Strings & Arpeggio (an exercise with VCV Rack)

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davephillips
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Strings & Arpeggio (an exercise with VCV Rack)

Post by davephillips »

Greetings !

Must be the season for music with ampersands. :)

Working on synthesized strings with the Squinky Labs Saws module in VCV Rack.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xyA69efZD_E&t=2s

See the notes on YT for details regarding the patch. Comments welcome, as usual.

Best,

dp
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Re: Strings & Arpeggio (an exercise with VCV Rack)

Post by jonetsu »

I find that two elements have to be distinguished. The composition (chords, notes, arp) and the VCV rack. I find it's rather easy to appreciate the chords and the progression. On the other hand, the sounds emanating from the VCV rack are a bit less than stellar IMHO. As the piece plays one can wish that it was rendered with much more depth and warmth. If the piece by itself is to be considered. Although if the piece is set in a sci-fi context, or if one is naturally inclined to do so, then the oscillator sounds can make sense, I find.

As for me I would have perhaps kept a bit of the sounds produced by the VCV rack, and I would have thrown in some counterbalancing warmth from perhaps a Repro-5 for an ultimate balancing effect. With some unobtrusive Repro-1 sweet lead. And to really get out of the 'box', some acoustic guitar here and there. Then it could be some kind of a swan song by the last 'real' humans when everybody else has switched to be transgenic. 8)
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Re: Strings & Arpeggio (an exercise with VCV Rack)

Post by folderol »

The technicalities are a bit beyond me, but the final result is (once again) very enjoyable.
The Yoshimi guy {apparently now an 'elderly'}
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Re: Strings & Arpeggio (an exercise with VCV Rack)

Post by davephillips »

jonetsu wrote:I find that two elements have to be distinguished. The composition (chords, notes, arp) and the VCV rack. I find it's rather easy to appreciate the chords and the progression. On the other hand, the sounds emanating from the VCV rack are a bit less than stellar IMHO. As the piece plays one can wish that it was rendered with much more depth and warmth. If the piece by itself is to be considered. Although if the piece is set in a sci-fi context, or if one is naturally inclined to do so, then the oscillator sounds can make sense, I find.
I understand your POV, but see below:
As for me I would have perhaps kept a bit of the sounds produced by the VCV rack, and I would have thrown in some counterbalancing warmth from perhaps a Repro-5 for an ultimate balancing effect. With some unobtrusive Repro-1 sweet lead. And to really get out of the 'box', some acoustic guitar here and there. Then it could be some kind of a swan song by the last 'real' humans when everybody else has switched to be transgenic. 8)
Nice ideas, but exactly what I did not want to do, which I should have clarified. I've been making my Rack patches with two restrictions, 1) all modules are freely available and 2) no external plugins (VSTs) or processors are used. Rack now has a very nice VST Host module but I won't be using it for any publicly shared patches unless the VST used is available for all platforms. The Repro synths qualify in that regard, but they are definitely not free.

If I were to take your suggestions I'd probably ditch the Rack altogether and simply do everything in Bitwig. The chords and bass parts are pretty strictly defined, it'd be just as easy to write them in a DAW's sequencer. The loss would be in the predictability of the performance, the Rack patch includes randomizing elements that might be very hard to recreate in BWS.

I wouldn't call this a "piece" really, it's just an exercise with an extremely simplistic chord progression, a constrained random arpeggiation, and an attempt at making a strings sound with only Rack modules. I thank you for your comments, they indicate that I have some way to go before my sounds rival those of the wonderful u-he sound programmers. :) Btw, I wasn't especially into synth programming before getting on the Rack, and my original intent was to study modular synthesis with Rack in order to better understand how to program the u-he synths (Bazille in particular). But I took a turn somewhere...

Best regards,

dp
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Re: Strings & Arpeggio (an exercise with VCV Rack)

Post by davephillips »

folderol wrote:The technicalities are a bit beyond me, but the final result is (once again) very enjoyable.
Thanks again, Will, your comments are always appreciated.

I tried to find a useful comparison between using a synth like Yoshimi and using VCV Rack, but I'm not coming up with many contingencies. Yoshimi's variety of synthesis methods is a similarity, but perhaps it's more precise to think of Rack as a synthesis toolkit rather than a finished synth. And since everyone is building their own synthesizers in Rack, presets are rather scarce (or is it the other way 'round ?).

