In this video I demonstrate some basic patching of the System 55 modules, implementing a stereo filter patch idea using attenuaters, multiples, attenuverters, mixers and amplifiers and utilising fixed voltages.
Tim... This is brilliant. Thank you. Sweetwater has on sale for $1600 US. I HAD to pull the trigger... and this will help me on my new journey to spaghetti tuneage.
You are really doing the best videos on YT when it comes to the use of synths. I’m very happy to have access to something that is so helpfull and perfectly presented. Thank you so much, Tim.
I could watch this all day. I quite like the way you clearly explain what you're going to do, then the patchcords appearing one by one, the close-ups of the modules, the alternate setups... very nice. And you put it all into a nice musical context at the end.
Tim - great video! Very clear demonstration of patching. And the composition in the final two minutes is really beautiful. If you make a 20 or 30 minute version with that vibe for Bandcamp I would certainly pickup a copy.
Great video as always Tim, I have a large system 55, (based on Klaus Schulze’s Big Moog ) and it sounds fantastic, these videos are very helpful, as patching the system 55 needs to be approached in a different way from more modern modules, please continue making more videos, exploring the System 55
I’ve found your channel last week on youtube while searching useful info on analog synths. Since that day, I’ve been watching a long series of your videos. Your channel is definitely one of the best on youtube. This one is my favourite. Very informative, easy to understand and that track at the end is awesome!.
The step by step approach and explanation of what is done, how it is done and why is very illuminating. I just start beginning exploring my System 55 and this helps me get on the way. My next challenge is how to connect the envelope modules. Thanks Tim, love your video's. Take care, stay healthy. Dr. T.
nice one here, mr. shoebridge! both an admirable job of meeting your stated goals as well as some beautiful sounds and effects. the stereo elements of the matriarch are why i ended up selecting it over a couple of other synths i had been considering. never regretted it either. i also admire how you don't shy away from cables but if one is going the modular route, or even the semi-modular, one can't be afraid of them. as always, thanks for your efforts and products.
Great video as always Tim. Loved the soft etherial sound too. Looks like a good deal of problem solving is part of the classic Moog style modular way. A great learning experience!
Thats why the ARP 2600 was considered to be a learning tool. However, Ed McManus my college electronic art instructor back in 84 had one. It sat at the back of the lab and no one touched it. Why? The line and sign up list for the NEW DX7 was a mile long. I was, er, FORCED to spend hours relearning what I had done on the 55 years earlier. I sampled about a hour and a half of the strangest stuff to ever hit a mix on hearts of space. Hey Hey Hey! When behringer made the 2600, I preordered and got one 8 months later. Love it. Wish I had 3 more....the seventies are long gone, the technician in Eugene Oregon that offered to sell me his spare (he had 3 ARP 2600, 1 which functioned) he never got all the parts so he used 1 for parts...my mutron bi phase with opto isolator foot pedal that kevin courney (hearts of space) sold me for 65 bucks left with my blessing for a mere 250$ along with with my korg ps 3100 and matching 800 sequencer (hat I paid 400 bucks for both) went for 2k, all missed savagely, all replaced by better gear, more interesting synths. Now my oldest gear is my fizmo, got it when it was brand new. I traded a prophet 5 I got for 175 bucks at a pawn shop. J wire? I dont care. I didnt care for that sound for some reason. It had a wooden case. I am 67 years old and I have seen stuff come and go! Good luck and may you invest your energy wisely. Keep your eyes open for oportunities, they happen sometimes. I was offerd jobs as a roady for oddysee, m jackson tour and shows on ice. Put yourself out there! Be friendly.
