Monday, February 06, 2012

Quick Tip IX : Record Everything

Video's like these (by marihutten on a pretty big A-100 system) remind me to always record everything you can, on video or at least in audio.
If you only knew how often i regretted not recording that last jam, demo or interlude, it often turns out you miss the best things...
Or is that just my bad luck?
Other benefit is the ability to review your recording later, by yourself or by others... you might be surprised by the reactions from different listeners...
Or how about using snippets of your recordings in later projects?
Possibilities are endless, your limit is your imagination...

Video: Clock Divider and FM on Doepfer (11:23)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pe51is2ltu8


" My first try with the clock divider on the Doepfer. Too bad I forgot filming the third patch I that I created during that session that was an ADSR that went through an Audio Divider that went through the clock that later went through a morph filter. Sounded sick.
This one sounds kinda boring but I was trying something simple with 3 VCOs of triangle waves to see if I got the gist of the clock divider."

Uploaded by marihutten on 2/2/2012

Saturday, February 04, 2012

Quotes XI : Kraftwerk


"We are not entertainers, we are sound scientists."

Kraftwerk 


http://kraftwerk.com/
Kling Klang Machine:
 
(also available as iPhone app)

- Kraftwerk recently launched their official Twitter account @Kraftwerk

Wednesday, February 01, 2012

The Eurorack Standard

Many early synthesizer modules had modules with height in integer inches: 11" (e.g., Roland 100), 10" (e.g., Wavemakers), 9" (e.g., Aries), 8" (e.g., ARP 2500), 7" (e.g., Polyfusion, Buchla, Serge), 6" (e.g., Emu) and had widths in 1/4" inch multiples.
More recently it has become more popular to follow the standard 19" Rack unit systems like the 6U (Wiard), 5U (8.75" e.g., Moog, Modcan), and 4U (e.g., Serge).
Two rack 3U unit systems in particular are notable: the Frac Rack system (e.g., Paia) and the similar Eurorack system.

Manufacturers using the Eurorack format include DoepferAnalogue Systems, and Cwejman in Europe, and Plan B, Livewire, and Harvestman in the USA.

The Eurorack format uses modules of 128.5mm (slightly over 5") height.
Horizontal width is measured in "horizontal pitch", where 1 HP = 5mm (slightly less than 0.2"); most manufacturers use a horizontal unit definition of either 1U = 4HP, or 1U = 6HP.
3.5mm phone jacks are used for interconnection of audio and voltage control.

The Eurorack format needs ±12V power (most other current formats use ±15V), in addition to +5V required by some modules.
Unfortunately, the power connections are not completely standardized yet; the format uses ribbon cables for power and a two-row ribbon cable connector containing either 10, 12, or 16 pins.
The 16-pin connector uses some of the extra pins to distribute control voltage and gate signals from a keyboard to the modules via a common case connection.

More info at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Modular_synthesizer,
http://electronicmusic.wikia.com/wiki/Eurorack, and
http://www.synthtopia.com/content/2009/01/31/eurorack-modular-synthesizers/ or http://www.modularplanner.co.uk/ for suggestions.

Sunday, January 29, 2012

Eurorack Modular Guitar Filter Fuzz LFO

I love the Eurorack DIY scene.
Although there are a lot of video's without any clear explanation, some video's are simply amazing.
Youtube user mmdroid has put guitar-strings in his Eurorack.
Electric guitar-strings use the principle of direct electromagnetic induction to convert vibrations of its metal strings into electric audio signals.

It looks like 2 Dual-Coil pickups were used in this project.
Double-coiled or "humbucker" pickups were invented as a way to reduce or counter the unwanted ambient hum sounds. 
Humbuckers have two coils of opposite magnetic and electric polarity. 
This means that electromagnetic noise hitting both coils should cancel itself out.

Video: 19zoll Gitarre
http://youtu.be/xIzoU482Nok


" modular guitar filter fuzz lfo "
Uploaded by YouTube user mmdroid

Friday, January 27, 2012

Video Synthesis - A-136 Solarization Tests

Besides for audio, some Doepfer (and other (analog modular) synthesizer modules can be used for other purposes too.
For example this A-136 Distortion/Waveshaper in combination with an LZX analogue modular video synthesizer.

