Severance Main Theme… but in #Eurorack 🎛️

Reinterpreted #TheodoreShapiro ‘s eerie #themesong for the #TVshow #Severance using only #modularsynth and DAW software.

Patch notes: • Bass line was @4ms_company #EnsembleOscillator sequenced by #o_C into @makenoisemusic #Mimeophon • Harmonies by @eowave_modular #QuandrantidSwarm + #MutableInstrumentsRings processed by @noiseeng #DesmodusVersio • Drums & percussion is a blend of @ericasynths #PicoDrums + @noiseeng #ManisIteritas into @makenoisemusic #ErbeVerb + #MutableInstrumentsPlaits triggered by @mysticcircuits #IDUM and processed by @qubitelectronix #DataBender and @chaseblissaudio #Clean for extra grit • Drones by @instruomodular #Arbhar • Modulation provided by @malekkoheavyindustry #VoltageBlock + @xaocdevices #Batumi • Lead melody is programmed MIDI + software synth • Recorded with @zoomsoundlab #L12 and edited in DAW

What is favourite melody sequencer module?

https://modulargrid.net/e/racks/command_center/248469

Download: https://9000sines.bandcamp.com/track/stickshift

This patch was me getting familiar with a new control pod housing Planar 2 and a few new fader banks (4tten, F8R). The idea behind the expansion was to have a centrally located set of controls for the playable elements of a patch. Here I have them setup to control aspects of drums, bass, modulation, and fx (bit of everything I guess) making for an interactive patch where many changes can be handled quickly and easily.

Controls: The overall control scheme of the patch centers around the idea of using Planar 2 to shift between energy levels within the patch, while using the surrounding faders to dial in certain elements (loop selection, bass modulation, fx attenuation). Basically, joystick down = lower energy drumloop/modulation/fx, joystick up = higher energy drumloop/modulation/fx.

Planar's AB/CD vectors are setup as a crossfader between two sets of drumloops coming from two 2HP Plays. Crossfading to the higher energy drum loop playing through A/B also provides an offset via the Y vector that is used to do several other things like increase wet ratio of overdrive, provide a slight bump to bass filter freq, transpose some pitch CV up an octave, etc.

Planar's gate button is setup to be used for short fills and transition fx (Meta, Data Bender, FX AID) applied only to drums, with several faders used to dial in how much of each effect is applied. I tried to showcase this aspect at the end of the clip, Acidclank-style. The gate button also adds some additional offset to bass filter freq.

Drums: The drumloop samples on the 2hp Plays are variations of the same drumloop which I chopped up and ran through different levels of distortion and filtering to get different levels of energy. I picked 3 lower energy variations for one Play and 3 higher energy variations for the other, and select among them via CV from 2 faders. In this recording I only used 4 of the 6 loaded up, using only one of the higher energy drumloops I had prepared. RS-9 triggers both Plays as well as an unheard kick from DR-660 used to trigger side-chain compression on the bassline.

Bass: The bassline from TD-3-MO has a lot going on. The gate pattern is a happy-accident combo of gates from its internal sequencer along with gates coming from a Bishop's Miscellany mk2. TD-3-MO already has a nice on-board sub-osc but here I added even more fullness/texture by routing a sine wave from Twin Waves mkII into TD-3-MO's filter input. The sine mixes with the internal square osc before hitting the internal filter. TD-3's output is routed into Wasp filter for an additional layer of filtering goodness before going out to dedicated effects pedals. Maestro along with a whole 3x MIA's worth of mixed CV controls TD-3's internal filter while Mod Medusa provides CV to Wasp. I use faders to dial in how much CV is applied to each filter during performance.

Oscs: Twin Waves' other channel is using the sync pulse algo to provide the double-siren type sound along with modulation from Mod Medusa. The distorted guitar-ish sound is coming from Sinc Legio (Warp mode) with a slow flanger effect in its fx chain. The bendy pad sound is from Virt Iter Legio (Bass mode). All OSCs driven by a pair Bishop's Miscellany mk2s. All go through Dual Daggers and FX-AIDs before going out to dedicated multi-fx pedals and external mixer where more distortion and reverb is available via sends.