Really beautiful and subtle sounds'!Thanks' for taking the time to post these super-valuable videos'!Next we want to hear a version of something 'switched-on' with the 'Behringer Modular-Moog' !🙂💙🥂
Awesome video's, I really loved how you explored this one. I have a larger System 55 setup which I put together last year that fills two Go cases and a couple of 104hp Behringer skiffs. I also just received the Behringer "Four Play" module which is essentially a quad VCA mixer for either audio of CV signals. That's yet another way that you can accomplish the voltage controls for this particular setup, albeit a cheat since the 4play is not a system 55 module. I use that -6V output quite a lot into my oscillator banks. I'll tell you that you're doing here reminds me of my first ELP concert (1972 I think). ELP had setup a 12-thousand seat venue with "Quadraphonic Sound". They had four massive piles of speakers in 4 opposing locations in the concert hall to surround the audience. They started the concert with their song "Hoedown" (which I have successfully patched with my System 55 using envelope delay to trigger a 911 and then through an attenuator to control the frequency of a 921B oscillator, in a bank of 3 driven with a 921A... and then out through the typical Mixer-VCF-VCA output.) ELP shoved all of this into a quadraphonic system with different outputs on the various oscillators and the sound crew would ROTATE the sound in the concert hall clockwise or counter-clockwise... sometimes different voices simultaneously in both directions. The quadraphonic surround sound nature of routine Emerson's synth through this system made me tingle like never before! I was NEVER the same after I heard that concert. They also did Jerusalem and an extended version of Karn Evil 9. I was blown away... Anyway, what you're starting to get into here is the start of the path which I heard that night and have chased ever since. In fact, it steered me into a music major along with electrical engineering at the University... and now Behringer made it possible for me to somewhat replicate what I heard in the 70's.
Why not? I ordered a system and it is almost at my door. So did a few folk in the area. Why risk buying the modules a few at a time? Or miss the classic sound of my favorite group in the 1980s, bar NONE. I intend to alter the feel as i go , but i also love the sounds I am hearing. I love wavetable synths and Analog BOTH. Great time to be a musician type! I saved for so many years to see the entire thing fail, over and over. Line of credit? Try zzounds, no credit check at all, not much selection but good terms. I wish I did not smoke a few ks worth of greenery and bought gear. Of well, cancer sucks.
@@TheSynthZone I’m not sure if I got the point of this comment, to be honest (I’m not a native speaker). But, to answer your question, is not that I don’t want to get a behringer system, it’s just that I have to spend my budget on “more important” things. Hopefully, we have a lot o plugins nowadays... I know it’s not the same feel, but we can’t stop making music just because a piece of hardware is missing in our arsenal haha Cheers 😌
Thanks for this Tim. I'm building an analogue wind synth setup based on my Roland AE-30 and Neutron and this is really helping me identify which of these modules should be on my shopping list - though the 110 takes precedence 😎
There is yet another, quite simple patch to achive the effects from this video, by using a 921 VCO (without A or B). With the AUX output, you have adjustable positive and negative outputs which can be fed directly into the 904A VCFs. I use this patch currently for stereo effects.
Wow :-)) Super good videos finally. I've been waiting for a video like this from Behringer System 55 for a long time. I would like that even more for the other modules (e.g. 992, 911A, Sq 960) ... is coming. Thanks and keep it up Sorry my English Im from Gemany
Mate. Another great informative video. Have you ever thought about doing a video tour of your studio? Whenever I watch your videos you always have sneaky views of equipment in the background. It would be great to see the full studio. Anyway, keep up the great work, take care and stay safe.....
That last two minutes literally gave me goosebumps. The more I watch your videos the less I can resist to buy my first modular setup. What you'll advice, maybe Behringer System 100 bundle from Thomann?
if you already own one or more semimodulars, you should go for a few modules to expand your possibilities. only if you want the whole shebang it's cheaper to get the complete bundle. The System 100 is worth it, in any case.
For sure do that. Expect a long wait as the process is both time consuming and sometimes , expensive. They are good to work with, just keep an eye on the process as mine stalled for a week because of a paperwork foul up. They fixxed it as soon as they found out, shipped to USA in 24 hours. The fees must be payed to keep the gear or you pay the return shipment costs. They use UPS and USP will handle all the paperwork and process with the Federal Gov. to your home. Do it! Comes in a nice bundle.
