Looking at the 'big composition' for 2023

[Ben Asaro]

Okay, so even though this turned out nothing like I imagined it, and I wasn't really blown away by it -- I DO like the pitched clicking with the envelopes' decay all the way down. I could see that being integrated into the next test. Otherwise, I didn't love the "Euclidean melody" idea.

[Martin Walker]

Boo-hoo - I liked it! (and the groove reminded me a bit of 'Another One Bites The Dust')

[Ben Asaro]

Boo-hoo - I liked it! (and the groove reminded me a bit of 'Another One Bites The Dust')

LOL to be fair, I didn't hate it; just didn't love it.

[Ben Asaro]

Had a bit of an epiphany on the subway this morning. My biggest issue with v1 of the Euclidean Melody is that there was no way for me to get a rhythmic pattern I liked without also having it trigger more than one pitch. I really want this to be a single-note line but also have a random element.

So, I came up with this:



It still has pitches from the NerdSeq, but since they are going through the sequential switch now, only one note can sound at a time. Branches is used to provide some variations in the melody.

The next challenge will be to see if I can combine multiple outputs from EC for interesting rhythms. I think there is a mode that will enable me to get sequences 1-3 from a single output.

[Ben Asaro]

Turns out that Euclidean Circles doesn't have mode which will combine multiple simultaneous sequencers from a single output -- this looks like a terrible oversight, imo. BUT -- I was able to find a work around, which is probably the greatest strength of modular!

I removed TM and Eudemonia and replaced them with Pico SEQS (sequential switch) and Dynamix. Since Dynamix can handle CV as well as audio, it is able to mix two outputs from Euclidean Circles to create complex rhythms.

Gave it a quick test and it works!

Now to work up a proof of concept ...

[Ben Asaro]

Side thought: the thought did occur to me that this seems like the long way round to basically recreate the sequencers in the Subharmonicon, but they actually work very differently. The only commonality between the SubH and this is the fact that it's four notes and is capable of being polymetric. Of course, this may end up being a nonstarter just as v1 was, but I won't know until I try. I'm not ready to give up on the concept just yet!

[Martin Walker]

Looking forward to hearing the musical results of your mental manipulations Ben!

[Ben Asaro]

Updated diagram:

[Ben Asaro]

3rd time pays for all, I hope

[Ben Asaro]

Working from home today so I'm patching between calls.

[Ben Asaro]

And, success!!

This is much closer to the sound I am hearing in my head. My test is using software delay and reverb, I still have to test the SSL's insert with hardware, but as I'm technically still at work, that will have to wait.



https://soundcloud.com/user-329043613-5 ... al_sharing

So, the way this patch works:

The NerdSeq is sending 4 pitches into the sequential switch. Each sequence is in 5/4 and is playing 5 pitches, hocketed and and starting on the next pitch in the sequence, so that the same pitch isn't playing across two sequencers at the same time. The pitches are C-D-Eb-G-C (8ve); I imagine changing this order will make the patterns even more complex but I haven't tried it yet. That will be for further exploration after work...

Euclidean Circles is being mixed by Dynamix and then multed to both the EG and Branches. The envelope opens whenever it gets a trig from Dynamix, but it doesn't push the sequential switch forward unless Branches' probability has that output triggering. So there's no way to know what will be the next pitch.

By combining the two outputs from Euclidean Circles, new motives are created, their pitches always related but randomly determined.

[Martin Walker]

Fascinating stuff Ben - just enough variation to tempt the jaded palette, while still sounding like a planned score.

I look forward to your next composition, based on the Fibonaaci sequence

[Ben Asaro]

Fascinating stuff Ben - just enough variation to tempt the jaded palette, while still sounding like a planned score.

I look forward to your next composition, based on the Fibonaaci sequence

There is something about the certainty of the rhythmic pattern and the almost-certainty of the pitches that I find intriguing. If anything, the test melody is too busy and will need more space, perhaps. I'll be engaging in further exploration today...

[Ben Asaro]

With Step 1 in the microcomposition project being a success, now I am ready to move onto Step 2: making it into musique concrete. The plan is to capture a section of the generative melody, loop it, manipulate the loop in real time, and capture the performance on my 'tape deck' second looper. Then I can start to think about adding layers, but I don't want to put the cart too far before the horse just yet.



