#62

I have Ultrafold and I like the sound of it. One thing you need to keep in mind when using it is that its range is very high, meaning that when you have fold set to maximum, you have a sound that is very bright with the low end almost completely removed.
The input drive control will also distort (or at least it sounds like it’s folding a tiny bit) past 12 o’clock meaning you will get subtler sounds if it isn’t completely cranked.
In general it’s a module you need to exercise restraint with to get the best sound out of it, especially since it doesn’t have attenuators on its modulation inputs.

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#63

I totally just hit the desire point for one or two of these kinds of utilities today while patching. What are some good, small options for this sort of thing?

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#64

Quadra in 1u is super useful, Shades or Triplat. There are many, depending how many channels you need

#65

I second the warps suggestion! It’s really versatile…
It’s also the only Mutable Instruments module that I use parasites on - the tape delay is great. The parasite firmware stays out of the way and is invisible when you want to use the module like a factory module. The tzfm feature is just great…

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#66

I mentioned it earlier, but I love the Happy Nerding 3xMIA. It’s 6hp and gives 3 channels of attenuverting/offsets or mixing. The only negative is that because of the knob design it’s hard to find zero if you’re using it for mixing and want to kill a channel. http://www.happynerding.com/category/3xmia/

MI Shades has some really nice features (switches to toggle between attenuating and attenuverting; can be used as a precision adder) but I prefer the 3xMIA as it’s more flexible and gives you twice as many channels in 6hp.

If 6hp is too big the Manhattan Analogue CVP is great (it can also do slew) and 4hp but is only one channel. ALM and SSF have 4hp dual attenuverter/offsets which I’m sure are great but I haven’t used either of them.

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#67

i’ve been loving the moog grandmother, but often want to patch more things than it can provide, so i think it is finally time to get into eurorack. another lfo is definitely desired, preferably one that can also hold its own as another voice with a different character than the grandmother’s waveforms. but then, even though i have intended uses for it, getting another oscillator isn’t as exciting as getting something that i don’t have a good understanding of (like any number of make noise modules that i’m interested in, or other seemingly complex / “deep” modules). the zen and discovery aspects of modular have really drawn me in, but it is hard to know where to aim. (my musical focus right now is creating soundtracks for outdoor/nature/adventure movies.) any advice?

#68

Thanks for all the information and suggestions everyone! Really appreciate it!

Lots to experiment and try, which is great!
I think I’ll be investing some time to try out FM and AM in different combinations with the modules I currently have. I’ll make sure to attenuate them and get a feel for how subtle FM and AM influence the sound.
I can then combine the results with the ultrafold and will also try out some mixing/combining of modulation signals and not having the wavefolding applied to the input all the time.

Just to make sure I understand this correctly: You’re saying that when using analog oscillators for FM the carrier needs to be detuned to get them to produce something like what we FMed digital oscillators produce?
And that wavefolding the analog oscillator’s FMed signal produces something similar?

I didn’t know stages could do that, that’s very nice! Seems a bit similar to Just Friend’s synthesis mode. Do you know how they compare?
Does the harmonic part of the name hint at similar behavior as the verbos harmonic oscillator?
With the latter sentence you mean you use the controls on stages (which I believe are pitch, waveform(?) and volume in this mode) when performing?

If you don’t mind the questions: How do you derive everything else from them? Do you create these derived sequences from the CV that controls these two oscillators or from the the audio they produce?

@hinterlands @shellfritsch So a high input level into your wavefolder didn’t produce a pleasing result? You always attenuate it down (a lot?) before going into your wavefolder?
I totally didn’t expect that, so that might be part of the problem.

I’m thinking it might help to see/learn from a good example: Does anyone have any suggestions for a video of what they feel represents a good example of wavefolding?

#69

More the opposite. Unless you want a very dissonant beating sound, your carrier and modulator need to be in tune with eachother. What’s frustrating with analog is that once you exceed a certain amount of linear FM, the carrier will rise in pitch and ruin that relationship (not to mention force you to retune just in general).
What I’m suggesting is that the little FM you do get before it starts drifting is excellent to feed a wavefolder to get a sound that is as rich as the range of digital FM once you sweep the fold.