I imagine you'd find your way around Rack's synthesis capabilities rather quickly. I had to learn a lot of "new" things to use it as a composing tool, but YMMV, it depends on how solidly welded you are to working in another environment. But you would certainly find much that you already know about on the synthesis side.

Best always,

dp
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Re: Strings & Arpeggio (an exercise with VCV Rack)

Post by jonetsu »

davephillips wrote: Nice ideas, but exactly what I did not want to do, which I should have clarified.
I see that the misunderstanding lies at taking what I wrote as actual suggestions instead of only a description - if one would use such a technical term in this context - of what was felt at the listening of this music. I'm sorry if my writing style has lead otherwise. I could try to be more in the yeah, man, cool, super, yo, awesome, like style. 8)

Nice to see that the VCV rack can actually host plugins.
davephillips wrote:The loss would be in the predictability of the performance, the Rack patch includes randomizing elements that might be very hard to recreate in BWS.
In what way does the VCV rack contributes to unpredictable happenings in that music ?
davephillips wrote:I thank you for your comments, they indicate that I have some way to go before my sounds rival those of the wonderful u-he sound programmers. :)
The people contributing to the original patches found in u-he synths (even the 4 or 5 free ones) are certainly very good and have a nice output showcasing the synths. Although there are wonderful 3rd party patches also available by some very creative sound designers. This said, it all depends on the context. To re-iterate, if the context is one of sci-fi, perhaps melodramatic end of some human feature yielding way to robotic subcutaneous IC chip link to St-Cloud (which would after all by a metaphor for the state some people are actually in today) them those saw sounds could be just the right thing and moreover, could carry the feeling home. So it depends.
davephillips wrote:Btw, I wasn't especially into synth programming before getting on the Rack, and my original intent was to study modular synthesis with Rack in order to better understand how to program the u-he synths (Bazille in particular). But I took a turn somewhere...
I still do not create much sounds from scratch. I tweak existing ones 90% of the time. I do advance my knowledge of synth programming though. One aspect I like much is that parameters can be minutely interactive. Much like mixing perhaps. A little bit of that might not mean much right now, but if a little of this is afterwards added then it takes on a new colour. That kind of thing. I also come to appreciate the structure, the character, of each synth. Recently I got Morphox, just before Linplug was liquidated, and for some odd reason - as this is no blockbuster synth - I spent more time learning it. I assigned all knobs and faders of a Launchkey 49 to the synths' parameters so I can use hardware instead of a mouse. These are easily recallable by Morphox itself. The synth is based on being able to morph a large number of parameters using the modwheel between two identical synth sections. It's kind of neat for textures and such.

As for Bazille, I wonder if Howard will ever publish his book on Bazille programming along with a demo soundset.

I repeat to myself that I should get into the VCV rack. I would run it as a plugin inside Bitwig.

Cheers.
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Re: Strings & Arpeggio (an exercise with VCV Rack)

Post by davephillips »

jonetsu wrote:
davephillips wrote:The loss would be in the predictability of the performance, the Rack patch includes randomizing elements that might be very hard to recreate in BWS.
In what way does the VCV rack contributes to unpredictable happenings in that music ?
Arpeggio direction, length, and pattern are all controlled by a bank of three CV Sequencers that produce non-coincident values for those parameters, i.e. they switch their values at different times from one another, resulting in a degree of unpredictability.

The Random Gates modules do as they say, they produce randomly timed triggers and gates for various module parameters. One controls a Flow module that randomly kicks in a value applied to a single parameter in one module.

The Shift Register modules are not randomizing per se but their use here provides another "useful instability" for notes reaching the VCOs, I never know for sure what they'll produce.

