Short demonstration piece to try some old (but, new to me) modules, a couple of brand new modules and some new filter techniques.
I started with some @johnhoar Amalgamated Harmonics modules (shout out to @Browneditor, who has used AH modules a bunch). First I have the Clock Divider/Rhythm Generator Ruckus module driving the @Richie Entrian Acoustic Drums. I also use it to drive the gate modifier Imp module into the “Turing Machine for chords” Bombe module. I have the chords from Bombe also feeding the AH Arp 3.1 arpeggiator.
I’m also using the @modlfo Vult Tangent filter in a new way (for me). I am feeding all three inputs simultaneously. In Leonardo’s documentation, he briefly mentions implementing this, but I don’t recall seeing anyone do it. I like it!!
For new stuff, I used the brand new Count Modula Fade to automate the Record module, NysTHI’s new Etchasketchoscope, and the new @netboy3 Southpole Smoke with Parasite module. The shimmer effect for the arpeggio is coming from the new Parasite firmware.
My latest – details in the Youtube description. (Forgive my vain use of Computerscare’s new picture blank. It doesn’t make the music sound any better.)
This pad you start with is really nice, is that Plaits? I think I really like the chord progressions you make. All you need is to squeeze a cat pic in there too haha. Great job Rick!
@AdiQ Thanks for your comments. The pad is just the good, old, reliable Blamsoft XFX Wave on the third row modulated and adding some additional harmonics. I am also using Surge Chorus as a send effect which adds some additional de-tuning and depth.
I use a website called Grid Composer (http://composer.jpglomot.com/#) to audition chord progressions. I envy people like Omri and other experienced musicians who can pull chords and scales out of their heads. My mother probably would tell me that I should have continued my piano lessons when I was young.
You won’t see any cat pictures from me, but I have plenty of dog pictures.
Huh, this grid composer looks really cool, I may have to try it, thanks for mentioning it. I’m not really good at picking chords either or even scales for that matter. Like if it involves anything but the white keys I’m screwed lol. In Ableton, I would just transpose my A minor lameness to get to other keys, but I always felt like I was missing out on other chords/modes that are possible. I have a couple tricks I use to get things going fast in vcv, but I really just experiment and go by ear. I’m supposed to get this thing called a TheoryBoard that may help me down the line, but who knows when that will come, I ordered like almost 2 years ago.
There is also a companion website from the same developer called Chords and Scale Reference (http://chords.jpglomot.com/) that I also use. Eric from Frozen Wasteland has done some great work on his quantizer and chord expander – he has programmed in a ranking of concordances that amazingly makes great music. I am also watching the discussion here on the community about k-chaffin’s Meander module. These are all great tools for those of us who are music theory newbs.
So, I was hanging out on a Saturday afternoon with my hound dog Bennie…
The other day, in his Plaits video, @Omri_Cohen used a @sanderbaancentrum Stellare Nomlia in one-shot mode. I had forgotten about those nice Stelllare modules, so dusted them off. I added @valley.audio’s μGraph (Grids) to supply the rhythm. The bass line is another Nomlia through @modlfo Vult’s Basal and Spank for it’s snappy response. I added the Padshop Pro VST for the pad and the Sonic Labs Hand Bells VST. The toy piano sounds are coming from Macro Oscillator 2 (Plaits) in two operator FM mode driven by Random Sampler (Marbles).
So, I’ve had this Tabla loop hanging around for a while and I’ve tried a couple of times to use it. I’ve always failed to get a good tampura drone and a good sitar sound. Well, I decided to give it another go and not try to be too scientific about achieving an authentic classical Indian sound. Hopefully, my South Asian friends will feel the love and admiration and won’t be offended.
An ambient piece. The string pad is a sequence from Marbles, voiced by Blamsoft’s XFX Wave, processed with lots of reverb and echo and some shimmer provided by Clouds. The bass pad is one of the outputs of Marbles voiced by Plaits in chords mode. The main melody sequence that fades in and out is from sampling mixed outputs of a 5-cell Quantussy Ring voiced by Geodesics Energy. The Entrian Sequencer is triggering a collection of percussion instruments including a one-shot of Stellare’s Nomlia voicing Rings in Modal resonator mode .
Working with the Tourette module from Wrong People. Feeding it random notes from @computerscare I Love Cookies and Plaits in Particle mode and also feeding the Tourette output through Clouds (Southpole Smoke).
Chords is breaking in the newly polyphonic Geodesics Energy and a bass line is being sequenced by I Love Cookies through @heapdump Lindenberg Research’s Woldemar.
My latest. The piano melody is @Squinky Seq++ through Basal, the chords are Squinky Seq++ through Bogaudio FM-OPs (polyphonic) and the bass line is sequenced by the Impromptu Phrase-Seq-16 using @heapdump Lindenberg’s new μ-Woldemar. I’m using @Ben Stoermelder 8Face modules to switch the Seq++ between verse and chorus. The Baba O’Riley-esque pad is a triple-row sequence from @synthi Nysthi Squonk to @marc_boule/@pyer Geodesics Energy and diffused with Clouds.
Some music for stormy times. Stormy weather brewing in the US capital. Some dark chords sequenced by AH Progress through Basal and further blurred by Clouds in Spectral Madness mode (Southpole Espectro). I arpeggiate the chords with @Computerscare’s Soly Prequencer through 2 @heapdump Lindenberg Woldemars – one for the main bass and one for the sub. @modlfo Julste is making things snappy. I’ve got Impromptu’s Gate-Seq-64 triggering the percussion. Lastly, we mash up the chords again with Computerscare’s I Love Cookies through @marc_boule/@pyer Geodesics Energy and Fate and Plaits in Inharmonic Strings mode (inspired by @Omri_Cohen’s Fate video) The rhythms for the bass and melody sequences are all derived from the Gate Sequencer.
One of those happy accidents in VCV Rack Land. This is a simple piece that is completely random, but one which is pleasant enough to let run all day in the background.
Was playing around with some new modules and landed on Admiral’s Tables module which got combined with a Spitfire Audio Labs synth pad. I pulled out the Spitfire Audio Labs soft piano in another Host module driven by Valley’s ɥGraph (Grids). Using the remaining two channels of ɥGraph, I drove instances of Plaits for the bass line and a snare.
