Monthly Patching Workout 2015-2018

[pflosi]

This year’s last patch is a combination of using the Cwejman QMMF4 as a sine oscillator bank, with square LFOs providing tuned trills and feeding everything through a phaser with feedforward modulation from the audio source on the phaser frequency. Here’s the Multi Sine Phase Modulation





https://soundcloud.com/contracommunemop ... -phase-mod

All four QMMF4 bands are put into self-resonance (using the osc mode), the main MMF out is then routed to the SPH2 phaser. The SPH2 L and R outs go to the DAW, the MIX out goes to a Doepfer A199 spring verb and is then mixed with the L and R (via a VCA2P). The first band of the QMMF4 is tuned low, with a D-LFO square providing an octave trill. Additionally, there’s some FM from the second QMMF4 band, which is tuned higher and just drones away without an individual trill. The third band is also tuned high and receives a fifth trill from the second D-LFO square. It is also slightly FMd from the first band. Finally, the fourth band is tuned very low with FM from the third band. Also, there is a third slow square LFO (from a PH8) transposing the whole osc bank via the main QMMF4 freq input, also tuned to an octave. All the trills are carefully tuned with a VCA4MX.

At the center of the patch is a RG6 driving the whole thing. Firstly, the gate out is used to sync the first D-LFO square with the SYNC G input, with the RG6 gate length carefully tuned so that the LFO is shortly cut off at the beginning of each sync hit. The RG6 clock out triggers the second D-LFO and the PH8 on the normal SYNC T inputs. Furthermore, the RG6 low S/H out modulates the frequency of the first D-LFO a tiny bit, the high S/H out modulates the second D-LFO. Finally, the mid S/H out modulates the level of the second QMMF4 band and the random saw out modulates the level of the third QMMF4 band, attenuated slightly via the last VCA4MX channel (all self-FM on the QMMF4 is via the pre VCA outs, so they are not affected by these amplitude modulations).

Finally, for the feedforward modulation on the phaser, the main QMMF4 notch out is routed to a second VCA4MX. The RG6 clock is further multed to a CTG-VC, which gates the VCA4MX. The VCA4MX out then modulates the SPH2 L + R frequencies. The patch was a bit too boring and I wanted to add some harmonics, this trick is always nice on the SPH2.

For the recording, I mainly play with the QMMF4 and CTG levels. Firstly, all levels are down and only the random saw brings up the third band in the background a few times. Then I slowly bring up the first band, always playing with the feedforward phase modulation. Then, the third band is brought up properly and the second one is faded in slowly. After that, the first band (with the higher bass) is muted, the second and third are lowered a bit and the fourth low bass is brought in. From there I just jam with everything. In the end, I quickly bring up the PH8 frequency to audio rates and then back it off again. Finally, the manual six semitone transpositions that appear a few times are done by pulling the plug on the main QMMF4 frequency in and then inserting it again

All recorded in one take into Ableton without any edits. As so often, I added a RE201 return track after the fact. Furthermore, some reverb (Valhalla VVV), delay, EQ and compression in Ableton to bring it all together, as always.

Hope you enjoy it and cheers!

[pflosi]

I’m a bit late with the January patch, but I’ll continue the Patching Workout in 2018. Traditionally, I started the year with a no input reverb-resonator feedback patch. Here is the Quadraverb Feedback.





https://soundcloud.com/contracommunemop ... b-feedback

The audio path is pretty straight forward: On the patchbay, the modular output is multed stereo to the DAW and mono to a Warm Audio WA76 to tame those feedback bursts. The WA76 then goes to the Quadraverb, the Quadraverb goes to the modular. I’m using the Taj Mahal preset, slightly tweaked to work nicely with the patch. In the modular, the audio input is multed to a Cwejman QMMF4 and RES4 to have eight resonator bands in parallel (which kind of makes it easier to get lower frequency feedback, IME). The outputs of them are mixed via a VCA4MX and then go to a SPH2. From there, it goes stereo to the output. That means that only the left channel is actually fed back, but audio is recorded from both L and R.

For the modulations, a RG6 provides the basis of the patch. It is set rather slow and there’s some self-modulation from the random saw (via the internally patched path). The clock out syncs a (looping) CTG and a PH8. The remaining outputs are routed to various destinations: The low S/H out goes to a RES4 band frequency, the mid S/H out to CTG decay, a further RES4 band and a QMMF4 band. The high S/H out goes to yet another QMMF4 band. The inverted random saw is routed to the CTG attack, the normal random saw to another QMMF4 band. Additionally, the four PH8 quadrature saw outputs are modulating all four QMMF4 bands, which creates the occasional pinging sounds. Furthermore, a PH4 is used for the remaining two RES4 bands, the SPH2 L+R frequency, and the main frequency input of the QMMF4. Finally, the CTG out gates the audio coming in to the modular (via a VCA4MX). That’s pretty much the whole patch.

