#1

Just came across this and thought it looked interesting, I like that it seems to do a lot of sequencing and modulation in one neat package. It’s pricey but I guess there is a lot of work gone into the library sounds as well. Is there anything similar worth checking out that is worth checking out?

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#2

Hey! I’m part of S+A, who created this instrument. I thought it might be of interest to people on here, so thanks for sharing.

The idea was to create an environment where you can take a loop and do pretty much most things you could imagine with it. Slicing and splicing, erasing, slice sequencing, reconstruct with time sync granular, pull apart into polyphonic ambience, create generative abstract evolutions or subtle variations on the patterns.

Kind of a a mix of a morphagene, Nebulae and Rene with loads of modulation including linkable multi XY pad thing which has physical modelling dynamic - you can throw and effect the cursor with gravity etc as well as create lissajous patterns with individual x and y axis modulation - some if it based out of my experience with my Monome Arc.

Anyway, if anyone has any questions let me know!

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#3

It looks remarkable; I watched S+A’s videos for Cycles on YouTube, and they were fascinating. If I hadn’t bought Auras just a month ago (a really deep and gorgeous instrument I’m slowly wrapping my amateur brain around), I’d be leaping at Cycles. I had no idea Kontakt was such a powerful framework.

I write this mainly because I wanted to say thank you and the S+A team for Auras; it’s just beautiful.

#4

Thank you for the love!

Yes I think we’ve pushed Kontakt pretty much as far as it can go with this one :slight_smile:

Glad you’re getting so much out of Auras

#5

Just grabbed Cycles last night and it’s quite nice

#6

As a complete newcomer to “in the box” stuff. If one uses Live as Daw, woul i run this in the Kontakt Player?

#7

Kontakt appears as a VST in DAW

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#8

This is one of the most inspiring instruments I’ve ever used. Makes sense as I love the Morphagene and René. If I’m stuck, I can export a loop and load it into Cycles. Something surprising and useful will happen.

@veil_s thanks for making this!

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#9

I’m also seriously considering this for the inspiration potential but also to shake up my workflow a bit. I feel like recording my endless doodles with my hardware stuff, or even recording the output of software instrument tracks will give new purpose if I know that I can find a loop in there and add it to Cycles for even more variation on that. It doesn’t hurt that the audio in the demos are right up my alley

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#10

it’s very nice and i have been only adding a teeny bit of soundhack spectral smear and i am in abstract tops heaven :slight_smile:

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#11

i got cycles a couple days ago and i love it. it really covers all the sample mangling i was missing in my daw. i really was missing a nice granulator and a more step based experimental cutter and this covers that in spades. typically to get these kind of sounds i would reach for my octatrack / borderlands / morphagene. however that has often forced me to slow down my creative momentum which i’ve found does not work for me. i honestly prefer to work inside ableton as much as possible so this has been quite a game changer for me. the interface is so beautiful too! makes me want to play it just to see the shapes and colors dance around. thank you for the awesome instrument @veil_s

anyone have any resources for a very basic crash course in kontakt? i have the most basic questions like where / how do save things? how do i recall them ? can i make a blank template to launch on start up?

a couple more specific questions, how does the sample drag and drop in to the step sequencer work? i’ve honestly gotten nothing but awesome results but i know its doing some stretching / octave shifting or something. also, what are formants ?

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#12

Awesome, glad you’re enjoying it so much!

#13

Hey! Glad you’re getting so much out of it and yes, that was the idea - to get a bunch of our favourite loop mangling techniques and processes and put them into a sort of one stop environment. We really tried to get the balance between making it quick and easy to get creative with, but also have enough layers of control and depth of possibilities that you could create really unique stuff.

Not quite sure what you’re asking with your last paragraph? Are you asking how the sequencer works, or something about how it interacts with the drag and drop aspect?

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#14

I keep eyeing this tool as a potential option other than the Morphagene. Could you elaborate more on your own personal feelings/observations between the two

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#15
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#16

I don’t need it but wow do I want it…
Might need to treat myself to an early birthday gift, methinks :eyes:

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#17

I bought this a couple weeks ago and have found it very inspiring! Really beautiful, really contemporary granular samples and sounds.

Curious what other folks are using with it, i.e. what DAW/recorder and controller (16n/Twister Fighter/etc)!

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#18

For anyone using Cycles - I bought it this weekend for playback of my own samples (nice to have all the pre-sets but I may never use them). I still get confused if I load in a sample to know where to access it on the keyboard (I generally find it eventually but there must be a simple logic). And then, if I load more than one sample, how to find each. Is there a menu I’m missing? And, there’s no way to see the waveform, correct?
Thanks so much.

2 Likes
Favorite plug ins, worth buying 🙂
#19

Same confusion here, which I temporarily abated by beginning to mess with all the built in presets. They are simply wonderful.

Sorry, I’m no help, as I have the same question… but there’s lots to explore without fully understanding what makes this thing tick. I don’t believe there is a manual, as yet, but I’ve found some of the YouTube demos helpful.

#20

I appreciate it, still, Happy to know I’m not the only one :slight_smile: