ACE Question

[Phase47]

I am wondering if ACE is capable of the more exotic side of modular synthesis. Like those sort of sounds you might hear coming out of a Buchla 200e or some of the Doepfer stuff. All of the ACE demos I've come across are all seeming emulative of analog-ish bread & butter type sounds.

Does anybody have any links/demos of a more exotic side of ACE?

[xh3rv]

What's your impression of stuff in the 'Modular Madness' part of the factory library? I think most preset resources have a few things that are cable-centric like that, it just turns out ACE is perfectly capable for things closer to VA/subtractive with modular twist.

[Phase47]

My impression of the modular madness stuff was that I didn't really hear anything especially unique there, or anything that I couldn't approximate w/ Tyrell or Zebra or Diva. Lots of white noise and S&F filter mods in that folder.

I guess what I'm looking for is what sets ACE apart - what makes it unique?

[xh3rv]

Maybe it's a question of component character then ... I don't think ACE is trying to emulate the character of any legendary synths the way Tyrell and DIVA do. With ACE particular character tends to arise from the cable spaghetti. I think it's fair to say the individual components without modular patching or audio-rate modulations are technically not so far away from the typical VA synth world, although certainly they sound great. With modulation there's a lot going on, it has a clarity and precision that makes it a very relevant choice as a synth.

[Phase47]

No doubt, ACE sounds great, but in playing the demo and listening 'round the web, it's sounding a little redundant in my arsenal.

When I've got some time away from production though, I'll dig-in to the cable spaghetti and see where it takes me.

[Phase47]

Adding to this conversation, does anybody know the development roadmap for ACE? What is coming down the road for it?

[xh3rv]

What is coming down the road for it?

ACE has been presented as an earlier commercial component of Berlin Modular, you might check this recent post.

Urs has said buying an ACE license will mean some sort of discount on Berlin Modular - dunno about details or even if they're concrete, but I think it's fair to factor into a decision, sort of like - makes sense if you trust u-he will deliver on Berlin Modular. Safe bet IMO

[News From The Sky]

ACE is a beautiful bargain even if Berlin Modular turns out to be the Chinese Democracy of the soft synth world.

[justin3am]

If you are looking for 200e-like sounds, try using the LFOs as audio sources and send the output of an oscillator to the phase input on LFO 1. That should get you relatively close to the sound of a 261e. The the mapping generator as a simple sequencer driven by the ramp.

I think that Bazille is really better suited for Buchla/Serge like sounds. The oscillators are flexible in different ways (focusing on FM and phase distortion) and there are more unconventional ways to process signals. The sequencer in Bazille is also pretty unique, capable of some 250e/MArF-like results.

Both of these synths will also let you "ping" the filters. In ACE, what you want to do is...
-set envelope 1 to short attack, longish decay, no sustain, longish release
-set envelope 2 to shortest attack, no decay, no sustain, no release
-patch envelope 2 to the AUDIO input of filter 1
-set filter 1 cutoff to 60
-turn resonance on filter1 up to just below self-oscilation
-turn keyfollow for filter 1 all the way up

Now when you send midi notes to ACE it should trigger a clicky ringing sound, if you tweak the gain and resonance controls on filter 1 you should be able to get some nice tuned percussion sounds that decay very naturally. You can then apply FM to the filter cutoff to get more woody percussion sounds or even metallic bell-ish sounds.

[Urs]

Adding to this conversation, does anybody know the development roadmap for ACE? What is coming down the road for it?

We will shortly start to to whip through the Berlin Modular project.

It's been a moving target, and our newly developed technologies allow us to aim for a way, way bigger solution than was outlined elsewhere. We will most likely release Bazille as a product of its own just like ACE and we'll make both fully deductable towards The Big One.

Unlike earlier considerations (3 synths with fixed number/selection of modules) we are no anticipating a single, integrated solution with swappable modules (think Diva) and somewhat interpatchable multitimbral layers. We're looking at a beast of 640+ modules, with 64 modules being active at any time (8 x , each with about 10 types to chose from.

This is only possible with quite an effort in memory/cpu maintenance, but I think we've mostly tackled that conceptually, and in parts practically.

However, it isn't nearly there, so please don't drool just yet. We have a lot of stuff on our plates this year. It's our year.

Urs

[Urs]

And to actually answer the question, we're going to add a new filter option or two to ACE as well. Once time permits.

[Polybius]

However, it isn't nearly there, so please don't drool just yet. We have a lot of stuff on our plates this year. It's our year.

Urs

That it is! I'm glad to see Diva being such a success, and all the exciting stuff coming out in the future.

I have a feeling Diva is just a "small" taste, compared to what's to come. Once i'm done with my new Zebra patchbank, i'm going to start focusing on Bazille, to get acquainted with the modular workflow. That's where the future is heading it seems, a true, albeit still "virtual" modular analog experience.

I'll probably never be able to afford a real modular synth in this lifetime, let alone have the time to spend maintaining/programming it. So the virtual approach is a godsent to people like me. Thanks for catering to us U-he!

[Phase47]

If you are looking for 200e-like sounds, try using the LFOs as audio sources and send the output of an oscillator to the phase input on LFO 1. That should get you relatively close to the sound of a 261e. The the mapping generator as a simple sequencer driven by the ramp.

I think that Bazille is really better suited for Buchla/Serge like sounds. The oscillators are flexible in different ways (focusing on FM and phase distortion) and there are more unconventional ways to process signals. The sequencer in Bazille is also pretty unique, capable of some 250e/MArF-like results.

Both of these synths will also let you "ping" the filters. In ACE, what you want to do is...
-set envelope 1 to short attack, longish decay, no sustain, longish release
-set envelope 2 to shortest attack, no decay, no sustain, no release
-patch envelope 2 to the AUDIO input of filter 1
-set filter 1 cutoff to 60
-turn resonance on filter1 up to just below self-oscilation
-turn keyfollow for filter 1 all the way up

Now when you send midi notes to ACE it should trigger a clicky ringing sound, if you tweak the gain and resonance controls on filter 1 you should be able to get some nice tuned percussion sounds that decay very naturally. You can then apply FM to the filter cutoff to get more woody percussion sounds or even metallic bell-ish sounds.

I went ahead and purchased ACE directly from U-He. I started using it on a project in demo mode, and fell in love with the noises it makes, but I still cannot quite make the above happen. I guess I'm still learning. Justin is there an ACE patch like this in your arsenal as you've described that I can borrow for a learning experience?

[justin3am]

Justin is there an ACE patch like this in your arsenal as you've described that I can borrow for a learning experience?

Yeah, I have a couple at home that you might be interested in. I will post them later tonight.

[Phase47]

Justin is there an ACE patch like this in your arsenal as you've described that I can borrow for a learning experience?

Yeah, I have a couple at home that you might be interested in. I will post them later tonight.

Thanks so much!