Modular Composition: Learning to Make “Sounds” to Accompany “Notes”

ntrier · 2018-02-01T01:00:34.247Z

For me, personally, they come from happy accidents - I experiment with different sound processing techniques and something cool will come out. Starting with found sounds and field recordings always makes something interesting.

(the MIT open courseware on making music with computers gives great info - https://ocw.mit.edu/courses/music-and-theater-arts/21m-361-composing-with-computers-i-electronic-music-composition-spring-2008/)

I have experimented a bit with sort of reversed spectralism (https://fdleone.com/2014/01/28/spectral-music/ and http://www.oxfordwesternmusic.com/view/Volume5/actrade-9780195384857-div1-010011.xml) by taking found sounds and using EQ to only use the frequencies that matched the pitches I wanted…starting with that might give you something halfway between sounds and pitches like you are describing…

photofractal · 2018-02-01T04:50:46.556Z

One thing I’ve done is make long generative pieces on the modular and then cut them up into loops in Ableton. I will layer the loops, sometimes up to 4 layers at a time (but usually just 2 or 3), and set different time signatures for each one. This creates poly rhythms and if you can get it to sound good you’ll end up with a melody that is constantly changing. All kinds of surprise harmonies and rhythms can happen from this. I may then record all of the layers onto one track and further edit it down from there. It’s just one way I come up with melody ideas. Sometimes it works out nicely and when it doesn’t I just move on and try something else. There are loads of videos about this on youtube.

As far as using sounds goes, what I’ve been doing recently is multing my QCV from the modular into my ES8 and then using the Silent Way CV to midi plugin to trigger a Kontakt instrument or Sampler. Then I route that audio from the computer back into my modular and blend it in with my oscillator. I usually use some kind of acoustic instrument or atonal sound. You can get really amazing timbres and textures this way.

infovore · 2018-02-01T14:12:56.960Z

one note on structuring ‘sound’ rather than ‘notes’: you might want to play with sequencing things other than V/Oct inputs. that way you get structure, but not necessarily in the manner of musical notes. For instance, I really like running a Turing Machine into the CV in on a filter or wavefolder; it gives movement to a texture, but also can give it repetition or evolution. You could do similar patching sequencing or semirandom sources into a VCA CV input. It’s particularly interesting with things that shape harmonics, though (hence my ‘filters/folders’ suggestion) - it sounds as if something musical is happening, though you can’t quite pin down what.

cmcavoy · 2018-02-01T18:05:05.868Z

infovore:

one note on structuring ‘sound’ rather than ‘notes’: you might want to play with sequencing things other than V/Oct inputs.

This should be printed on leaflets and distributed to all modular synthesists trying to figure out how to get to level 2 modular mastery. It is super fantastic advice that’s totally obvious after you hear it.

cmcavoy · 2018-02-01T18:20:14.434Z

ht73:

One thing I’ve never played with is through-zero FM! I think there would be tremendous possibilities here, and perhaps easier to use than the other two methods.

This is something I’m also interested in. There’s only a couple of analog VCO’s on the common market that can do through-zero. Doepfer has one, the Intellijel Rubicon (and I’m assuming their soon to be release Rubicon 2) and a new one that’s been teased from hexinverter electronique, called the Mindphaser.

I love analog FM noise, I suspect adding a through-zero module is a next step, but…haven’t gone down that path yet. I asked a question about it here, but it didn’t kick off any conversations. Glad to hear someone else is wondering. Given the Rubicon 2 and the Mindphaser, maybe it’s a soon-to-be-trend?

blacklodgeal · 2018-02-01T19:51:03.196Z

Don’t forget the SSF Zero-Point VCO! That one looks like a whole new take on analog thru-zero. Particularly excited to give that one a spin.

cmcavoy · 2018-02-01T20:05:41.137Z

Junto project this week seems custom built for this thread, Disquiet Junto Project 0318: Linear Training

disquiet · 2018-02-01T20:23:26.068Z

Oh awesome, cool. Thanks.

joemcmahon · 2018-02-05T21:31:35.411Z

Several of the tracks on my “Ocean Music” were done this way. It can produce some very unexpected and rewarding results.

My bio says that I “explore the fractal edge of planning and coincidence”, which is a good summary of how I do stuff like this. Also known as the “what’s this do?” school of composition and performance.

jlmitch5 · 2018-02-05T21:39:26.493Z

I used the technique a bit for the mixing process of a record I’m (just about!) finished with. Basically listening to the track, taking down notes as to what is missing (maybe bass, maybe something that “glues” things together) building a very quick patch and then running the track through modular/pedals without listening to the other tracks and then coming back and mixing the various tracks together to make things sound fuller.

Definitely not the most ambitious use of the technique, but I think it allows the composition of stuff to build in a more natural way rather than it feeling more structured (i.e. bar 4 is when the delay starts, bar 12 is when this next part comes in, etc.)

crushthered · 2018-04-13T20:00:33.432Z

infovore:

one note on structuring ‘sound’ rather than ‘notes’: you might want to play with sequencing things other than V/Oct inputs.

