22 Loops from the Wall of Testequipment: patreon.com/hainbach Learn more about test equipment music: ru-vid.com/group/PLg8dbAM-RNj8uxNdIlIqESk0ghaM8fz1d
What I love about your videos is that even though I will probably never own test equipment, your creative process and ear is very instructive. I stopped five minutes in and ran to my DFAM to see what tones I could elicit that might echo what I enjoyed hearing in the test equipment. Doesn’t matter that they weren’t the same, it took me on a journey. Now I’m back to finish the video!
Beautiful sounds- the piece of music at the end mmmhhh so lush. A couple of days ago I listened to ‘Reflections’ by the Supremes, a tune that has always intrigued from childhood. The intro is amazing and ahead of its time . . . the time March 1967. I read that it was the first hit record to have used a synthesizer. . . then it little look deeper found this wasn’t correct. One of the record’s producers heard a Signal Generator being used by an engineer testing equipment and thought it would sound perfect for the tune. It was later in December that year Motown had a Moog System installed.
Finally eurorack! Finally the wall! Even though these topics don't necessarily land you the most views, this for me is why I subscribe to your channel. And of course studio techniques, and Ciat-Lonbarde... Thank you for sharing!
Something that might help is heat-sinking problem ICs on the Booga. I had to do that to a MOSFET on my Alesis Wedge since it randomly shut down the right channel and it runs like a top now. Appreciating the short return to instructional content!
Sounds and looks amazing. Can’t wait for more Eurorack experimenting with it. I had that very same Tascam in early 90’s and it made very good noises when fed back into inself.
Every time that you find another way to create new sounds with your test equipment I’m always inspired to go into my studio and use Noises, Landfill Totems, Lines and Fluss with my pedals and synths to try and see how well I can emulate those sounds. Sometimes I find that I can use other means of achieving those sounds without the plug-ins or in conjunction with the plug-ins and outboard stuff in my studio. Your work is very inspiring and I definitely don’t think I can emulate a test equipment 909, but I’m definitely gonna do some experimenting with bass and percussion. Thank you for another inspiring vid.
This is definitely scientific music! The setup is so industrial! It's so experimental, I love the curiousity behind it. The tones and rhythms the hardware can mimic sounds beautiful. Those effect and patch modules definitely add depth and shape to those tones. The piece you created is so dark and industrial. It sounds so cool!!! Definitely tickles the Psy trance and dark core parts of my brain. LookMumNoComputer would be proud of this Rack!
@@Hainbach what do you prefer? Im open to any suggestions. I’m using a crude, homemade passive volume and RC filter. Not ideal, but it keeps stuff from burning up lol
That exit track - such beautiful ambience full of machine and nature! I really enjoyed this walkthrough and more technical exposition of your setup - it was really interesting!
Thank you. Very inspiring. You posted a video about pinging the Moogerfooger phaser a while back. I have that set up with the Moogerfooger ring mod and the Clusterflux into two Sherman filterbanks and creates a great drum machine. Need to add some test equipment to that setup.
@@Hainbach The negative and positive feedback on the Clusterflux is special. I'm a contractor for AT&T. There is a ton of old test equipment at some locations, sitting in the rack for years untouched. I'm trying to acquire it. At one location in California there are 15 + rows of 19" racks with old telephony equipment.
@@ringsystemmusic At one location there's a nuclear blast alarm rack with ancient Lorain amps, switches, clocks and a beautiful tube amp and speaker to warn the employees of the attack.
Yep so lush. Hi Jamie, obviously you are a Motown fan, I was listening to Reflections by the Supremes just a couple of days ago, that tune has always intrigued me from childhood. Just found out that an equipment test Signal Generator was used throughout the tune along with tape echo effect, bit ahead of its time for early 1967. : )
@@HANGINGOUTWITHAUDIOPHILES Couldn’t possibly forget, can’t forget something I don’t know : ) Have heard the name Raymond Scott in the world of synths, thinking he worked with Mr Moog, I’m guessing now, but will definitely look him up. I know that Berry G had a Moog System III installed at Hitsville in Dec 67. Psychedelic Soul is something that is greatly overlooked with Motown in the late 60’s, it being more recognisable for its orchestral, brass and vocal arrangements. Something to look deeper into, as Stevie suggested - I should do myself a favour and educate my mind (quite a trippy tune for it’s time as well)
proof that your donated sweaters found a nice home.... lol! jk... love the repurposing of gear. Now if we could only take all the weapon systems of the world and make MUSIC, NOT WARS!!!
