breakin out the analog four mkii for the first time in a while.  But unconventionally; just as a 4-voice poly box.
M8 sequencing A4 chords (it works quite well), otherwise all internal M8 synthesis.

A low-key submission compared to last week.  just needed to jam some this week.

Three things I think are interesting to note:
* An M8 groove hack
* Bass synthesis with some new FM engine modes
* The A4 patch

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First, the groove used to sequence the chords.  It's basically 1 chord per phrase, but the chords change a 16th note early.  Normally this would be kinda clunky to sequence; you'd put the chord in the phrase before the one it really lines up with.  Makes it harder to keep track, and harder to shift+start from the middle of a chain (have to wait a phrase before the chords enter).  But I figured out a groove hack to make it work more conveniently:

* Assuming standard groove 00 of 06/06 (but this technique could be adapted for other grooves)
* Make a groove 01 with 06 / 00 / 0C / 06 / ... [06 for the rest of the 16 steps]
* In every phrase with the chords, put GRV01 in step 0E (second-to-last)
* Enter in the chords as if they were on-beat, not a 16th note early.

When starting playback from any phrase, the first chord sounds immediately (handy for composing).  The 00 step in the groove makes the next phrase start a step early, giving the desired groove.  The 0C step keeps it a whole phrase length though, so every following phrase gets the same 16th-note-early groove.  It even loops properly.
(If one wanted to switch back to normal, a second altered groove could be used, to add a single extra step)

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Second, the FM bass.  The main body is a standard 2-op sort of configuration.  (2:1 modulator).  What's interesting is the "fuzz".
I took the technique trash80 himself mentioned here: https://discord.com/channels/709264126240620591/709264126664507393/989294206906433596

* A sin operator with max FF level (or square?  i forget, doesn't really matter),
* Modulating an NLP operator (new 2.7 firmware feature) with 0 ratio

The 0 ratio on the NLP means that without modulation, the operator would be silent (fully closed lowpass filter).  The max-level sine operator then fully opens it at audio rate.  So it's almost like noise ringmodded with an oscillator.

I customized the tone with some "feedback" on NLP (filter resonance) and some LFO on the level.
And then some SINE amp mode for good measure (xtra tasty waveshaping).

This sort of gated noise sort of approximates running noise plus bass through an overdrive (the overdriven sub squashes the noise at every peak).  sick.

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Third, the A4 patch.  I only set up one track, and configured 4-voice poly.  The "reassign" mode seemed to give the most preferable note-stealing for the repeating melody in the second half of the chord progression.

Two sawtooth oscillators, a bit detuned.  Classic.  The "pwm" parameter (adding a phase-shifted copy of the sawtooth, i think?) helped scoop out the frequencies a bit.
Standard envelope on the main lowpass, with a bit of overdrive.  Greater than 1:1 key following, to let the upper voices stand out more.  There's a bit of an exponential LFO modulating it for some extra motion.
The "highpass 1" second filter (a kind of odd filter that apparently is 6dB/octave like a single-pole filter, but still has self-oscillating resonance like a second-order filter) scoops some low end to make it less muddy.  1:1 key follow, if i recall.

The performance macros are the most interesting part though.  Being able to modulate any 5 parameters to any depth with a single knob is super powerful and super fun.
Knob A closes the lowpass filter, dials back the envelope depth, scoops up the highpass filter a bit, and add adds a bit more overdrive and sustain level to balance.  But it's set up bidirectional, so it can also open the lowpass, bring in more low end, clean up with less overdrive, and dial back sustain to balance.
Knob B deepens an exponential 16th-note pitch modulation, and increases the highpass filter's resonance.
The two together can get into some goofy self-oscillating territory, which is really cool with the key following (ghostly echoes of the harmonies).

And of course the A4's beautiful chorus and reverb make it in here.  I also dialed in some M8 tempo-synced delay, which adds some nice call-and-response in select places.

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Overall, it's a nice vibe.  Could have explored more with the bass, could have explored more with the beat/percussion, could have added some more intention to the lead solo that comes in.  But that wasn't what I had time or energy for this week, so instead we get a pretty impromtu jam (didn't start this till today).  And i got to try out three new things on the M8: new FM features, interesting groove hack, and sequencing a poly external synth.

Tags: a4mkii, analog four, dawless, elektron, m8 tracker, week 25 2022, View by:wangus