Monday 23 July 2018

Expert Sleepers - FH-1 - Midi Note On/off

Such a deep module.
It's so much more than a USB host
It can be a sequencer, a MIDI clock, it can be a bank of 8 LFOs, it can be an arpeggiator.
The FH-1 actually has two independent 4 lane sequencers

The manual is tricky to comprehend.
So maybe it's better to not mess with the scripts ... unless you know what you are doing.

Out of the box, the FH-1 should be able to handle most instruments with the initial A1 encoder setting.
 
The preferred approach is to configure your MIDI controller to send the right MIDI CCs to get the response from the FH-1 that you require.
 
On the Expert sleepers website there are two important MIDI charts:
1. MIDI Note On/Off (MIDI/CV conversion)
 
 

MIDI NOTE on/off

 
I'm using my Arturia Keystep (The Teenage Engineering OP-1, korg nano key and squarp pyramid also work well).
 

 
This is how you get Monophonic CV/gate pairs. 
MIDI channels 1-4 output CV/gate pairs on outputs 1/2, 3/4, 5/6 & 7/8 respectively
 

If the Keystep is set to  Midi Channel 1 
Pitch CV output is 1, and gate output is 2

If the Keystep is set to  Midi Channel 2
Pitch CV output is 3, and gate output is 4
 
If the Keystep is set to  Midi Channel 3
Pitch CV output is 5, and gate output is 6

If the Keystep is set to  Midi Channel 4
Pitch CV output is 7, and gate output is 8
 
 





 So a polyphonic MIDI keyboard such as the Arturia Key Step Pro should be able to handle
The CV/Gate for 4 independent voices if you set each sequencer to a different midi channel.
 
If you are just using the FH-1 (no expander)
you can get two channels of CV/gate/Velocity and one channel of CV/gate
by setting up your controller to midi channels 5, 6 & 7
 

 
 If the Keystep is set to  Midi Channel 5
Pitch CV output is 1, and gate output is 2, vel is 3

If the Keystep is set to  Midi Channel 6
Pitch CV output is 4, and gate output is5. vel is 6
 
If the Keystep is set to  Midi Channel 7
Pitch CV output is 7, and gate output is 8
 

Midi Channels 9 & 10 give CV, Gate, Velocity and aftertouch.
at outputs 1-4 and 5-8
 
 

 Midi channel 15 gives 2 channels of Poly CV & gate, paraphonic gate with poly velocity and after touch.

Midi channel 16 gives four CV/gate poly voices
 
 


Midi Channels 12, 13 & 14 cover triggers & gates
Midi channel 12 produces Trigger/accent pairs on keyboard  MIDI notes 64 - 95  
Triggers are generated on outputs 1, 3, 5, 7
Accents are generated on outputs 2, 4, 6, 8

• Triggers (no velocity). MIDI channel 13, notes 0-63. 
• Gates (no velocity). MIDI channel 13, notes 64-12
 
 • Triggers (with velocity). MIDI channel 14, notes 0-63. 
• Gates (with velocity). MIDI channel 14, notes 64-127.

Saturday 21 July 2018

Modular on the Lounge 4

Thanks Terry and Stella for hosting.

Lots of fun.





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aNDREW AKA Virusinstaller



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Paul aka Allinaire


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gARETH


Modular in the Kitchen.


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AJ


Wow... a ER 301 Sound Computer

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Ben



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rORY

 Folktek Mescaline

Polyrhythms, Polymeters , etc

This is an open ended post and I'll probably edit it as I go along.
Arturia just released their new drum machine .. the Drumbrute Impact.
It sounds awesome and I'm so on the verge of buying one. The specs of the drum claim the sequencer is capable of Polyrhythms. Is this the case ? A few of my muso friends argue that the drum does polymeters not polyrhythms. What exactly are polyrhythms and how do they differ from polymeters?

It seems that there is a common misuse of the term PolyRhythm to mean PolyMeter and vice versa.

A few definitions first:
"A PolyMeter is when two or more musical phrases have a different number of beats within DIFFERENT  sequence lengths ; each cycles independently & the sequence will complete when each completes the number of bars of the others beat number
e.g 4 beats kick x 5 bars = 5 beats snare x 4 bars"
The beats have a common pulse or tempo .... they fall on the same grid... but have different lengths (different numbers of beats).

A PolyRhythm is when two or more musical phrases have a different number of beats within the
SAME  sequence length : eg 3 beats of kick will play in the same time as 5 beats of snare .
The beats have different pulses or tempos but the  bars line up to be the same length.


A good example of a polyrhythm can be found in Nine Inch Nails' "La Mer".

Its a beautiful soothing track. At 1:20 the drums start. They play four beats against the three beats of the piano.