My tech called me back after I had made this video and said he might have found a replacement for the proprietary HP chips. Here is hoping they might be saved!
Cheater! Just kidding… I will never succumb to eurorack but this video really shows how test equipment can be appreciated in a more practical way which I have to celebrate.👏👏👏
Hmm, should have grabbed some of the weird stuff from SLAC when I worked there summers. They pulled out this enormous oscilloscope that was on it's on cart, with a round CRT maybe 12" across! Or there was a place here in Silicon Valley "Weird Stuff" that would have strange test equipment and other old computer stuff that was fun to wander through. I'm at least planning to play with an old reel-to-reel I found for some inspiration.
Oh hey Hainbach, I've been working on the same kind of stuff. Would love to compare notes sometime. I'm presently using four lab wave generators and working on more of a texture than a drumbeat, though it may have elements of both. I am finding that the most interesting stuff comes from controlling one wave generator with another, kind of enabling FM synthesis in some instances. Still trying to really get my bearings with this, it is kinda complex LOL.
Some of those equipment were probably used for signals intelligence, detecting underground nuclear tests, detecting radiation leaks, eavesdropping Soviet communications etc. and now they’re telling about their past experiences in the form of drum beats and music.
3:30 LOLOLOL okay, so I bought them because they were cheap too lolol I admit it. Actually only a little cheaper than a Eurorack setup nowadays, really. Consumes a lot of power too, and heats up the room. But if you want true analog hardware then you are on the ground floor!
Much of the test equipment was cheap excluding repairs. Probably about 2500 for the test stuff, 2500 for the Eurorack. Add another 1k for repair and cables.
I'm so glad you've done this as I saw it as a kind of natural evolution from getting test equipment. I haven't got the money (beign disabled) but what I've done is buy an AE modular and expanded it somewhat, and used old electronics kits and small circuits to add into the modular. It's abit similar but not quite as good. But it's FUN. And that's the point. You can stumble across some weirdness or greatness. I think you had the correct approach - get something and invetigate it thoroughly first on it's own merits (as tyou did with your test equipment) and then work on combining it with other things. Of course modular gives you some structure and also shortcuts a lot of the sillier work.
I just got a minibrute 2s and while I definitely didn't need more cables in my setup, its patchbay converted me from someone who asked "why dont people make music instead of wanking about with silly boxes?" to "wow, you can make some really inspiring sounds by modulating routings" So, while i am not going to go out and buy a bunch of test equipment (i don't even have room left on my desk for the brute) I certainly do better understand the romantic, dare i say erotic, quality of interfacing these esoteric boxes together and making them sing
It is a slope, like with whiskey - one day you are happily downing a Johnny Walker Cola, next you extol the virtues of single malt vs blended, next your holiday consists of visiting every Islay distillery. 😄
@@Hainbach if I were to find any strange old machine with any kind of routable signal sitting in a thrift store for cheap, I may just have to buy it for the mad scientist aesthetics 😏
I’ve had a MB2S for a couple of years (been a bit limited using it due to living in an ex-ambulance camper) but last few weeks and having that stuff called ‘electric’ I’ve got to understand the brute so much more, also getting hold of a Drumbrute a week ago (for only £106) has made a world of difference… was hoping to get drums set up with modular gear (one day) but I’m more than happy with what the Drumbrute can do (and sound). I think some peeps have struggled with taming the Brute (mb2s) and have said that it has a harsh sound, but yeah it’s all about the modulation : )
@@Hainbachoh no, _I_ have strong opinions about single malt vs blends… and my favourite region… Haven’t visited any distilleries yet so it seems I’m safe. Though I did live near a bunch of them for a time and got tired of all the smoke and the malting, so maybe I’m actually past the deep end? 😱
Yo Hainbach! Ziemlich sicher kann man am Doepfer A-157 auch kurze Trigger ausgeben lassen. Wenns mit der Standard-Firmware nicht geht dann probier mal die Custom-Firmware von Rusche. Die ist sowieso unabdingbar. Check das mal aus ;)
Hihi, liebe Grüße vom Metasonix R-54-Käufer aus Dachau, bleib wie du bist! Die Firmware hats in sich ;) kannst ja mal ein Video zu dem Sequencer machen, der kriegt eh viel zu wenig Aufmerksamkeit@@Hainbach
