Darnit Mylar now you convinced me to get some of those Turing machines! They are useful like having an Ornament and Crime module.Love my DFAM and Elektron boxes. BIA is great and love my Queen of Pentacles module.
There was a terrific article from the equally terrific Bernie Hutchins in the Journal of the Audio Engineering Society, some 40 years ago, on achieving a "fat" sound, using modulation. Keep in mind that, at the time, we didn't have velocity sensitive keyboards or after-touch, so the goal was to make synth sounds more interesting than the stagnant stable timbres of console organs and such. Hutchins noted that peak fatness tended to come with around 3-4 sources of modulation. More than that, made it too busy to appeal, and less than that made it uninteresting. I'm probably blurring the recalled details of the article in the intervening decades, but it is worth digging up.
@@vampiresforesl Well, it *was* 40 years ago, so that may have been prior to any finer differentiation between "fat" and "interesting". I may also be remembering it poorly. I know I have a photocopy of the article...somewhere... but I'd have to sift through at least 10 very thick binders of such material to find it.
Excellent. Modulating everything is the main advantage of modular for me. I'm not allowed to play with hardware (hence the nane of my channel!) but one advantage of software is that mod sources don't use a lot of CPU so you can run as many as you want. I quite often use 16+ separate sample and holds in a patch, I'm not sure if there's anything in the Eurorack world that does that, unless you have a stupid amount of modules. Also, using audio as a mod source is usually fun!
Stepped modulation and controlled random has become a vital component of my system...Marbles, Clepsydra Diazoma by N.E., Steps by After Later Audio, Bastl's Little Nerd and Kastle (Rungler circuit) are huge for my rig. I didn't realize I was getting so heavy into the stepped thing til I looked at it and noticed. Couldn't make the music I want without stepped modulation
Lovely lovely demo. Highly entertaining at once while being magnificently enlightening. It is hilarious synchronicity that i happen upon yr little inspiringly modulating sound waves of inspiration this night. I've been reading and hearing negativity about the new Syntakt... that it does not come with all the high expectation functionality it had placed upon it prior to landing (partly driven by some internal artistic differences..allegedly) it blows me away that people don't see past limitation to discover near limitless potential. Instead folks let the self-creative get bogged down by what others say or what a box supposedly cannot do instead of employing the exploratory spirit a synthesist (should) possess to uncover possibilities with what's right there. Yeah, the Syntakt is not a Drum Computer (i wish the label was not pasted there)...it is a wonderful capable mono-beast just like you so eloquently point out and one thing I'll add to your monologue here is that our explorer forefathers would cream themselves over what the most (limited) modern synthesizer can offer today. We live in a golden age of programmable/patchable wonder-machinery and it might very well be (too golden) for some. Subscribed!
Had to watch a second time! Conceptual modular! Spoken word! Futurity! Let’s imagine a liberated future, utopia, what can be! Soundtrack the revolution! Beep-boop music for racial justice, techno to turn you gay…
Finally a video who show the patches of start to end. That's very precious for the beginner who I am. And your comments bring myself a better understanding of my system and of what I can do whit it. Even if as a french girl my english is limited ;) Thanks a lot
Can't stress enough how entertaining and informative this video is! You should make tutorials for pretty much everything in life man I'd watch the shit out of that! But let's start with modular XD Seriously, this is grade A stuff!
Man, i've learned more from this video that from most the tutorials i've watched. It's interesting how the poetic way of explaining things makes it easier to understand. Thank you!
Hi mylar, I see u have the standard MI Stages Firmware, u have to try the qiemem firmware. It makes the segments a lot more flexible, u can even turn every segment into a kind of turing machine, get bipolar outputs if you want, adjust the range of the slider in lfo mode etc. it's bonkers
@@mylarmelodies great thing about it is that the Turing machine stages operate like any other stepped stage. So followed by a ramp decay stage you get a decay envelope out with the amplitude set by the Turing machine. Or an ADSR with the sustain voltage a Turing machine. It’s wild!
What a treat! Definitely thought-provoking about how I have built and patched my modular. Sometimes limitations do breed creativity and inspiration. Also, the axiom of "You can never have too many VCA's" has been superseded by "You can never have too many modulation sources"
this feels really timely for me because i've been playing with metropolix a lot and really thinking about listening to what metropolix _wants_ to do rather than trying to wrestle it into the forms i naively approached it with
It’s ultimately a matter of exploring all the possibilities, is it not? The ‘orchestra’ had been in business for a couple of centuries before your Varesi and your Stockhausen and your Zappa took it to its outer reaches. Similarly, the modular architecture has been around for sixty years and it’s only now that its own extremes are being explored- by adventurous engineering in addition to imaginative patching. You can use it to recreate guitar-bass-drums if you want (and I sometimes do), but you can also use it to make ‘music’ that has never previously even been sighted in the middle distance. Anyhow, thanks for making us think. Again.