I’m keeping the modulations pretty slow for most of the recording, tweaking all the resonator frequencies a bit. Later on, I additionally start to mess with the various frequencies of the modulators. It was a pretty long recording and I edited it pretty heavily to only keep some nicer parts. After that, I recorded a RE201 Space Echo return for the whole thing (I really should exchange the tape soon). As always, some delay, reverb, EQ and compression in Ableton to bring it all together.

Hope you enjoy it and cheers!

[pflosi]

I wanted to see what I can squeeze out of my old MS20 using some external modulation sources. The patch is pretty simple, but effective.





https://soundcloud.com/contracommunemop ... modulation

To gate the MS20 VCA, a Cwejman CTG-VC is routed to initial gain on the MS20. A dummy plug to the trigger input makes sure the envelope does nothing when the keys are played. The CTG-VC is cycling and receives reset triggers from a RG6. The internal routing on the RG6 to modulate the clock with the random saw is used to create the bursts. Furthermore, the inverted random saw is used to modulate the attack and decay times of the CTG-VC - so that the cycling envelope gets faster as the RG6 accelerates.

For the filter modulation, a VCA4MX is used to route several sources to the MS20 total input. Firstly, the high S/H out of the RG6 is used. Secondly, an audio rate sine from a QMMF4 creates some FM - it is gated from the CTG-VC on the VCA4MX. Thirdly, a PH4 is used for a slow sine LFO. Its frequency is modulated by the RG6 random saw to also speed up with the rest of the patch. And finally, the ring modulation out of a D-LFO (with one LFO set to slewed S/H and the other to sine, both rather fast) creates some noisy modulation on the MS20 filters. The normal S/H out of the RG6 is further used to modulate the D-LFO sine, and another out of the PH4 to modulate the D-LFO slewed S/H.

For the recording, I mainly play with the VCA4MX, MS20 filter frequencies, oscillator octave settings, and obviously the keys. It’s a vintage MS20 with the MK2 filter, if anyone cares Some EQ, compression, reverb and delay in Ableton to bring it all together.

Hope you enjoy it and cheers!

[pflosi]

This month we have a patch using the Cwejman PH8 as a central modulator and the QMMF4 as an oscillator bank. It is also exploiting the QMMF4 gain-staging that can easily be overdriven with CV on the VCAs.





https://soundcloud.com/contracommunemop ... ature-qmmf

The QMMF4 is set up for self-oscillation, with the first band using the Osc Sat mode and the other three the normal Osc mode. The first band is tuned to a low fundamental, the second is two octaves above, the third band is tuned to a fifth and the fourth band to a minor third. The main QMMF4 MMF output goes to a SPH2 to smooth out the edges, the SPH2 L and R outs are used for the final stereo recording.

For the modulation, a PH8 and CTG-VC are used to open the individual QMMF4 VCAs. The right side of the PH8 is set to a rising sawtooth and the first (0°) output is used to trigger the CTG-VC, which in turn opens QMMF4 band one with the bass note. The 90°, 180° and 270° outputs of the left PH8 side (set to sine) open the other three QMMF4 bands. Finally, for a simple FM path, the Pre VCA output of the second QMMF4 band is routed to a VCA4MX and then to a CV input of the first QMMF4 band. The FM path is opened with the 180° saw output of the right PH8 side, so the FM comes and goes in time with the quadrature action.

Finally, there is a separate pinging sound to make the whole thing a bit more interesting. The source is a D-LFO saw, which is routed to another VCA4MX channel, from there to a RES4, to a Doepfer A199 spring reverb and (separately from the main drone) out to the DAW for recording. The PH8 90° saw out is used to gate the D-LFO source via the VCA4MX, while the 270° saw out of the PH8 modulates the D-LFO frequency.

For the recording, I basically only play with the levels (via the QMMF4, CTG and PH8, mainly). First, only the pinging sound is in, then the bass note is faded in. After that, the other three QMMF4 bands are brought in without modulation first to create a chord, and finally the quadrature modulation is introduced to crossfade between the oscillators. As mentioned, the gain-staging is exploited to slightly overdrive the whole QMMF4. Furthermore, I slowly bring up the PH8 rate towards the end of the recording and then back it off again. That’s it, recorded in one take without any further edits, but some reverb, delay, compression and EQ in Ableton as always.

Hope you enjoy it and cheers!

