#41

Had the deluge modulating Braids chords (via renaissance) last night and realized I was using it just like i use my voltage block. I wasnt trying to make any kind of structured song, but was just sort of noodling about, and was just rapidly changing pitch cv on the grid while it just looped 4 bars - and it was an absolute blast.

Id say ive used about 10% of what that thing can do so far, and frankly appreciate the bit of learning curve to it. Knowing it in and out is going to be so very satisfying.

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#42

This might seem like a redundant question but besides being open source could the Deluge replace my Norns/Grids setup if I mainly use MLR? Does anyone have both machines? I had the Deluge for quite a while but sold it before the new OS upgradeā€¦

#43

I have a deluge. Itā€™s a very powerful groove box but itā€™s a different beast from grids. Itā€™s very married to a single time line, so itā€™s fantastic for making more traditional techno or downtempo etc, but if you want an mlr type experience youā€™re going to be left wanting like I am.

Iā€™m honestly considering selling mine and getting a grids and fates.

That said, the new looper feature is incredibly powerful (I havenā€™t had the chance to dive in yet) and opens up a lot.

I do know that the most common requested feature is mlr style behaviors - independent timelines, reverse, etc. if they add that then Iā€™d definitely keep mine.

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#44

Thanks for the replyā€¦ that exactly what I needed to knowā€¦ yeah I was hoping you could have independent loops per sequence like the MLRā€¦ I just wish MLR had ENVs per sample so you could have smoother transitionsā€¦ (unless Iā€™m missing something)ā€¦

#45

It can quite happily do polymeters and therefore fairly independent sequences though.

Not familiar with Norns so I donā€™t know the exact behaviour you require.

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#46

Yes. Every track can have its own independent lenght. This is very easy to do with the Deluge

#47

The MLR-like things that (i think) the Deluge is missing (and would be awesome) include:

  • arbitrary inner loops in tracksā€¦ i.e being able to play steps 3-8, then change the start/end points live

  • independent bpm per track

  • sequencing the loop points of a sample over time ā€” deluge lets you change the loop points live, but not automate them ā€¦ which Iā€™m actually not sure MLR does either in retrospect.

I love my Deluge, and any of these things being added would really put it over the top in terms of being the best sampler/sequencer out thereā€¦

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#48

Yes. You are right. These are not posible to do with the Deluge, and it would be very nice if it could be done in the future.
But the Deluge itā€™s still in heavy development and Synthstrom is continously updating it, so maybe in the future they may add some of those features, who knows!

#49
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#50

This is a one year later follow-up on a previous Squarp Pyramid dilemma (Squarp Pyramid vs Monome Grid?). Last time I was thinking about flipping the Pyramid with a Monome setup, but in the end I let it go. Iā€™m still mostly happy with that decision, but right now Iā€™m on the fence again about flipping it with a Synthstrom Deluge for sequencing and additional polyphonic voices + sampler. It seems to offer a whole bunch more and Iā€™m not seeing obvious downsides. Most attractive feature that Iā€™m missing on the Pyramid is the fact that it is a playable instrument. I love to play chords and melodies and thatā€™s a no go with the Pyramid (one octave keyboard :face_with_raised_eyebrow:). You need another controller and it adds clutter. Iā€™m very curious about the isomorphic keyboard on the Deluge and excited to learn how to play it.

Anyway, hereā€™s my question to people who have experience with both Pyramid and Deluge: how is the sequencing on the Deluge compared to Pyramid? Anything Iā€™m missing out on if I donā€™t have the Pyramid? Anything better on Deluge?

I know a while back @andrewhuang and @sarmism were talking about Deluge-eurorack combination and thatā€™s interesting to me since I will be combining it with a small ER-301 skiff. Can I just plug this thing into my Endorphines Shuttle Control and sequence like I do from the Pyramid? Do you have any updates? Still using it?

Any other experiences with Deluge I would be happy to hear about as well. Informed decision making and all that.

