Hello everyone! I love to make strips of Rack modules that are useful as modular bits to quickly throw together functional patches. It seems I like to make these strips more than actual full patches, so I’ve decided to clean up and release a new strip from my collection every day until… who knows!
Today’s strip is one I’m really proud of, it’s a supersaw-based synth lead that’s intended to be played on a velocity-sensitive keyboard. To me it sounds a lot like a heavily distorted guitar through a screaming wah-wah pedal. Usually when I make a mono lead it doesn’t sound all that special to me, but this one stands out, and I love the expressiveness using the modwheel, velocity, and portamento all together.
Day 1: Supersawnic (Synth Lead)
Type: Synth Lead
Polyphony: Monophonic
Audio: Stereo
Other features: Velocity sensitive, modwheel vibrato, gate-based portamento
If you use one of my strips in your patch give me a shoutout! Also I’m always looking to make the most CPU efficient strips so if you have ideas for improvements in that area I’d love to hear it.
License: Do whatevertheheck you want, I reserve the right to call you bad names if you maliciously steal credit for my work.
Not only cool to use in a patch, but great fun to play live on a velocity-sensitive keyboard!
I showed to my 13-year old son (who is way more musical than I am) and kissed goodbye to the next five minutes while he noodled joyfully around with it.
My sequencer has a feature whereby it can randomly vary the velocity of notes, which is a great match for the velocity-sensitive feature of your guitar strip.
Hello everyone! I love to make strips of Rack modules that are useful as modular bits to quickly throw together functional patches. It seems I like to make these strips more than actual full patches, so I’ve decided to clean up and release a new strip from my collection every day until… who knows!
Today’s strip is a poly voice that started out as me trying to make an electric piano-like sound, what I ended up with was more digital than I wanted, so I made it a little more spacy with the LFO effects.
E.P. Phone Home
Type: Polysynth (piano-like)
Polyphony: Polyphonic
Audio: Stereo
Other features: Velocity sensitive, “leslie speaker” stereo effect
If you use one of my strips in your patch give me a shoutout! Also I’m always looking to make the most CPU efficient strips so if you have ideas for improvements in that area I’d love to hear it.
License: Do whatevertheheck you want, I reserve the right to call you bad names if you maliciously steal credit for my work.
Hello everyone! I love to make strips of Rack modules that are useful as modular bits to quickly throw together functional patches. It seems I like to make these strips more than actual full patches, so I’ve decided to clean up and release a new strip from my collection every day until… who knows!
Today’s is real simple, it’s just an implementation of the 808 cowbell from the original block diagram, two square waves of specific frequency into a bandpass through an envelope generator.
If you use one of my strips in your patch give me a shoutout! Also I’m always looking to make the most CPU efficient strips so if you have ideas for improvements in that area I’d love to hear it.
License: Do whatevertheheck you want, I reserve the right to call you bad names if you maliciously steal credit for my work.
Hello everyone! I love to make strips of Rack modules that are useful as modular bits to quickly throw together functional patches. It seems I like to make these strips more than actual full patches, so I’ve decided to clean up and release a new strip from my collection every day until… who knows!
Today’s is another simple one, but very useful if your MIDI keyboard has no sustain pedal. It functions exactly how you would expect, every gate on each channel is kept high while the pedal is down, and they all go low after you release. The labeling could be a little confusing so here’s the ins/outs: Your gates go anywhere into the first Sum, the held gates come out of the second Sum, and the hold input goes into the IN on Roly Pouter. Stay tuned tomorrow for the next poly voice that’s featured in the demo video!
If you use one of my strips in your patch give me a shoutout! Also I’m always looking to make the most CPU efficient strips so if you have ideas for improvements in that area I’d love to hear it.
License: Do whatevertheheck you want, I reserve the right to call you bad names if you maliciously steal credit for my work.
Hello everyone! I love to make strips of Rack modules that are useful as modular bits to quickly throw together functional patches. It seems I like to make these strips more than actual full patches, so I’ve decided to clean up and release a new strip from my collection every day until… who knows!
This one was my attempt at a vibraphone. Instead of trying to make it sound like the instrument I went with a digital “vibe”. You can adjust the tremolo with the parameters on 8FO, and messing with Debriatus will change the sound, the “digital” effect is essentially just the bitcrush.
If you use one of my strips in your patch give me a shoutout! Also I’m always looking to make the most CPU efficient strips so if you have ideas for improvements in that area I’d love to hear it.
