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Hey baltergeist,

This is fantastic, I liked both tracks a lot. Really interesting and experimental.

Keep up the good work and don't forget to share it with us :)

I've been listening some binaural recordings for the last couple of weeks and it got me interested. Browsing the internet for information on mics I landed on the Sennheiser Ambeo Smart Headset which seem to be discounted at 50€ at the moment.

It seems like it works with iOS devices only, but since Bietfriek mentioned the iOS apps I guess this could also be an option, and for that price I'm considering getting a pair myself. I'm not sure what are the advantages of using a recording device instead of a smartphone with this kind of mics, maybe I'm missing something but this seems like a good place to start experimenting with field recording.

for example :
disting ex L out into veils input 1
a.n. other stereo module L out into veils input 2
disting ex R out into veils input 3
a.n. other stereo module R out into veils input 4

veils out 2 -> a L input on the cosmix
veils out 4 -> corresponding R input on the cosmix

mult envelopes as appropriate

or if you just want to use 2 channels for disting

disting ex L out into veils input 1
disting ex R out into veils input 2

veils out 1 -> a L input on the cosmix
veils out 2 -> corresponding R input on the cosmix

this leaves you with 2 channels of veils which can be used for more interesting things - like modulation!

if you are using up all your channels of veils for vcaing audio - I'd strongly consider a 2nd one that you can use for modulation!!!

@farkas is correct...
if you want stereo use 1&2 for L and 3&4 for R
-- JimHowell1970
Wait, now I'm confused...if i run my stereo out (1&2) from Disting EX into Veils 1&2 Input and Veils 1&2 output to stereo 1&2 input on my Cosmix, that would be stereo all the way to that Cosmix channel, right?

I guess I don't understand what you mean by 1&2 for L and 3&4 for R...are you saying I should go Disting EX stereo out L into Veils 1 and Disting EX stereo out R into Veils 3?...then Veils 1 & 3 into my Cosmix stereo inputs?

Hi,

Did you check the power cable?
Not reversed?
Cheers

@farkas is correct...
if you want stereo use 1&2 for L and 3&4 for R

Is this an original? if so send an email to mutable support - Emilie will sort you out pretty quickly

i can hear some when i run audio trough veils,but no lights and nothing happens when i move the sliders or turn the knobs:(((((

I don’t have Veils, but I believe that would be summed to a mono mix of inputs 1 and 2 on output 2.

i managed to get it working now:)

Thanks @farkas and @Lugia, definitely helps me understand that...

Another question, using the example of Veils (since I have it)..if I go into inputs 1 and 2 with stereo outputs from, say my Disting EX, and then out from just output 2...is that signal stereo or summed to mono, or maybe its just the R channel of stereo signal?

Excellent, thank you !

@garfieldmodular - thank you! Yes, that’s the René mk1 in the bottom row :)

@jb61264 - the Disting Ex is starting to be capable of too many things so I’m thinking of getting another one or maybe two more..at some point :) But seriously, I’d want one for drums alone, another one for everything poly, and a third one for utilities. One day :)
As for the new Poly Exciter algo., in this patch I used one of the built-in tables (sqr wave) as the base and patched the Alizon Devices APC Theremini’s audio out to input 5 on the Ex which I set in the algo’s menu to ‘external exciter’ - when the clean sound is getting distorted, the external exciting is happening. This is where the whole thing gets experimental and I like that a lot. The other three mod inputs (I used the default settings like tone, pressure..) were fed with Rungler output signals from the Benjolin. Modding Poly Exciter, as far as I can hear, can get you to interesing territories.
In this patch the Ex’s L-R stereo outs were patched into the Mimeophon and the Erbe-Verb. Pitch CV and gate to the Ex were arriving from the OP-1, via MI Yarns. In order to be able to fully use the Poly Exciter, you need to copy the exciter table(s) to the SD card - one is available through the Expert Sleepers website, in case you haven’t yet gotten that. There’s a way to create exciter tables/folders but that’s too complicated for me so I work with what’a been available by Expert Sleepers.

Cheers,
Gabor

Good stuff, thanks for turning that dial :) I'm definitely not a sound engineer, Mechanical Engineer actually.

