Make Noise modules: design, usability, theory, philosophy, etc

[jamescigler]

I’ve found sequencing it outside of “Unison” a bit tricky trmyself. Still getting to know it that way. As @jamescigler noted, it’s much deeper than it looks. That said, it’s also easy to use use from a “make dope sound fast” perspective, as it only has two controls and a gate that shape the different outputs. It’s also quite expressive. Here’s my favorite little sequence I’ve done with it (TSNM playing the Telharmonic).

One thing to always keep in mind, especially when using other intervals than Unison, is that if you have Flux turned up (particularly higher than 12 o’clock) and you’re turning up Centroid, you’re isolating harmonics. And particularly if you’re in a triad Interval, you very well could isolate a harmonic that is not harmonically pleasing with other voices in your patch. This is the same with narrow bandpass filtering too, so not unique to the Telharm, but something to be aware of. If I know I want to use the chords more from the Telharm, I try to start with that first and then sequence the other voices in my patch to better fill that out, rather than vice versa. Or, I modulate Centroid less (or I sequence it’s modulation so that it’s repeatable and tunable).

[ioflow]

(mod edit: to keep this thread on-topic, covering the philosophy and design of make noise modules, the lengthy discussion & speculation on the upcoming/new Rene v2 has been moved to its own thread: Make Noise Rene v2)

[soggybag]

I just started with Telharmonic, I’ve had it a couple days now. Great sounds! The gate doesn’t seem to do anything. It’s obvious I haven’t read the manual.

[electret]

manual reading is mandatory for this one!

[grey]

@soggybag, yeah. I think you could brute force Telharmonic, but it doesn’t lend itselt to that at all. The d-gate pings whenever the degree changes. The h-gate input makes the current harmonic persist on the h-out. Both have their uses.

On topic, I really appreciate the flavorful inputs and outputs on Make Noise stuff. It makes me wish more module designers included things like them. It shows they spent a lot of time with the design and determined useful ways to get more utility from a module while still having intense focus.

[jamescigler]

The d -gate pings whenever the d egree changes. The h -gate input makes the current harmonic persist on the h -out. Both have their uses.

Close, D-Gate is an input. (you might be thinking of the “gate out” which does pulse when Degree changes) When patched, Degree doesn’t do anything unless the D-Gate input is high. Effectively this is a sample+hold for the Degree control. It’s awesome for “sampling” a note from a sequence (mult your sequencer 1v/Oct out to Degree in and to your other voice(s), program certain gate/trigger steps to update D-Gate). It is also is used in the “Shift Register” mode on Telharm.

The H-lock (and associated trigger in) is a very cool feature - very under utilized, by myself as well.
With Flux turned up, you can select and “lock” certain harmonics, so that those harmonics will be heard regardless of where you turn Centroid. Imagine it’s like programming multiple bandpass filters that will then track pitch changes. Once you turn Flux all the way down, they’re released. I find it’s best to explore this feature just using the Telharmonic on it’s own at first.

[grey]

Sorry, yeah, I mispoke there. I was thinking of the gate out.

[jamescigler]

No worries! - I just wanted to clarify since I think there’s a lot of confusion around how D-Gate works (and what it’s for) in the Telharmonic. I’ve seen a lot of comments (not here) that it’s only for use in Shift Register mode.

On a different subject, I finally started using the Morphagene as two mono channels. For some reason my brain was thinking of it like a reverb that smears the channels together, so I always kind of presumed the second channel wouldn’t be of much use… but you really have two Morphagenes in one in a sense? You’ll get identical manupulations of course, but it’s still neat. Don’t overlook this like I did!

Awesome! Yeah there’s a lot of fun to be had processing two separate mono paths. Don’t forget that once Morph is up around 3 o’clock and higher, you’ll start to get different random pitch shifts in the separate outputs. Saving reels with totally different audio recorded in the L and R channels is great too, particularly if you cross-fade or mix between the balance of the two outputs.

[freqout]

Was just looking at the firmware changelog page of the newly updated Tempi manual and noticed this little humdinger (emphasis mine):

Bank colors have been changed to match those of the René and future modules on the Select Bus.

[Abarsotti]

Just got my first Make Noise module, an Optomix. I can echo the previous comments in here regarding build, everything feels so solid, the pots are super smooth. The knobs becoming attenuators when a CV source is plugged in to the corresponding control is so helpful. I’m so used to a knob’s position working as the 0V value when CV is controlling it that for the first 10 minutes that I was using the Optomix I was wondering why with the knobs set fully counter-clockwise nothing was changing

[razzkazz]

I always find it useful to hear what doesn’t work I am considering getting a Telharmonic, why didn’t it work for you?

[lloydcole]

It was an odd one. On paper we seemed like a great match, but when I made sounds I never seemed to find a place for them… or when I went to it, to look for a sound, I didn’t find what I hoped to find.
It should be noted that I am not an expert patcher/programmer.

[soggybag]

I have a Telharmonic and it is an odd one. Sounds great but I have a hard time making it work with other stuff. Some times I wish it just had a sine or pulse out. I guess I really don’t understand it so well. It’s hard to sequence a pattern that makes good use of the intervals.

I feel like I should read the manual again…

[qliala]

I have (had) a similar problem with the Mysteron. I love it but it feels really difficult to pair with other voices. Really versatile though.

After about 1,5 years with the Mysteron I finally have a patch where I’m happy with how it sounds with other sources.

[razzkazz]

ok thanks for your insight. Yeah without testing it myself I am having a hard time deciding. Like you say on paper it looks like it has great potential. I’m looking for something alternative to the DPO and Rings I already have, this seemed to fit the bill. I might take a chance!

[12eightyseven]

Re: Telharmonic I really enjoyed it at first and having the noise source was very welcome. As much fun and as unique in the MN world as it was, it felt like an almost-there module to me. It was nice to have the three outputs, it was tough to get them to sound or act differently enough. I felt the d-gate implementation could have been more intuitive. I never tried the secret mode, but from what I know, it’s more of a pleasant surprise than a game-changer.

Also nowadays with modules like Plaits and new Tides that are cheaper and smaller and do just about the same if not more intuitive things with chords it’s hard to suggest over those.

[jwudel]

Serious props for getting the section symbol in there.

[kbit]

Even though I have been moving away from using Make Noise stuff in my own system, I still find so much inspiration in the methods of synthesis/patching/composition they promote.

[n-So]

this video was such a great display of the DPO- a module which I think could use some more love from a new dedicated video by them.

[bigmiff]

Their video tutorials and ideas are the main reason I decided to get a Shared System as my introduction to Eurorack; it’s been very inspiring from the start, and I think more companies should take note (and quite the opposite approach from a company like Mannequins, who’s modules I’m still very much in the dark about, mainly because of their lack of promotion).