And we're off... it's Cric Craic time

 I decided to buy a Cric, has to be the blue (sorry teal) one. I tweaked setup 2 and I think it works and will work better when I add Cric. I already have some ideas for a new Exoplanets album and some more out there electronic music. It's time to put aside childish things and make some serious electronic music. Plans eh?

Pat's ankle still not good but she reckons it's getting slowly better. Until it's actually functional I'll be on dog walking duties, which is OK as I need to exercise. Will also need to do some shopping but should get time to do some studio work. Just need to ask a few questions of Finlay but I think I already decided the black one doesn't excite me and even if I can't read the white on pale blue easily then I'll sort some lighting. Beauty first, OK?

Cric arrived at 08:30 and is indeed a lovely thing. If I were part of the design team I'd have pushed for black text and larger switches but that aside I think it's gonna be sweet. Some tiny adjustments can make a huge difference though, reminding me of the Synthi in that one respect. Its soft sync is really nice and I'm going to have a lot of fun with that. Oddly enough I've done lots of gnarly solo sounds and spiky sequences initially rather than the evolving ambient stuff I'd expected to be doing. Tomorrow I shall pursue that angle. Have ordered an angled desk stand for it.

Wednesday was a better afternoon doing ambient stuff with the Cric. I drafted in the Euro joystick and Pressure Points as well as the ring mod and Tapographical Delay. Those modules could be good in various combinations. Still learning the foibles though - a lot to those oscillators for example - but I'd have liked sync to only one of them as an option. Have ordered more pins and the Behringer Bode module. I mean, why not, right? Buy yourself out of trouble boy!

Thursday I concentrated on space wibbles, envelopes looping and retriggering each other, learning the scissor/DNA oscillators a bit better (getting there) and patching out to the joystick. The joystick is ace cos you can record its motion including pressing the gate button. Very cool indeed - should have been included on the synth along with trigger button. Tomorrow I intend to have a meditational/drone afternoon and have the Synthi involved too if I feel I'm getting somewhere. Having the three levels of the multimode filter available in the matrix is something I only played with briefly but should be lots of potential there. Must try using the CFGs as audio sources too. I think Finlay did a good job for his first complete synth, just needs the right controller to bring it to life. Need to be careful with some switches as the leaps in volume can be extreme and unpleasant. Also the scaling of some controls must be watched as you can max out in a few degrees sometimes but I can't always anticipate this and puzzle myself with it. Using the attenuverters on the inputs useful when mixing multiple sources into one destination. Noticed the two tiny inverter switches on inputs 3&4 which I don't think are documented.

Apparently the USB cable for the Doepfer ribbon is normal nowt special at all. So Will draft that in, maybe instead of the Keystep. I dunno, thrashing about somewhat. Stuff I recorded into the 404 all a bit nasty and industrial, which is unusual - but i was quite drunk, not good. Using the 404 is a really nice idea for capturing the wibblyness. 

Tickety Tock

Spent Friday then Saturday with the Cric and had some doubts/buyer's remorse. Maybe it's not for me -but I have no idea how I'd tell Finlay that or return it so I'll press on and find a use for it. I feel kinda stupid but not for the first time. A big part of my problem is when I try and get the possibilities in my head - the inclusion of modular always screws me unless it's limited and specific, like the MS20 and associated modules, the Grind, the DFAM. I look at the elegance of the Synthi and realise I was naive to think that's gonna be replicated just cos another synth has a patch bay, three VCOs, a filter.... Why do I need to be able to get stuff in my head and manage fine until it comes to modular? Yes, my brain is just too small to deal with all the possibilities, let alone remember whatever I did last. So it's always a slow, deliberate process. Maybe I need a rule that setup 2 is not for Friday afternoons or drunk/stoned times?

This morning's thinking (05:00 can't sleep) is that I should stop buying synths based on whether they're a pretty colour or to attempt to make a particular setup work. The Eurorack is always going to be mainly wallpaper, I need to admit it and stop wasting money on it! Bloody insomnia. Woke with 'reach for the stars' going round in a loop thanks to the bloody DJ last night. Another family do next week... and another week walking Broc (in the rain apparently). Not the start to the year I'd hoped for. Have to decide whethe to play EMOM but my head's all over the place and Tim talking about being unable ot play due to some work coming up. Oh well...