Hi, gang! Now that XODES has come up with these really excellent tile frames, and there's also some other similar devices...could we get a way to add tiles/modules to these, sort of in the same way that the half-height Buchla modules work over in that part of the site. It seems relatively simple (just alter the image/grid layouts so that you can drop tiles in) to implement, which of course is probably totally wrong on my part.

Here's a good example: https://www.modulargrid.net/e/mutable-instruments-veils-2020

If you look at the bottom row of jacks (in the gray box), you'll also see a set of little arrows pointing from one jack to the next. By plugging into the #4 output, you'll get the signals from all four VCAs at that patchpoint. But if you wanted to "split" that module, you can. Let's say you have two different voices that you want to send to a Veils for amplitude control, but you also want to keep the different outputs separate. With "breakable" normalizations like this, you can pull one voice through the first two VCAs by jacking into output #2, as that will break the normalization between #2 and #3 and effectively split the Veil in half so that your other signal's output is on #4, even though you're using just ONE module.

And yes, this appears on other points besides outputs. Have a look at Intellijel's Mixup. On that, you can use inputs 3 and 4 as either stereo (by patching L-R signals into those inputs) OR mono...because there's those same arrows again, and those mean that you CAN use mono signals on 3 and 4 simply by connecting those to the "left" inputs alone. The input normalization does the rest.

DAMN useful! More manufacturers really should jump on this...

I don't have the history you do...not even close...but I'm curious about your comment about E-mu and mostly because I bought one of the XK-6 keyboards twenty years ago, acquired a couple nice ROMs to go with it over time (Techno Synth Construction Yard and Proteus 2000). I've thought about selling the keyboard (too big for the space I have) and getting one of the E-mu modules that has 4 SIMM sockets to use the two extra ROMs but people are asking crazy $ for the ROMs which I can easily use to support my newfound modular addiction :) It would be cool if there was a way to use the ROMs I have as a sample source for my modular setup...plug the ROM into a module and boom, tons of nice sounds
-- jb61264

No can do. E-Mu's modular days began in the early 1970s and went up to the point when the original Audity (not the Proteus variation, but a much more complex device) was being designed c. 1979...when they realized that there's only a few customers for those huge systems. So they started to retool slightly, which is when they dove into digital devices such as the Emulators, the Drumulator, etc. Those have more in common with the XK-6...which, in truth, is a synth that was a product of E-Mu and Ensoniq together after both brands were acquired by a third party in Singapore that was much more interested in computer audio. That's also why you don't see any new E-Mu or Ensoniq stuff anymore, and haven't for many years. Damn shame, really...

In the case of your VCA, you could run a single audio signal into your VCA but use two different envelope shapes to each VCA and then send the outputs to separate effects/filters/etc for stereo treatment, maybe?

It just means that the input is connected to both outputs unless something else is connected to the second input, breaking the “normaling”. For instance, I have the NE Quant Gemi where the first input is normaled to all four outputs allowing me to run the same pitch cv to four oscillators, or I could run the first pitch cv to two oscillators and plug a second pitch cv into the third input and connect outputs 3 and 4 to two more oscillators.

I’m sure it’s been requested before, but would really be a nice addition.

Can someone help me understand what it means when a specification for a module states something like "The right VCA is normalized to the left VCA" both from a technical perspective but also from a 'use-case' perspective?

I send clock from hermod chan 8 to pams. Then I take the first output from pams to a passive mult. fFrom the multiple I distribute clock to the following sequencers:

• metropolis
• mimetic digitalis
• clep diaz
• zularic repetitor
• 4ms rcd
• ll8
• temps utile
• varigate 4+ x 2

Also just bought an analogue solutions generator too so will be integrating that too. I usually have all this stuff prepatched. I love sequencers :)

Resets come from the hermod too

Hi Nickgreenberg,

Sorry, I must have overlooked your post :-( Some feedback and input from my side.

