Glasgow Synth Guild Oct Tone Sequencer Review 

It’s ARM based so it will need special versions of software or it will have to run in emulation mode. I did a video on the previous version, the pro X and it was a bit of a nightmare. If someone could send me one then I can.

@@MoltenMusicTech Ah yes I see. I've been reading up on it and ARM. I may go for the Surface 9 then as the Ableton device. I guess I'll see over the coming weeks what the reviews are like!

No one is going to review it in terms of music production - and the thing is that we need software and hardware peripherals working in perfect sync and at low latency. Bench marks, app demos and productivity software reviews doesn't tell us anything. Hopefully I can get hold of one at some point.

I imagine the differences are to do with the two module interaction?

I’m not sure what you mean. What 8 digital voices? Are you sure you have the right video?

​@@MoltenMusicTech Sorry. Put my foot in it. I'll retract the statement if it is in poor taste. That said, I would like to see more demonstrations of modular used polyphonically, with MIDI, and with a keyboard.

I think the answer to your question is to buy a synth - that’s exactly what they do. But poly modular is possible in fact I have a telepathy system from dreadbox in for review which will do exactly that.

@@MoltenMusicTech And the Plasma drone synth feeding (presumably) the Oct sequencer is also polyphonic, albeit non-pitched. As far as I know, so-called drones these days are digitally driven (though not all of them) because of the advantage digital gives over analog in terms of cost as well as spacial effectiveness. Are you aware of a Milanese firm called Jolene? They have just launched a 1000+ oscillator drone! Its in a desktop (maybe 60 - 80 hp or so wide). They, like Doepfer, now feature "polyphonic" modules with oodles of "bang for the buck". Most impressive is an 8 hp wide LPG bank with, dig this, 8 'f'n' gates! Instant Buchla! And they've got a slightly wider LFO bank with 9! Jolene have shirked pots and opted instead to maximize patchpoints, but with a wild innovation - the LFO bank features tiny, touchplate controls that directly control each of the nine LFOs. They are complex LFOs in the sense that you can chain them together in a sequence, then play 'em chaos pad style in realtime. I'm very impressed with Dreadbox. They really get it regarding poly-chaining. Aint it cool that 70 hp case with 6 voices and a friekin' mixer for like $1100 US dollars. 'Only caveat I see is that the signal path is a little bit corrupted by digital. And there are precious few patch-points on it. Whats your opinion on polyphony via MIDI interfaces? Maybe feature a session comparing the narrow BASTYL 1983 with the ultra-wide (16 hp) Doepfer interface. They both give 4 voice channels, but the BASTYL also gives microtuning, a sequencer (I think) and some other goodies. The Doepfer is also 4 channel, with velocity and aftertouch, but in a nearly prohibitively wide enclosure. Like - try to stack 8 voices and fit 'em in a Behringer Go case with 140 hp limits width X 2 levels. Believe me, I've tried to visualize it. And forget 8 or even six complex voices. Forget (practically) even simple voice features like LFOs. Thanks for returning my correspondence. Looking forward to upcoming shows.

I've done some videos on polyphony in modular. It's not that difficult, just cumbersome and involves a lot of gear to achieve something that doesn't really lend itself to modular. But if you have the gear and the time then you can do some really weird stuff with it.