Hello all.
I have been messing around with VCV Rack for over a year now, slowly familiarizing myself with modular synthesis and having a wonderful time in the process. This thread will serve as a journal for patches / sounds I am particularly proud of. I am totally open to critiques, tips, or comments.
For the first installment… enter a bug world.
This was my first successful attempt at creating a self-contained, complete, semi-random, “ambient” patch. Originally an offshoot of another project, it quickly morphed into its own thing.
The backbone of the patch is the VCV convolver. I fed multiple measures of a synth-lead from the original patch into the convolver and saved it as the impulse response. I then ran some blue noise through it to produce a wall of sound that became the main drone.
Various other bug-like sounds evolved afterwards, most of them dependent on the original drone (either through delay-feedback and/or pitch-shifting). I began to imagine myself stepping off of a spacecraft onto a comfortable but unfamiliar alien world, busy with all kinds of bugs.
The most satisfying element was the tactile bagpipe / reed instrument that I could use to solo over the drone. I was loving the reedy sounds I was getting from Dark Energy and I had fun messing around with the XYPAD from JW. A lovely way to add expression. I began to imagine a small bug soloist amongst the commotion of bug migration.
I did some minimal orchestration during recording, but mostly let voices come and go as dictated by the smooth random CV generator. The result is more of an amorphous soundscape than an organized song.
While I was listening to it play one day, I was inspired to do a little lyrical writing as well:
listen up all you muffin toppers and bug squashers
listen to what I say, I’ll say
the cold ain’t so bad and the warm wont burn you
its a bug world but the worms won’t hurt you
slow down snow there’s no rush to land
rain check on the stove, simmer down till then
do the bumblebees sleep in honeybee beds?
do wasps drink dew? do worms hold heads?
are beetles in love with weevils with lashes?
and do ladybug-partners go through rough patches?
under the sun its the same unless the clouds burn through
storm and rain rinse the bug world too
Hope you enjoy.
Very enjoyable and great use of stereo/soundstage!