I did a Persuader style stereo bass with 3 squares - one sub + 2 detuned in stereo (virtually) and the result was 'majestic' - you should try it too ;)
This is what came as my System 55: 1x 914 FIXED FILTER BANK 1x 923 FILTERS 1x 904B VOLTAGE CONTROLLED HIGH PASS FILTER 1x 904A VOLTAGE CONTROLLED LOW PASS FILTER 1x 992 CONTROL VOLTAGES 5x 902 VOLTAGE CONTROLLED AMPLIFIER 4x 911 ENVELOPE GENERATORS 1x 911A DUAL TRIGGER DELAY 2x 921A OSCILLATOR DRIVER 6x 921B VCO 1x 921 VCO 1x 960 SEQUENTIAL CONTROLLER 1x CM1A MIDI to CV converter 3x CP3A-O module 3x CP3A-M 4 input mixer 2x 995 ATTENUATORS 1x 903A RANDOM SIGNAL GENERATOR 1x CP35 ATTENUATORS 1x 961 INTERFACE 1x 962 SEQUENTIAL SWITCH 1x BP28, 2x BP56 and 2x BP2 blanks panels for a total of 144HP expansion space 1x CM1A MIDI-to-CV converter 2x EURORACK GO cases including PSUs 2x EURORACK GO BRACKETS to link the 2 EURORACK GO cases together for easy patching I feel i need to get at least one more 904A LP Filter, 2 more 921 VCO, 2 x 994 multipliers... Apart from this I selected a few modules on the Sweetwater website : Behringer Chaos Analog Random Sampler Eurorack Module Behringer 2600-VCO Eurorack Voltage-controlled Oscillator Module Behringer Radar Eurorack Module Behringer 150 Ring Mod / Noise / S&H / LFO Eurorack Module I wonder if any of these make any sense... Your advice is going to be immensely helpful...
a space and a nightsky seem just about right, maybe a delay line or any old midi effects boxes laying around. Heck, the beatles used to sing into toilet paper tubes! =) Depeche mode sampled pipes in a factory!
Hi again, I am new to modular never used one, I am thinking of getting the bundle Behringer system 15, I want to use it to create performance lead sounds, similar to the performance you do at the outro and more aggressive ones , is it any good for that. Cheers Tim
Just getting started with the System 55. The manual mentions that the unit should be powered off when changing patches, however, I have yet to see anyone on RU-vid doing so. Are the IO ports on the modules sufficiently protected to allow hot patching? If so, any idea why the recommendation from Behringer?
I think there must be some misunderstanding. Perhaps the recommendation is to power off the case before adding or removing modules and their power cables rather than patch cables?
@@TimShoebridge The portion of the Quick Start manual that seems to imply the need to power off is "Make all the connections in your system as descried in the individual patches. Keep the System 55 power turned off when making any connections". Perhaps it is just worded poorly. Great videos, btw. Back in the day (mid 70's), I had many synths on stage but never could afford a modular system, so this is a blast to finally get one.
Well one example, take that +6v, pass it into an attenuator, then you have a variable voltage you can apply to any CV input. A bit like having a mod wheel, you can use it to manually modulate anything....
@@TimShoebridge i was trying to replicate what you were doing with my basic starter system... now realise how 'basic' it is.... needing (minimum) a CP35 methinks.... (and a ton more knowledge) I was puxzzled when you brought the VCA into play - I'd already had the filter going ito it.... thought that was the only way I could hear the filter.... didnt know that I could go straight to my external mixer from places OTHER than the VCA.... wouldn't have twigged that without watching the vid - so many thanks again.....
this System 55 that you have and the one i got a week ago have different modules. for example i have only one VC Low Pass Filter. And i dont have a Multiplier. Have you changed what Behringer provides as their 'standard' System 55? Many thanks for your videos. They are nice.
@@TimShoebridge this is wonderful, such a prompt reply... I am just beginning with modular synths, and really have just begiun with synths in general. (inspired by Hans Zimmer in Dune!) I am as of now struggling to get meaningful sounds out of the System 55. But i am not giving up. I start every time with a fresh patch and stop somewhere when i think i have hit a brickwall. And then RTZ return to zero and on again... I am a resilient guy at 54, always ready to learn and never idle... Professionally have been a sound engineer for moving image and now an audio tech consultant... Many thanks for your videos. I really appreciate the time and effort you have taken, because i know what it takes to make such videos. Warmest regards from Bombay, India... Be well!
I am finally ready to succumb to my desire to add "the Moog sound" to my studio this year, and I´m torn between the Matriarch and the full preconfigured Behringer System 55. Leaving aside the patching options for a moment and focussing on the raw sound (oscs + filters), would you (I trust your fine ears) consider the Matriarch to have an edge over the Behringer, or will the System 55 really give me say 99% of "the sound"?
