My quest for Quadraphony -- journal and audio samples

[Ben Asaro]

I have an idea forming for this project. Gonna do some chasing down the rabbit hole.

[Arpangel]

I suspect I'll understand all your preceeding discussions a little more once you post a few audio examples Ben

If they rely on a custom surround system, we ain’t going to hear them.

[Ben Asaro]

If they rely on a custom surround system, we ain’t going to hear them.

When have I ever said that was requirement?

[Ben Asaro]

Experiment failed, but I did get to record a sick noise drone as a consolation prize!

[Arpangel]

If they rely on a custom surround system, we ain’t going to hear them.

When have I ever said that was requirement?

We had the same issue, it was frustrating, never being able to put the music into peoples ears. Will there ever be a straightforward common surround protocol, that translates nicely to any medium, even stereo?

[Ben Asaro]

If they rely on a custom surround system, we ain’t going to hear them.

When have I ever said that was requirement?

We had the same issue, it was frustrating, never being able to put the music into peoples ears. Will there ever be a straightforward common surround protocol, that translates nicely to any medium, even stereo?

The final product (whenever that sees light of day) will be in multiple formats.

[Ben Asaro]

Another ridiculous idea popped into my head whilst the Lyra-8 is still out. More experimenting to follow!

[Ben Asaro]

Been kicking this idea around in my head whilst at work ... super excited to get home from work tonight and test a few things out. If this works ... it could be very cool.

[Ben Asaro]

Minor setback ... the RC-5 uses TRS Type A, and mmMIDI uses ... Type B MIDI, of course!

2x 3.5mm insert cables are slated to arrive on Monday, which is a small bummer as I have a million cable types and adapters here, but not the exact breakout I need for this work. ofc, this is speculative, though confidence is high.

That gives me the entire weekend to get the audio side sorted, and then on Monday I will test the actual control aspect.

[Ben Asaro]

Hit another road block ...

So, quick recap: I recorded 14 tracks of the Lyra-8 "playing" a chord progression. Each chord has 16 VCOs soing, it sounds massive!





My plan was to export a tempo-mapped chord progression using the Lyra-8 into the RC-5 and then play it back.

HOWEVER, when I import the .wav into the RC, it doubles the tempo for some inexplicable reason. I cannot figure out why it's doing that. And, of course, slowing the tempo to match the original recording creates artifacts since I am now stretching the audio. It also doubles the length of each chord.

I have no idea how to fix this, I'm hoping an internet search will turn something up, but I doubt it. Everything I've seen so far says, "adjust the tempo on the RC-5", which isn't helpful at all.

Back to the drawing board!

[Ben Asaro]

HA! Once again, I admit defeat, post about it, and then sort out the problem.

The way to get this to work is the following:

1. Record a blank loop on the RC-5 at the desired tempo.
2. When importing the mixdown, delete the blank audio and replace it with the new audio file

The audio now plays back through the RC-5 at the correct tempo with zero aliasing. The RC-5 is currently playing
Now I just need those insert cables so I can convert the Type A TRS from the BOSS to Type 2.

[Ben Asaro]

So ... the experiment didn't work.

And, quite honestly, not worth the effort to pursue at this juncture.

The TRS MIDI out from the RC-5 doesn't want to work at all, and when I tried a Hail Mary with my Kenton USB to DIN converter, I *was* able to get clock from the RC-5, but it wasn't in sync.

In the end it only cost $10 to test, so not the end of the world by any stretch.

So moving along! I have other ideas to try as well, this was just the first stop.

[Ben Asaro]

Still sorting out what my workflow is going to be for this project ... so many details to cover!

Since the RC-5 didn't pan out, as far as performance is concerned, I pulled out the ol' trusty MC-500 yesterday. I will load the same test chord progression into it (Em|C|Em|D|Bm) and test it using the Erica Synths MIDI<>CLK. Since the MC-500 can provide four tracks of sequencing, that should give me a lot of flexibility when it comes to layering.

And now that I think about it ... the JV-1080 has multiple outputs, so technically speaking, I can run it quadraphonically!

[Ben Asaro]

And on a side note, I have two very interesting pieces of kit on order; one is vintage (1971, the year after I was born) and the other is new, but meant to work with the former. More information to follow!

[Ben Asaro]

I didn't have much time after work this evening, but I was able to test syncing the modular to the MC-500; it worked a treat! I am hoping I will have time tomorrow to record a sequence for looping. (I also pulled the KSP from the closet; now I just need a synth to play it through)

I remembered today that the JV-1080 has multiple outputs so I could conceivably use it in quad! I like this idea very much, but it's a bit early to be considering that just yet. Still, it intrigues me.

[Ben Asaro]

This workflow test is going much better than the last one!

The MC-500 works really well. I now have a single chord progression looped 10 times and stored on a floppy.