[pflosi]

I accidentally bought a cheap Alesis D4 recently, they were always intriguing due to the trigger inputs. Naturally, the first thing I was going to do was patch up some strange modulations from the modular and see how that goes. It reacts to the amplitude of triggers, so it does some strange things when you mess with that





https://soundcloud.com/contracommunemop ... -sloppy-d4

The core of the modulation is a Cwejman PH8 using the square waves: The 0° and 180° outputs are sent to channels 1 + 2 of a VCA4MX, the 90° and 270° outputs to channels 3 + 4. The VCA4MX 1 + 2 sum output triggers the kick of the D4; the 3 + 4 output triggers the the high hat; and the total sum the shaker. On output 2, I had to trigger a CTG-VC to avoid constant re-triggering and use that for the first percussion sound (on the upbeat). Finally, the 0° triangle out of the PH8 is used to sync a D-LFO square that triggers a second percussion sound. Pretty messy already, the PH8 pulsewidth is rather crucial and is dialled in precisely.

Now, the fun starts: A RG6 is used to sync the PH8 and modulate its frequency from a S/H output. Furthermore, a PH4 quadrature-modulates the VCA4MX (using the offset and level controls to manually adjust the modulation). The D4 trigger inputs are rather confused about all of that

For the recording, the sync and modulation on the PH8 and VCA4MX are bypassed first. It starts with only the kick and shaker sound, after some bars I bring in the high hat (by plugging the cables to the trigger input), then the first and the second percussion. The first thing to mess up the beat is the RG6 syncing, after another few bars I introduce the random modulation from the RG6. When that has brought about some different tempi, I start to mess up the VCA4MX levels with the PH4, also adjusting its frequency. Towards the end, I bring it back to normal with all the modulations and sync bypassed and start to manually tweak the PH8 for some audio rate modulation. We all wanted to hear that, so here you go

Well, that was a lot of fun to do, hope you can enjoy it, too. I’m almost a bit surprised how well it works As always, some EQ, compression, reverb and delay in Ableton to bring it together.

Cheers

[pflosi]

I need to use my Cwejman FSH1 frequency shifter more often and I noticed that I never put it in a no input feedback loop. After patching it up, I decided that it would be fun to try and multitrack it a few times to layer and cut some fun parts. Here is the FSH1 Feedback Multitrack.



https://soundcloud.com/contracommunemop ... multitrack



For the audio feedback loop, the mix output of the FSH1 is patched to channel 1 of a VCA4MX first, basically just to act as a mult. Output 1 goes to a Doepfer A199 spring reverb, which is routed to the FSH1 to create the feedback loop. The 1 + 2 out of the VCA4MX is used for recording and firstly goes to channel 3 of the VCA4MX for some VCA action and from there to the SPH2. The L + R outs of that are then used for recording in stereo.

In terms of modulation, a RG6 is at the core of the patch. The high S/H out is used to modulate the FSH1 carrier frequency. The clock triggers a CTG-VC, which opens the final output (after the feedback loop) on channel 3 of the VCA4MX. On the RG6, some (internally normalised) self-modulation from the random saw to the RG6 frequency is used; additionally, the inverted random saw modulates the CTG decay so that the envelope gets shorter as the RG6 clock gets faster. Furthermore, the random saw modulates the rate of the internal SPH2 modulator. Finally, the RG6 gate output is used to clock a D-LFO S/H, which modulates the down / up mix of the FSH1.

That’s the whole patch, for the tracking I almost only play with the FSH1 input level to try and control the feedback action (rather a difficult balancing act). Sometimes, I sweep the FSH1 carrier frequency a bit. It’s multitracked six times and I cut out some parts after recording each take. Finally, I added a subtle RE201 return track, plus some delay, reverb, EQ and compression in Ableton to bring it together.

Hope you enjoy it and cheers!

[pflosi]

Another patch with the Cwejman FSH1 frequency shifter. It is based on a sine source that is modulated by the same mix of different CV sources as the frequency shifter it is routed through.





https://soundcloud.com/contracommunemop ... percussion

For the audio path, a D-LFO sine at audio rate is firstly multed to channels 1 + 2 of a VCA4MX. Channel 1 goes to input 2 of the FSH1, then from the mix output to channel 4 of the VCA4MX. From there, it is routed to a SPH2 and then stereo out to the DAW from the L + R outputs and mono from the mix out to a Doepfer A199 spring reverb and then to the DAW (mixed with a VCA2P).

