#36

Found this gem deep in the Trigger Riot thread regarding how to soften the feel of resetting a drum pattern at odd intervals.

11 Likes
#37

This is the area of my practice that needs the most improvement, I suspect. I use the DC1 Drumcomputer which doesn’t get mentioned a lot, but is essentially an 8 track sixteen step gate sequencer, where you’ve got independent control of sequence length on each track. There are four additional cv inputs for various functions.

There’s a visual display of each track simultaneously which is super helpful.

It’s not perfect - there are some idiosyncrasies around using an external clock. And saving patterns is a bit clunky, and chaining patterns doesn’t work with different pattern lengths. (Although I’m not sure what a solution might be)

But for this volume of functionality, it seemed the best available tool for price/size ratio at the time. I had the original varigate 4, but didn’t get on with the UI, and mine had a fault too.

I have on order - arriving today woo-hoo - the Malekko gate delay, which I’ve got high hopes for it terms of adding a bit of funk/swing etc to my beats.

The other thing I think is important is to have a number of different types of modulation if possible, ie a lot of VCAs doing stuff. So for high hats type stuff, I get the best results (for me) so far with subtle modulation on decay time, bandpass filter, and volume/velocity.

Also, I’ve got a drum submix with a VC aux send to add spot fx.

My beats still suck though - clearly I need to work on the programming rather than trying to solve it by buying more gear…

#38

One technique I’m using in one set up is to have a global reset using a clock division coming from Pamela’s Workout. PW offers probability over skipping a clock tick. I plug a 1/4 or lower division of this clock to a manual switch and then mult it to all reset inputs in the patch. When the switch is pressed there’s a chance that the reset will get fired or not; holding the button down means the current phrase is played either whole or in part (depending on the division, could be a whole meter, could be less).

This not only gives the impression of an intended break, but of multiple parts being extremely in sync doing timed cuts of the phrase.

Tweak to taste!

3 Likes
#39

I’m not sure if Chris Meyer from Learning Modular is a member of this forum, but he’s been putting together a really excellent rundown of his live, beat making case for his Patreon supporters. Lots of well thought through info about his experiences creating beats in modular: combining euclidean beats with other types of rhythms, sound sources, ways to introduce variation in patterns, integrating modular with other musicians, etc.

1 Like
#40

Hi can someone help me to figure out how to program non linear (not 4/$) drum beat with a modular synth?
for example how to achieve something like that:

kick kick snare pause kick pause snare pause

thanks so much!

#41

well this would be tough w/o knowing your system

if you have multiple unsynced sequencers you probably dont even need to try to make things non linear

even with just one seq
use of logic utilities (for probability/variation) or modulation should help achieve results you want

#42

@glia I have tempi and renè (I know that I can use it to make non linear beats), so I’m wondering how to make it with something like tempi or maths eoc/eor

1 Like
#43

There are so many ways to do this kind of thing so I’m sure you will get a ton or replies

Some simple tricks - use a clock divider that has something other than divisions of 2 - so every N beats you get a different type of drum

a lot of sequencers have a reset input - you can use this to get different pattern lengths

Using logic like And and Or will get you interesting patterns from trains of gates (even simple square waves)

Anything that does Euclidean patterns will be your friend

2 Likes
#44

Ciao Claudio, I’d fiddle with a gate pattern with rené, and then rotate the outs of tempi. It’s quite fun.

1 Like
#45

ciao alessandro, so you are suggesting to create a pattern with rene and rotate the ch1 of tempi with different timings?

#46

Here some experiment with tempi driven disting as drum machine

#47

i have a couple of techniques, and those usually involve both sound generation and rhythm composition\generation.
one of my fave is using the hertz donut 2 (but really any complex vco) for doing almost all “drums” sounds.
i start with crafting a kick sound with a vca, one envelope for vca and one for pitch cv, usually using maths for pitch cv and streams as enveloped vca. expo shapes.
then i send other envelopes or even just gates (curiously i often prefer gates) to the waveshaper and the fm index cv inputs.
then i have to send three different gate patterns to the main envelopes (vca and pitch) and the other 2 inputs.
this i usually do with monome grid\ansible both on kria or earthsea (for a more hands on, live performance approach, with fast retriggering of the loop).
but i sometimes use MI grids (both in drummer mode or euclidean mode) or the zorlon cannon gate outs for a more generative\pseudorandom approach. lately i’ve been experimenting doing it with sapèl and falistri too.

