Ambient Arpeggios using LFOs and a Quantizer

One of the coolest things about Eurorack is that there are tons of neat tricks you can wire up with your modules, to produce some really cool sounds. 

A common trick, one that I recently came across, is the idea of using a LFO (low frequency oscillator) with a quantizer to produce an arpeggio. 

How exactly does this work? It's all in the quantizer, which takes incoming voltages from the LFO and adjusts them such that they match the voltage of a note that belongs to a scale (in accordance with the 1V/Oct Eurorack standard). That's why the outputted voltages (notes of the arpeggio) sound melodic, when connected to a voice. 

Here is a quick graph (not my graph) which should help visualize the concept of quantization.

As you can see, the blue line is the result of quantization; a discrete set of voltages, whereas the red line represents a LFO sine wave.

I decided to try out this trick by using Tides to generate some LFOs, 2HP Tune to quantize the notes and Rings to act as the voice. Here's the result:

Wow, Rings really does make some mystical sounds when you send an arpeggio into it, like the twinkling of a star! I love how melodic it sounds and the relaxing mood it puts you in.

Now let's break down this patch into a bit more detail. As I said, I've set up Tides to generate some LFOs. To do this, I've set the frequency range to 2Hz (yellow), the ramp mode to cyclic bipolar oscillations (red) and the output mode to different frequencies (red). That means that each output is producing a LFO of different frequency. Pamela's Workout is also clocking Tides.

The first Tides output is sent to Shades, to set the range of voltages. It is then sent to the Disting MkII, in full-wave rectifier mode, which takes the absolute value of the voltages (i.e. removes negative voltages). From here is goes through 2HP Tune, which quantizes the voltages to a melodic scale. As I mentioned above, this quantization creates the arpeggio of notes.

Rings is the voice of this patch. In particular, it's set to the quadriophonic (red) alternate "Karplusverb" reverb mode (flashing red) and receives the arpegggio sequence from Tune. This mode, I've found, is great for generating ambient-like sounds, mainly because of the reverb it creates. 

The other outputs of Tides are used for CV modulation, the second output modulating Rings' frequency setting and the third output modulating Rings' position setting. This adds a bit of dynamics to the patch, so it doesn't always sound the same.

The Doepfer LFO provides even more CV modulation, modifying the Tides' slope and frequency settings (this is what speeds up and slows down the rate of the arpeggio) as well as the brightness setting of Rings.

And finally, to add some randomness to the patch, 2HP TM generates a random voltage to set the bias of Tune. This modifies the base pitch of the arpeggio.

And that's pretty much it. It may sound a bit complex but the core idea of this patch, again, is passing a LFO through a quantizer to create the arpeggio of notes. Such a neat idea this is!

Have you tried out this trick? How did it sound for you? Let me know in the comments!

Happy patching friends,

-Uncle Peter

Sequencing with Pamela's Workout

Pamela's Workout was one of the first modules that I added to my rack.

From the start, I knew it was a powerful module that had a variety of features (kudos to ALM for that). In my videos, you've mostly seen it as the clock source for my patches and I must say it does a very good job at that!

A couple of days ago, I was going through the user manual of Pam's Workout and found a small paragraph saying that the module could also be used as a sequencer. For those who do not know, a sequencer is a module that generates a sequence of notes, with defined lengths and pitches.

I decided to give it a try and create a four beat sequence. Here's how I did it:

1) Set four trigger outputs to /4 (division of 4)

2) For each trigger output, press and hold to bring up the "advanced settings"

3) Scroll to the "n" setting. This changes the "length" of the trigger (essentially turning it into a gate). Setting the value to n = 50 represents an eighth note and N=1 represents a quarter note and so on.

4) Scroll to the "r" setting, which sets the order of the sequence by offsetting the triggers. For my output 4 -> 3 -> 2-> 1 sequence, I used the following settings:

Output 1  -->  r = 1 (Gate)

Output 2  -->  r = 2 (Gate)

Output 3  -->  r = 3 (Gate)

Output 4  -->  r = 0 (Trigger)

Not too bad! A pretty melodic yet mellow sequence. You can definitely hear which notes are eighth notes and which are quarters. 

