Molten Modular 08 - Update on the Eurorack journey so far 

Brian Silvas yes so I did ! ... but not just for the math

Ornament & Crime Harrington, has an oscilloscope and loads of other functionality, you get like 5 modules in one.

@Devon F If you call that cheap, I envy you...a lot...$349 is not really cheap?! Ornament and crimes is relatively cheap. But sure as hell a lot cheaper then an O'tool and a lot more useful then an O'tool, It does more then an o'tool of course that is subjective as well.If you venture to go out and buy an o'tool you might as well go the extra mile and spend a bit more and get the mordax data, that is not only a useful tool but has a lot of added value plus can be used as a signal generator, clock source/divider and wave generator. O'tool is just that a tool, no more no less.

That all sounds really cool and everything - but i was just after an envelope in an old regular synthesizer styli. Sometimes i feel modular tries too hard :) I'm sure i'll appreciate it more in time and thanks for the tips!

Yeah give it a shot, because it is that too. Set the Attenuverter fully clockwise and the Deviator at 12 oclock and it will behave like the ADSR you expect - even if you never touch them again, that's ok. Curve switch would be set to taste (I personally would prefer the exponential setting, iirc that's most ADSRs). Shoot button is great for auditioning quick changes, otherwise ignoring it and never using it is totally fine. Once you get used to that, I guarantee if you start to experiment with the additional controls, you'll see their benefit(s).

Er yes, thank you, i will :)

The Disting module can solve Fermat's Last Theorem

Also don't forget the App "Modes" for this and many other modules.

It's all about having the time! I don't think software is heresy - it can be very useful. For me i've needed to break out from software in order to jolt me into exploration - i need to stand up and move about and patch things in a way i can't do in software - it never feels the same to me. But it's all very useful. I'm currently working on DC and AC coupling and CV connections to Bitwig - then I have some Surface Pro videos to do - then it's the Turin machine, promise.

Funnily enough i had planned to buy the A-140 but I was advised that the Z4000 was much more interesting :)

I keep forgetting to use the menu system on the Batumi - well it's less of a menu and really just a couple of buttons that change modes. I just use the outputs into things to modulate stuff :)

What's a "volts module"? And what do you mean the BSP is an interface? I didn't notice any ASIO drivers - do you mean MIDI-to-CV? I'm finding the BSP a bit frustrating actually.

Pulled from their website: "With BeatStep Pro you can connect to virtually any musical device within reach: computers, virtual instruments, modular synths, drum machines; anything with USB, MIDI in and out, CV/Gate outputs, Clock in and out, or DIN sync. From the oldest music technology to the newest and beyond, BeatStep Pro is bound to become the centerpiece of your setup and the heart of your creative efforts for many years to come" Of course that depends on what you have already, In my case I have the ER-101, Erica Pico SEQ, Tiptop Circadian Rhythms and the Metropolis as sequencers. The VOLTS module is essentially another output with 5 knobs. www.thonk.co.uk/shop/music-thing-modular-turing-machine-expander-volts-kit-copy/ Cheap enough to just have and a simple kit to build. You can put both outputs through a Quantiser or use the second output for modulation, say cutoff. Personally Robin, and looking at what people are using the BSP for, I think it's worth spending a bit of time with. It's clearly quite a powerful bit of kit or if you go on to use another sequencer, shelve it don't sell it on. As for ASIO, iOS and Win7-10 have had a generic ASIO which makes it plug and play. So you could use it with Softube. In addition I found this: www.arturia.com/beatstep-pro/details Look about 2/3rds of the way down.

Oh i see, for the Turin, right. BSP - comprehensive bit of kit - and a MIDI interface not an audio one which is what i was getting at. It has a lot of functionality it's just poorly designed in my view. Simply having the sockets on the back makes the workflow uber frustrating and it looks trashy to me - there has to be something that's as powerful but better suited to a modular environment - which probably means getting a proper HP stealing sequencer module :)

Did it work?