The play of modulating parameters can be extensive, to the point where very few parameters are *not* modulated. Those atenuverter banks are controlling value ranges swept by a clocked LFO, btw, so a single LFO can have its output modulated by the atenuverters before being routed to their destinations.
davephillips wrote:Btw, I wasn't especially into synth programming before getting on the Rack, and my original intent was to study modular synthesis with Rack in order to better understand how to program the u-he synths (Bazille in particular). But I took a turn somewhere...
I still do not create much sounds from scratch. I tweak existing ones 90% of the time. I do advance my knowledge of synth programming though. One aspect I like much is that parameters can be minutely interactive. Much like mixing perhaps.
Yes indeed. I'm doing just that more often in recent patches. And I often use a bank of randomly fluctuating faders to control larger mixes in a manner approximating the "algorithmic mixing" I used to do with Cmix.
Recently I got Morphox, just before Linplug was liquidated, and for some odd reason - as this is no blockbuster synth - I spent more time learning it. I assigned all knobs and faders of a Launchkey 49 to the synths' parameters so I can use hardware instead of a mouse. These are easily recallable by Morphox itself. The synth is based on being able to morph a large number of parameters using the modwheel between two identical synth sections. It's kind of neat for textures and such.
Very cool. The relative simplicity of a given synth can be attractive to those of us who want to program sounds but are utterly baffled by something like Bazille. (TBH, I'm a lot less baffled by it now.)
I wonder if Howard will ever publish his book on Bazille programming along with a demo soundset.
Dear gods, that would catapult me into a months-long session with the beast. Gladly, I should add.
I repeat to myself that I should get into the VCV rack. I would run it as a plugin inside Bitwig.
VeeSeeVSTRack works perfectly there, but alas, it's not maintained. Still, it's pretty well suited as-is, there's a lot of stuff to play with.

An official VCV Rack VST has been announced for v2.0. Considering that v1.0 has yet to be released, we're likely looking at a year's wait.

And of course, there's BWS3 and the Grid coming our way. That just might kick me off the Rack, though I understand that we won't see the Grid for a while too.

Many thanks for the discourse !

Best regards,

dp
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Re: Strings & Arpeggio (an exercise with VCV Rack)

Post by jonetsu »

"atenuverter" Hmmmm.

Thanks for the modulation details on the VCV rack

I posted a NAMM video of the Bitwig Grid in 'Marketplace' for convenience.

Cheers.
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Re: Strings & Arpeggio (an exercise with VCV Rack)

Post by psyocean »

Cool stuff! The synthesizer looks quite advanced. I also downloaded it, inspired by your track, but I don’t think that I will soon learn how to use it fully :roll: . Great work! :!:
Guitar and synth tales... https://www.youtube.com/user/Psyocean/
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Re: Strings & Arpeggio (an exercise with VCV Rack)

Post by GMaq »

Hi,

Lol, I have a hard time setting up Helm or Yoshimi so your competence with VCV Rack without playing a note is already impressive enough to me! I really enjoyed this musical piece regardless of what you used, great sounds and textures and the arpeggios are so warm, they sound both very retro and modern at the same time.

I've been away for a spell, really nice to come back and see you posting here again Dave!

Best, Glen
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Re: Strings & Arpeggio (an exercise with VCV Rack)

Post by davephillips »

psyocean wrote:Cool stuff!
Thank you very much. :)
The synthesizer looks quite advanced. I also downloaded it, inspired by your track, but I don’t think that I will soon learn how to use it fully.
I began as a complete newbie, I suppose I might qualify as an advanced newbie after a year+ working with it. As jonetsu pointed out, there are two aspects to this sort of thing, the composition and the Rack itself. When I began working with Rack I understood some of the technicalities of a modular synthesizer but I'd never worked with any hardware systems, so I had a lot of terminology to learn and a lot of basics regarding patching together a synthesizer piece by piece from the Rack module collections. At the same time I wanted to develop a composition technique based strictly on VCV Rack, i.e. without recourse to external DAWs, VST plugins, or other sequencers. Both aspects - composition and modular synthesis - are continuous learning curves for me. I happen to enjoy the process of discovery, and I'm making a point of better understanding the basic components and operations. Strings & Arpeggio is an example of my current understanding of that process.

Thanks again, and btw, I'm enjoying your latest works too.

Best regards,

dp
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Re: Strings & Arpeggio (an exercise with VCV Rack)

Post by milo »

I really dig this song. Very pleasing sounds, nice ambiance.

I'm also impressed with your use of the virtual modular synth. I'm an old Switch-On Bach fan, so I have always wanted to play with a modular synth but have been intimidated by the cost and complexity of the hardware. Maybe I could play with a virtual one, though.

But only geeks really care about what's under the hood. Wait - on this forum probably all of us are geeks. :)
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Re: Strings & Arpeggio (an exercise with VCV Rack)

Post by gennargiu »

Hi,nice mix atmospheres from vcv rack and synths :wink:

gennaro
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