Just dropping a little erratum in my description of the MARF.
The switches data for each stage are shared for both AFG.
I mistakenly thought all the switches data, such as octave switches and time ranges, could be different for each playhead, due to the modern Buchla clone 248r working that way.
A few years after my tutorial, information has surfaced that it was in fact shared data, just like the faders, and a new firmware of the clone now has the ability to choose between independant or shared data. It turns out the MARF is not as complicated after all.
It doesn’t really affect the cookbook patches, and the tutorial on how to build remains valid to reproduce a 248r clone, though.
The cat is finally out of the bag; this is what I have been cooking for the last 6 months:
“Somehow I found myself participating in an article with Suzanne Ciani in an academic journal.” None of these words make sense to me, and yet here we are!
For the past 6 months I have had the incredible pleasure of working with Suzanne Ciani and Juan Parra on the digital re-publication of the Buchla Cookbook, now out in Echo, the Orpheus Institute’s journal. Go check out the other articles too; it’s a goldmine of music research!
For this project I put together extended illustrations of her patching techniques, interactive audio examples (audio done with VCV Rack), interviews, and commentary on modern applications of these techniques with VCV Rack patches.
All the patches are available on Patch Storage, free to download and make your own! Links in the article.
You might wonder: “a Buchla patch without NYSTHI modules?” Don’t worry; all the audio examples were made with the NYSTHI low-pass gates and sequencers, but I had to favor open-source modules for the patches as they are always more appreciated in academic work. This led me to discover the incredible sequencer from Sickozell—such a powerful and flexible tool!
BTW, for the cookbook hardcore fans: this digital edition has the tape examples provided by Suzanne Ciani, never heard by anyone since then!
Thank you guys I still don’t understand how a single YouTube video got me to meet all these great people! Suzanne fact checked everything in all details, she is really on a mission to teach everything she discover about music to new generations!
Don’t hesitate to post here all the wacky mods of the vcv patches!
As a big fan of West Coast style and Berlin School modular music, I have been working for some time on realizing patches and ideas in this style within VCV Rack. The initial spark came from pyer’s videos about Suzanne Ciani’s Cookbook. However, the MARF248 always remained out of reach, as no emulation existed that captured it.
For some time now, and with the help of Claude, I have taken on the challenge of diving deeper into this and developing my first module. I am personally very satisfied with the result. During development, I was not only able to successfully test various MARF patches and eliminate a lot of errors and ambiguities but also integrate additional features that I consider useful.
The module, along with two expanders, is running well here. I don’t want to withhold it from the community—perhaps others will find it helpful. That’s why I am now tackling the challenge of publishing it (including the legal requirements).
In any case, it seems harmless to publish the current technical documentation here in the forum. However, I don’t yet know when the module itself will be available.
I would like to express my heartfelt thanks to @pyer for publishing the tutorials.
the reason was simply to run patches containing MARF functions without the MARF. pyer shows how to create the stuff from the cookbook. Unfortunately during playing and creating, i saw that my laptop was to small for running all the necessary modules. Then i tried AI to help (Claude). First i created the MARF in Python to check all the functions. After a while the port to C++ began, because i want to use it in VCVRack. Especially i want to use it for jamming. Therefore i made several design decisions, which are very private. And i noticed, that one module could do a lot more and with less CPU, than my older patches. the journey progresses…
Aha, i have heard from him and remember his face as a great source for Buchla ideas. Last week i subscribed his youtube channel. embarrassing to know him not.
Hello, i just managed it to send the Module to release in VCV Library. Don’t know how long that takes and wondering how many mistakes i did. We will see.
Today i create an additional Kompakt Module with the same functionality but much smaller. It is intended for small screens and for someone, who do not want to jam with it. In the next days i will think about what to add perhaps.
In the thread below, @karlderletzte asked if the Quad Voltage Controlled Envelope Generator model 284 could be patched up in VCV.
I checked out your amazing patches, and noticed you use Nysthi Dual Envelopes to construct the functionality, but it doesn’t seem to be the best fit. I don’t have access to hardware to compare, so I was restricted to investigating via AI (risky, I know)
Am I correct in the following differences from the hardware?
Missing delay functionality entirely
Nysthi allows Attack to end prematurely if sustain is on and the gate is short. It also allows retrigger in the middle of the decay stage. But AI is telling me all stages always go to completion in hardware, and there is no retrigger functionality.
There is no attenuverter for the control voltage, and the polarity seems to be inverted. AI is telling me that positive CV shortens all stages proportionally, and negative CV lengthens them.
I went ahead and created a couple emulations using my new Venom Envelope Factory module. One is a fairly complex patch emulating the quad functionality, with a PatchMaster UI and Venom patch bay. The other emulation uses a single Envelope Factory to emulate a single EG (just missing the CV attenuverter). Assuming the differences I noted above are correct, then I think I have created very close emulations of the hardware.
I posted the emulations in the link below.
Perhaps these 284 emulations could be useful in future work exploring Suzanne Ciani techniques?
Thank you! that’s an in-depth dive into this module!
Indeed the Nysthi module might not have been the closest to the 284. To be honest, I pecked the module that allowed me to replicate Ciani’s techniques. As her use of the 284 didn’t involved delay nor sustain and importance to CV polarity, I ignored these parameters.
This doesn’t mean the 284 doesn’t worth to be studied in detail for other purposes! the page from Roman’s website refered by @karlderletzte is fascinating, I didn’t realized how each envelope actually holds two envelopes! the relationship between them makes me think of the quadrature mode in the 281. I’ll look deeper into that with you envelope patch!
I don’t know if I can be of many help at this specific stage, maybe on these few points:
don’t assume Don’s words or official manuals describe a module behavior, the more I speak with Buchla experts, the more I realize the word “esoteric” describing Don’s circuits is a respectful word for “buggy” many modules were designed without the intention of being studied or serviced by anyone else. Some modules went on the market with bugs, later fixed on clones. The music easel envelope is an interesting case study, where bugs were reproduced in re-issues.
Roman’s website and fluxmonkey’s links are the best source. if AI told you something you can’t find here, I’d be cautious
While the 248 is the only 200 module with a user manual, some university made manuals for theirs specific system to help students, might worth investigate in this direction
Yes! You can definitely see how the quadrature functionality in the 281 is an evolution of the 284 internal architecture.
Most definitely! After poring over some YouTube videos as well as Roman’s writings, I have concluded that I was mistaken - the 284 does support retrigger during decay. But I am still not confident in some of the finer points.
I have started a new thread where I emulate both the 281 and 284 with existing modules. If I can gain confidence in the expected behavior, I may develop dedicated Venom modules that attempt to emulate the vintage gear, with options to add additional features.
I would be forever grateful if you could compare my 281 emulation behavior in the link above with your 281t! I am especially interested in the finer details of retriggering. But any and all observations are welcome.
I still don’t understand how a single YouTube video got me to meet all these great people! Suzanne fact checked everything in all details, she is really on a mission to teach everything she discover about music to new generations!