another method is with the er-301, crafting drum sounds with internal oscillator, mixing\layering them with samples or just playing samples i recorded from the other modules (so i can keep always a consistent, cohesive sound). then i can both generate random or less random patterns inside the 301 or drive it from the usual suspects above.

another way is slicing. i slice and dice some loop (both breakbeats or loops i recorded from the other modules). the 301 offers a vast array of tools to mangle and process looping samples, randomly or less randomly choosing slices etc…

i really don’t miss both mpcs or octatrack, i can keep the whole of my performance (excluding external mixer and a big sky pedal) inside the eurorack rig, more compact, less fuss ( midi clock, midi to cv, etc…)

another thing i often do is mix\switch\interpolate between different rhythm parts using both a doepfer a-150 vc controlled switch and\or a MI frames.
ah, and tempi is my clock manager, and sometimes i end up programming rhythms just on the tempi. the channel shifting is a very cool feature!

3 Likes
#48

I had some success recently using this method:

  • Used a Zularic Repetitor to clock Marbles.
  • Used the clocks from both modules to trigger sounds for the beat.
  • Mangrove for kick, Piston Honda for snare, and field recordings in a Morphagene and Nebulae V2 for extra sounds. Lots of envelopes to shape all of these sounds.
  • Recorded a long stream of ever evolving beats into Ableton. Converted the kick and snares to MIDI and then layered some drum samples over the original sounds to add some texture and punch. Mixed the drums fully.
  • I then bounced the entire beat to a stereo audio file and imported it into Simpler.
  • I used a Skinner Box Time Sting to randomly trigger slices of the beats. At some points I layered two or three instances of this to create crazy polyrhythmic beats.

I don’t have the raw recordings on hand right now but this is something I threw together using those beats:

“https://www.dropbox.com/s/nps62of9l3hbdit/Shunker%20Beats-1.wav?dl=0”

5 Likes
#49

will have to try that with a switchblade! Great patch idea :slight_smile:

2 Likes
#50

I love the Zularic Repetitor. CV over pattern offset is a very unique feature in the beat/clock generator module category. I use an SSF Propagate to delay and shift other beat generator outputs. Often next I’ll mix with switches and logic modules. Intellijel Plog and the RYO logic modules are my favorite.

1 Like
#51

As far as generating gates and triggers I enjoy “or-ing” different combinations of 4ms rcd/scm. Makes for some good old weirdness.

#52

I have a technique question, and I’m doing it in Euro, so I guess I want to ask here. That said this is not a modular beat specific question, but I am considering it from a live modular improv standpoint:

I’m looking for reliable methods to transition from a 4/4 beat to something more exotic (and back) that doesn’t kill the groove. I’ve done a few things, that sort of work, but I’d like some new ways to think about this from more experienced minds.

#54

A CV knob (Pulp logic attenuverter with nothing plugged in my fave for this, or other steady CV) connected to a VCA whose gate is controlled by a button. Button up: 0v Button down: however many volts you dialed into the knob.

A beat/pattern length controllable via CV (like Stoichea/Klasmata). Set it to 4/4. Plug the dc knob patch above into the CV in.

When nothing is pressed you have 4/4, when the button is pressed you get whatever you dialed in with the knob.

Automate it all by inserting an LFO in the Knob path.

1 Like
#55

I guess I mean less from a “how do you get both” (I have SO many switches in my small case), so much as, how do you musically transition from one to another effectively? So for example, let’s take Grids, because it’s a simple example: You’ve got a kick/snare/hat pattern inspired by an exotic beat, but you want to work your way towards a “boring” squared version of the same three elements for a bit, say from a divider (but it could be anything really).

I don’t have much knowledge of percussion from a theory perspective, but it can definitely feel wrong if you don’t do it correctly. It’s really more of a “hOw dO i DJ?” problem, but because you have more control over the system, you can blend or switch whatever you want whenever you want.

I guess I’m asking if there is some reliable theoretical strategies here for how to think about finding transition points that feel more natural?

So for another boring example of what I am talking about: You can build a pattern all the way up to being a full roll of hits or slowly remove it completely, but neither of those feel especially elegant. Once it’s full/empty, you can pull it back into something new or fill it back in with something new. It does work, but it feels like a pretty weak performance strategy.

2 Likes
#56

Pamela’s New Workout -> Malleko Quad Env
z8000 -> Ataraxic Translatron (x2)
all patched into 2hp VCAs then to the Main Out