At the center of the CV patching is a RG6 that triggers a CTG-VC from the clock out. The CTG opens channel 4 of the VCA4MX (the audio path just before the SPH2). The RG6 clock also resets a PH8 and the second LFO on the D-LFO (set to S/H). The second VCA4MX channel with the multed D-LFO sine is used for FM: It is routed to the attenuated FSH1 CV input, while the VCA is opened by the 0° square output of the PH8 - opening and closing it regularly. The FM shifts the frequency shifter pitch up, so it almost feels a bit like sequencing when the FM is brought in and out by a square LFO.

For the rest of the modulations, a mix of several sources is used and routed to a lot of destinations. I’m using a second VCA4MX to do the mixing. The first input is the normal S/H output of the RG6 for synced random sequencing. On the second input, we have the 180° square output of the PH8 for some more transposing. The third input sees the S/H from the second D-LFO side, which is set faster than the main clock (and reset by it on the trigger sync input). Finally, a PH4 is just used for some manual offset on the fourth VCA4MX input. The mix is routed to several destinations: Firstly, the D-LFo sine and FSH1 for the pseudo-sequencing; furthermore, to the SPH2 frequency and modulator rate (the later is set pretty fast to manually FM the SPH2 with the corresponding knob); and finally to a second PH4 that is used to modulate the mix on the FSH1 for some tremolo. Last but not least, the FSH1 up out is routed back to input 1 to patch a resonance (controlled by input level 1).

For the recording, all modulations are turned off first and we just hear the sine through the FSH1 with the CTG gating. The first thing I bring in is the modulation of the FSH1 mix with the PH4 for tremolo. Then, the FM path to the FHS1 that is opened by the PH8 is activated. Next up is the main pseudo-sequencing from the RG6 S/H, after playing also a bit with the FSH1 resonance. After some manual tweaking of the PH4 offset and again resonance, the 180° PH8 square is brought in first and then the faster S/H from the D-LFO. The last to show up is the (internal) FM on the SPH2. Then I just play a bit with the whole thing for the rest of the recording. It’s done in one take without cutting anything, as usual I added some EQ, compression, reverb and delay in Ableton to bring it all together. Finally, there’s also a subtle RE201 return track.

Hope you enjoy it and cheers!

[pflosi]

I’ve been experimenting with PH8 rhythms a lot lately, so here is an example. There are six different ping sources from a Cwejman QMMF4, RES4, and SPH2.





https://soundcloud.com/contracommunemop ... -res-pings

The audio routing is rather straightforward: The main out of the QMMF4, bp out of RES4, and mix out of SPH2 are patched to a VCA4MX (the SPH2 is doubled up on the remaining channel to make it a bit louder). The sum out is then taken to a Doepfer A199 for a bit of spring reverb and out to the DAW.

To create the ping triggers, a RG6 and PH8 are used. The RG6 clock out syncs the PH8 and triggers a CTG-VC which is routed to the RES4 audio input for pinging (the RG6 clock out is a bit weak, so using a short envelope is a workaround). All four PH8 saw outputs are used to ping the individual QMMF4 bands (in LP and RES mode). Finally, the RG6 clock is further routed to an ADSR-VC2 with some attack and a very short decay for some kind of gate delay to produce the sixth ping trigger for the SPH2. The PH8 tri outputs are modulating the four individual QMMF4 resonances which provides a nice curve for the pinging length (and some manual control over all four with the offset control).

Furthermore, some modulation is applied. The RG6 s/h outputs modulate the RES4 frequency (high out), QMMF4 main frequency (normal out), and SPH2 frequency (low out). Two somewhat fast slewed s/h LFOs from a D-LFO further modulate two QMMF4 bands that are tuned high and low via a VCA4MX for manual control. And finally, there’s two FM paths: Firstly, the RES4 notch out modulates two QMMF4 bands; secondly, the 1+2 sum out of the VCA4MX used for the audio mixing (containing the QMMF4 and RES4) is used to modulate the other two QMMF4 bands.

For the recording, I only jam with the random and audio rate modulations (on the second VCA4MX and the RG6 sampling signal level), PH8 tri offset and amplitude controlling the QMMF4 resonances, and the audio levels of the six sources (via the individual QMMF4 controls, CTG output, and SPH2 input). Firstly, you hear only the RES4. The SPH2 is brought in secondly, and then all the QMMF4 bands one by one (actually, the last two together). Next is the PH8 tri level to bring in more resonance, then the slewed random LFO on the higher QMMF4 band. Finally, after the second slewed random LFO on the lower QMMF4 band is brought in, some FM is applied and then the main s/h modulation from the RG6 outputs. Then I play a bit with all of it for slightly too long

All recorded in one take, no cuts. As always, some EQ, compression, reverb and delay are used in Ableton to bring it together. Hope you enjoy it and cheers!

