Modular sessions

Started building out my first modular rack over the holidays and this is my first patch using the Dreadbox Erebus, Instruo Arbhar, and Instruo Lubadh.

Scratchy percussion was recorded using the Arbhar's built-in condenser mic, and the bird song was recorded on a recent hike through Werribee Gorge and run through the Arbhar's granular engine.

Reverb tails are coming from the Desmodus Versio, and stereo imaging is from the Worng Soundstage II. Pamela's Pro Workout is generating the controlled random rhythms and melodies which have been quantized to a Japanese scale.

Modular sessions — Werribee Gorge

The next segment of my modular exploration, this time combining percussion from the Squid Salmple, bass and kick from MI Plaits, bells and string-like tones from MI Rings, granularized samples from the Instuo Arbhar, and delay/reverb from Demodus Versio. Modulation coming from a mixture of Make Noise Maths, MI Marbles, ALM Pam's Pro Workout and Pip Slope, and MI Stages.

Modular sessions — Lubadh

What a rock might hear as it sits there, watching the years pass like days.

Modular sessions — Inner reflections

Getting more comfortable with my modular rig each day as I experiment with different techniques and styles. Charting a different course this time with something a little more danceable.

Drums and coming from the Squid Salmple, sequenced by the Intellijel Steppy. Chords are coming from MI Plaits, and rhythmic textural parts coming from MI Rings, with the Aux out of Plaits fed into Rings' resonator exciter to add some interesting harmonics. Both of those modules are pitch sequenced with the Cycle Instruments Tetrachords, and gate sequenced with Pam's Pro Workout.

Modular sessions — Tetrachords

Another modular jam, this time incorporating some samples from NASA's audio archives and my new Instruo Saich module.

Modular sessions — Saturn V1

A wobbly adventure that reminds me of exploring Joshua Tree at night. A warm breeze carries the scent of the desert, silhouettes dance in the starlight, and dusty earth whispers under foot.

Another night brings a new musical adventure as I explore my modular rig and figure things out, one patch cable at a time.

Modular sessions — Sealegs

Dreamy little noodle experimenting with Campestria Versio firmware which is a community-made port of Valley's Plateau reverb for the Noise Engineering Versio platform.

Made with Intellijel Cascadia, Intellijel Sealegs, Mutable Instruments Plaits, Rings, Marbles, and Stages, ALM Squid Salmple, and sequencing from Squarp Hapax.

Modular sessions — Hypnagog

First exploration with a pair of Oct Tone modules from Glasgow Synth Guild paired with the Cycle Instruments Tetrachords.

Modular sessions — Oct Tone

Another noodle as I explore the textures made by sending ALM Cizzle into Mutable Instruments Beads, underpinned by Intellijel Cascadia.

Modular sessions — Aurora

An ambient exploration using sending Rings into Arbhar's recording buffers, modulating between the layers, and sending parts through Mimeophon, on its way through Electus Versio and Sovage Engineering Teinte.

Modular sessions — Infinity Gate

First time I've played the flute in over 15 years…. A bit rusty, but enjoying recording and overdubbing loops into the Instruo Arbhar's buffers to add texture.

Modular sessions — Sands of time

My first patch exploring the Blukac Endless Processor module to create intertwining drones. The endless processor resynthesises audio you feed into the inputs to create infinitely sustained sounds.

In this case, I ran my single-stringed Diddleybow through the BoredBrain Injectr with a little bit of drive and the cab sim enabled and captured different notes and timbres into each layer to build up a droning chord in each of the two channels. Channel volume is being modulated by the Instruo Ochd and Ochd expander to create movement.

The Endless processor's outputs are routed through the Make Noise QPAS stereo filter with resonance set to 40%. Cutoff frequency is also modulated by the Ochd with a slow LFO. Smile pass outputs are then routed into the Intellijel Sealegs to add some reverb and vinyl crackle.

I thought I'd experiment with the BoredBrain Injectr's envelope follower, so I routed that to the QPAS's mystery input so whenever I pluck the diddleybow, a short envelope triggers a filter ping of sorts to create the underwater bubble sounds.

Modular sessions — Endless tide

Took the Malstrom Mandrake kick for a spin and I'm digging the playability and sounds I can get out of this module. Familiarizing myself with the Intellijel Metropolix which I'm using to sequence Cascadia. Kick rumble is courtesy of the Make Noise Mimeophon, and the lead ping pong delay is coming from Intellijel Sealegs.

Modular Sessions — Mandrake

This track emerged from experimenting with a Mutable Instruments Clouds clone (Big T Music Monsoon) as I get familiar with its controls. Really digging some of the textures I can create, particularly with plenty of modulation. Chord source is coming from Mutable Instrument Rings in Disastrous Peace mode, with Rings and Monsoon modulation coming from a Triple Sloths module (also built by Big T Music). Bassline courtesy of Shakmat Banshee Reach, running through the Worng Parallax filter. Percussion samples are coming from ALM Squid Salmple, and kick from the Malstrom Mandrake routed through the Malstrom Wyvern to add drive and saturation. Finally, the audio sample is coming from the Music Thing Modular Radio Music module which includes some super fun sample sources. Finally, I'm adding some tape warble and flutter to Rings/Monsoon via the Kinotone Ribbons pedal.

Modular sessions — Everything's going to be alright

Another take on my last track but experimenting with the sypathetic strings mode and some alternative processing through Monsoon, Sealegs, and Ribbons.

Modular sessions — Rangoon

Modular sessions — Big mood

Experimenting with some vintage recordings of psychotherapy and hypnosis tapes from the 70s, and leaning into the tape aesthetic by running everything through the Ampersand Ampersand Wear & Tear stereo casette tape emulator module.

Modular sessions — Psychotherapy

A good friend of mine shared a little noodle on his guitar the other day, and I thought I'd build on the chords to create my own little interpretation with my modular rig.

Voices:
- Dixie II running through Natural Gate for bass
- Rings into Beads to add the upper melody and rhythmic blips pitched an octave up
- Plaits provide DX7-like tones for the mid voice
- Neuzeit Warp providing the chords
- ALM Squid Salmple for percussion
- Malstrom Mandrake for kick
- Acoustic: experimented with noodling over the top with a vintage Autoharp (picking is hard given the tight string spacing and lack of visual guide)

Effects:
- Mimeophon gives a delay and subtle reverb to percussion
- Meris Mercury 7 pedal provides a lush reverb
- Wear & Tear adds the tape emulation and saturation

Modular sessions — The mallowest of marshes

Modular sessions — Mochi clouds

Modular sessions — Light bridge

Melbourne-based designer who's be stepping into the world of modular synthesis.

Modular sessions

Metric Imperial