The most Avantgarde thing happening to Voltage Modular right now

xones2358
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The most Avantgarde thing happening to Voltage Modular right now

Post by xones2358 »

I mean it!

Really, you are pushing into another dimension of digital modular with your devices and their aesthetixxx!


Just trialing and will be adding a handful of them to my arsenal by the end of month.


Beautiful!!!
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Question ??

The Cycle Sequencer. You think it might be possible to add to it either an EXT clock input or its own speed clock output, so we can synchronize easier with other sources. In my sessions, I like tempo changes on the fly and want to synch LFOs with these changes too.. I find that a bit hard at the moment.

Keep these interesting designs coming - soo much welcome!

S.
playertron
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Re: The most Avantgarde thing happening to Voltage Modular right now

Post by playertron »

Well reading that is definitely making my day :)

And sure, no problem & great idea! I imagine it'd be a jack where an input trigger pulse would advance the sequencer, but there are some ambiguities, so reply if you have an opinion:
  • If trigger pulses advance each step, then the divisions lose meaning (ie, 1/3 wouldn't be a triplet, just the next step - is this ideal or would it be better if trigger pulses advance each beat and subdivisions are calculated based on the timing between the last two pulses?
  • Or, you could follow the same idea of using pulses for each beat, but the subdivisions can remain calculated according to the onboard bpm, which could be a cool way of having interesting timings, or would it be weird?
  • Similar question goes with a clock output - should it output a pulse when encountering each "step" or something more reasonable like one pulse per downbeat?
I'm already kinda feeling like I have my own answers, but it'd be interesting to hear what you're envisioning with your use cases in mind. In any case, I think this would be great for interfacing the cycle seq with the new multiplier/divider, which has an onboard clock, and that'd probably be pretty cool...
xones2358
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Re: The most Avantgarde thing happening to Voltage Modular right now

Post by xones2358 »

hey, thanks for replying and giving some food of thought on the topic of cycle sequencer!

Upon further thought, it came to mind that I might be able to synch those LFOs by sending triggers from 4 of the main tempo output trigs thus creating a straight clock for the LFO to synch with. But I have to test if the LFO I use (Andre Macaulay Delayed LFO) accepts those a tempo information - then all would be perfect as is and no need to change anything^^

Otherwise I would say. Better clock output than input. Because just advancing the steps would take the specialness from it. Just a steady output clock of the main tempo information of the currently selected BPM would do the job! (would be cool if it could regard the temporary switches on the left for :2 *2 *3 *4 as well - but not necessarly)

Glad, you found my post joyful. I find those modules too joyful. :)

S.
xones2358
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Re: The most Avantgarde thing happening to Voltage Modular right now

Post by xones2358 »

<PS. yeah your new modules look awesome too. I did not test the clock divider one yet.
But if you go for clock input on the Cycle sequencer.. I would basically suggest the same. Just a way to get in there a different main tempo/BPM while leaving the subdivisions outputs still do their thing, cause well that*s what makes it specal
Last edited by xones2358 on Wed Nov 17, 2021 11:17 am, edited 1 time in total.
xones2358
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Re: The most Avantgarde thing happening to Voltage Modular right now

Post by xones2358 »

update: happy cause it seems I can perfectly achieve synchronisation of the LFOs patching 4 cables from the main 1234 output.. :) (having those as combined clock signal would only be a convenience)
so actually no need to changee anything, but if you are inspired to try make synergies with your new clock module or even the BPM sequencer module, go for it. I am all in for experimenting with T.I.M.E. :mrgreen:
xones2358
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Re: The most Avantgarde thing happening to Voltage Modular right now

Post by xones2358 »

what happens if we patch each of those outputs of CYCLE SEQUENCER into Andrew Macaulay*s MATRIX SWITCH... thus having complete control over each outputs destination without touching the cables^^

well let*s see :lol:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vJfqVRGVT-E (>TET Version<)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1i1C1bsfXaM (>Instant Pitch Fader + Note Actuator Version<)

and beware.. there is some Laser Disc Delay in there too for FUN. :!:
playertron
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Re: The most Avantgarde thing happening to Voltage Modular right now

Post by playertron »

whoa super cool! If you're ever playing in the Boston area, I'll buy a ticket :)

