Every so often I accidentally start Rack 1 on my machine instead of Rack 2. What comes up is the last patch I was working on before getting Rack 2. Finally I loaded the patch in Rack 2 and recorded it.
I’m uploading the patch here, but I use some @stoermelder modules - which I built myself from Ben’s repository - and Kontakt (in VCV Host) to provide the Concert Grand. And it uses the paid Vult Freak filter module from @modlfo.
I bet someone besides me has that combination of non-stock, non-free modules. But if you decide to try it yourself you’ll have to replace the filter on the effect send, and replace the Host module with the synth voice of your choosing.
I held up a contact microphone to my chest like a stethoscope and sang a few notes. Then I loaded it in a Confusing Simpler being triggered & sliced by two Squonk linked to make a fairly chaotic 48-step sequencer. It turned into something that sounds like a Squarepusher bass line.
The BBS that Community uses will take any link that looks like audio URL & stick in an HTML5 player.
As for the URL itself, I have my own web space that I use mostly as a dump for uploading and downloading files.
If you ever want independent hosting I have ‘unlimited’ storage and ‘unlimited’ bandwidth, which means my hosting company doesn’t meter transfers or disk storage unless I start using a shit-ton of bandwidth or storage. I could set you up with your own FTP acount where you can put files, a web page, whatever.
I know you are joking, but I think I’ve been consistent in saying aliasing is fine if you actually want that sound. In most cases where it crops up that isn’t the case, however.
As it happens that Underwater plugin has a uniquely good distortion/downsampling engine. It really does something cool with the FM sounds I was feeding it.
I think that the combination of AudioThing Noises and Underwater would be great for making a modern drum track sound like it was sampled off dusty vinyl on an 80s vintage sampler.
Thanks - very generous and good info. I may take you up on that. But for the time being I think I will use my free dropbox account. (My SoundCloud limit is nearly reached). Most of the time I upload a YouTube video. But every now and then I have sound samples that I don’t want to put on YouTube, and they would be fairly small. Hopefully a few links to “permanent” files in dropbox will not interfere when I need to send or receive a large file through dropbox.
There’s something just absurdly in your face about a @modlfo Vult Noxious beefed up with a sine an octave down. And it’s the debut of the 72-step Squonk sequencer. Not only that, each Squonk is clocked through an @jeremy’s JW 1Pattern. So the sequence would take very long to repeat.
This is from a work in progress but it sounded so much like Arthur Russell playing his cello that it gave me goosebumps. @almostEric make me wondered why I neglected Mr. Blue Sky For so long!
I put the text of the prologue to the Canturbury Tales into Google Translate, told it to translate it into Chinese and recorded the audio of the speech synthesizer reading it. Bodged it into Confusing Simpler and chopped it up, then ran it into 2 instances of Mr. Blue Sky. The synthesized voice modulates a square wave carrier in Mr. Blue Sky, and then it goes into some delay.
The carrier is sequenced by my new favorite: The Triple Squonk Machine.
Use Squonk to generate 3 notes at once, merge them to a polyphonic signal.
Run the polyphonic pitch CV through a slew limiter.
Run the slewed poly CV through a quantizer.
Run the quantizer output through ANOTHER slew limiter.
The quantizer picks individual notes out of the slewed Note CV, turning the glissando into a quantized series of pitches. The second slew limiter gives the note CV a glide between notes.
Oh, and THEN, split the polyphonic signal into mono signal and run each voice through a different delay. And use the feedback loop send&returns to link the feedback path of each delay to the others.
This patch only contains free modules. The Stoermelder modules aren’t in the Rack Library yet but you can build them from source, or just leave them out. I use 8Face to save sequencer snapshot, and Stroke so I can use the computer keyboard to copy & paste knob values.
Again, a track made to try and accomodate the limited abilities of the laptop I’m using.
Just a sequencer, a Macro Oscillator 2 & some stock VCV stuff. No mixer - 2 sounds blended with a crossfader. No EQ, just a limiter on the mix into the recorder.
Maybe the basis of a more fleshed out track.
It is fun to consider the question "what’s the minimum I can do and still make a strong, full sound?
2 Rack patches I like in one day. This patch has SO much potential. I’d love for people to try it out and let me hear what they come up with.
It’s simple (at least for my idea of simple) but it’s a monster sequence generator. I do everything I can to eff up the sequence - send each squonk a different clock from a JW 1Pat, which uses logic to break up the steady clock, use Probably Note to introduce variation before the final quantization of the pitch CV.
Not to be too pretentious, but what I’m trying to go to is something like Bach’s unaccompanied suites for cello and other instruments. It’s just one Squonk sequencer (well 2 Squonks) with a stimple VCV module voice. It’s a solo instrument.
I always have a question when I come up with something like this: when is what’s there enough? I find this compelling without the other accoutrements I usually dress up my music with: drums & other instruments, samples, sound effects. But this is exactly the musical idea I was going for.
A fun thing about this mix is that there’s no EQ or compression. I normaized it before uploading it, but because I’m on my junk laptops I don’t have CPU power for the fancy shit like that. And again, it’s a question of when is enough. Sometimes just hearing what the modules do without a ton of audio sweetening is good too.
It’s just a Confusing Simpler and it’s a bit that I cut out of the commercial audio. I used one of those websites where you give it the link to youtube video and it downloads the audio as mp3. I just let the sample loop. The commercial is full of quick edits which is how the sound gets broken up.