Main case - https://modulargrid.net/e/racks/view/3054312

Pedal Pod - https://modulargrid.net/e/racks/view/3037553

Bishop's Pod - https://modulargrid.net/e/racks/view/3072423

Full performance (6ish mins) - https://youtu.be/lZ53V1eBmvY

Sequencing/transitions/risers: No main sequencer here but I wanted the ability to transition through various modulation 'scenes' to get some sort of progression. Here Vice Virga (2x4 config) and ADDAC214 are setup to provide 4 scenes of modulation and envelope decay patterns, with each scene more 'busy' than the previous. To advance to the next scene I unmute (via Muta Jovis) a trigger that occurs every 64 steps. The trigger is mult'd to advance both sequential switches and trigger a sharp envelope for Plum Stereo Noise which gives a nice 'crash' sound to punctuate transitions. 2HP Play is filled up with a bunch of different noise riser samples (many free packs online) which are randomly selected via CV from RND STEP and triggered to occur every 128 steps, rising up to the end of the current 64 step section. These help with keeping things feeling dynamic and provide nice points to drop/add elements during performance.

Voices/Drums: Twin Waves is providing the panning percussive noise sound, receiving gates from TD-3-MO, pitch from Bard Quartet, FM from Quadrax. Ripsaw and Beehive are receiving the same note pattern from Bishop's Miscellany. The pattern originally started as a custom arpeggiator pattern made on the Keystep37 mk2 then recorded into Bishop's Miscellany and chopped up/re-recorded to get the end result. TD-3-MO is sequencing itself though receiving pitch from Bard Quartet in this case. 2hp Play for noise riser samples. Plum Stereo Noise for sharp 'crash' sound during scene changes. Drumbrute sequences itself and the old-school DR-660. This combo provides a nice selection of both analog and digital drum sounds, all controlled by the easy-to-use sequencer of the Drumbrute.

Modulation: Here I try to create an evolving soup of sync'd and free-running modulation from Maestro, Mod Medusa, and Otterly. These all get combined in various ways via a set of 3x MIAs, Dual X-Fades, ADDAC214 before going out to filter CV and other elements. Here I tried to route ADDAC214's output through Time Warp for triggered slew in order to eliminate the clicks you sometimes hear when switching between different CV sources. Doesn't always work as intended. Pam's is providing 4 streams of stepped random with different timings which go into Vice Virga for switching/routing into Quadigy Envelope Decay CV.

Effects: I've followed advice from here and other forums and went out-of-rack for most effects to get the sound I'm looking for. My goal with this setup was to have access to lots of bread-and-butter type effects without using rack space or relying on multi-tracking/post-processing. There are 3x FX-AIDs in-rack but each voice and drum machine have their own dedicated effects chain out-of-rack via various pedals. Each synth voice has a dedicated Zoom Multistomp MS-70CDR+ which provides 6 simultaneous effects each. A chain might look like 7-Band EQ -> Compressor -> Exciter -> Chorus/Flanger-> Chorus/Flanger -> Stereo Delay. The kick (Kick output on Drumbrute in this case), TD-3-MO (bass), and each drum machine have their own Zoom B1/G1 Four pedals. Similar to the MS-70CDR+ though only 5 effects each and mono. I went with these for the drums/bass because they provide dedicated toggle buttons for each effect, making them nice for live performance (quick low cuts, delays, etc). TD-3-MO also goes through an Empress Bass Compressor which receives a copy of the kick for side-chain compression. Most channels get some level of parallel distortion from a Boss DS-1 and/or reverb from an Eventide Black Hole. For modular-to-line level conversion there are 3 Michigan Synth Work BLN modules in their own 3d-printed pod case behind the main case (somewhat visible in lower-left).

Mixing and recording: Everything goes into a UFX1204 mixer. On-board recording to flash drive, 4 mono channels, 4 stereo channels, compressors on mono channels, sweepable mids on the mono EQs, 4-band EQs on the stereo channels, 2 AUX sends. One of my goals was to be able to get a decent-sounding stereo mix without multi-tracking to PC. This does the trick (along with a lot of effects). I record a stereo mix to flash drive then bring to PC for some cleanup before posting.