Unfortunately, I don't think I will have time to really test anything until the weekend, but at least it's all prepped.

The MC-500 is still, hands down, my favorite MIDI sequencer. I love it!

[Ben Asaro]

TINY hiccup, I discovered that you cannot mute/unmute tracks once play has started on the MC-500. Not a deal-breaker, tho.

On to the next phase of the experiment!

[Ben Asaro]

VERY excited to get back into the next step on the workflow experiments this weekend! I have very little trust that the USPS will deliver the piece of kit I ordered from eBay, but the other bit should be arriving today via UPS. Ultimately I need both pieces for it to work, but at least now I can reveal what they are!

Unit 1 is a 1971 Panasonic portable tape recorder, RQ-209DAS.



Unit 2 is the Phatronics Lofiatron lo fi tape cassette synthesizer/sampler.



This is a video from the maker explaining how the Lofiatron works, https://youtu.be/Ckh21FHRcxM?si=FHTTyJCmt4UAPA_e

[Ben Asaro]

After the last taste of success, I'm now conducting a full workflow test -- Test No. 4. So far it's working fine! I have the MC-500 sync'd to the modular via MIDI <-> CLK. The primary clock is Pam's. NerdSeq is triggering the drum modules and advancing the Doepfer sequential switch.

The next part will entail adding modular voices to the setup, starting with SIG.

It's a lot of work to get it precisely how I want it, but that's the point of all this testing: test, iterate, improve.

[Ben Asaro]

Workflow test No. 4 was a success!

- Pam's is the primary clock
- NerdSeq is sequencing the drum modules, the sequential switch, and the Oct-Tone
- SIG's outputs are going through the sequential switch and into the Buchla. Each channel of SIG follows a 4 chord sequence on the MC-500/JV-1010
- Oct-Tone is sequencing one of the ONA VCOs

I didn't bring in the Moskwa, I'm not sure that it's needed. I can now start looking at arrangements. Slowly we move forward!

https://audio.com/don-music/audio/workflow-test-no-4

[Ben Asaro]

After yesterday’s success I will be moving onto the next moving target of this project: reverb. While I am still working in stereo, I want to get as many of the big decisions out of the way as possible.

As for delay, I am primarily thinking I will have two types: FUNCTIONAL and ARTISTIC. Functional delay will be tempo sync’d. Artistic delay will be polyphrase sound-on-sound and frozen/experimental stuff.

[Ben Asaro]

With a single voice from SIG going, I multed it into Aeolus Seeds and Aeolus Mixer, both AA.1's, and out to my Lexicon Alex reverb units. The sound is currently floating around my space in a very ethereal and mesmerizing way. I locked in the reverb settings, at least for now:

Front channels are set to **Large Hall**
50% Wet
Decay, 2.1 sec (10)
Predelay, 49.1 ms (4)
FX level, 10/16

Surround channels are set to **Large Hall**
70% Wet
Decay, 2.9 sec (12)
Predelay, 16.3ms (2)
FX level, 12/16



This is a much more subtle approach than what I was doing before, and I knew I had to spend a couple of hours really dialing it in; before it was all just swimming in reverb, which is not what I am going for.

I'm sure that as more voices get added I will need to tweak things a bit, as well as if I want to have something that's in the surrounds, but also more forward on the sound stage. But for now, it sounds quite lovely!

[Ben Asaro]

Well, a pleasant afternoon of a single sine wave pinging round in quad has me thinking that it's time to start thinking about what the shape of this project is going to be. On the one extreme I can have something that requires synchronisation by the end-user. On the other extreme, I can have something that requires no synchronisation at all, nor even set locations. And then I have a myriad of points in between!

I think that the music will probably end up dictating what the final project will sounds like, so that's probably the next step: record some jams and test the process out.

I'm a little concerned that this may end up not working the way I hope/envision it, but there's also that feeling of a big payoff should I pull it off!

[Martin Walker]

I'm a little concerned that this may end up not working the way I hope/envision it, but there's also that feeling of a big payoff should I pull it off!

Your first point is perhaps inevitable given the ambitious nature of your goal, but I for one am most intrigued about the outcome, and you already have a good track record of success with your previous projects, so a big payoff seems more likely than not.

[Ben Asaro]

I'm a little concerned that this may end up not working the way I hope/envision it, but there's also that feeling of a big payoff should I pull it off!

Your first point is perhaps inevitable given the ambitious nature of your goal, but I for one am most intrigued about the outcome, and you already have a good track record of success with your previous projects, so a big payoff seems more likely than not.

Thanks, Martin! I am certain that it will not go where I think it will, but can hopefully turn it around. The Berlin School album took ages to sort out, but once it clicked, things moved along!

My brain always gets a little paralyzed when I start thinking of music in three dimensions bc it's totally new to me. I'm sure that once I get through this first stage and have some taste of success (and failure), the way forward will present itself.