[pflosi]

I recently installed a Hinton SwitchMix and it is a true game changer! My mind is blown beyond any expectation I had for it. Here is a first self-playing patch with a lot of random sources.





https://soundcloud.com/contracommunemop ... mix-random

The core of the patch outside the matrix is fairly simple: Two Cwejman QMMF4 bands are set up as cross-modulating oscillators, they’re mixed together with a VCA4MX and then go to a third QMMF band for some lowpass filtering. The signal is then routed to another VCA4MX just to have a VCA in the path, from there to a SPH2 with a slow-ish modulation, and then L + R out to the DAW, and the mix out goes to a Doepfer A199 spring reverb (all mixed together with a VCA2P). The clock is provided by a RG6 which triggers a CTG-VC, with a bit of modulation on the clock with the random saw (via the internally normalised path on the RG6).

The matrix provides all the modulation routing. On the inputs, we have 1) a D-LFO at low audio rate, 2) the pre output of the QMMF4 providing the lowpass filter, 3) the normal S/H out of the RG6, 4) the high S/H out of the RG6, 5) the inverted RG6 random saw (slightly attenuated with another VCA4MX channel), 6) the normal random saw, 7) the CTG-VC and 8) the ring-modulated output of the D-LFO (with the second LFO set below audio rate). The outputs go to 1) the VCA in the signal path, 2) the attack and 3) the decay of the CTG, 4) the first D-LFO and 5) the second D-LFO channel’s frequency, 6) the first and 7) the second QMMF4 oscillator, and finally 8) the QMMF4 filter band. Now think about the options for manually playing the patch there are available at the matrix…

Finally, there’s a keyboard CV from an Arturia Keystep that is routed to the main frequency input of the QMMF4. On the matrix, the point opening the CTG to the VCA and filter are always open, as well as some random modulations to the D-LFO and the inverted random saw to the CTG attack and decay (so that the times get longer when the clock gets slower). For the recording, I only manipulate the matrix and the keyboard, no tweaking of any knobs or something - all done in one go without any edits. As always, a bit of delay, reverb, EQ and compression in the DAW to bring it all together.

Expect more matrix mixing goodness soon, this is basically just the first patch I did with it. I’ve been jamming it for days now, it’s countless hours of fun I’m very impressed. Hope you enjoy it and cheers!

[pflosi]

The MS20 External Signal Processor lends itself to all sorts of crazy experimentation. Making the synth try to track drum machines is a classic.





https://soundcloud.com/contracommunemop ... plays-ms20

The patch is rather simple, the 808 is mixed on a Midas Venice 160 - with one bus going directly to the DAW, another to the MS20 ESP. On the MS20, the ESP trigger out is triggering the envelopes, the pitch to frequency conversion output controls the Hz/V input, and the ESP envelope out is routed to the Total input. The oscs are set to square waves at 16’ and 4’, with the lowpass filter just a bit down and a tiny bit of resonance. The envelope and ESP envelope follower modulate the LPF.

That’s it, then just a straight forward 2-bar 808 pattern, playing with the volumes. All done in one take with no edits. As always, a tiny bit of reverb, delay, EQ and compression are used in the box to bring it together.

Hope you enjoy it and cheers!

[pflosi]

I lost track of this a bit, so here’s some more beat mangling to make up for it. I accidentally bought a new Moogerfooger MF107 FreqBox recently because all the vendors are selling off their stock for cheap, so a TR909 beat is a natural first try on it





https://soundcloud.com/contracommunemop ... 09-freqbox

The patching is fairly simple, four individual outs of the 909 are mixed on my Midas Venice 160 and routed to the MF107. For some additional fun, the signal is then routed into a Cwejman QMMF4. The Q mode is set to RES on all bands of them, the lowest is a HP, middle two are BP and the fourth is a LP. Quadrature sines from a PH8 modulate the bands. Furthermore, the two highest bands are mixed on a VCA4MX, sent to a Doepfer A199 spring verb and a SPH2 phaser, and finally an Ibanez AD202 delay to make a nice FX send track on the high frequencies. Additionally, two D-LFO triangles, a further PH4 sine LFO, and a fast RG6 random S/H signal are sent to the MF107 frequency and waveform CV inputs (conveniently mixed and routed on a Hinton SwitchMix).

That’s the whole patch, then I just jam with the 909 volumes and half a dozen patterns. The MF107 CV modulation is brought in and out with the SwitchMix; on the MF107, I tweak the sync switch and the frequency modulation. No edits, but as always a bit of reverb, EQ and compression in the DAW to bring it together.

Hope you enjoy it and cheers!