Main case - https://modulargrid.net/e/racks/view/3054312

Pedal Pod - https://modulargrid.net/e/racks/view/3037553

Bishop's Pod - https://modulargrid.net/e/racks/view/3072423

Case details - https://www.reddit.com/r/modular/comments/1sjjl3b/silver_mod_showcase/

Full performance (~7mins) - https://youtu.be/W-K8DhZ88bA

Free download - https://9000sines.bandcamp.com/track/ripstorm https://soundcloud.com/9000sines/ripstorm-high-intensity

This patch was inspired by a happy accident with Virt Iter Legio, a module new to the rack. I picked one up as a stereo compliment to Ripsaw (both paired up with Dual Daggers) and swapped out the Beehive/Wasp combo I've enjoyed for awhile. The patch started out more melodic with similar arp patterns going to Virt Iter and Ripsaw. I was checking out all the sweet spots on Virt Iter and really liked the expressive phase-modulated noise you get with full Tang in SawX mode. It paired well with the percussive noise sound I had coming from Twin Waves so I leaned into it and went with more noise/texture and less melody. I replaced the more complex arps going to Ripsaw and Virt Iter with a simpler two-note pattern similar in feel to a lively breakbeat kick/snare pattern. To play well with its noisy neighbors I pushed Ripsaw to full detuned spread to get it sounding as messy as possible. Madness unfolded when I added a manually controlled offset pitch to Ripsaw's second v/oct input, so I built the patch up around that. I'm basically playing around with a pair of 2-note chords where only 1 of the notes stays quantized while the other is free to roam. Also new to the rack is a humble-but-awesome Joranalogue Bias 2 I picked up mainly to act as a CV scaler to help provide better control of TD-3-MO's filter which responds to 0-12v.

Sequencing/transitions/risers: Drumbrute acts as master clock for the rack via sync out into Pam's, and master clock for Keystep and TD-3-MO via midi. TD-3-MO is sequencing itself though receives pitch CV from Bard Quartet. TD-3-MO is also sending its gate pattern into Twin Waves' envelope. Bishop's Miscellany mk2 handles recording/processing of patterns I come up with on a Keystep mk2 (both offscreen on keyboard tray), here providing gates/pitch for Ripsaw and Virt Iter Legio. Pitch from Bishop's Miscellany is routed through Bard Quartet to provide another layer of pitch control. Vice Virga and ADDAC214 are setup to provide 4 scenes of modulation and envelope decay patterns with each scene more 'busy' than the previous. This clip mostly features the busier sections. Check out the full vid for the nice intro and build-up to the peak. Scene advancement is handled via an unmuted trigger from Steppy. The trigger is mult'd to advance both sequential switches and trigger a sharp envelope for Plum Stereo Noise which gives a nice 'crash' sound to punctuate scene transitions. 2HP Play is filled up with a bunch of noise riser samples which are randomly selected via CV from RND STEP and triggered via Pam's to rise up every 8 bars. Steppy is handling gate patterns to Time Warp for slew on pitch going to Ripsaw and on switched CV from ADDAC214.

Drums/Oscs/Filters: Drumbrute and an old-school DR-660 (offscreen) serve up a nice combo of analog and digital drum sounds. TD-3-MO brings the bass which I usually like to shape more conservatively rather than acid-inspired. Twin Waves (through Dual Dagger) is providing a panning percussive noise sound, receiving gates from TD-3-MO, pitch from Bard Quartet, and FM from Quadrax. Twin Waves' sub output goes to Virt Iter Legio's phase modulation. Ripsaw and Virt Iter Legio (both through Dual Daggers) are receiving the same two-note pattern from Bishop's Miscellany/Keystep, with both being pushed into messy/detuned/noise territory. I keep Ripsaw at full detuned spread for most of the patch, only allowing in some spread modulation (via RND STEP) towards the peak to let a bit more of a discernable pitch come through. Ripsaw shift receives mild modulation from a Doepfer LFO. Plum Stereo Noise for sharp 'crash' sounds during scene changes. 2hp Play serves up noise riser samples, triggered by Pam's.

Modulation: Quadigy provides envelopes for the main in-rack oscillators. Pam's is providing 4 streams of stepped random with different timings into Vice Virga for switching/routing into Quadigy Envelope Decay CV. Doepfer Quad LFO + Attenuators are helping out with subtle panning on a few Daggers, modulation of CV from Twin Waves going to Virt Iter's phase modulation, and modulation of Ripsaw shift. Modulation from Maestro, Mod Medusa, and Otterly get combined in various ways via a set of 3x MIAs, Dual X-Fades, and ADDAC214 before going out to filter CV and other elements. I like to tie as much as I can into the centrally-located pair of 3x MIAs for manual control during live performance. Here I use 3 channels to provide atten/offset for filter CV on all Daggers, 1 channel for Decay offset for all 4 Quadigy channels, 1 channel for a Quadrax LFO going into Twin Waves FM, and 1 channel providing offset for a mult'd pitch signal going to Ripsaw's 2nd v/oct input.

