New generative setup (Stochastic Instruments, Doepfer, Nano Circuits)

[Ben Asaro]

This is a jam I had last night with the SIG and it turned out rather well, so I thought I would share. I will definitely be exploring this more in the future, the setup works really well.

https://photos.app.goo.gl/EkFhjqfooGJcZ36F6



This is just two voices: a drone and a pitched VCO. The delay is sync'd from Pam's/MIDI-CLK, and then the entire thing is run through Blackhole. I use filter sweeps to add some movement and the increasing complexity of the melody is from the sequential switch.

It took a long time for me to come up my own approach to Berlin School and I'm finding that the methods I used on that album with the the Subharmonicon apply very easily to other sequencers as well to add unexpected twists.

Since SIG is already much more complex than the SubH, I had to constrain it quite a bit for the purposes of my first jam, but I'm definitely interested in exploring this further; the variations possible are pretty mind-blowing.

Here's what the jam sounds like, https://audio.com/don-music/audio/sig-s ... switch-jam

I want to add some type of percussive element but otherwise this case came together quickly and works really well for long, slowly-developing compositions.

I can provide more details on how I actually did it if anyone is interested.

[Arpangel]

Ben, interested in how you applied that sequential switch?

[BillB]

I enjoyed that, Ben.

I keep wondering, when I hear your modular creations, what inspiration I could take from them into simpler, non-modular gear like a Roland JD-Xi, Volcas, Beatstep Pro etc. Only the last has any randomisation capability, but I expect that similar effects could be achieved through their combination and mixing time signatures, adding delays etc.

Thank you for making me think about the possible!

[Ben Asaro]

Ben, interested in how you applied that sequential switch?

The switch is the secret sauce to the whole thing.

Here's a quick connection diagram:

https://photos.app.goo.gl/3niNG7iQXqRSbQx28



1. The main motive is derived from TrEG A from SIG. It is multed and sent to the sequential switch and EG once I have a looped pattern that I like.

2. SIG is set up to produce a very limited number of notes per track, except for track D. The way I set up this jam was as follows:

Track A = root
Track B = minor 3rd
Track C = perfect 5th
Track D = root an octave higher than track A, plus other notes from the scale

3. As the sequential switch cycles through its inputs, I perform the piece by varying the length of the sequential switch between 2 and 4 steps, the amount of delay level and repeats, and the filters for the drone and pitch VCOs.

It can be made to be much more complex simply by adding another note to one or all of the tracks on SIG or by implementing another sequential switch.

I hope this answers your question!

[Ben Asaro]

I enjoyed that, Ben.

Thanks, Bill!

Thank you for making me think about the possible!

Thanks, I appreciate it! I spend weeks or months working out a particular workflow and sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn't.

I keep wondering, when I hear your modular creations, what inspiration I could take from them into simpler, non-modular gear like a Roland JD-Xi, Volcas, Beatstep Pro etc. Only the last has any randomisation capability, but I expect that similar effects could be achieved through their combination and mixing time signatures, adding delays etc.

I think it's definitely possible but would be challenging in the aspect of how would you switch between the tracks as I am effectively using 4 separate sequencers. In this case I would use something like the BSP and set it for an odd number of steps; I would have Pattern 1 be a very simple variation of 2 notes and Pattern 2 have the same rhythm but be set for random; switching between the patterns is easy enough, the question would be whether you put them on the same sequencer and a single synth or if you have two synths and switch between them, in which case you would need a 3rd blank pattern or would have to mute one of them. That would be a really fun experiment! I think you would still probably want a way to fade the voices in and out if you are using multiple synths.

hmmm -- we should give this a try!

[Arpangel]

Thanks Ben, the diagram is worth a thousand words!

[BillB]

I think it's definitely possible but would be challenging in the aspect of how would you switch between the tracks as I am effectively using 4 separate sequencers. In this case I would use something like the BSP and set it for an odd number of steps; I would have Pattern 1 be a very simple variation of 2 notes and Pattern 2 have the same rhythm but be set for random; switching between the patterns is easy enough, the question would be whether you put them on the same sequencer and a single synth or if you have two synths and switch between them, in which case you would need a 3rd blank pattern or would have to mute one of them. That would be a really fun experiment! I think you would still probably want a way to fade the voices in and out if you are using multiple synths.
hmmm -- we should give this a try!

Thanks Ben

I am not thinking of replicating your processes, more being inspired by them to look at how sequencers might be combined, with different sequence lengths (easy on the BSP although I'm no expert), and different amounts of randomisation.

What I particularly like about what you do is that I just wouldn't think of going there, maybe sometimes because I wouldn't want to go in that direction, but more often, I just wouldn't look at my kit as having those kinds of possibilities. It's like you are pushing the envelope and that opens spaces for anyone who is interested.

About a week ago I created a sequence on the JD-Xi - the first one really since I got it a year or so ago. I used the default 16 note sequence (it can do 16, 32 or 64, nothing more or less) but entered repeating steps of 3 notes, so although it looped every 16 steps, it had an off-beat feel to it. Added some vaguely latin percussion, then played around with a some literally classical chords over the top. But also played with the arpeggiator on another track where, as you might imagine, the number of notes held down sets the ARP length. So got some whacky polyrhythms going that just made me LOL (when I came to bed, Mrs B asked what I had been laughing about

So, offbeat fun is available, even in strictly 4/4 packages like the JD-Xi. What you have got me thinking about is syncing that to a Volca and/or a BSP with other time signatures... then the randomisation...

There may be more giggles to be heard coming from the studio

Edit: I thought there was something more to the JD-Xi. If you set the Measures to 4 and the Scale to 1/32, there can be 128 steps. It's also necessary to turn the tempo down (the minimum is 60BPM), which depending how (and how many) notes are entered, could end up sounding like 120BPM. So, there is scope for more randomness within those 128 steps.