Category: Modular

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(Modulate This) Modular Modular Synthesis Modular Synthesizers New Releases

New Colorado Modular Synth Society Compilation Album + Listening Party

Spreading the word. The Colorado Modular Synth Society has released a compilation album from some of their members over on Bandcamp.

Colorado Modular Synth Society Compilation Vol. 1

https://coloradomodularsynthsociety.bandcamp.com/

The Colorado Modular Synth Society’s mission is to connect people with information, inspiration, and a community of peers fascinated with Modular Synthesizers.

This compilation is the first snapshot of a growing scene of Colorado artists using Modular Synthesizers to compose and perform their music.

It is a showcase of the variety of timbres, textures, and sounds that are generated with Modular Synthesizers and the different styles that artists create using them.

Now let the control voltage take you on a musical journey.

—

Links to artists’ social media and websites are available on the individual track pages. Check them out and support the artists.

All proceeds from compilation album sales will directly go towards activities of the Colorado Modular Synth Society. Come join us!

credits

released May 1, 2020

Produced by David Soto & Christoph Scholtes
Mastering by Nathan Kampf, except Track 5 mastering by Rafael Anton Irisarri (Black Knoll Studio)
Artwork by Matthew Hanson-Weller (Primordia Print and Picture, @primordia_p_and_p)

A huge thank you to Nathan Kampf and Matthew Hanson-Weller for volunteering their time and skills to support this release.

Listening Party

They are having a listening party tonight.

We are so excited about our release but also excited to be a part of a vibrate modular synth community worldwide! With Bandcamp waiving their fees today, we decided to throw a listening party for a bunch of fellow modular synth artists that have music on Bandcamp. 

Tonight we are live streaming on YouTube and Twitch. We are joined by Johno from Dotwave Podcast and Modular on the Spot. We will play clips of various artists all evening including artists recommended by DivKid and other big names in the modular scene!

Mystery Circles is giving away some merch too!

We will be starting at 9 PM MDT.

Head over to the CMSS Youtube and CMSS Twitch to subscribe and set reminders!

Categories
(Modulate This) Eurorack Modular Modular Synthesis Modular Synthesizers Sound Design

Southern California Synth Society Summit Streaming April 18-19 on YouTube + Shout-Out to Colorado Modular Synth Society Sessions

Passing along some news I received from my friends over at the Colorado Modular Synth Society.

The Southern California Synth Society Summit will be streaming on April 18-19 on their YouTube channel.

Schedule

Shout-Out to The Colorado Participants

Categories
(Modulate This) Ableton Live ableton live 10 Ableton Live Packs Modular Modular Synthesis Modular Synthesizers

Ableton Releases CV Tools + View Mind Map Summary + Links to How-To Videos from Moog Demo Library

Heads up, Ableton just released a free set of Max for Live devices called CV Tools. In this post I’ll offer some info on overview videos, a summary mind map I made to give you a one-page perspective on all this, links to a collection of videos just released on Moog’s Demo Library YouTube Channel, and lastly a link for more info and how to get CV Tools.

Overview

Intro video from Ableton

Now you can control your modular and CV-based gear with Ableton Live 10 Suite. And because you own Ableton Live 10 and Max for Live, CV Tools is free for you.

CV Tools is a Pack of 10 devices that allows you to send and modulate control voltage between your modular setup and Ableton Live using a compatible dc-coupled audio interface.

Plus, the included Rotating Rhythm Generator and CV Utility devices give you modular-style workflows inside Live or with a hardware setup that doesn’t use CV-based equipment.

Mind Map Summary of CV Tools

I used mindmeister to create a summary mind map. It’s a rather large map so you may want to click here to view the interactive mind map version. You can see more of my public mind maps here BTW https://www.mindmeister.com/users/channel/103187.

Click here to view the interactive mind map version

Moog Demo Videos

To see CV tools in action and learn more about how to use them swing by the Moog Demo Library Channel on YouTube. Bonus to see these tools in action with Push 2.

More Info and Download Link for CV Tools

You will need to be running the free Live 10.1 update or above to use it. Download CV Tools from the Packs page or find it in your Live Browser under Available Packs.

Download CV Tools and get more info here
https://www.ableton.com/en/packs/cv-tools/.

Categories
(Modulate This) (no)poem Blofeld iOS Lemur Modular Synth: Octatrak Touring

(no)poem creative limitations: Modular/Looper/Max/Beatstep Meets Octatrack/Blofeld/Lemur

Darwin and mark

CREATIVE LIMITATIONS

In my last post, I mentioned the formation of a collaboration with Darwin Grosse called  (no)poem. When we where putting this project together a few months back we started by defining a set of creative limitations which would inform the art for our first mini-tour through Lincoln and to Des Moines.  

We created this set of limitations:

  1. Desktop only
  2. No keys
  3. No laptops
  4. No synced clocks
  5. No sampling of each other's output

RIGS

For Darwin, this meant a modular-centered rig:

For me this meant an Octatrack-centered rig:

  • Electron Octatrack
  • Waldorf Blofeld Desktop with custom presets from init, custom wavetables, and custom samples as oscillator sources via License SL
  • Instrumentality for Blofeld are via a custom Lemur patch on iPad (USB Midi with Camera Kit) and Octatrack (MIDI)

DIFFERENT WORKLOW = DIFFERENT CREATIVE RESULTS

Different rigs and different workflows yield different results of course. A hardware focus means our eyes are free to focus on graphical scores (more on this in a future post) and paying attention to each other's body language. No keyboards means we have to use knobs, buttons sliders, cables, visual feedback from hardware, and in my case, physics and multi-touch through the Lemur interfaces. Again, this changes the creative result – especially when playing tonal passages without being restricted by a 12-tone keyboard interface.

TRANSCENDING TECH TO SERVE THE ART

If you've been following along here on Modulate This! you know I've gone deep with both the Octatack and the Blofeld for many years now so this upcoming tour is the culmination of a lot of work to create expressive workflows around these instruments. 

UPCOMING POSTS

Stay tuned for more detailed posts on how I'm using Octatrack (see dedicated category), Blofeld (see dedicated category), and Lemur. I'll also do some posts on working with grphical scores and free-running clocks.

Lastly, tune into to Darwin's new blog All Things Modular to learn more about his rig and artistic process.

Related articles

Introducing (no)poem – A New Collaboration with Darwin Grosse + Heartland 2015 Tour