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#70

Not necessarily. It’s just that attenuation really changes the sound, the same way that driving a filter will also change the sound. It depends on what you’re looking for. That’s one of the reasons using a vca before a wave folder can be so nice - by using a voltage to change the amplitude of the signal before the wave folder you can create more timbral variation.

But if you aren’t digging the sound of the Ultrafold, one thing to try would be attenuation. Play with it and see!

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#71

Glad to answer, so totally don’t mind :slight_smile:
Harmonic oscillator is Stages’ Easter egg mode, you need to chain it to itself with supplied cable to activate. It resembles verbos. It lets you tune partials and select waveform of each partial but does not have the scan controls of verbos. Sound is obviously different. You can think of stages as 6 differently tuned oscillators tracking same sequence. It’s level inputs become inputs for envelopes.
Compared to Just Friends stages outputs everything through first jack, and separate partials also available. Whereas Just Friends needs separate mixer for harmonic oscillator mode. Just friend though is more versatile as modulation source and overall. Would not part with both of this modules, actually.
In terms of deriving stuff from two voices both CV and audio are cool techniques. I tend to go for audio. Having multiple effects definitely helps here. Stuff can be sampled into morphagene or held in magneto, clouds can freeze also.
I mentioned already I recently like to use filter as crossfader, LP of qpas goes to output, HP into magneto and then to output and smile pass into Mood and to output. So changing filter frequency changes this mix.

Frankly I am yet to perform anything modular as I am still working on coming up with coherent material:slight_smile:
That sentence was about Just Friends, it lets you quickly change 6 envelopes, and depending on where you put them out can radically change your patch.

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#72

Quadra in 1u is super useful

Is there a 1U Quadra?

#73

It’s Quadratt, my bad

#74

oh, I see. Thanks
I still wish there were a 1U Quadra…
:grinning:

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#75

Thanks, I didn’t quite catch how the MIA would do offset— plug in a CV to A and the inner knob will do attenuversion, and since nothing is plugged into B, the outer knob will do offset?

#76

Maybe Mutable Tides? Great Oscillator that can work in Envelope, LFO and VCO modes, many waveshaping possibilities and 4 outputs that have lots shaping/morphing abilities depending on the mode you’re in (different waveshapes, phase, frequencies, etc)

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#77

Hey everybody! So this is the system I have at the moment:

20191017_223846
20191017_223846.jpg4128×2322 2.74 MB

And this is where I plan on taking it:

This is roughly based on the Make Noise Cartesian System. What I really want to do is build something that could be a two simple voices synth to use live as well as a more powerful single voice for sound design in the studio. Something I really look for is making a sort of “bandmate” that would suggest me grooves and melodies using marbles that I can then use as I want in my tracks and live sets. I come from techno but I want to take this a little more to the experimental side of the spectrum, include some less conventional rhythms and some interesting ambient moments.
I plan to use this in combination with my octatrack, either sequencing the synth or clocking Marbles (or a mix of both)

Do you think it’s a good idea? Do you have what I need for that? What would you change?

Sorry if this is a misuse of this topic, not sure if it is the right place…

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104 hp inspiration
#78

I’d start with a simple oscillator (STO, Mangrove) and a lpg to get you another voice or to modulate plates in interesting more experimental ways.

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#79

mutable tides is actually the module i’ve been mostly strongly considering! that is very reassuring. was leaning towards the 2014 version because the price difference, but reading up on the 4 outputs on the update makes that seem like the way to go. thanks!

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#80

Pretty much. All jacks are normalled to 5v so if you don’t have anything plugged in to a particular jack the knob will act as a +/- 5v offset. So each channel can either do attenuverting/offset or 2 channel mixing and you can chain multiple 2 or even all 3 channels together.

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#81

I think at the price orig Tides is a great value. it’s a little big for a single function generator by 2019 looks but there’s a lot it can do. i’m back to using it as a function generator (in pll mode, clocked) and it’s still as delightful in this use as it was. you also get a pretty expressive voice oscillator at audio rates and i havent said anything about Sheep or Parasites.

ofc Tides 2 looks awesome so ¯_(ツ)_/¯ it’s yr wallet

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