I am very happy with the Vector (with expander module) from Five12, this is a serious sequencer to be considered. If you want to hear just an example of what kind of "crazy" things you can do with it, check my demo about this one out:

https://www.modulargrid.net/e/forum/posts/index/10041

Generally, if you are going to look seriously into a sequencer, and from the look of your posts, you are :-) Then take your sweet time and try to be honest and clearly as possible with yourself. What do I expect from a sequencer? What are my (minimum) requirements? To give you some food for thought (but not exclusive because for sequencers there is so much to check):

• Number of voices?
• Drum/percussion only? Synth leading voices? Both?
• Number of steps, patterns, songs, presets, scenes, etcetera? Which of those are important to you? (confusing is that many manufacturers are using different terminology which doesn't make it easier for you to choose and to recognise when comparing them with each other)
• Should it be able to do: ratcheting? glide? repeat? groove? velocity? mute? etcetera, again check what's important for you
• Check if you are happy with the length (of the sequence) setting for the global sequencer or do you want that to be possible per voice/track?
• Direction of the sequence, only forward? Or also backwards? Random? Ping-pong? There are a few very good sequencers but (some of them) they are very limited in their directions, some only forward :-( So please check for yourself what do you want the sequencer to be able to do?
• Can you set the probability of each step (per track if possible)? Meaning that the sequencer puts a kind of chance to each note if it will be played or how many times or does it change the direction or does it do more or less ratcheting, etcetera
• Are you okay with menu diving or rather not? I believe I read you don't want menu diving, so quite a few sequencers are not applicable for you then (by the way, for a sequencer I also don't want real menu diving, you want it to be playable and kind of logically to use and there should be no need for a manual laying next to it how to use it)
• Do you want some modulation influence possibilities? Not all sequencers can do that

I most probably still forgot tons of parameters that one could/should check when trying to decide: "Which sequencer is the right one?" I felt it was a kind of nightmare to choose. My conclusion is: there is no real perfect sequencer... you have to make some compromises to come to that kind of "perfect sequencer that suites you best" :-)

It took me about one-and-a-half years and though I don't have the perfect sequencer, I am pretty happy with the Vector (together with the Jack Expander); it comes close to the perfect sequencer.

By the way, all the points for consideration I gave you here above, most of those can be handled/done by the Vector. Not many sequencers that can do all of that.

Good luck with the search for the sequencer and once you made your choice, I hope you will let us know, if possible with a demo of it :-) Kind regards, Garfield.

Thanks for sharing this...I just got a Disting EX last week and very interested to try the poly exciter...can you explain more about how you are using that in this piece?

Also love that you have a Ts-L because I just ordered one which will be here next week :)

Hi Wishbonebrewery,

I put the gain up yet another lot and indeed I can hear it now :-) I love the bird sounds you managed here, really realistic and beautiful! Kind regards, Garfield.

Hi Gabor,

Nice to see and hear a video from you again with your OP-1, it will be for me always a kind of nice little miracle-device :-)

He, he, those sounds in the last half minute or so, are cool, especially when it get distorted :-)

The device in the right bottom corner of your rack, is that the Make Noise René? Thanks a lot for sharing this with us and kind regards, Garfield.

Hi Ryanthegecko,

Nice to hear from you again and to see you at work here in your video! Good stuff, though I wouldn't mind to hear a bit more of dub in your work that you had in your previous work :-)

Why less than 5 minutes? I don't mind if you make it (much) longer. Thank you very much for sharing this with us and kind regards, Garfield.

I'm surprised with the popularity of modular these days, that more companies like Focusrite haven't made their audio interfaces to be DC coupled...thanks to you, I was able to find a very inexpensive MOTU 828 and it has been doing what I need (or as much as I know how to exploit at this time...which I'm sure is very little) with my desire to interface my modular setup with Ableton CV tools.

I don't have the history you do...not even close...but I'm curious about your comment about E-mu and mostly because I bought one of the XK-6 keyboards twenty years ago, acquired a couple nice ROMs to go with it over time (Techno Synth Construction Yard and Proteus 2000). I've thought about selling the keyboard (too big for the space I have) and getting one of the E-mu modules that has 4 SIMM sockets to use the two extra ROMs but people are asking crazy $ for the ROMs which I can easily use to support my newfound modular addiction :) It would be cool if there was a way to use the ROMs I have as a sample source for my modular setup...plug the ROM into a module and boom, tons of nice sounds

Cheers Jim, will have another look

I'm actually a little shocked that the modular/computer USB interface thing hasn't taken off more. Expert Sleepers makes great stuff, of course, but I thought some of the other manufacturers might come up with some innovative designs in that realm.