Thanks mate

Ha! We had the first synth meet in Norwich earlier in the week - it was unexpectedly good :) moltenmodular.com/norwich-synth-meet

Awesome :) will try to get to the next one as I'm only an hour away from Norwich

Oh yes, many more videos and the journey continues

That's interesting. Actually during the prep for this video i found that the inputs to my audio interface were just a little hot which seems to be the source of some distortion i was getting. The filter is sounding much better now, but i do know what you mean :)

Integral - right. 90 degrees of phase - got it :)

I think Robin's description was more fun.

Analog Fridays Ha, I agree.

That's weird - didn't you say that before? I'm having some sort of deja-vu. Yes manuals are helpful and that's exactly why I got the Disting 4.

My 1st comment on your YT channel - maybe someone else said the same thing. I guess it makes the suggestion doubly insightful! >80) (love your vids BTW, very engaging)

Mr Matrixsynth! Love your work, it's an honour to be visited by your eyeballs. And yes, let me do that.

Thanks! :) I popped up the playlist here: www.matrixsynth.com/2017/06/molten-modular-getting-into-eurorack.html

Yeah, but in Modular screens are really not what I’m after

gotcha I understand why you want a more pure traditional setup. I was leaning toward these Bitbox items but think rather stay old school like what you have minus the Mother 32 synth. Probably would get the Doepfer Dark Energy III synth that just came out or maybe the Make Noise 0-coast synth since I already have a Moog Sub 37 and would be fun to try a new sound.

I should have this written down somewhere :) Make Noise ST0, Erica Wavetable, Batumi, Maths, Mutable Veils VCA, Erica Pico DSP for a bit of reverb. You can see all my choices in my other videos.

I'll get to it soon enough :)

cool - thanks for that. I'm probably getting another Pico Drum :)

I sold mine - too much like software, all updates and fiddling about. With analog sequencers you just get on with it

@@MoltenMusicTech True. I'm having to spend a lot of time in the manual to make sure I can find my way around all of the features. I still haven't made use of the polyrhythm update it's supposed to have. I had recently bought a Korg Volca Drum and got it specifically so I could control it with the BSP & use the polyrhythms, only to find that the Volca Drum has a bug in the MIDI where it listens to the first 6 MIDI channels simultaneously and it can't be changed. You can change to a specific MIDI channel, but it doesn't give you any control over it. They're supposed to release a patch next month to fix the problem. All I can do with it so far is kick it off by pressing the play button (or stop) on the BSP, it also responds to the MIDI clock too at least, but no drum sequencing. If I want to do anything else, I have to fiddle with the Volca directly.

Yeah, maybe, but it keeps evolving so it wouldn't be relevant to the video for very long. You can find me under robinv00 on modular grid if you wish.

Some modulation is a good start.... then another sound source, then a VCA, a filter, envelope - all the usual stuff and then snowball from there.

nope, i have a Veils. Envelopes are indeed handy.

Thanks! I don’t tend to sequence very deliberately. I’m more likely to use a Varigate thru a quantizer. I haven’t touched the BSP in months. The m33 sequencer is just a bit annoying to use, so I don’t tend to.

Annoying in what way - in that it's more of a 303 style so it's not very fluid? I do quite like the idea of the intellijel metropolis - it seems really inspiring and i'm sure there are plenty of happy accidents to be found. It also costs the same as a mother 32 though. I'm not sure about the maths too although I'd be concerned for my own safety if I didn't get one. The maths mafia is pretty powerful. I get that it can do envelope and LFO things and clocking if you can work it out but then so can many modules if you buy them separately. I'm in a contradictory place where I want unique special sounds that I can't get from anything but modular but I also want to know what's going on and why it's happening. I think I like the idea of simple modules that have a unique twist like the E355 morphing lfo because it's got the controls of a standard LFO yet it uses wavetables. I don't want to confuse myself too much but I also want something much more interesting and inspiring than your standard subtractive synth. I also want something musicially useful rather than just unintelligable random noise though so I'm conflicted about that too.

