Polyphonic modular demo

[robotmakers]

I put together this 45 second clip the other day and need to free it from my head, where it has been playing in a relentless loop.

http://www.pellegriniusa.com/mp3/tiny_thought_2.mp3

2 points for discussion:

(1) A useful and musical polyphonic instrument can be patched from a minimum of modules, in this case:

Encore Expressionist MIDI->CV
4x CEM 3340-based VCOs ->
Voice 1 of which passes through a Cynthia Saw Animator ->
Cynthia Quad Low Pass Gate ->
MOTM 830 Mixer ->
MOTM 410 Triple Res Filter

The 4 expressionist gates drive the QLPG directly (no envelope generators).

(2) A sows ear can be turned into a silk purse by the use of a ridiculous number of external effects, in this case:

Eventide Instant Phaser
Eventide Instant Flanger
Lexicon Vortex
(and then, in the computer)
UAD LA-2 compressor
UAD Helios EQ
UAD Plate 140

The drums are from Toontrack's Superior Drummer.

Please enjoy.

Best wishes,
Roger aka Robotmakers

[JohnLRice]

Sounds great, Roger!

[robotmakers]

Thanks John. I guess the point I wanted to make with the post was really that forums like this encourage the purchase of more and more gear, with the implication that more is better. I am as guilty as the next guy. But I'd suggest that if one is looking for musical inspiration from one's gear, it's more likely to come from equipment that simply responds usefully to your input. For example, I found that the polyphonic voice assignment from the Encore Expressionist responded to my playing style in an ideal way. The QLPGs had an nice attack/decay characteristic for what I was playing. And so on. Many modules are designed as an engineering exercise without consideration of the musical context (if any) they will be used in. A few modules that respond in a way you find useful can be perfectly adequate in many cases, and likely preferable. So, in the end, this is a plea for manufacturers to take into account the usability of their products in a musical context and for users to demand it. (E.G. in this day and age there is no excuse for a VCO to not have an accurate octave range switch).

More is not better. Better is better.

Cheers,
Roger

[RussianDance]

Sounds great!

Note to self: need to buy a waveshapper, a low pass gate, a multi-channel cv interface and a few outboard effects.

[emdot_ambient]

There was some other thread here or maybe on another forum where people made modular polyphony sound impractical and difficult. I didn't think it would be so hard...and you showed it ain't.

[nerdware]

Well, it's easier if you use a single VCO and an LPG for each voice.

[analogPedagog]

Well, it's easier if you use a single VCO and an LPG for each voice.

Yea I always thought you needed a VCO/VCF/EG/VCA for each voice. I always dance around the idea of making a polyphonic modular but then I think about the price$$$$

[nerdware]

Modcan have a few modules that help with that, but its hard to beat the Roland 100M. That had a VCO/VCF/VCA module and a dual EG module. Of course, some synths have voice modules, which cheat even more than simply using a VCO and LPG.

BTW, the Digisound 80 had a voice module with 2 VCOs!

[JohnLRice]

Not the cheapest setup but I did a video last year where the strings were a 4 voice polyphonic patch. (and I always look for any oportunity for shameless self promotion! )

A MIDI keyboard to a MOTM-650 MIDI->CV converter to 4 VCO's (3xMOTM-300 and 1xMOTM-310), 4xMOTM-800 EG's and 2xMOTM-190 VCAs and then mixed with Oakley MultiMixes into a COTK C1670 Ensemble Generator (and then into a COTK C1680 delay along with the sequence patch)

[video][/video]

[NV]

Yea I always thought you needed a VCO/VCF/EG/VCA for each voice. I always dance around the idea of making a polyphonic modular but then I think about the price$$$$

It depends on what sort of sounds you are hoping to achieve. Running an 8-ouput MIDI/CV converter into 4 of the same type of VCO into a quad lowpass gate mixed into a central filter makes for a nice implementation of 4-voice polyphony in robotmakers example, but if you're looking for complex polyphonic voices that each function independently off enveloped and LFO-synced VCAs, filters, effects, and so forth, that's when it becomes more of an expensive endeavor.

[doctorvague]

Sounds great!!

[Tronketz]

Is it only 45 seconds long? Seems to cut out mid way. But what I heard is inspiring, keep up the musical works!

[Popski]

cool as a cucumber at the north pole in January!!

[Christopher W.]

It's not often I listen to people's sound clips more than once. That one is an exception.

[kindredlost]

Super cool Roger!

Every time I hear one of your tracks it reminds me of...

[video][/video]

[The Hamburglar]

Very cool!