License: Do whatevertheheck you want, I reserve the right to call you bad names if you maliciously steal credit for my work.
Hello Seth,
I have a few strips/tiny patches myself, how do you create the vcvss file format, I can then open them in Stoermelder’s ‘Strip’. I am going to try to make a ‘glitch/FSU unit strip’ any advice is very welcome.
Kaoss pad style would be my ultimate goal, but it may be beyond me yet. Do you know of any good VCV modules for such a task.
Thanks for your time.
Here’s an effect chain based around the Voxglitch Grain FX, feeding it through an AS Tremolo and XFX Reverb/ Then, there’s a bunch of random modulation that is driven by a clock signal - any source is fine. Hook the inputs into the Grain FX and outputs to the Reverb outputs.
The Squinky Labs Compressor is there to tame the output level of the GrainFX.
When a processiong chain has a lot of random modulation, the continous morphing of the sound in many dimensions ends up strangely becoming one thing: it has a consistent sound signature in which all of the randomness just becomes texture. In the way that a random surface, like a pile of rocks, actually has a texture expressed in its randomness.
I’m not complaining - you are an excellent customer… But have you tried my “Chopper” tremelo? I think it’s kind of cool. although the LFO shapes are a little more like guitar amp shaper rather than synth shapes.
I use Squinky Lab stuff all the freaking time, and the only reason I haven’t used Chopper is… Well I have no excuse. I thought it didn’t show up in the module browser when you search for Tremolo, but of course it does.
LOL Between you and @almostEric telling me to use his compressor…
Am I the only Rack user being guilted by Rack developers into trying their modules?
EDIT: Here’s a version using Chopper. My critique of Chopper: It sounds good, but things you could add:
Mod input for Speed
Stereo version, with a phase offset of the LFO between sides.
As for modulating the Speed, you have the choices internal, and various clock multiples. If you set it to Sync externally to a clock it would be cool if it worked like Unfiltered Instant Delay. When sync in is connected, the speed knob steps between clock multipliers, and when it’s off it’s a continuous rate control.
I think I’ll mock up my dream Tremolo as a strip and then demand you code it up.
Stereo
Phase shift between channels - voltage controllable
LFO waveforms - voltage controllable
Depth - voltage controllable.
Feedback through delay.
There’s a whole world of tremolos - including a zillion stomp boxes. Some of them have distinctive sounds based on what they use for a VCA. Vactrol-based Tremolos are especially cool-sounding.
Cool! Btw, the shape on mine (which was originally a vst a decade ago) was an attempt to copy some things I’d seen if guitar amp tube trems. But,yeah there are a ton of cool shapes.
I use a JW 1Pattern to thin out the ‘dust’ a little - and also I believe square’s up the triggers. The 1Pat triggers a NYSTHI ConfusingSimpler, which is where the audio enters the strip.
The output of the ConfusingSimpler goes through a Vult Freak Filter set to Stabile Low Pass mode. It both smooths out the clicks from the Confusing Sampler - which we’re abusing - and adds some random stereo filter motion, modulated by a couple more Bark S&H.
The filter signal flows into the Vult Slap VCA/Envelope which is triggered by the Dust/1Pat combo.
It then goes through a AS Delay Plus and Squinky Comp The Delay time is set by an AS BPM Delay/MS Calc. The BPM module needs a clock input. The Squinky Comp evens out the volume, which can be erratic.
The result is kind of crazy but also really musical. It’s picks up little chunks of the incoming audio and loops play them. The filter you can tune so it’s giving a hint of the overtone series of the input as the filter sweeps through them.
This is bonkers Love the glitchy filter effect.
Without the Freak module I used 2 Vult Stabile modules, one for the left and one for the right, both sending from the Low Pass output. I used a simple oscillator as my sound source for the test and it works really well.
It’s worth buying the @modlfo Vult Compacts. You can duplicate the sound with 2 Stabile, but what I use CONSTANTLY is the Inverse mode, which is really Mid/Side processing. I modulate the ‘A’ & ‘B’ frequencies separately which gives you a unique stereo effect. There are free M/S encoder/decoder modules, so you can use the Stabile and achieve the same effect. It just takes more modules.
What I like about it is that it’s both completely random but still adds up rhythmically and harmonically. Send two hi-hat sounds through it and it does cool little fills that sound like Flamenco castanets.
Love the glitchy filter effect.
Without the Freak module I used 2 Vult Stabile modules, one for the left and one for the right, both sending from the Low Pass output. I used a simple oscillator as my sound source for the test and it works really well.