This channel always gets me to question what I'm doing with modular. Like I see a module that sez LFO or envelope and it's just the standard and I'm like kewl that's what I need. But then I might as well play my standard synths. I need to reprogram to look at modules at doing the standard things but in unique ways.
the main reason i watch gear-youtube is for inspiration with the stuff i already have. i love getting new gear, who doesn't, but it would feel too empty if i didn't (over time, on-and-off) get as much as i could from it. i also think it helps develop your voice and find new sounds if you try to sort of not-quite copy someone. i have a shapeshifter, and enough else to do stuff like this - i am inspired to have a go at thinking in this way too :) great vid, thanks!
I implored anyone who is interested in that quote from SOPHIE about a continuous modulated composition to check out an artist called qebrus. Otherwordly music
I don't love BIA for that reason, not necessarily needing 3 turing machines, but you do need a ton of modulations sources if you want to get more than one or 2 sounds out of it.
I always love your Videos. They always help motivate me and get me back on track with my "tiny" live Modular that im practicing to get a show out of. I have all the modulation. I just have to use it more!
very inspiring, my thanks. am keen re your idea of reverse engineering, indeed am trying to apply some general principles of modular to in-the-DAW live mixing. lots you can do with just two kick samples and the stock delay!
3:25 in moments like that one my wife always says: „I see a clear structure of addiction there!“ (the German word „Suchtstruktrur“ can‘t be easily translated I think)
Hearing you talk about SOPHIE and them using the Monomachine makes me feel so validated. Hearing how they crafted this completely unique sound, and it's on a box that's over 10 years old. I feel conflicted about getting one, because the prices for these used is nuts, but more importantly, I think SOPHIE just took the Monomachine, and pushed it to do so much, that that box is just theirs now. They did more with one piece of gear than entire artists do with studios full of gear. And so I've settled on trying to figure out how to make a Monomachine in eurorack, and I feel crestfallen because it seems like I just need more than I can ever properly afford, and while the modern Elektron offerings are extremely incredible, they just don't scratch that Monomachine itch. It's why I got into modular in the first place, trying to replicate the sonic possibilities that SOPHIE had. And then I realized the amount of gear I need is insane, lmao. Whoops yeah, in short SOPHIE changed my life in more ways than I can possibly describe, and it's because of them that I had a genuine, complete turnaround in my life, and I've fallen in love with making music again. The world really lost her too soon. Thank you for this vid, Mylar.
You’re welcome, definitely modular is the harder way to do it cost wise - what about software/VCV? Sophie certainly used that too (well Serum etc) - be careful not to fall into the “toolbox” trap (I’ll make great music only when I have X)
@@mylarmelodies You are absolutely on point! I've had to force myself to pump the brakes on that and re-evaluate before I sink thousands of dollars into it, hahaha. Now if only I could actually get decent recordings together, lol. I feel like I can never trust what I record, it always sounds absolutely awful. Thank you for your reply tho Mylar. I've mostly stayed away from Serum just because EVERYONE uses it, but considering sampling that would certainly be doable, I might just get it soon-ish.
@@Ariakiri_ "everyone" used Minimoogs and ARP2600s when those were the top tools on the market. Would that stop you from using one now? If you must be a rebel, Vital is pretty sick and also free.
very good video, for me there are lots of new ideas on how modulation can be used, thanks! my problem was that i started to buy many modules, most of them not easy to understand, and i got confused with all my big system, now i should start from beginning :)
Could you please let me know where to get the Ramen blind plate? BTW: I just finished building my first module in the form of a Turing machine and you were the inspiration for it. Having a lot of fun with it and am now looking into the expanders.
I thought a lot of what you came up with here sounded not a million miles away from a DFAM. Just a shed load more control. Makes me want to modulate the shit out of my DFAM :D
Such a well thought out video, I'm only 2 years into my eurorack journey although I'm proud of the choices I've made, especially in not just getting carried away with sounds sources because functions and modulations is what really brings the whole thing to life. This way I can watch your videos and not have the exact modules you do but then have that eureka moment where I realise I can do these things with what I have. I think the whole 'get creative with what you have' ethos was also something I took from your previous videos.
You are one of the most inspiring talkers and finger twiddling synth personalities out there. Learned a lot from you and eager to hear anything you have an opinion about. Also…thanks for the Turing Machine love letter ❤️
I'm sorry but VCV rack is fine for learning but it's really disappointing when it comes to making inspiring patches. But it's cool that it exists for people trying to learn about modular synthesis.
Not sure if I can agree that VCV is any less capable of making inspiring patches as an physical modular, but it is obviously non tactile and that changes how we interact with it (and perhaps the time and investment we put into making it sound good)
This machine sounds amazing, also your presentation, I can't wait to start working on it.👌 I love Turing module, but design of machine is nightmare, cables should be on top of all buttons and the box should be more like studio mixer, sound first, functionality second, ergonomics third...! is there already an AI module? AI will boost this analog technology and artistic expression also.
Having got into hardware about 4 months ago, I got an Ornament & Crime because it has 4 Turing Machines in it… It’s ok but I can’t be doing with the menu diving, it seems the exact opposite of why I got into modular in t’ first place. I reckon it’s time to hone my soldering skills and build a TM or three, along with the expanders! Great video man, cheers 👍
excellent video :) realised recently that probably too much of my rack is for sound making and not enough is for modulation/sequencing so youre providing some much needed inspiration (modulation) for how to shake things up
