MOTM

Of course, Scott Juskiw is the King of Self-Running Demos. Go here:

http://www.synthtech.com/demos.html

Look in the 2nd section. Amazing (and funny!) stuff.

Paul S.

Hey everyone, I want to start playing around with the self running 
patch concept and I was wondering if anyone has any advice, tips or 
tricks they could pass on to me.

My rig consists of a 300, 310, 2 LFO's, 101, 3 filters, 2ea 190 & 800, 
and a mult panel.  I also have a voyager with the breakout box.  I'll 
probably use a mackie 1204 mixer for all the various outputs.

I'm looking for a wide range of sounds.  nice, sweet, bubbly,  dark and 
gritty, trippy and strange.

Thanks!

- chris

All my patches are self running.   (If I could figure how to make them 
self-patching, too, I wouldn't have anything left to do except solder!)

For a self-running patch to be musically interesting it has to be 
capable of evolving patterns, while keeping enough character to be 
thematic.  I set up patterns of change along several vectors, the most 
important being note/chord sequences and timbre variations.  Rhythmic 
changes are also interesting, but are hard to do well without seeming 
disruptive.  Syncopations are not too difficult with syncable LFOs (like 
the MOTM-320) or a switch like the MOTM-700.  I strive for a complex 
patch that has several voices, sometimes running poly-rhythmically.  If 
you are not as concerned with live, real-time sound, you can record 
multiple tracks and mix them together.

The heart of my self running patches is always the Sample and Holds.  I 
seem to be growing a collection of them.  In addition to the MOTM-101, I 
use two Oakley S&H's, a CGS Infinite Melody (a type of digital S&H), and 
two CGS Analog Shift Registers (each with 3 internal S&H's).  And I have 
more random modules in the works.  If you get hooked on the self-running 
patch thing, expect to need more "sources of uncertainty" modules.

My process is playful.  I start out with a basic idea and patch 
something up.  Then it grows.  Once I have a good patch it can still 
take hours of tweaking the pots before I feel it is musically 
interesting.  The range of variation by pot settings in one of these 
patches is vast.

With your setup, Chris, a good starting point is just to make a classic 
random note walk.  Use an LFO pulse wave as a tempo clock to trigger the 
101 S&H and both EGs.  You might trigger one EG from an inverted version 
of the clock.  The output of the S&H can control the pitch of both VCOs 
(not with 1V/oct, but with FM inputs).  The VCOs can go through 
different filters. You might also patch the S&H output to control a 
filter frequency.  Use one EG to modulate a filter, the other for the 
VCA.  A second LFO can add vibrato to a VCO or a VCF.  Without a 
quantizer to make scale pitches it will sound trippy and strange 
alright.  Get the white or pink noise into the mix too.  Play around 
with it and don't get discouraged if it sounds awfully silly at first.  
This type of patch takes experimentation.  Once you get it just right, 
then you'll have to decide if you want to just enjoy it or fire up the 
recording equipment.  Because the next time, you will never be able to 
repeat it.  You might get close, but I've found it's hard to get the 
same sound a month later from an old patch diagram.  That doesn't bother 
me, because I look at these patches as "happenings" that may never be 
repeated.  You enjoy the moment.  Then it's gone.  You let go (aka 
un-patching).  But there's always the next patch.

-Richard Brewster

Chris Walcott wrote:

>Hey everyone, I want to start playing around with the self running 
>patch concept and I was wondering if anyone has any advice, tips or 
>tricks they could pass on to me.
>
>My rig consists of a 300, 310, 2 LFO's, 101, 3 filters, 2ea 190 & 800, 
>and a mult panel.  I also have a voyager with the breakout box.  I'll 
>probably use a mackie 1204 mixer for all the various outputs.
>
>I'm looking for a wide range of sounds.  nice, sweet, bubbly,  dark and 
>gritty, trippy and strange.
>
>Thanks!
>
>- chris
>
>
>
>  
>

My methodology involves what could be called chaos synthesis.  Take two VC
LFOs, for instance, and cross modulate them and then use the outputs to
modulate other sources.  This results in semi-periodic patterns which are
far more interesting than simple sine wave modulations.

Same for VCOs.  Cross strap the waveform outputs to the FM input, or PWM
input.

Feedback loops and cross modulation are an extensive tool for creating
interesting self running patches.

