Hi all,
here is a patch inspired by the AUDREY II feedback synthesizer by Synthux Academy and Infrasonic Audio. I for sure used some premium modules: You can replace them with free versions as you like of course, the compressor of Squiky Labs is free and good for instance.
testdrive and short demo of the patch is here as well. It is capable of a lot of sound, so the demo is just a snippet. Enjoy and happy holidays!
AUDREY II_161224.vcv (9.2 KB)
I’d like to watch the video, but it is private. Can you make it either public or unlisted for us?
This is a great dungeonsynth voice.
Are you sure? I checked and it is published as public.
You are right – now it works fine. Weird. Clearly something went wrong in my browser.
I was able to watch it OK. Some great feedback tones there! I see you’re using the Waveguide Delay module, is this basically acting as a resonator? I discovered that adding a feedback loop to resonators then patching the feedback signal through a filter generates some crazy harmonics. You can also experiment with other effects in the loop, flangers, phasers or even more resonators will all produce different sounds. Nice patch!
yeah it is the waveguide as a resonator. with two feedback loops: a short (karplus strong) loop a second one with two filters (hp and lp), a reverb and a second delay (body) in it. After the resonator is a third (tape-ish) delay as a send fx.
Excellent, that’s an underrated module! I’ve got a few patches with the same approach. I made a whole load of resonator/Karplus-Strong patches earlier this year and keep meaning to make a tutorial on it but haven’t found the time yet. It’s basically physical modelling for idiots (just speaking for myself there, no offense!), because you can get the same sounds without needing to understand any of the maths involved in traveling wave equations.
Reading up recently, the way you do this in code is to write a random buffer into memory, then for each sample you calculate the average of the last two samples, which acts as a one-pole filter and creates the bright attack with the higher frequencies rapidly decaying, like a real string. The interesting thing is researchers found that whatever you start with, you ended up with the same sound, so I’m guessing that using bursts of noise into delays/resonators etc is effectively the same as generating string sounds computationally using the proper KP algorithm. Either way, it’s a rich source of more unusual and organic sounds in VCV.
Most of my patches are constructed for and at the same time as a specific track or idea. I’m thinking of trying to do single instrument patches that I can jam with freely and even play with others, but I don’t want to replicate traditional synths, so finding this patch is kinda inspiring. Sounds good, too!
I noticed this is not your first recreation of hardware. Is existing hardware your main inspiration for creating virtual experimental instruments in VCV?
Short answer: yes. Some hardware instruments spark my imagination, as long as I do not have to play a keyboard, since I really am not good at that haha.
Long answer:
I am a fulltime musician/composer for 25 years and started to slowly expand my instrument using electronics 5 years ago. I worked with electronics a lot in ensembles before, but then there was always someone else doing the electronic part: I wanted to do all that cool stuff myself!
I started with VCV when I got my first hardware synth. My studio is not at home and I liked the idea of practicing on a virtual version for when I am not there. I quickly discovered though that VCV could be a thing on its own. Then I bought a midi controller and things clicked even more: I could create patches that I can play as an instrument and that can complement my hardware setup. I even performed a few times with VCV and a midicontroller only.
But as said, I am a terrible keyboard player, so I am mostly interested in instruments that are not depending on keys. Sometimes I find a piece of hardware which inspires me and I do not have the funds for buying it, or it is just unobtainable. I always try then to get near its concept in VCV.
So my setup is now a hybrid of hardware and software instruments.
My last performance with a duo I have, was with a Cocoquantus (Ciat Lonbarde looper/delay) a Syntrx I, a Blippoo Box I emulated in VCV and a mixer set up in Ableton. This setup was also connected to the prepared piano of my partner with contact microphones. Quite complex, but great fun!
Awesome! The way you describe your music sounds quite interesting and it’s nice how you embraced both software and hardware.
I wonder if anyone has emulated a Cocoquantus in VCV. It seems like it should be fairly straightforward.