-voice does. Based on my experience with Oberheim SEMs, I've found the Vermona to be more intuitive, much more compact, far less expensive, more stable and more versatile. If however you're put off, I'd go with a polysynth whose VCO circuitry is a bit more homogenized. Juno? Jupiter? CS-50? The answer to the second question is that it's actually hard to get that synth to sound thin even when you want it to and I'd go so far to say it is a pad monster. You can really dial in subtle details that CS-80s and Jupiters just cant do. It's fat, funky and very snappy but the ADSRs will go long just as easy to modulate the filter / amplitude to get big pads. To go into more detail about programming it as a polysynth where I want each of the 4 synths to sound the same, I get in the habit of doing one motion four times which is easy to do the way the Vermona is configured. I find that it stays in tune reasonably well and has a handy A440 digital tone to easily get the VCOs lined up. Hope that helps!
@@wizardmix Thanks for taking the time to give me such a full and detailed answer. I'm completely sold on it after reading your reply. I want something this knobby, it looks heaps of fun. I don't like menu diving or synths that do too much, it can be hard work to coax the sound you want. When I look around my studio all my synths that have stayed long-term are the knobby, manual type. Nice to read your comment on that other video from 3 years ago, and your opinion hasn't changed in that time. That speaks volumes.
@@sw_909 Hey, you are welcome! Your comment inspired me to go into my studio last night and fire it up. An absolute joy as always. I'd recommend getting the MKII with CV capabilities just because it will interact that much more readily with other non-midi supported devices. Based on what you just said, I'd say you're in for a real treat. As said before, it involves a little bit of fiddling to get all four VCOs to sound the same but it truly is the margin of error that makes this synth sound so alive. Let me know how you like it and I'm always happy to answer any questions.
To me this sounds similar to part of the track: Ornette - "Crazy" (Nôze remix) In no way are they the same but i knew there was something i loved about this jam that i had heard somewhere before. I keep checking back in to see if you made anything new.
Super nice, amazing sounds, chords and playing. I’m new synths, can anyone let me know where would the chord loop be coming from? For instance, Could it come from a MIDI track in your DAW and then the PERfourMER generates the pitches, rhythm, velocity etc. that is set to that MIDI track?
Thanks! All my demos are written on keys then recorded to MIDI in Logic. Then I record audio whist Logic is playing the sequence and I tweak knobs on PERfourMER.
ArchieMusicCanada Yeah, I work similarly in Ableton with my PerFOURmer; tweaking both the synth and a couple of FX pedals. I'm assuming you're using some of Logics and/or third party FX plug ins? Thanks for the reply.
This is absolutely beautiful! One question - may i link this video on my webshop (www.rawvoltage.wien) as a product demo? I could not think of a better one! Thanks for sharing this!
Hi! This demo is the reason i bought the Perfourmer. I quite often come back to listen to this. The raw beauty of the sound and chords is addictive. One question though; i can't figure out the signature. It seems to skip beats at different places. Makes it feel like it's on a drift the whole sequence which is cool. Is that deliberate? Or by accident? Anyways, thanks very much!
@@boybianchi You are right, it seems to be 4/4 and sometimes skipping a beat and getting back in 4/4. Quite mesmerizing ! Maybe the mystery has to be part of the beauty :) Anyway, this video is probably gonna make me buy one also !
Just watched two of your perfourmer videos and I'm emotionally ruined. Just beautiful music, thank you. Do you put anything out on bandcamp etc? I'd love to buy it!
So I have been looking to make my purchase of one of these. Would you say the CV/Gate version is essential to your workflow? Do you ever use it? Is it worth the extra £200
It’s useful for the obvious reason of integrating it to eurorack, as a feature it pairs well with having the individual outs for each oscillator and will likely help hold the synths value. I purchased the cv version a few months ago and haven’t used the cv yet but now just picked up a keystep pro that can send four voices of cv and gate and allows setting of voice allocation to lowest note which might get around some of the caveats of how the performer allocated voices in poly mode over midi.
Yes, that's possible! And the fact, that you have furthermore four separate outputs makes it possible to have four full analog monophone synths in one... if you want... and much more possibilities :-) My absolutely dream synth!