Let's get into the details the patch:

Since I didn't have a four-channel mixer, I had to get a bit creative. I send the first three outputs of Pam's Workout (which are producing gates/voltages now) to Mutable Instruments Shades, which is in attenuverter mode. This allows me to adjust the pitch of the notes via the knobs of Shades and mix the three inputs to a single output. This output is sent to 2HP Tune to be quantized to a scale.

The fourth output of Pam's Workout is actually a trigger, the start of the sequence, which I send to 2HP TM to generate a random voltage. This voltage is sent to change the bias of Tune, which offsets the scale, essentially changing the pitch of the other three notes, randomly, but still following the sequence. You can think of it as randomly setting the root note of the sequence. 

Finally, Tune sends the quantized voltages to Mutable Instruments Rings. Some CV modulation from the Doepfer LFO adds some depth to the sounds as well. 

And that's it! This was a pretty fun patch to build and it's always interesting to try out unorthodox ways of using modules.

Have you ever sequenced with Pam's workout? Want more details about the patch? Let me know in the comments below.

Happy patching friends,

-Uncle Peter

Ambient Sounds with Rings

One of the main reasons I got into modular synth/Eurorack was because of the music you could create, specifically ambient generative. 

Ambient generative is a subset of the ambient genre. This is music that is ambient in nature but the music itself is self-developing and randomly changing. No two songs are the same and in fact, it is quite hard to replicate a patch, even if you wired it up identically. The idea behind using a modular synth to create ambient generative patches is that no human input is required to develop the music, it does it all on its own!

This is my first attempt at something that you could quasi-call "ambient generative" and it features the Mutable Instruments Rings module. I've gone into much detail in previous posts about how powerful of a module Rings is and in particular, I'm using it in this patch as the main voice. 

I'm very happy with this patch! It hit all the notes (no pun intended) that I wanted it to, that smooth ambient strumming, all randomly modulated and changing! The randomness, particularly with the rhythm generation was something I was experimenting with for quite a bit.

Now let's break this patch down in detail, as it is slightly more complex than previous ones.

Rings provides the "ambient" component to the patch. It is set to duophonic sympathetic strings mode (yellow-yellow), which allows for those overtones as the pitch changes from note to note. Rings receives notes from 2HP Arp.

The "generative" component is provided by 2HP TM and the random octave mode of Arp. TM generates random notes, which are then quantized via 2HP Tune to a melodic scale. The quantized notes are sent to 1) Arp, to set the root note of the octave, 2) the length input of 2HP Euclid, to set the length of the rhythm Euclid generates and 3) the steps input of Euclid, to set the rhythm that is generated. Euclid also triggers Arp.

So every time TM generates a note, we have a new pattern, pattern length, root octave note and, as a result, a new sound.

To add some more randomness to the patch, I use Mutable Instruments Tides as the clock source, in cyclic oscillation - different shape mode (yellow, OFF, yellow). Tides tells Pam's Workout when to turn on and commence the triggering for TM and Euclid.

And to top things off, I use the Doepher LFO to modulate the slope function of Tides so that the on/off gates generated by Tides for Pam's Workout are not of equal lengths, but varying lengths. This means that sometimes notes will be generated quickly and others slowly.

Whew! That was a lot to explain. I hope it all makes sense. And of course, here is the diagram of the patch, which will hopefully make things a bit clearer:

If you have any questions or suggestions, let me know in the comments below.

Happy patching friends,

-Uncle Peter

Strings of Time

When I first started building my rack, I remember being very eager to hear what sounds I could actually produce. My first patches were nothing special, an oscillator being fed some voltages, changing the pitch, mostly. But it sounded so cool to me and it was unlike anything I've ever heard before.

After a bit of tweaking, researching and frankly just exploring what each of my modules could do, I managed to put together a patch that sounded pretty decent (at least to me). 