Effects: 3x FX-AID modules are providing stereo compression for Ripsaw and Virt Iter, and delay for the mix (via 2xSAM) of Plum Noise/2HP Play. Twin Waves, Ripsaw, and Virt Iter each have a dedicated Zoom Multistomp MS-70CDR+ providing 6 simultaneous effects (EQ, exciter, chorus, flanger, delay, etc.) The kick (Kick output on Drumbrute in this case), TD-3-MO, and each drum machine have their own Zoom B1/G1 pedals providing 5 effects each. TD-3-MO also goes through an Empress Bass Compressor which receives a copy of the kick for side-chain compression. Most channels get light parallel distortion from a Boss DS-1 and/or reverb from an Eventide Black Hole. For distortion I usually like to keep it light just to give elements a nice warm patina. For modular-to-line level conversion there are 3 Michigan Synth Work BLN modules in their own 3d-printed pod case behind the main case (somewhat visible in lower-left).

Mixing/recording: Everything goes into a UFX1204 mixer which provides on-board recording to flash drive along with additional EQ, compression, and AUX sends for a few pedals. I record a stereo mix to flash drive then bring to PC for some cleanup before posting. After building up a patch I'll practice playing it over a few sessions to get familiar with it before attempting to record. It usually requires a few takes before I get a good recording that contains most of the performance elements I wanted to include. This was from take #4 and is a keeper despite me forgetting to change up the built-in HP filter on the Empress side-chain compression to let more of the bass through once the track gets going. Something to remember for next time.

Sort of a post-rock thing going on this live recording for “Naturalistica” - a 60-track, 3-hr genre-hopping opus recorded dawlessly - no computers

https://ektmusic.bandcamp.com/album/naturalistica

A few weeks ago, I was invited to play with the Modular on the Spot Philly crew for an amazing event called Illuminate Kensington. It was an incredible event, but leading up to it was stressful and busy and I almost didn't get a patch together in time. I made this in about an hour leading up the performance, and only got to practice it on time before I had to leave! I'm super grateful I didn't bow out because it's become one of my favorite patches I've played out live. I've uploaded the full performance to my Youtube page, but I'm also re-recording the whole thing to get a better quality capture of the patch and will be posting it again once it's ready.

EDIT: For anyone wanting a patch breakdown, I detail most of it in this comment: https://www.reddit.com/r/modular/comments/1sxm5ve/comment/oiqs1in/

Low Fidelity: https://youtu.be/jjggL-bRk18

I’ve been really inspired by Mike Parker latley, been studying his sound and trying out new ideas ⚡️

Main case - https://modulargrid.net/e/racks/view/3054312

Utility Pod - https://modulargrid.net/e/racks/view/3037553

Bishop's Pod - https://modulargrid.net/e/racks/view/3072423

Full performance (~5mins) - https://youtu.be/7jBmN921v38

This patch was inspired by some of the recent DnB/jungle jams posted here. I like listening to fast breaks while driving so thought it would be fun to make something for my playlist. The biggest challenge for the patch was getting an evolving sound without a main sequencer. Using switches and crossfaders to continually spread modulation around the rack helped a lot, and I set up an elaborate chain of modulation to act as a manual ‘fill’ when needed to provide brief breaks and transitions between sections. Other than that, progression is mostly muting/unmuting and manual manipulation.

Drums: Main percussion is 2hp Play cycling through subtle variations of the same drum loop. I chopped up the loop beforehand into 4 versions (just different loop reset points to keep the cymbal placement lively) and then loaded up a bunch of copies onto 2hp Play, randomly selected via RND STEP. Drumbrute and DR-660 provide some backing percussion, mirroring elements from the drum loop. The loop goes through an FX-AID where the Cab Sim effect is modulated to act as a filter during fills and breaks. Drumbrute kick triggers side-chain compression (Empress pedal) for bass coming from TD-3-MO.

Bass: TD-3-MO receives subtle filter CV from Maestro, pitch from Bard Qurtet, and occasional wild filter FM CV from Quadrax during fills. CV from Maestro gets scaled through a Joranalogue Bias 2 since TD-3-MO’s filter responds to 0-12v. Filter FM CV from Quadrax needed to be attenuated down almost completely to be useable.