Btw, I whipped up those changes which will have to come along with a slightly spruced up the GUI because the folks at CA stopped approving modules (even updates) with smaller jacks. I'm quite a fan of the changes - a clock out sends a trigger pulse on downbeats and a beat trig input advances the sequencer to each beat for syncing from an external source. (the sync in, which resets it to beat 1 with a trigger, and the synch out trig jacks are still present, and like you noted, the circle of jacks themselves make a fair clock too)

The behavior on the beat trig input is kinda cool - each trig makes it go 1, 2, 3, 4 like you'd expect, but the sequencer's tempo runs independently so if it's slower, you get a bit of a swing, and you can set it to be way faster and the sequencer might get ahead of the next beat before being pulled back to it with a trigger. Maybe tricky to explain, but basically, it sounds cool to synchronize the sequencer to a clock with different bpm. Anyway, I'll test this a million times over the next couple days and submit an update, likely this weekend - it'll probably take like a week to get approved and show up on your end.

On a side note, one thing I like to do is think of each cycle sequencer as a single beat (set with a fast tempo) and I use the fractional sequencer to trigger each cycle one after the other and in various orders. This is sort of another way to synchronize it externally.

Here's the updated version (at least so far):
cycle.jpg
cycle.jpg (113.63 KiB) Viewed 2977 times
xones2358
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Re: The most Avantgarde thing happening to Voltage Modular right now

Post by xones2358 »

glad you enjoyed it - just some noodling. I cannot screenrecord higher level patches well because of CPU reasons.
but if you feel like it, on my Youtube (or the bandcamp link in my signature) you find some other music of mine (full albums) which is a bit different from the modular excursions.
I am from rural Europe BTW, not so easy to get anywere so soon considering the circumstances but who knows. :)

I adore how fast you came out with interesting additions to Cycle Sequencer, I will try those connections and also the other method of fractional triggering, you suggested. :arrow:

Damn,all your modules look inviting to,... PLAY :lol: Do you have plans to have some reductions around Black Friday?
Don*t get me wrong, I think they are very reasonable prices. I already have a set of bundles in mind, which I want anyway.

I found though that combining more of your modules causing my machine CPU problems. (the computer is 6 years old but has decent specs)
Especially having two chains of TET algorithm - the TET player and the Instant pitch fader together causing crackling (not always though). I already use VM standalone cause it is more CPU friendly. Modulating the Laser Disc Delay with non stepped waveforms in an already rather dense patch also causes some pretty wicked crackle.
I guess the solution would be a more recent CPU. :idea:

I don*t think,I agree with Cherry Audio not allowing the small connectors. I think the custom *hand*cursors of Nrgzr78 are much more annoying^^.

Anyway. I will try to report back about my opinon on the changes. Great that you give such nice feedback and are also open for suggestions!

S.
playertron
Posts: 63
Joined: Wed May 26, 2021 7:25 pm

Re: The most Avantgarde thing happening to Voltage Modular right now

Post by playertron »

Listening to the bandcamp now, pretty cool so far, the bass line on this one right now is great!

I’ve been deep into a bunch of projects, so I haven’t thought about black Friday (thinking like a business isn’t nearly as in focus as the engineering design process), but I’ll be sure to get in there and drop a few prices. Btw, CPU is always an interesting conversation with DSP - I take the philosophy of working to optimize the efficiency of algorithms/processing, but prefer not to compromise on fidelity and functionality. You’ll find access to some modulation options that would often be left out because they’re tough on CPU, where the developer runs the risk of seeming like they write lousy code, but I’m willing to go out on a limb there and throw in a couple features that might be tough on a lot of computers while giving access to something interesting that you might be able to make use of at some point or in some circumstances. They’re always opt-out-able, so it’ll never hurt to have a jack on the laser disc delay, for instance, that smoothly modulates 8 delay times with double precision - if you’re computer isn’t quite up to it, just use the individual modulation jacks and get as much as you can :) Or, use the Correlator and drop the fidelity of the incoming signal with its “mod resolution” knob (a tiny knob at the input jack, which btw makes a fun little bit crusher too, if you input audio). I figure it makes sense not to put artificial lids on activities in a modular synthesis environment, but you might have to restrain a little depending on your capacities. And oh, how I pine for the ability to create visual hierarchy and spacial efficiencies with the small jacks, but as someone used to working with hardware realities, modifying pixel counts is easy stuff :)
playertron
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Re: The most Avantgarde thing happening to Voltage Modular right now

Post by playertron »

the cycle sequencer is now updated!
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