Without further ado, here is my first real patch: "Strings of Time"

Remember in Guitar Hero those notes that you could hit without strumming? That's exactly what's going on here!

When Pluck is strummed, TM varies it's pitch. If the decay of Pluck is fast, no additional notes are heard (staccato), but if the decay is slow, you hear a soft variety of notes. The Doepfer LFO varies the speed of decay. 

Here are the full details:

• Pam's Workout is strumming 2HP Pluck on every 4th beat, triggering 2HP TM every 16th of a beat and triggering Expert Sleepers Disting mk2

• The voltages from TM are put through Shades (in attenuverter mode) to control the range of voltages that pass through. From 12 o'clock, turning clockwise increases the range. These filtered voltages are put through 2HP Tune, to quantize them to a melodic scale (major here), then inputted into Pluck's V/OCT input

• Pluck's audio output is sent to Expert Sleepers Disting mk2, which is set to clockable delay mode. In this mode, Disting mk2 will add a delay/echo effect to an inputted audio source, clocked to a inputted clock source

• An inverted sawtooth wave from the Doepher LFO is sent to Pluck's decay input, to add some modulation to the patch

What struck me most about this patch was that it was exactly the sound I was looking to get out of my rack, an ambient, echo-like feel, with some randomness added to it. It's feelings like these that make you want to explore even more, to see how you can make what you love sound even better!

What was your first patch like? How did it sound? Let me know in the comments below!

Happy patching friends,

-Uncle Peter

Rhythmic Clocked Modulation with Tides v2

As I mentioned in my previous post, I recently added a Mutable Instruments Tides module to my rack. As I began experimenting with it, I began to realize just how powerful of a module it really is. 

As part of my learning process with Tides, I watched a very informative Youtube video from Ali the Architect about Tides v2. The 22-minute video covers many of Tides's features and was immensely helpful to me; I highly recommend it if you've recently purchased this module.

One of the topics that Ali mentions is using Tides for "rhythmic clocked modulation" (i.e. CV modulation that is synced to a clock). In other words, sending a clock input into Tides and having it output various oscillations that are "in time". 

Here is my take on some rhythmic clocked modulation

A Mutable Instruments marriage we have here, with Tides sending rhythmically clocked CV to various parameters of Rings! The CV modulation here results in Rings producing unique synth-like sounds, from the long, drawn-out tones to short, beat-like staccatos. The notes sound as if they're coming from a mixture between a harp and a synthesizer! It really is such a unique sound.

So what's going on in this patch?

• Tides is set to generate 2Hz order (yellow) cyclic bipolar oscillations (yellow). A clock input is given to Tides via Pam's Workout, allowing Tides's outputs to oscillate on time. Rings is set to duophonic sympathetic string mode (yellow-yellow).

• With a clock input, adjusting Tides's frequency multiplies or divides the inputted clock signal, allowing Tides to output oscillations of different periods, when in varying frequency output mode (red). Counterclockwise divides the time and clockwise multiplies the time

• Outputs 1, 2 and 3 are used to modulate the brightness, damping and position functions of Rings, respectively, which is also being strummed by Pam's Workout. It's as if we are quickly turning the dials of Rings, in time

• 2HP Arp sends voltages to the V/OCT input of Rings and is being triggered by 2HP Euclid. 2HP Arp's mode is set to random notes spanning an octave

• 2HP TM, via 2HP Tune, sends quantized voltages to 2HP Arp, to set the root note of the octave, and sends triggers to reset and change the number of steps of the rhythmic triggers that 2HP Euclid generates

On a side note, as you probably have noticed, most of my patches involve 2HP TM and Tune. I primarily use these modules to incorporate a bit of randomness into the patch, so there's a low chance of pitches and rhythms repeating.

Again this is just a single feature of what Tides v2 has to offer. If you have Tides, let me know in the comments below how you use it. And be sure to check out Ali's video for more things to do with Tides.

Happy patching friends,

-Uncle Peter