A very basic example of a polyrhythm is the "Hemiola" .
It's found in lots of African music, and also in Baroque ... such as in Handels Water Music Suite.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LEXVKvzYQ6M
It refers to three beats of equal value in the time normally occupied by two beats.
This is also known as triplets over duplets.
By Dr clave at English Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=18641682

The Hemiola is a 3:2 polyrhythm.
The polyrhythmic formula is X:Y or X over Y.
Y is the basic pulse.
X is the counter rhythm

A polyrhythm can only occur if there is no number beside 1 that will divide into both.
Thus 3:2 is a polyrhythm. As are 4:3, 5:4, 3:5, or 4:7

 -----------------------------------

In comparison, the key to creating polymeters appears to be the ability to change the sequence (or bar or pattern) length (which the Drumbrute can certainly do). The basic example of polymeter used above (4/4 time signature): 4 beats kick x 5 bars = 5 beats snare x 4 bars" 

The 4-step loop is juxtaposed with a 5 step loop. As the two loops play it will take 5 repetitions of the 4-step loop, and 4 repetitions of the 5 step loop for both to end up at the same place.

---------------------------------------------------------------
To anyone reading this that has purchased a new drumbrute,..... can you please let me know if the drum is capable of polyrhythms or is it polymetric?

And what other instruments are capable of polyrhythms?
+ MakeNoise tempi --- when in machine programming mode
   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EVUC2UjrvGQ
+ Squarp - Pyramid sequencer
+ Buchla 252e
   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W7IVvYWT69g&t=84s


+ Abelton


Links:
Muffs: polyrhythms modules

Thursday 19 July 2018

Audio Equalizers

Equalization is a fundamental processes in music production. 
Every music producer should have various types of EQ in their arsenal.
These may be studio based or can be used in live performance rigs.
 
Equalizers are basically filters. They influence the volume of audio at specified frequencies.
Note that the audible frequency spectrum range lies between 20Hz and 20KHz.
There are many types of EQ. The most common are:
parametric, dynamic, graphic, and shelving.
 

Parametric Equalizers



Parametric EQs are the most common and I think the most flexible.
They take many shapes and forms. They can be a digital software plugin, can be part of a mixing console, or be a hardware device.

Parametric EQs all have common controls.
Frequency, Resonance or bandwidth (Q) , Gain, Filter type, Filter Slope.
 
 
(the left pic is of Abelton's EQ8)



Dynamic

These combine an equalizer with a compressor.
They can cut or boost frequencies depending on the amplitude of the signal at its input.
A traditional EQ is static. Dynamic EQ combines equalization with selective compression/expansion and sidechain triggers. It kicks in only when the signal you’re EQing goes above certain threshold which you pick. 
 

Graphic Equalizers

These boost or attenuate a range of fixed frequencies using a bank of evenly spaced slider controls.
You can have up to 31 of these. The more sliders, the more accurate they are.
However, the frequencies are fixed and you have no control over the filter shape or bandwidth.

Shelving Equalizers.

These are very basic EQs which  boost or attenuate frequencies above or below a specified cutoff point.
Most shelving equalizers have high and low shelving filters like in the Shelves module below.
 

Filter types & Slope:

The most common types are Bell, Bandpass, notch, High Shelf & Low Shelf.
We can also add High Cut & Low Cut to this list.
Abelton's EQ 8 is a great equalizer and a great way to explore these filter types.
 
EQ 8 has 8 parametric filters. Each filter can be one of 8 types.
 
This is a low cut or high pass filter
It passes all high frequencies above the cutoff point.
It's x4 meaning it is 4 pole
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
This is another low cut / HP filter
It has a gentiler slope than the previous one.
 
Use a low cut filter to remove low frequencies or automate the frequency to create sweeping effects.
 







This is a high cut filter. Also known as a Low Pass.
it passes all low frequencies below the cutoff point.
It's fun to automate the frequency to create sweeping effects.

 







This is another LP filter (or high cut)

The 4X indicates a Steeper slope than the previous filter.









This is a Notch filter. Also sometimes referred to as a Band Stop.

It attenuates and removes a range of frequencies around a specified
center frequency point. It will pass all the other frequencies unaltered.
Modulating notch filters creates interesting shaping effects.
It's the opposite of a bandpass filter.







This is a bandpass filter.
This has been made using a LP & HP filter. 
Low and high frequencies outside the range are attenuated or cut..
Multiband equalizers often use multiple band pass filters to divide the audio spectrum into sections.



Here we have two bell filters. They are also known as peak filters. Use them to boost or reduce a range of frequencies with precision. 
The bandwidth/resonance (Q) sets the width of the bell curve.
 