I'm trying to find a way to search for Jim's posts and in particular the one about his formula for modules and rack space but I can't find a way to do it. It will take forever scrolling through all the old posts to find it that way. Must be an easy way, any advice welcome please.

-- david23

at the top of the main forum page there is a search field - type my name JimHowell1970 into it and press search - looks like it displays all of the threads I have posted in - to find Lugia's type his name instead of mine

or google - "modulargrid: JimHowell1970"

the relevant part that @greenfly was talking about earlier is:

"sound sources < sound modifiers < modulation (20%+ of the rack) < utilities (at least 30% of the rack)

because you can get much more variation that way

utilities are the inexpensive, dull polish that stop the expensive, shiny modules from tarnishing and makes them shine"

if you want to find other posts etc from me - I'm also Agawell on some forums

also instagram.com/JimHowell1970 if you want to see my video synthesis posts

EDITED Sep 26th 2021, 16:43

I'm trying to find a way to search for Jim's posts and in particular the one about his formula for modules and rack space but I can't find a way to do it. It will take forever scrolling through all the old posts to find it that way. Must be an easy way, any advice welcome please.

Thanks Greenfly, good advice, I have seen the mylarmelodies one before but it's good to revisit as we progress, often things make more sense. I shall also check out Jim and Lugia's posts too if I can find them. I'm setting myself a challenge/task at the moment to spend some time each day just really delving into one module and seeing what it can do over and above what I have already used it for. Easy to get into a sort of comfortable rut if not careful and miss out on some great features.

yes, I find a lot of value in reading through the previous posts but especially the stuff from you, Lugia and Farkas are great :)

If you look through the previous advice from Jim on the Forum, you'll see he has a nice formula for how much of your rack space should be roughly devoted to different types of modules. I found that quite useful as I, like you didn't have a clue what most of these modules could be used for. I understood what an oscillator was, what a filter was and others things like lfos and envelopes. Pretty much what you play with on a soft synth.

Over time I realised I loved sequencers and also learnt that vca's, attenuverters, dividers, multiples, cv mixers etc were really damn useful. There is a use for absolutely everything.

I'd keep the Turing machine and like Jim and Lugia said there are so many other uses for it.

I'd encourage you also to watch this and particularly the last bit of this video ( I watch all of it about once a week and always learn something new) about logic modules and the Turing machine from mylarmelodies you'll want to keep it, I guarantee it :)

Happy patching :)
-- greenfly

I'm glad you found/find my ramblings so useful...

If you look through the previous advice from Jim on the Forum, you'll see he has a nice formula for how much of your rack space should be roughly devoted to different types of modules. I found that quite useful as I, like you didn't have a clue what most of these modules could be used for. I understood what an oscillator was, what a filter was and others things like lfos and envelopes. Pretty much what you play with on a soft synth.

Over time I realised I loved sequencers and also learnt that vca's, attenuverters, dividers, multiples, cv mixers etc were really damn useful. There is a use for absolutely everything.

I'd keep the Turing machine and like Jim and Lugia said there are so many other uses for it.

I'd encourage you also to watch this and particularly the last bit of this video ( I watch all of it about once a week and always learn something new) about logic modules and the Turing machine from mylarmelodies you'll want to keep it, I guarantee it :)

Happy patching :)

EDITED Sep 26th 2021, 13:23

Thanks. I have factory made LL8 so seems not soldering issue.
Ans yes, I too use "send triggers by ear" way ) I plan to use 1 trig out of ll8 for some pre programmed light indication of 1st step (led? ).

ah in that case what is happening is it probably needs 2 or more triggers in in order to get the tempo... not a lot you can do about it... it's not a bug, it's just an unfortunate 'product feature'... have you tried muting the clock instead of pulling the patch cable? this may help... but also may not

Pams does this too to some extent when I restart the clock it judders slightly - I work around it by starting the clock in logic slightly before I want Pams to actually start kicking out triggers etc

I have similar behaviour with the clock - sometimes being one sixteenth off. I normally send triggers by ear and not care too much about the classic positions of where things should be ie kicks on 1, 5, 9, 13 in a 4/4.