I was taught this concept by @CarlMikaelBjork while watching his video on the Black Wavetable VCO.

Now I will often times have the VCO sit in C (or some other note) the entire time and will sequence the wavetable (like in Carl’s video), or the filter, or the resonance, or the envelope shape (using a make noise maths), or even the delay amount for each note. I absolutely love sequencing things other than the V/Oct and I feel it really lends a great variation of sound.

Good tip!

deltasleep · 2018-05-11T00:10:39.515Z

I’m going to take you more literally than the other posts- hoping maybe this will give you an idea.
I have a VERY simple recipe for this, and I built every module involved from a kit(which doesn’t matter to anyone but me, but whatever!) .
I use 3 modules:
Bastl Skis (a dual VCA with an envelope gen)
MusicThing Modular RadioMusic(Look this module up, I think you’d love it)
MusicThing Modular Turing Machine(generates timed randomness)

I feed a clock signal into the Turing machine,
I then take the trigger output of the Turing machine and connect that to the trig input on Skis & the reset input on the RadioMusic
I take the random signal out of Turing machine and connect that to the Station input of the RadioMusic

The result is a percussive, random audio, selected from an SD card. I saw “random”, but it’s the result of years of curation. I typically mix this way low against drums in techno - JUST enough to flavor a kick drum, for instance. RadioMusic is a spectacular module for this. I have mine filled with Cassette recordings of a swamp I made as a 15 year old, books on tape, recordings of radio, sound FX records, acapellas, field recordings, etc etc. 16GB of stuff that I have been collecting since 1999!

grey · 2018-05-12T00:36:24.212Z

To build on what @deltasleep suggests: If you want something less percussive than that, putting a Morphagene after the RadioMusic will do very similar stuff with a smoother texture if you want something smooshier.

widdly · 2018-05-12T02:50:33.436Z

A complement to the sequencing things other than v/oct idea is to send gates and even triggers to cv inputs. It is a good way to get harder abrupt changes into patches. I find it can give more modern “digital” type sounds from a traditional analog set of modules.

photofractal · 2020-11-06T18:55:24.162Z

I’ve been trying to get into more traditional songwriting techniques using the modular. First I write a chord progression and record it into Ableton. The chords will be played by either a kontakt piano instrument or my Prophet Rev 2. Then I duplicate that MIDI track and turn the chords into arpeggios. From there I either send that directly out of my Mutant Brain module to one or multiple modules or I send it into Marbles with the external processing turned on. Now I have melodies that follow the chords. I think I need to fine tune this technique but haven’t come up with any specific tricks yet.

yams · 2020-11-07T01:41:27.552Z

Extrapolate the chord progressions into well voice-led melodies rather than to arpeggios.

251 triad example:

D F A
G B D
C E G

becomes:

F A D
G B D
G C E

(To minimize the distance a voice travels so it reads as melodic rather than stochastic)

Now derive the sequence by reading vertically rather than horizontally:

Seq 1: F G G
Seq 2: A B C
Seq 3: D D E

(for contrast, I understood that your post, given the 2-5-1 in C Major input, would yield the sequences:

D F A
G B D
C E G)

I’m anxious about 1: relaying something that was mind-blowing to me but may be obvious to you and 2: relaying the information in a way that does not emphasize the important parts of the approach (chords are stacks of melodies; melodies are not simply vehicles for chords AND use simple sequences; they’re more primed for live modulation).

I’m also sure you can see that, if you’re building your chords in more elaborate ways // with this application as an end goal, there’s a lot of freedom // it’s a lot easier to change the sequences to taste without destroying the whole piece (whereas changing arps can be tricky since they’re so… Crystalline).

I thought arps were the way to approach chords in modular, too, but then when I started thinking of it as an ensemble rather than a glitter box, it made more sense to tackle melody directly (even though it was scary at first).

[also this was a quick and simple example with no extensions I could do quickly – I don’t mean to suggest that I’ve found a great way to voice lead this particular progression]

herrchriswalker · 2021-04-22T16:25:30.183Z

Hello there, this is my first new topic. After searching for a similar discussion and coming up short, I thought I would try and ask for help. I would like to recreate something that sounds like a piano with my modular. So far, all I have is a quick attack and long release, but nothing else. Has anyone tried this before to recreate a piano sound with modular? I would appreciate the help very much!

nattog · 2021-04-22T16:45:45.901Z

Have you seen this soundonsound article? Might be a helpful start…

https://www.soundonsound.com/techniques/synthesizing-pianos

2197 · 2021-04-22T16:52:20.624Z

the higher notes are brighter on a piano, so sending an attenuated copy of the pitch cv to open up a filter is common technique when synthesising piano like sounds (often called key tracking or key follower on analog synths). also, having a separate oscillator with more complex harmonic qualities, with a shorter (short!) decay/release time to imitate the hammer hitting the string is a good idea. experiment with blending different waveforms to achieve the right harmonics.

fyoosh · 2021-04-22T17:24:28.080Z

Oh this is very interesting, tracking this thread for sure.

Here’s a lovely one I revisit often of Mangrove pretending to be a piano from @Catchthehare.