 
 

These are two shelf filters 
On the left is a left shelf.
On the right we have a right shelf filter.
These are useful for boosting or reducing certain frequencies without totally cutting them out as you would have if you used a LP/HP filter combo.
 
 
You can make the filter slope less steep by dragging down the Q knob, or do the opposite by reducing gain.
------------------------------------------------------
Enough theory.

Here are some of my favorite Equalizers
 
The Cwejman VCEQ-3
 This is in Eurorack format.
The vceq-3 consists of 3 individual parametric equalizers.
 
 the frequency, bandwidth and amplitude can be controlled by dedicated knobs and/or by external signals, individually for each band.
 

















Serge Resonant Equalizer CGS
Serge Resonant EQ/Filter - Euro format (CGS 202)
 
 It's a a comb filter based module. There is no CV control, but it has 10 bands of frequency to mix. The frequencies are fixed. It's closer to a Graphic Equalizer in design.

There is no control over the filter shape and bandwidth of each band. 


Below is a pic of a vintage Serge Res equaliser.
 
It's the 3rd module from the left. It's very compact in comparison to the Euro version and doesn't have
the extra outs from the 10 filter bands. And pot's are used instead for sliders.
 
 

 

Roland 100m 174 module
 
It's a really simple but beautiful module. 
The 4 channel EQ  has  independent level, bandwidth and frequency controls that span a wide frequency spectrum from 20 Hz all the way up to 20 kHz. 
 
Using the two outputs of this section, you can then patch signals to two different modules for some extra modulation and waveform sculpting possibilities and even switch between EQ’d and Bypass modes for a quick comparison.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Mutable Instruments Shelves
4 Channels.
It's a mix of  low-shelf, high-shelf, and parametric sections.
All share the same control ranges and scales
 
All channels have frequency & gain controls.
The middle two channels have resonance (q) controls.
These are the parametric sections. 

The first band is a low-pass shelving filter & the fourth band a high-pass shelving filter
 
 





The good old Doepfer 128 filter bank.
 
(Fixed Filter Bank) is a filter bank, made up of 15 parallel band pass filters, all with fixed middle frequencies and bandwidth (50 Hz / 75Hz / 110Hz / 150Hz / 220Hz / 350Hz / 500Hz / 750Hz / 1.1kHz / 1.6kHz / 2.2kHz / 3.6kHz / 5.2kHz / 7.5kHz / 11 kHz).
Each band pass filter has its own amplitude control knob
 
If you want to add a single audio output for each filter we have instructions for this modification available
 

Doepfer 128 - Fixed filter bank modifications

 

 

 

L1 Quad VC Resonant EQ
4 channels of Parametric EQ 

Also first band is switchable to LP mode and fourth band to HP to make low and high shelves. Also each band is switchable to boost or cut modes. Every parameter has voltage control, also master CV ins for all bands
 


 

 





Doepfer A 104
Trautonium Formant Filter
 
This was used in the Mixtur Trautonium by Oskar Sala. It is made of four parallel resonance filters, each filter can be switched to low pass or band pass or off.  

There is no VC.
Frequency, Q & Vol are all manually controlled.









Its a graphic EQ
Music Thing Modular
A compact, clean seven band Eurorack graphic equaliser inspired 
by the classic Boss GE-7 pedal.

 

Uxmal - Mexico

The zone was first settled in 500AD and Uxmal was founded c. A.D. 700.

It's 62 kilometers south of Merida, in the Santa Elena valley, forming the centre of the Puuc ("hill" or "chain of low mountains") region.

 This is the house or "Pyramid of the Magician" ...aka "Pyramid of the Soothsayer"

In the 9th and 12th centuries AD it became the seat of Mayan political and economic power.


, Uxmal is not laid out geometrically. Its space is organized in relation to astronomical phenomena, such as the rising and setting of Venus.

.
The house of the magician rises 90.5 feet (27.6 metres) in three concentric sections.  The temple at the top section has a doorway in the form of a Chac mask. It is also known as the House of the Dwarf (“Casa del Enano”) because of an ancient legend stating that it was built overnight by an enchanted dwarf who then became the city’s ruler.
 

Uxmal is a dry grass savanna area. Water was provided by cenotes (wells formed by sinkholes in 
limestone understrata).






















 tHE Ballcourt - Pelota
 Constructed during the 9th and early 10th century.
Notice the "rings"
Pelota was a prestigious ceremonial activity and was associated with rulers and at the same time the humiliation of captives. The game was played with a solid rubber ball, whose diameter varied between 20cm and 35cm. The ball could only be touched with the hips, elbows and knees. Players wore leather protective clothing.




 The Cemetry Complex
 iTS not a real cemetery. The name comes from the relief's of skulls and crossed bones.












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