I think this will work: inserting the looper between the VCA and the filter, then out to delay and reverb, then into the transcription looper.

[Ben Asaro]

Had an epiphany in the shower this morning, and it actually worked! I don't know why it occurred to me, but I've been using Euclidean Circles sync'd as if it were doing percussion, with each step being a 16th note. This led to two issues: 1) the melody sequence was very short and 2) things got very busy once delays were added. The first part of the epiphany was to subdivide the clock from Pam's so that Euclidean Circles was now moving in 8th notes. This immediately gave me the sense of space I was looking for. Dotted 8th delays now create beautiful syncopation.

The next part of the epiphany was related to the length of the melody. I chained circles 1 and 2 then offset them. I then used circle 3 as my syncopation trigger. This gave me a motive that was now 4 measures long instead of one (subdividing the clock increased it to two measures).

The final part of the epiphany was to grab just an 8 measure section of the generative melody. This requires a bit of a deft hand to make sure that the loop is actually in time in case I want to add percussion later. Using a click made it pretty easy to pull off, though.

This ended up being exactly what I wanted when I first came up with the concept: it's totally generative, yet controlled and somewhat repeatable. At least,it's repeatable from the standpoint where I can make something reminiscent of the original performance, even if it's not precisely the same. I was able to test this when I accidentally erased the loop I recorded on the RC-1 TWICE lol.

What I ended up with is this: https://audio.com/don-music/euclidean-melody-v3

Definitely the most productive shower I've taken in a long time!!

The audio clip is the direct output from the RC-5 transcription looper. Now to work on building up layers!

[Martin Walker]

Nice work Ben - that really did have a lot of pleasing melodic variation for a generative setup.

[Ben Asaro]

Thanks, Martin!

[Arpangel]

What interests me about this piece are the resonances occurring in the reverb tails, they’re beautiful, I’d home in on those and use them in their own right, a 100% wet situation.

[Ben Asaro]

What interests me about this piece are the resonances occurring in the reverb tails, they’re beautiful, I’d home in on those and use them in their own right, a 100% wet situation.

It took me a good, long time to really appreciate the Blackhole reverb! But when you lean into what it does, it sounds great. Those waves of harmony created by the Blackhole are intentional, as a point of interest. For me personally, it would be less interesting as the primary focus (and I have a feeling it’s been done before as well).

[Arpangel]

What interests me about this piece are the resonances occurring in the reverb tails, they’re beautiful, I’d home in on those and use them in their own right, a 100% wet situation.

It took me a good, long time to really appreciate the Blackhole reverb! But when you lean into what it does, it sounds great. Those waves of harmony created by the Blackhole are intentional, as a point of interest. For me personally, it would be less interesting as the primary focus (and I have a feeling it’s been done before as well).

Black Hole? wow, I’m surprised, sounds good. I had one and didn’t get on with it.
Yes, the reverb as a texture, I think I meant, not obvious, but just there, so you don’t quite know what’s going on.

[Ben Asaro]

Refinement continues on the Euclidean Melody idea. I recorded about an hour of whole cloth audio yesterday with the idea of curating a small section as a loop, but after I was done realized that this isn’t the direction I want to be going in. I also didn’t like the results I got.

Unfortunately, the sheer number of hours needed to generatively get something I am really taken with would require using a computer and I really don’t want to be heading down that path.

So last night I took the 16 pulse divisions from Euclidean Circles and transcribed them as step sequencer style patterns. Today’s experiment will be to strip the whole thing down to a single voice and see if I can create something that uses the Euclidean patterns but also has a melody I actually enjoy.

[Arpangel]

This way of working is so hit and miss, you just have to keep going until something you like comes up, with my tape delay stuff, most of it gets binned, but it’s worth hanging on for the surprises.

[Martin Walker]

I recorded about an hour of whole cloth audio yesterday with the idea of curating a small section as a loop...

Well I learned a new concept today, but it makes perfect sense!

[Ben Asaro]

This way of working is so hit and miss,

Totally agree!

you just have to keep going until something you like comes up, with my tape delay stuff, most of it gets binned, but it’s worth hanging on for the surprises.

For a stand-alone solo composition I might actually consider recording reams and reams of audio and then parse through it hoping to catch lightning in a bottle. However I'm actually trying to come up with a workflow that I can use in collaboration with other musicians and the hunt-and-peck method won't work, unfortunately.