LZX Visionary (by LZX Industies) is a line of EuroRack format synthesizer modules designed for creating and manipulating video and images.
Their range consists of 9 different modules so far: a Color Video Encoder, Video Sync Generator, Video Waveform Generator, Triple Video Fader & Key Generator, Video Blending Matrix, Voltage Interface I, Video Ramps, Triple Video Processor and a Voltage Bridge.

It looks like a very versatile range of products that will probably make a lot of video-editors happy.
For modular synth-geeks the layout, functions etc. looks quite familiar with what we do, and i like the idea of video-mixing, LFO-controlled color-swapping, and adding other effects to video with Eurorack modules.
The possibility of adding synthesizer modules that were intended for audio to this system is IMO just brilliant, i can imagine what different LFO's, noise generators and other modulators/waveshapers or perhaps a video sampler will do with video.
The LZX webpage is full with interesting info, basic patch-examples, video's and links to other resources.

I couldn't find a lot of info on the video below, but it is quite new and i found it interesting enough to post it here on my blog.

Video: A-136 Solarization Tests*
http://vimeo.com/35069251

" Sean Hannan processes video through the Doepfer A-136 Audio/CV shaping module."
*video has no audio

For more info on video-synthesis check out

Tuesday, January 24, 2012

A-143-2 Quad ADSR - Power to the Quads!

Good value-for-money and serious rackspace-savers are Doepfer's Quad modules.
These modules offer four (-duh-) identical but individual modulation sources in one module.

My A-143-2 Quad ADSR is at the heart of my A-100 system.
With 4 envelope generators in one this is a very powerful module, and this is where the 3 individual gate outputs from my MAQ 16/3 come together.
Also see THIS post.

The Gate inputs of the units 2, 3 and 4 are normalled to the Gate input of unit 1, so Gate input 1 is connected to the switching contacts of the Gate input sockets fom submodule 2, 3 and 4 if no other input is connected.
With only one Gate signal applied to Gate input 1, it can be used to trigger all four sub-modules simultaneously.
A switch for each individual channel is available for switching between high, low and medium ranges.

All 4 sub-units have additional input sockets for Re-Trigger, but the re-trigger behaviour of the A-143-2 is slightly different compared to other envelope generators;
During the attack phase the envelope cannot be re-triggered or reset. (unlike the A-140 ADSR envelope, that envelope can be re-triggered while the gate is still open).

Each sub-unit also has three digital outputs (high/low) that sends a trigger signal at the End of Attack (EOA), End of Decay (EOD) and End of Release (EOR).
This is very useful if you want to daisy-chain the sub-modules to create more complex envelopes. (or even complete loops)
The envelope outputs are displayed with LEDs and the maximal envelope voltage (Attack/Decay reversal point) is about +8V.

The Quad series consists of the following Multiple modulation sources so far;
A-143-1 Quad AD, A-143-2 Quad ADSR 
A-143-3 Quad LFO
A-143-4
Quad VCLFO/VCO
 (just released), A-143-9
VC Quadratu
re LFO and modules A-142-4 Quad Decay, plus Quad Amplifiers A-132-2 Quad VCA I and A-132-4Quad exp. VCA

Saturday, January 21, 2012

Controlling the Doepfer Modular Synthesizer with a Wiimote

I blogged about the Doepfer Mogli and gesture control earlier on this blog, but in 2007 it was already possible to control your A-100 with a Nintendo Wii Remote (or Wiimote) controller.

Video: Controlling Doepfer modular synth with a Wiimote
http://youtu.be/LHOS2zg-0nI


" This video is about controlling a modular synth with Nintendo's wiimote gamepad, using Doepfer A-100, Doepfer MCV24, Wiimote and computer.
Softwares used are Bluesoleil, Glovepie and Midi-ox.
This video is not an artistic demonstration but a technical explanation of this system (that can be used for making music ofc). "
Uploaded on Sept. 12, 2007 by YouTube user DamagedMeat