When it comes to the "Moog sound", in reality there are many variations of it and a lot of debate on social media as to which particular Moog synth sounds best. I think Beringer has nailed the sound in their modules and so have Moog in their matriarch, I'd hope you would not be disappointed by either. The matriarch for me is a very special instrument, and it's as much to do with the features it provides and the experience of playing it as it is the sounds it is capable of. The Behringer modules to me are all about replicating the experience of patching vintage Moog modular, it's harder work than a Matriarch but that's all part of the experience. One last thing I should say.... When I first got a matriarch someone asked me about it and I enthused. So they went ahead and bought one, only to then a few weeks later berate me for encouraging them to waste their money. Turns out they didn't get on with it, and I think the peculiarities of playing paraphonically probably had something to do with it. But anyway, from that day onwards I'm very careful how I answer anyone about any piece of gear. The choice has to be yours, it's your hard-earned money 🙏
@@TimShoebridge Thank you for taking the time to reply. I see where you´re coming from regarding recommending device a over device b to strangers on the internet (even though I would find it just a bit weird to blame someone for liking something I don´t). I´m rather tempted than deterred by the Matriarch´s paraphony because I find paraphonic patching on a regular modular setup rather tedious. I´m relieved to hear that you find the Behringer modules to have "that Moog sound" (tm), because the setup I am aiming at is to use the Matriarch as the primary synth and add a row of Behringer modules for the building blocks the fixed Matriarch setup is lacking, and it seems I could give that idea a shot.
If I may join this conversation: I own and play both, the Matriach and the Behringer System 55. From my (always subjective) perception, the Matriarch has a quite unique sound, it seems to me a bit richer than the S55. It's difficult to replicate the Matriarch sound with the S55. But I don't know, which one is nearer to the sound of legacy Moog System 55. From a patching point of view, the Matriarch is on one hand much easier, since many useful connections are pre-patched and you save a few cables. On the other hand, some desirable patch points aren't accessible on the Matriarch, e.g. the connection between VCA outputs and the delay unit. This hinders mixing of external sound sources into the Matriarch sound before delay. The delay itself is of course a huge benefit of the Matriarch, for which there is no equivalent in the S55. In contrast to this, the S55 offers the complete access to every point in the signal flow (to the expense of many cables). Moreover, the Matriarch has a very good build-in keyboard. The paraphony logic can only be implemented in a S55 with additonal modules from other manufacturers. In the beginning, I struggled a bit with the paraphony, until I really learned how to use it. Now I really like to switch between the voice modes to achieve different sound effects or use the 4-voice mode to play real chords. In my setup, I use the S55 as an addtional voice, either independent of the Matriarch under MIDI control or with the 960 sequencer. Or I use the S55 deeply integrated with the Matriarch CVs for additional effects, e.g. using the S&H unit with S55 or syncing the 960 with the Matriarch sequencer. Back to your initial question of the sound: every analog synth sounds a bit different, even the Moog Grandmother sound differs from the Matriarch. It's a matter of personal preference or musical requirement. From my POV, the Matriarch is always a good choice, also in terms of cost. I hope that helps.
@@achimburger3790 Thank you for chiming in, I´m always glad to read different points of view just ahead of a purchasing decision (of course, there´s 30-days-money-back, but still...). First of all, my "desired Moog sound" is more in the vein of "Minimoog with extra facilities" and less "Emerson Lake and Palmer´s huge modular´s oscillator stacks" which lets me gravitate to the Matriarch first. And honestly, while I´d like to regard myself as a potential modular hero, I ought to be realistic and will be content with filter fm etc 98% of the time. Indeed, I am also looking at having the Matriarch as the main machine and adding modules for functions the Matriarch doesn´t offer, eg an analogue sequencer (and a quantizer), different filter types etc, therefore it´s good to read that you are using these two in a similar manner.
@@nobuyoshikitano3305 I just found this video, in which the sound of a vintage Moog System 1C is compared with the Behringer S55: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-QrrYDjO1FTM.html.
I would have absolutely lost my mind about all of this Behringer stuff 15-20 years ago but I’m afraid it’s too little too late. There is way too much exciting and incredible new analog and modular gear to make these even remotely relevant
The 904A low-pass filter is just one of several of these modules that are relevant to the analogue wind-synth set-up I'm building around my Roland AE-30 and Neutron.
