Abstractions I - VCVRack Modular Ambient by DRUMOPERATOR
The rigors of being constantly on tour sometimes necessitates innovation and experimentation in the face of logistical adversity. Unable to bring my modular travel rack with me this trip, I found myself finally making time to experiment with VCVRack (vcvrack.com), an open source and entirely free infrastructure for experimenting with modular synths that @buckydurddle had long ago turned me onto and I should have paid way more attention to. It is, to understate it, an essential piece of software for anybody curious about modular synthesis as it lets you patch virtual models of a gigantic list of open source eurorack modules. I'm discovering interactions between models I already own physical copies of and can say that having access to the entire Mutable Instruments suite at 0 cost and 80 percent of the sound is just an absolute no-brainer. Everything you are hearing in this patch you can download and replicate, right now, for free. There is no spoon.
This patch runs -four- instances of Mutable Plaits Oscillator, which would be about a grand's worth of oscillators IRL. Woof. I'm doing some of my usual loping, drunk sounding warble modulation to a pair of Clouds texture synthesizers, modulating the loop's start point with both slow LFO work from Tides and the new Mutable Instrument source of random, Marbles. Marbles is quite handy at creating polyrhythmic rhythm information on the left side and harmonic/modulation randomness informed by said rhythms on the right side. At any point, if it spits out a particularly compelling random modulation or rhythm you can "freeze" it and slowly let it introduce new information. I'm getting a ton of mileage and interplay out of this module in this patch, and can pretty easily imagine one of these making it's home in my physical case pretty shortly.
Reward open source audio developers (and pioneers of the audio blockchain like @prc and @dsound!) Listen to their genius, and if something gels with you, buy their physical modules. It is the very analog "band streaming on the internet making nothing but hustling scores of LPs in person" of modular synthesis, and I'm way way behind it.
Follow me on Whaleshares for exclusives: https://whaleshares.io/@drumoperator
... check out live performances on BitTube: https://bit.tube/drumoperator
... and stream my tracks on Choon: https://choon.co/artists/drumoperator/
► Listen on DSound
► Listen from source (IPFS)
I keep meaning to sit down with this and play with it more myself, but I never do, maybe this will inspire me to get off my ass and actually do it, especially because im selling all my audio euro off, so having access to the mutable sounds is great :-D
Selling your physical eurorack stuff off you say....
🤔
Except my LZX stuff anyways :-D
I got a stellar deal on a custom serge panel, and I prefer the banana format anyways, so I have no problem saying good bye to euro for now, only had a few audio modules anyways, all thats left is the Elements and a clock divider.
That sounds pretty sick ... and elements is also available for free in VCVrack! Noticing a theme?
Loudest warning also makes 4u versions of some of the mutable stuff, so thats an option down the line. Can VCV work with expert sleepers modules?
Wow! I am going to check this out right away!
It's so worth your time. The fact that the Mutable Instrument suite is on there for free alone is sorta mind-bending considering what I've invested in Olivier's stuff. Proud to support him though, his designs are amazing and this is going to open up so many people to his module ideas who may end up taking the plunge.
Here was today's patch:
What a great platform. I have a case of beer and the weekend to check it out!
Thanks again for this. Resteemed!
Hey there,
I really like your soundscape universe. :0)
I followed you on #Choon (here too).
I'm listening all your tracks, right now.
Thanks for your tip there too. I will reply you about the gongs.
I'm very curious about this Modular Synths Rack.
Best regards,
SolarPhasing
Thanks! I checked out a bunch of your stuff on there as well earlier. That track had such incredibly rad gong samples!
VCV Rack is pretty amazing. I've been using it off and on to get my Modular fix kind of splitting my time evenly between it and Reaktor Blocks. Glad to see you using it. Getting a good feel for what modules I might want to buy in real life because of it.
Being able to preview Stages and Marbles is going to end up being financially problematic. Both are Eurorack 3.0 smart.
what is eurorack 3.0?
Haha a thing I just made up. As in they are like two generations ahead of anything else out there. = )
I sat down last night and played with the Marbles emulation in VCV Rack. I have no idea what is going on, but I had fun doing it.
Hi Drumoperator
Awesome atmospheric piece man ... DEEP! - love that VCVRack!
Upvoted and resteemed :D