#51

I made this exact switch a while ago and donā€™t regret it at all. I find the deluge much more intuitive, playable, and logical than the Pyramid was for me. With the Pyramid, which I owned twice, I always felt like my ideas would hit some sort of software limitation or interface I couldnā€™t really figure out, it never worked like I wanted it to. The Deluge is the opposite, generally things work like I expect and feels ā€œnaturalā€, with a couple exceptions that I had to learn.

However, the Pyramid definitely has more sequencer features in some areas. So it will really depend what you use it for ā€¦ for example, the Deluge has no really concept of time signatures, just track lengths. You can write each track in whatever time sig you want, but it doesnā€™t have any helpers for it. It also doesnā€™t have the type of midi effects that the pyramid does (it does have an arpeggiator), and the song structuring is not as detailed. If you love the Pyramidā€™s micro editing and super detailed control over every parameter then that might be a thing youā€™d miss with the Deluge.

However, I find the Deluge a joy to play and I have yet to run into anything I want to do that it canā€™tā€¦ One of the major benefits of the Deluge sequencer opposed to the Pyramid is that the Deluge has no artificial track limitsā€¦ you could have any number of tracks you want until the processor hits its limit. And the grid style sequencing and keyboard are fantastic.

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#52

Thanks @emenel for that v useful run down.

Personally Iā€™ve never had the Pyramid so canā€™t comment (or at least my comments must be interpreted in the knowledge of their bias!).

I have to say one of the things Iā€™ve loved so deeply about the Deluge is its sampling workflow. Quick, direct and versatile enough for my purposes without requiring any computer steps. That, and its battery powered portability, which means I can literally write a track anywhere with lots of prepared samples from my modular and the internal synth engine, then bring it back into the studio to add/replace elements with the modular.

Synthstrom are a great boutique company as well (not that Square arenā€™t), with lots of similarities to many of the better Eurorack companies with their excellent support and upgrade schedule.

Good luck @OHNE in your decision making!

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#53

I donā€™t think youā€™ll regret moving to the Deluge. I use a Hermod in conjunction with the Deluge, so I donā€™t miss Pyramid at all

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#54

Thatā€™s very helpful information, and good to know you are happy with the switch Iā€™m about to make. I donā€™t care too much about the time signature functions. Track length is good enough, and especially the triplet view on Deluge is something that is actually not as straight forward on the Pyramid, and that is what Iā€™m using the time signatures for on the Pyramid mainly. I didnā€™t consider the MIDI effects however, I do use them abundantly. I like to assign the knobs on the Pyramid to different arpeggiator parameters and play with them live. Thatā€™s something I will miss I suppose. I need to look into the arpeggiator capabilities of Deluge more closely. Iā€™m reading the manual right now but havenā€™t got to that part just yet. :stuck_out_tongue:

Thanks for the comment @sarmism Speaking of sampling. One thing Iā€™m currently missing in my performance workflow is a way to loop a few bars of a performance while Iā€™m actually switching songs behind the scenes. I think thatā€™s an Octatrack trick, but I guess with the live looping features of the new Deluge firmware that should not be a problem. Can you combine this trick while also using synth/CV/MIDI tracks at the same time?

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#55

I agree. I have considered selling because it is missing those features but It is still very nice and I have kept it for a while.

#56

Good question about the looping whilst sequencing other stuff.

Itā€™s my belief you can but tbh Iā€™ve not got into the looping functionality at all yet.

#57

Do you think it is posible to use a Deluge as a MIDI Grid substitute with Norms and MLR?
The Deluge has 128 buttons, each one with 16 colors.

#58

The Monome Grid doesnā€™t use midi to communicate, nor do the Norns scripts by default. It might be possible if you want to get into the code and write midi support for MLR in some way.

#59

@sarmism you should post your video with the deluge/nebulae/clouds setup. If anyone here hasnt seen it yet i think they would be into it.

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#60

Ah I dunnoā€¦

Well ok youā€™ve twisted my arm :joy:

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