John Loffink
The Microtonal Synthesis Web Site
http://www.microtonal-synthesis.com
The Wavemakers Synthesizer Web Site
http://www.wavemakers-synth.com

> -----Original Message-----
> From: Richard Brewster [mailto:pugix@...]
> Sent: Tuesday, July 20, 2004 6:36 PM
> To: Chris Walcott
> Cc: MOTM List
> Subject: Re: [motm] self running patches
> 
> All my patches are self running.   (If I could figure how to make them
> self-patching, too, I wouldn't have anything left to do except solder!)
> 
> For a self-running patch to be musically interesting it has to be
> capable of evolving patterns, while keeping enough character to be
> thematic.  I set up patterns of change along several vectors, the most
> important being note/chord sequences and timbre variations.  Rhythmic
> changes are also interesting, but are hard to do well without seeming
> disruptive.  Syncopations are not too difficult with syncable LFOs (like
> the MOTM-320) or a switch like the MOTM-700.  I strive for a complex
> patch that has several voices, sometimes running poly-rhythmically.  If
> you are not as concerned with live, real-time sound, you can record
> multiple tracks and mix them together.
> 
> The heart of my self running patches is always the Sample and Holds.  I
> seem to be growing a collection of them.  In addition to the MOTM-101, I
> use two Oakley S&H's, a CGS Infinite Melody (a type of digital S&H), and
> two CGS Analog Shift Registers (each with 3 internal S&H's).  And I have
> more random modules in the works.  If you get hooked on the self-running
> patch thing, expect to need more "sources of uncertainty" modules.
> 
> My process is playful.  I start out with a basic idea and patch
> something up.  Then it grows.  Once I have a good patch it can still
> take hours of tweaking the pots before I feel it is musically
> interesting.  The range of variation by pot settings in one of these
> patches is vast.
> 
> With your setup, Chris, a good starting point is just to make a classic
> random note walk.  Use an LFO pulse wave as a tempo clock to trigger the
> 101 S&H and both EGs.  You might trigger one EG from an inverted version
> of the clock.  The output of the S&H can control the pitch of both VCOs
> (not with 1V/oct, but with FM inputs).  The VCOs can go through
> different filters. You might also patch the S&H output to control a
> filter frequency.  Use one EG to modulate a filter, the other for the
> VCA.  A second LFO can add vibrato to a VCO or a VCF.  Without a
> quantizer to make scale pitches it will sound trippy and strange
> alright.  Get the white or pink noise into the mix too.  Play around
> with it and don't get discouraged if it sounds awfully silly at first.
> This type of patch takes experimentation.  Once you get it just right,
> then you'll have to decide if you want to just enjoy it or fire up the
> recording equipment.  Because the next time, you will never be able to
> repeat it.  You might get close, but I've found it's hard to get the
> same sound a month later from an old patch diagram.  That doesn't bother
> me, because I look at these patches as "happenings" that may never be
> repeated.  You enjoy the moment.  Then it's gone.  You let go (aka
> un-patching).  But there's always the next patch.
> 
> -Richard Brewster
> 
> Chris Walcott wrote:
> 
> >Hey everyone, I want to start playing around with the self running
> >patch concept and I was wondering if anyone has any advice, tips or
> >tricks they could pass on to me.
> >
> >My rig consists of a 300, 310, 2 LFO's, 101, 3 filters, 2ea 190 & 800,
> >and a mult panel.  I also have a voyager with the breakout box.  I'll
> >probably use a mackie 1204 mixer for all the various outputs.
> >
> >I'm looking for a wide range of sounds.  nice, sweet, bubbly,  dark and
> >gritty, trippy and strange.
> >
> >Thanks!
> >
> >- chris
> >
> >

On Jul 20, 2004, at 4:36 PM, Richard Brewster wrote:
> All my patches are self running.   (If I could figure how to make them 
> self-patching, too, I wouldn't have anything left to do except 
> solder!)

On Jul 20, 2004, at 5:14 PM, John Loffink wrote:
> My methodology involves what could be called chaos synthesis.

Thanks Richard and John, this looks like a really good starting point.  
I'm starting to get more comfortable with the rig, at least with the 
simple patches.  This is where it's going to get really interesting.

Besides more S&H modules, what else should I be thinking about adding?  
I have a Mini-Wave on the table about to be worked on.  I have another 
300 on order plus a 120, an 820 a couple more filters (gotta have at 
least one of each!).  I was thinking about the 700 at some point.  I 
don't have any of the new 500 series modules on order but I'll probably 
consider that as well.

In any case, that's for the future.  Right now I have a lot of stuff to 
play with.  I'll let you know how it goes.

- chris