The Studio Log - What Did You Do In The Studio

[foosnark]

I've decided to take some time out from recording and releasing to do some deep dives into gear. I'd like to go through nearly all my modules except for the more trivial things, but especially highlight (A) the more perplexing or deep ones, and (B) the ones I've kind of held onto unquestioningly, to see if maybe it's time to set them aside.

First on the list is Synchrodyne, because it is easily the most perplexing, unstable, and purely experimental piece of music gear I've ever owned. It's almost never a good substitute for a normal filter. I've sold it once, then bought it a second time when WMD announced they were closing it and put a lot of modules on sale -- and had been thinking about selling it again to make room for something more straightforward that I've been curious about.

I'm trying to approach it somewhat systematically, and am taking notes not just on its own behavior but pairing it with other gear to see what it complements, what kind of modulation or external processing suits it, etc. (For instance, audio rate crossfading between the 2-pole and 4-pole outputs can be pretty neat. And Just Friends is a good envelope to use with it since you can have it close the VCA just a little faster than the cutoff to reduce the squelchy clock noise and wobbling that comes in as the frequency is lowered.) There's a ton of possibilities to cover and I will probably never hit them all, but over several sessions I should be able to learn enough to either make much better use of it or decide to ditch it.

But I've already decided not to sell it. The right combinations of clock rate, PLL mult/div, tracking speed and damping can add a lot of texture to a drone in a way I was thinking about getting Klavis Grainity to do for me. Those sweet spots are not particularly intuitive to dial in, but this is why I'm doing this kind of exploration.

[elxsound]

Can’t say I’m doing exactly the same with the deep dive, except that I know I’m not using my modules to the fullest and I’m trying to change that especially now they’re all in the same spot. No excuses now.

I want to get the “how do I accomplish this” thought process out the way as much as possible.

So far in practice I wish I had bought Xpan along with XPO. It makes sense why these go together, but it’s not the end of the world since I can work with BlueBox as needed. It’s just not self contained this way.

*Yesterday, I cleared more hurdles with SQ64, and tonight its time to add in sequencer modulation with Mimeophon.

Some experimentation goals:

https://youtu.be/OVLo3GJAVtY

And an early demo video. Nice stuff especially in the 2nd half

https://youtu.be/gDNS7uL0EeA

[WatchTheGuitar]

Varigate 4+ arrived so just shuffled it into the modular and I suddenly hear melodies very similar to ones I've seen in modular for the last few years. You stick this in 2+2 mode and output to a Rings and a BIA with slide, repeats and probabilities and it just reels out 'that' sound. Very nice. I've been producing a lot of different loops of modular stuff over the last couple of months and I think maybe at the weekend I'm going to see if I can collage it all together somehow.

[WatchTheGuitar]

Managed to arrange things so I can lay on the sofa and have Minilogue XD, Analog Four and Digitakt usable. May never get up again.

[vurt]

Managed to arrange things so I can lay on the sofa and have Minilogue XD, Analog Four and Digitakt usable. May never get up again.

living the dream!

[foosnark]

Wrote this up from my notes. It's definitely not exhaustive (I've barely explored using Sync to affect the filter for instance) but it's a solid start, and it transformed the module in my mind from a baffling experimental playground that I might try random things with if I'm feeling patient, to something that I can use practically in patches on a regular basis.

Since the process was mostly for my own benefit I didn't go through the extra trouble of scope shots, audio samples etc. but maybe some other folks will find it useful.

Synth Studies: WMD Synchrodyne

[cryophonik]

I spent a few hours yesterday pulling my hair out trying to fix a corrupted Cosmos database.

Managed to arrange things so I can lay on the sofa and have Minilogue XD, Analog Four and Digitakt usable. May never get up again.

I can imagine the piles of empty soda bottles, discarded potato chips,…errrr crisps,… bags, and pizza boxes strewn about the room.

[vurt]

I spent a few hours yesterday pulling my hair out trying to fix a corrupted Cosmos database.

soma?

[cryophonik]

I spent a few hours yesterday pulling my hair out trying to fix a corrupted Cosmos database.

soma?

Nope, Waves. Seems this is a common issue with this software

[vurt]

I spent a few hours yesterday pulling my hair out trying to fix a corrupted Cosmos database.

soma?

Nope, Waves. Seems this is a common issue with this software

phew! (but sorry to hear that)
have my eye on the soma cosmos, so was a bit worried for a minute! thanks for clearing it up

[cryophonik]

I spent a few hours yesterday pulling my hair out trying to fix a corrupted Cosmos database.

soma?

Nope, Waves. Seems this is a common issue with this software

phew! (but sorry to hear that)
have my eye on the soma cosmos, so was a bit worried for a minute! thanks for clearing it up

The Soma Cosmos looks very cool and, best of all, no buggy software to deal with.

[vurt]

yup, looks like my kind of fun.
now winter is over and im not spending stupid amounts of money just to stay warm, i may treat myself soon

[donkey tugger]

im not spending stupid amounts of money just to stay warm

Use this window of opportunity. It will soon be time to spend silly amounts of money to stay cool.

[WatchTheGuitar]

I spent a few hours yesterday pulling my hair out trying to fix a corrupted Cosmos database.

Managed to arrange things so I can lay on the sofa and have Minilogue XD, Analog Four and Digitakt usable. May never get up again.

I can imagine the piles of empty soda bottles, discarded potato chips,…errrr crisps,… bags, and pizza boxes strewn about the room.

Well you’d be wrong because I haven’t even made it into the kitchen since I set it up about four hours ago.

shit, what I thought was 4 hours is actually more like 6. I have to make tea.

[vurt]

im not spending stupid amounts of money just to stay warm

Use this window of opportunity. It will soon be time to spend silly amounts of money to stay cool.

least ive already bought the fans, now just need to power the feckers
we should get a fan voucher!

given its a bank holiday weekend and it's been "f**king warm and not raining" it does not bode well for those few excessive heat days