SOMA Labs Pulsar-23

[monistan]

Hi everyone.

Here are some of my observations on the Pulsar-23 since I took delivery of it beginning of May 2020.
I got my Pulsar quite early I guess, was told I was somewhere in the top 20 of reservations

My main gripe with it is how difficult it can be to make it play well behaved and in time with others. It’s not evident to find really good matches for clocking duties. Pulsar + Tempi e.g. is hard to get tight. Elektron devices that keep sending out Midi clock even when stopped are not a good match either. I was going to get rid of a second hand Pyramid I got some time back in a trade, but it is the only device I own that has to option to STOP sending MIDI clock when the sequencer is stopped so I’m keeping it just for that feature!
I’ll trade you a Conductive Labs MRCC for my Pyramid, if it proves to have that same feature, which is not entirely clear from the videos I saw to date.

For such an open ended machine I really think SOMA dropped the ball by not including some low prime numbers in the clock divider. They were thinking of non-2^n numbers when they designed the Shaos, so why not in the Clock section?

The sounds are wild, especially when combining patching with highly resonant filter settings. I do find I often want to blend between source and resonance, and that can be be tricky to control in volume, esp when playing live. I’d love to know about some pedals, compression or such that can make sure I don’t bleed anybody’s ears out when I play on a big system. Any tips are welcome!

As for playing it, it is unlike anything else I’ve ever touched. Your grasp of rhythm and flow are brutally on display, whether that be virtuoso or dilettant. I love it. I notice my absent minded desk drumming has changed too, more combo’s inspired by the Pulsar loopers.

My first reaction to seeing a Pulsar being played out by someone else still has to happen, very curious to see others play the same instrument IRL, in the flesh, in the moment.

Anyway, those are some of my thoughts

[MWAU]

An MPC will not send clock when stopped and so works well (or at least my MPC-X did).

I find Tempi and Pulsar works well though (Pulsar is clocking Tempi). I can recommend a PulsarBuddy which helps integration too.

[monistan]

@MWAU

(Pulsar is clocking Tempi).

That’s worth a try, I did it the other way round and got skipped loopers all the time. Thanks for the tips!

[MWAU]

No problem. I’m also using Pulsar to the mod input of Tempi to step through clock division settings. With CV going to Pulsar’s clock mod input you can create some wild rhythms.

[EPTC]

People talk about the sound of the Pulsar but it’s ALSO a wonderful CV utility.

Viewing it as a master recordable trigger sequencer for other drum modules or all the attenuation, inverting for external signals, etc. There’s so much there.

[petezoid]

also curious about pulsar parings! [mzero once told me a chilean merlot and it still cracks me up]

something about leaving the main machine for a little twiddle on ancillary equipment works really well with my workflow, lets you take a breath/look at something else etc

although redundant, i’m planning on routing Pulsar through my Boss PS-5 pitch shifter eventually for a subtle stereo image [wet/dry mixing, detuning left and right, etc]…with some clever patching i’m sure the drum machine is perfectly capable of stereo in it’s own right outside of the obvious MAD! pin

any pedal/effect/compression recommendations from seasoned players?

[mattlowery]

Ok, I gave in and put myself on the list for a Pulsar. I have no idea how many months deep that list is. In the meantime, wondering if anyone has sampled the pulsar for use in, say, a Digitakt? And if not, would someone volunteer? I need those kicks in m my life.

[ellips_s]

i have neither a Pulsar nor a Digitakt, but Soma put out a whole bunch of samples of the Pulsar (and many of their other instruments) for use in one of their contests earlier this year, and it seems the google drive link to the samples archive is still active. i didn’t have time to enter the contest myself, but i’ll jump at any opportunity for sounds from the Pulsar, Dvina, and Pipe

[MWAU]

I’ve recently sold my Pulsar (I’m 90% sure to Aphex, but that’s a different story) as whilst I loved it’s complexity and possibilities i tired of the raw sound.

Before shipping it off I was sure to sample it. You can find the samples here if interested to download. Within the ‘MPC’ folder are some trimmed one shots.

Pulsar (My Wires are Uncoventional Samples)

Enjoy.

[LLK]

@MWAU

I’m 90% sure to Aphex, but that’s a different story

I’m 90% sure people want the different story too.

[rdomain]

I’ve had my P23 for over a month now and even though that’s not long, I’m really enjoying it. Quite a cool range of tones to work with and the interactive patching is great. Patching with alligator clicks is perhaps a little fiddlier than banana jacks or euro type jacks but the cables are cheap and good for experimenting with! Plus with all the connectors, you have built in touch points like some of the early Ciat Lonbarde gear.

I’ve only used the P23 by itself and sometimes with a Lyra 8 so have yet to sequence externally. I like to explore all of it’s standalone capabilities first and learn everything about the machine. Having said that, I just received an Ornament 8 in the post today so I’m about to hook that up!

Here’s a generative patch using nothing but the Pulsar 23.

https://www.instagram.com/p/CI-I1nyBIta/

[petezoid]

anyone have tips for offsetting voltages coming from eurorack?

im sequencing pulsar with a euclidean circles sometimes and it works super good but quietly since pulsar is 0–10V and euro is typically +/-5V if im not mistaken … folks have recommended maths or disting m4 but im wondering if there’s a more streamlined solution/a dedicated module for the job

[Hovercraft]

I don’t think there’s any “typical” range in eurorack–my modules run the gamut from +/-5V, 0-5V, 0-8V, and 0-10V. A Frap Tools 321 can scale, invert, and offset three channels of cv–including doubling the signal, so you should be able to handle any voltage processing.

[petezoid]

thank you for the recommendation!