i recently picked up the instruo scíon, and made this with it today: “touchlight // across the void”
an ambient drone improvisation. semigenerative duet for synthesizer and succulents. scion provides the pitches for the oscillators, while the note+beat sequencing, clocking, and envelopes are via monome ansible (meadowphysics+kria) and mannequins just friends + isms LPGs/LPDs. i wrote some detailed patch notes on the video page.
a couple of notes on the scion’s sensitivity:
first, i think the responsiveness of the module is going to depend to some degree on the type of plant you have, including how healthy it is. i originally used it with a broadleaf houseplant, but didn’t get much out of it. but as soon as i switched to the tiny succulent seen here, it was like a completely different module. super responsive; it not only responds to touch, but (at higher sensitivity pot settings) even light, water, and hand proximity. this is with the sticky TENS pads. the module also came with some lightweight clip-on sensors, but i’m not sure what they’re for. they don’t respond to plants, and are only somewhat responsive to human skin. they mostly seem to respond to pressing against metal conductive objects.
second, my scion seems to be misbehaving slightly; the gold leaf contact plate on the front of the module is nowhere near as instantaneously responsive as the manufacturer’s demo, or any of the other youtube/instagram vids out there. i’ve been in contact with instruo to see if there are any adjustments i can make on my end to avoid having to ship it across the pond for replacement/repair. it takes a painful amount of physical pressure to generate a response. the raw squarewave signal output shows the correct activity amount even at a light touch, but the LED tree and cv/gate outputs are very reluctant to engage.
finally, there’s no manual yet. i had to type my own notes on the operating modes, based on upstream’s feature overview video. for pitch usage, you get either unquantized 0-5v, chromatic/semitone, or harmonic series/overtones. it would be nice if there was an additional mode for user scales, but that’s probably best suited to external quantizer modules. it’s hard to find dedicated quad quants, and four individual modules will be very pricey and occupy a lot of hp – though it’s been suggested that i look into ornament & crime/ uO_C’s various dual/quad quant modes.
i’ve just barely started to get to know this module, but there’s definitely a lot more generative/reactive organic “duets” that i want to explore.