Sometimes it works fine though, so I'm presuming turning of and turning on the modular has some form of effect.

In my case all the triggers work though so if its a DIY, it could be a soldering issue

JimHowell1970, Thanks for reply. On II8 there is no reset input. It resets automatically after clock interruption for some seconds to step 1. There is only 1 input - clock in.

I don't have a ll8, but is your reset on the 1? try bringing the reset forwards in time a little bit... this is not that uncommon and certainly not limited to the ll8 - 2 events at the same time - particularly a reset and a trigger the reset has priority over the trigger and the trigger gets lost - if you reset before the trigger, then all should work as expected

I'm about to start screwing cases to the wall! so 1/2 way there I suppose...

I need help with LL8. After reset (disconnect clock for some seconds and send clock again) it always skip first step in pattern (no trigger out). Is it normal for LL8?

Dim.XL

On your profile: https://www.modulargrid.net/e/users/view/123266

This patch is featuring the new Poly Ecxiter algorithm on the Disting Ex. Also starring were Instruo Ts-L and Plonk. More details in the video description.

I have signed up for the unicorn account, but cannot find my module collection - where is it?

Thanks

OK...it's the latter half of 2021. Modular synth tech has reached a point where you can get bits and pieces even at certain big box stores. Recording tech has also reached a similar paradigm in that you can slap together a top-shelf multitrack for a couple grand; when I began, a couple grand might get you ONE circuit card out of a Studer A820. Synclaviers have become something you can get...at least in VERY comprehensive and accurate software versions...at Guitar Center for a few hundred bucks. Same goes for the Fairlight IIx. Every processor you can think of...even ones that would cost you a cool $20K+...is now out there as VSTs, often dead-on-accurate to the point that they're indistinguishable from hardware.

But just looking at Eurorack alone, we have a situation where if you want a vintage device, you can have that. Oh, sure, some VERY obscure things haven't been made available in the format, but even some of THAT is out there. Take G-Storm's Syrinx VCF, for instance. A real Synton Syrinx would cost you...hmm, I can't count that high. But if you want the "magic part" from it, that being the formant filter itself, it'll run you $320.

It was a couple of weeks ago, though, when I realized what a strange position we're in these days. It was the intro of the Tiptop/Buchla modules, and I couldn't help but think that we have come a LOOOOONG way in all of this. Consider:

If you want a Buchla 100, there's ways to get that via LA67, Tokyo Tape Music Center, maybe Buchla (haven't heard anything about their 100 series reissues as of late)
If you want a Buchla 200, same deal.
Moog 55/IIIp/c, etc? Behringer plus several other makers.
ARP 2500? You can pick either Phil Cirocco's version or Uli's.
ARP 2600? Modules out of that are in the MG database, plus Uli gave us a proper one while Korg continues to flounder around in the wake of the 2600FS fiasco. Meanwhile, the Antonius and TTSH are still out there for those who want the 1:1 experience.
E-Mu modular? Dave Rossum's got you, and he's even pushed the old E-Mu ideas further in the Rossum modules.

There's also digital-based modules that do things that we only DREAMED of back c. 1980, in the halcyon pre-MIDI era. Granular synthesis used to require things such as the ISPW (IRCAM Sound Processing Workstation) and a fast NeXTcube to run it on or, if you go back even further, DEC mini-mainframes (which are also pretty much what the original Synclavier's engine ran on). And don't EVEN get me started on how sequencer tech has metastasized and metamorphed.

And this all prompts the question: "Where does this go NEXT?" Hell, Eurorack systems have become SO commonplace that it's not unusual to see someone working with a skiff or cab...and not just one, either. I remember seeing Animal Collective on Colbert a couple of years ago, and I think I counted three separate(ish...there's really no such thing as "separate" modular synths in the end, after all) Euro skiffs amongst the pile of other toys.

So where is all of this heading? If you wonder what the answer is to that, just like I do, toss around some ideas in the comments and maybe we can cook up a few bits of the future.

ha, I was tuning my oscillators today and I was having this exact same issue with the fine tune knob. It went through my head to turn meta off after reading the manual and it sorted my issue, then afterwards I've just read this :)