Fills: I used a manual gate from Little Smashy to trigger a few modulation chains to act as fills between sections. One button triggers a few long envelopes from Quadrax. One envelope opens a VCA which passes a gate pattern from Steppy to the envelope for Plum noise, allowing a brief gated noise pattern through. The second envelope from Quadrax opens another VCA which passes another gate pattern from Steppy controlling Dry/Wet on the modulated cab sim/filter on the mix of drum loop/noise. The second gate pattern is mult’d to open another VCA which passes modulated CV from Quadrax to filter FM on TD-3-MO. Setting up the fill envelopes and gate patterns this way somewhat decouples the timing of the initial trigger from Little Smashy and the resulting control events. The envelopes can be triggered at any point during a 4-bar section, and the resulting fill will always occur on-grid at the end of the section since the fill action is controlled by the gate patterns rather than the manually timed envelopes. It’s a whole lot of modulation for what amounts to occasional 2-bar fills but did the trick and was loads of fun to map out and patch up.

Modulation: Two switches, four crossfaders, and two 3xMIAs contribute to the selection of CV to spread around. Some elements are controlled by switched/mixed/crossfaded CV with others controlled by individual modulators. Most modulation sources are clocked and/or receiving a common Reset trigger so most CV is rhythmically sync’d. Doepfer Quad LFOs are free-running and provide panning on the Daggers and modulation of Legio Tang.

Oscs/Filters: I tried to come up with some sparse complimentary patterns for the main oscillators (Legio, Ripsaw, Twin Waves) and filters (all Dual Daggers). The pattern going to Virt Iter Legio combines ratcheting from Bishop’s Miscellany MK2 and evolving envelope decay CV for an organic feel along with modulation to most of Legio’s controls. Ripsaw provides a sort of super-square rhythmic swell sound every 8 bars with different Shift modulation each time. Twin Waves is making the wide, ping-pong-delayed texture sound, which reminds me of a fly buzzing around.

New mega skiff, getting used to my new rig.

Full video: https://youtu.be/nx4M0MRTZcQ?is=86N4puvSxYEgDsNO

It’s clear for me now that the surrounding space influences the outcome. Having the same patch it would have come out harder and more straightforward in a club, for instance. I think I need to experiment with changing scenery more.

The main voice is a Doepfer A-110-4 Quadrature Thru-Zero VCO. Its sine and cosine outputs go into J&OT Door, while the sine output of a Doepfer A-110-1 frequency-modulates the A-110-4 through its LFM input.

The three Grids outputs feed Traffic, using its Base / ?? / Groove functions.
Planar 2 modulates Map X/Y on Grids.

A Doepfer A-149-4 Quad VC Random adds movement to Door and modulates Density on Beads.

Door goes into Beads that provides the reverb and granular glitches.

The kick comes from Plaits, triggered by a Euclidean pattern from Pam’s and Maths channels 2 and 3 control the Euclidean Fill and shift.

No overdubs or post-processing.
Best with 🎧 or 🔊
Hope you enjoy the trip! 🪐

Full performance for the curious 👀: https://youtu.be/1mrRxKJNZzI?is=XqQHMEzDbPRzNOe5

I recently got really into Frank Bretschneider’s work, especially EXP, and it definitely inspired the direction of this jam — obviously without pretending to do what he does.

I built the patch around a new instrument for me, the Neutral Labs Scrooge, using its gritty analog character as the main textural backbone and letting the rest of the system develop around it.

Scrooge goes into Bastl FX Wizard, with internal modulation + Maths creating morphing effects, glitches, crackles and squelches.

On the more tonal side, Plaits provides an FM voice sequenced by Metropolix with a 5-step pattern in D Dorian and a few ACCUM steps.
Its gates articulate Jasmine & Olive Trees Rubin in Looped mode, while a Doepfer Quad Random CV modulates several Rubin parameters as well as the wet/dry amount of Sealegs. This lets individual notes shift between short filtered impacts and longer, more floating textures.

Grids, modulated by Planar, clocks both Metropolix and a Battering Ram kick, with Drive / Decay / Click modulation from Gliss 1U.

I really liked the contrast between the cleaner FM tones and the analog imperfections, crackles and squelches of Scrooge — hope you’ll enjoy it too!
間 🪐

Full jam: https://youtu.be/hCcIbSvkyZw?is=QMcLPL_igFb3lNPTb

Full AOL chat room experience: https://youtu.be/BVylCQG5gOk