Well, it's not always sad not being able to hear the lowest and highest frequencies. I'm pretty sensitive to those. Especially the high ones. They can be really harsh. Just in general in the everyday life. Scraping of metal, screeches, echo-location from small bats, small children screaming and crying (especially the girls), and just sudden bursts of sound with a lot of high frequencies in them. Often around night time (but not always) I often have this problem with hearing this very subby frequency that has a very wavy movement to it. It can be really distracting. I live in a small apartment building, so maybe it's from televisions, humidifiers, something entirely different or a combination of it all. Could also be when the state is testing the war-sirens (or what they're called) at night. But that happens in the sub sonic spectrum, so that shouldn't be possible for me to hear. In the day time I've noticed sub frequencies from cars and airplanes that can be disturbing. But doesn't seem like it's coming from those around midnight and later. I live in a town. I also occationally notice this extremely high frequency noise that I can barely hear. It seems to be coming from the upper part of my left brain. Just right now I can focus in on it and the sound appears. It's very subtle. Maybe those lower frequencies are also coming from within my brain. Could be blood flow, or certain brain waves. But I don't know haha. I do have ADHD and ASD, so that could be why I notice these kinds of things.
I have similar experiences. I also have very acute hearing and ADHD. I thought I had suffered some hearing loss due to working with loud equipment for many years, plus going to lots of concerts and raves, listening to loud music in headphones etc. I had my hearing tested and It turns out I have no loss of hearing at all, and I can hear higher and lower frequencies than most people. It's just that I tend to hear everything, and it is exhausting if not painful.
@@JH-lo9ut yeah, it's difficult when your focus is all over the place. But when in a situation where you're actually motivated enough to narrow your focus and become single-minded, then you tend to get hyperfocus. That's why your hearing is so well in hearing tests, because it's so "distracting" that it gives you intense focus on it 😆
When you refer to the "First of maybe second" voice of the pulsar, what do you mean by that? I assume you mean the Kick/bass drum channel, but wasn't certain, and would like to better understand. Thanks!
@@Hainbach interesting! The bass voice is digital on the pulsar, and I wouldn’t have expected you to have tapped that one as having a great similarity to the test equipment sound… May have to explore a bit more with this in mind! Cheers!
I can use (and have used) my audio interface and my Nord Modular as test equipment, but not my TR-909. I need to come up with a way to do that. 😀 Well, I could always use it as a clock generator, but that's a bit obvious.
Thanks for sharing this video. So, I seem to have understood that: in order to hear a beautiful, deep and nuanced sound, special amplifiers are needed to be connected to the oscillators or sound generators, is this correct? Bye 😊🔝👋
This is very helpful. Thanks for taking the time to run through all this information, with musical examples. Some of this you have done before, but putting it all in one place brings a certain clarity. A little bit of predictability, to reflect on your question toward the end, is definitely worth having.
I've got an 8006A, too... same problem. After half an hour or so it gets to an uncomfortably high temperature and i need to switch it off for a while. i'm not an electrician or anything so .. always wondered if that's a common problem or just my unit here is faulty. seems normal then. anyone else by any chance? need to have it modded somehow to include cooling ?
I thought of you yesterday when I saw an Hewlett-Packard Signal Generator at a thrift store... (For $299 though I didn't feel like taking a chance on it.)
@@Hainbach You're a force of nature. We out here are in perpetual awe. Cool music idea from your demo: How the cool kick drum sound morphed into an upright bass sound and back. In a jazz context, the upright bass is essentially a kick drum with strings. It provides the pulse, rather than the drums. You can fake your way though a whole evening of material you don't really know as long as you can thump jazzily.
Well it was not about the sound, but rather the programming. I go into that a bit later in the video. And this is whole setup is about the price of a TR-909 used now.
@@Hainbachreally? It is surprising to hear... I guess the real value is in finding all of these in working condition and actually putting all of them together, but you can't really put a price tag on that. Thank you for your work, big fan!
Saw this guy call you a Hipster - he was using FL studio and still couldn’t throw in a single bar that could be considered a banger 🤣 - Meanwhile, you’re doing music with world war 2 equipment 😭. Sometimes it’s not so bad to be the hipster 🤣