No, I don't think it's like the 303... maybe it is but i dont remember the 303 being this annoying. Never ask why - that's my advice or you'll be forever chasing some solution you can never quite find. I've always headed towards musically useful - that's where things like clock dividers and sequential switches start making sense. There's only so much randomness and S&h a system can handle. So yeah i know where you're coming from. I feel my rack is missing a magic something.... but then when i play with it something always seems to emerge :)

+Molten Music Technology Yes I agree. Music does need to have some kind of repetition to be meaningful or some central theme for a piece. I'm getting frightened off by the crazy prices. I seem to have a preference for a plethora of high end exotic VCOs at £300-400 a pop. What I'm going to do it's get a mantis case and just put a plaits and rings to start with and run them into my semi modular future retro XS. I can get LFO modulation, Audio rate, Envelope and Amp modulation from the XS. It will also convert cv to midi. I think I'll probably want a delay/reverb module too. Are you happy with your maths or do you think I'd be better with a dual LFO module and dual envelope module for around the same price? Anyway I think I'll start with the new oscillator or two first and see how I get on. I might as well use what I have to start with to keep costs reasonable. These are the oscillators I'm most interested in....£5000 later... www.modulargrid.net/e/racks/view/738642

Maths continues to earn its place i think. If i had an LFO i'd use it as an LFO, same with an envelope. With Maths there's all this end-of-cycle stuff and CV generation and mixing that finds itself useful in all sorts of things that i would not have thought to do otherwise. It's just a useful module.

Thanks! I generally tune by ear. Everything responds to 1 volt per octave so they all stay together in sequences, you've just got to get them close enough to sound ok. I've no idea what notes they are playing most of the time.

I really haven’t. I thought the Beststep Pro would be really important but I’ve not used it for anything much at all.

I’m in the UK and the best diy place here is Thonk.co.uk

You either need one supply for each row if they are separate or one supply that powers both if you can cable it up right. A decent power supply should be able to power a good couple of rows.

many thanks! I am doing some test sketches on Modulargrid.net per your great tips in the videos. So far have some VCAs, VCOs, VCF and few other modules. I really just want a simple basic setup for learning purposes. Building from scratch is better than buying a prepackaged deal to really master this complex area of music.

You’re welcome! Get yourself an output module. I use the Make Noise Rosie, it has line and headphone outputs. I then run the line out to two channels on my Audiofuse audio interface for monitoring and recording.

Got it. Thanks. Do you run through any amps for any live stuff?

Well you ultimately need to amplify the sound so you can listen to it. I have powered speakers - is that what you mean?

Sort of, but not really. Like I mean more of plugging into a keyboard, or bass amp - which is what I do now for my keyboard synth.

Whatever allows you to hear the sound mate.

well you know the M25 goes all the way round that big shopping centre to the North? You just need to get through the checkpoints heading for east anglia and, assuming you have clearance, you cant miss it.

BTW - Norwich is also the home of Future Radio 107.8 and if you listen in on Thursday nights you may hear Flatland Frequencies, a very nice show of electronic music, historical & contemporary futureradio.co.uk/radio-show/flatland-frequencies

I record it through an audio interface.

of course - sign up to the facebook page facebook.com/groups/1943547559207780/

Well bloody hell, it had never occurred to me to use an LFO as a drum trigger - mind, blown.

ok, on it :)

Also, how did you connect the Pico Drums to the Beatstep Pro? Did you take the two triggers and connect to the BSP gates?

Yes, that's exactly right. The BSP has 8 trigger outputs so you can run a whole drum kit. I'll probably get a second Pico Drums just to cover the basics of kick/snare and hats until i want to start using big percussive modules for individual sounds - don't have the room for that sort of thing :)

Search Facebook for the Norwich synthesizer group

.... and to all the manual heads - stop reading and start playing with stuff :D

yup, that too.. haha

even after digesting "the manuals, you still start as a noob.... no one starts "modular synthesis" at an advanced level, even the folks that came up playing Rolands/Moogs/Yamahas/Korgs of the 70s and 80(there SHOULD be some Familiar Concepts for that crowd, which helps)...... and the old RTFM does help..... i DO like the informative posters, rather than the posts of idle complainers and non-mentoring types......

Hehe.. I love some of the comments on this channel... I'm subbing!

Geez, i'm happy finding my own way thanks.

I gazed at my comment again and feel it was a little harsh. I do enjoy your vid's so don't hate me(toooo... much red wine) ;-)

The Make Noise videos are terrific, IMO, as are the manuals. Excellent explanations and examples.

Great to fall asleep too.especially listening to the head guy.of their charming company. Peace christo