Post Hols

Yeah, back from Lanzarote and trying to get my modular track done before I go to Berlin. Trouble is working with the modular and Cirklon is a slow and imprecise business and I really miss my old MIDI modules with P3 way of working. But I didn't want to do just another modular drone but something with sequences... possibly a flawed idea based on my attempts so far.

Holiday was a good break. I read a couple of books by Dan Simmons - sci-fi laced with so much religion you could barf. I skipped chunks of the longer/worse one (Endymion Omnibus) and noticed he slipped in something called 'freecasting' as a means of travelling anywhere in the universe you want. It's not quite bogus focus since there's some 'listening to the music of the spheres' mumbo jumbo involved, but there are similarities. Has convinced me more than ever not to fill stories with acres of obviously pointless prose and keep it lean.

My Natural Gate arrived yesterday - just after review (finally) published and I gave myself GAS (!)

I think that sums it up...

New Book

Kim announced Patch & Tweak as a new Kickstarter, so I guess it's official. Hope it will not require as much work as the previous one from yours truly but the signs are good and I suspect it's going to be a very polished thing with little need of me to contribute much. Sweet! Will have a good old chat about it at Superbooth.

Have parked the 'minimal sequencer' album, mostly because I started grouping tracks in folders on my USB stick and realised there are two albums - a minimal ambient and a minimal sequences album. No hurry for me to finish it but what I have so far is cool so something to work on post-hols. Think I'll use the title 'Hiding in Plain View' which I pretty much am these days. ;)

Had a couple of gos at the modular track but realised it was getting too complex for a compilation, where simplicity always wins. It seems I may have the beginnings of a modular/out there album though. Heh.

Had a weird sore foot for almost a week now. No idea what the cause is but trying to rest it and see if it goes away. Also a persistent cold took root after my mum's surprise visit last week. Great. I've become such a sickly bastard by staying inside and playing with modular synths all the time.

All reviews up to date (well, I could write the Plaits one but won't have time for a few weeks) and the DFAM going back today.

Had a surprisingly decent PRS payment, not seen the breakdown yet but it's more than double what I get for a typical quarter. If there were anything cool I wanted, I guess I'd buy it. Maybe Superbooth will inspire after all. Not after more modules though except maybe that mixer and the Natural Gate when it comes.

Have spent a couple of days working on a tune, quite a basic thing but all modular, direct from Cirklon with help from the P3. Uses a few extra mixer channels so I can separate parts out, well into main and sub. Almost there now, may try and record it tomorrow. Uses the Waldorf nw1, one of my favourite oscillators and modules in general. Plus Plaits doing percussion, Plonk doing a cymbal crash, a kick from Picodrums, the Quadnic processed by wavefolder and the AJH filter, zzzzzz, sorry I'm sending myself to sleep. :)
Got hair cut today, pretty short for me. I may pass as normal.
Worked again on the tune. Removed the key element and liked it more.

Saturday morning update: correction, I like it less now. What a prat. Will start over...

Model D

Yes, I bought one. I knew I would eventually so decided not to wait, especially as I gave in and did another review and thought the cash should be used for something neat. Funnily enough the review was an actual Moog too.

I don't know if I posted a link to the Magical Smoke Bag but here tis - seems to have worked out well but we'll see if anyone agrees.
And I also worked some more on the track I decided to use on the minimal album, which isn't really all that minimal now I come to think about it. I reckon it's complete but as I don't have titles and need to listen a few more times to be sure I like the running order, more about that anon.

You want to know what I think about the Behringer? Actually my assessment at last year's Superbooth is pretty much unchanged - for the money it would be insane not to have one, assuming you like the sound of Minimoogs anyway. I had a little initial teething trouble because my Analog Four was set to some weird voltages (and the Model D manual is a bit shit, doesn't really suggest a good place to set 0 volts, or perhaps it does and I missed it). Anyway, had a bit of time today and sussed it out well enough. Still doesn't seem to trigger as perfectly from the Analog Four as my modular stuff but it fits so well as a 5th voice that it's staying with the Elektron, its input, its effects.

Here's a thought: the A4 now seems a much more useful thing. Its voices sound pale and weak next to the Model D and it takes ages to get a decent sound compared to seconds, but in a supporting role they work well. Indeed, one of the things I did today was replace a sequenced A4 bassline with a track copy to the Model D. Perhaps my only gripe is that the glide knob doesn't work unless you're running it from MIDI but I can add glide from the A4 if I have to, and per-step of the sequencer.

The Behringer's small knobs feel fine, the overdrive works well (using the built-in routing) and the oscillators sound rich and full. The high pass filter is useful, even if I keep switching it thinking I'm turning on filter modulation, and the LFO is handy to have. Funnily enough it's easier to add vibrato with the tiny knob than a Minimoog's mod wheel, mostly because Minis have that stupid scaling thing whereby you end up trying to use just a few millimeters at the start of travel. Noise modulation sounds as it should, bubbling and fizzing, and audio-rate modulation from VCO3 is groovy also.

I think they should have normalled the envelope inputs though so that one connected served both but could be overriden if necessary. Similarly, the mod wheel at Superbooth worked but now doesn't - I guess I'll need to look at that further, not that I care too much as it'll be sequencing only.

My Minimoog doesn't have to do sequencing ever again, although I will inevitably try sequencing them both at once from the A4 (one of its talents).

Tally ho! This week I will make a start on a new modular track, already got some ideas festering.

Turns out it's Saturday already. I recorded a new modular piece yesterday and have just spent a while patching up with the system powered off, hoping for something interesting. Patching before you switch on is actually recommended because you are not diverted with something on the way to where you planned to go. Of course you might make a mistake and only realise when you try and play...

Anyway, here's today's!

Recorded a thing which, I think, completes yesterday's modular track. Will see how it survives a few listens.

https://www.instagram.com/p/BhRQUTQA1iO/