MOTM

hello all,
it's been quiet of late, so i thought i'd prompt a few thoughts with my
weekend shinanigans, i've been on a long studio shut-down / move /
re-installation and then on top of that two computer disasters in the space
of a week, and my own studio to sort out (including the booty (pirate term,
not hiphop term) paid for by working seven days a week for three months)
anyway...

1 - i debunked mitchell's law. while using your modular as a multitimbral
system interfaced with say a DAW, you need to have the flexibility to create
several distinct monophonic (or more) voices to write and multitrack a
song - discuss...

2 - the alesis masterlink is truely great. we've been using them at work for
centuries almost (okay we got one of the very first units in the uk), and
with the closure of the studio, i finally had to go out and buy my own - a
really flexible machine

3 - sorry uk listeners only here - the original buck rogers on dvd from
music zone - \ufffd2-97 a pop and there's four of them to collect !!! little did
i realise until now how much this series (1936!!!) influenced me (when it
was shown on uk tv in the 70's or 80's), my girlfriend has promised to leave
me if i go on stage in dr zarkhov outfit...   ...yep i spend all weekend
sampling it

4 - i've re-discovered the joy of tape echos - oh yes - a space echo and a
kastam space ehco clone set up as a stereo pair, and a watkins copicat on
dub bass...

well there we go, i might be a bit high on life since this is the first
proper recording session i've had for my self since october, so please
excuse the gushing
but things have been a bit quiet of late (what's that i hear, the sharpening
of drill bits in preparation for stooge panels..?)
oh yes, and i've had a bottle and a half of wine, so we'll see how those
mixes came out in the morning
oh yes, and music zone also have stooge dvds (the early years) for \ufffd2-97

cheers
paul b
sheffield
www.unrecordings.co.uk

>  4 - i've re-discovered the joy of tape echos - oh yes - a space echo 
> and a
>  kastam space ehco clone set up as a stereo pair, and a watkins 
> copicat on
>  dub bass...

Mmmm. Echoes.

Modulars and delays: Discuss.

--mikes

>Mmmm. Echoes.
>
>Modulars and delays: Discuss.
>

Ahem, there was some discussion on the sdiy list some time ago about 
some echo chips, Princeton PT2395 and PT2399. These are not good for 
short delays, better for echoes. I'm surprised that there still isn't 
an MOTM format module exploiting these things. Or is there? I believe 
Ken Stone has an evaluation board available. I'd build an MOTM one 
myself, but don't have time.

of course i actually meant flash gordon - not buck rogers (i seem to get a
mental block with that one)

> Modulars and delays: Discuss.

TC Electronics D2 - brilliant versatile delay unit, mine sits on preset 17
almost constantly (bit of a waste...)
Phonic PH8040 - bbd, sounds really nasty, but it's stereo (?!) and it's
great for feedback
Eventide H949 Harmonizer - early digital, crunchy but annoying to get the
correct delay time, can be patched for pseudo stereo
Bel BD80 - early digital - one of the better budget digital delays (as
opposed to the AMSs of this world)
Watkins Copicat MkIV - simple tape echo, great on vocals, guitar & dubby
stuff
Roland Space Echo - king of dub echos
Kastam Echo Chamber - 3/4 size space echo clone, runs on 8 track cartridge,
originally designed for karaoke (i think)
Oh yes and not forgetting the Blacet Time Machine, which did't get a look in
this weekend (awww)

however i discovered the Encore Frequency shifter is great for radio
effects - i had two channels of phonic echo feeding back at different
frequencies, i then put this and some vocals the fs modulated by a slow lfo
and some very slow random noise - brilliant, except at times certain parts
of it sounded like digital clipping while it was sat in the mix, so i had to
edit bits of it out...

erm - i'd better get some work done now
cheers
paul

What I've been doing the last month and a half: playing percussion in 
the Philip Glass Opera Akhnaten.  One of my old band mates from way 
back has been running a non-profit Opera Theatre in Oakland CA for the 
last 10 years or so and needed an extra percussionist (the score was 
written for 4.)  I also got to so all the synth programming as the 
keyboard player had to play a few extra parts since we were only 12 
players for a score written for 45.

It's the first time since middle school that I've done any orchestra 
work and it was a blast.  Oh the drama!  We had our bassoonist walk out 
on us (hissy fit!) at the first dress rehearsal because the light 
wasn't good enough and she couldn't deal with the conductor counting 4 
when her part was in 6 ( a 6 against 4 passage where most were playing 
4.  you gotta count one or the other.)

Anyway, it was some of the most challenging work I've ever done.  The 
show ended last sunday and now I get to put all the gear back into the 
studio.  Fun times!

- chris walcott

On Jun 1, 2004, at 4:12 PM, Sikorsky wrote:

> hello all,
> it's been quiet of late, so i thought i'd prompt a few thoughts with my
> weekend shinanigans,

1 - i debunked mitchell's law. while using your modular as a
multitimbral
system interfaced with say a DAW, you need to have the flexibility to
create
several distinct monophonic (or more) voices to write and multitrack a
song - discuss...

This basically is the whole idea behind the system I'm building. Got
sick of mono's either not living up to their name or breaking down all
the time. Thought about a Voyager for some time but when I discovered
MOTM I noticed I could almost have three separate 2 VCO synths with
various filters to choose for every synth for the same price. Add modern
day components, learning about DIY, true high quality, and the
possibility to run "true modular" patches also and the choice was easily
made.
Became more modular minded along the way but am still very content with
the idea behind my system and wonder why not more people cure their
analogue disease like this.
Of course it's not only the filter that makes a synth unique but I(!)
have managed to convince myself I own a Moog, Pro One with Prophet 5 3.2
sound, Synthacon etc. all in one state of the art box :)