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I built my own analog drum machine (2020)

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Re: I built my own analog drum machine (2020)

#11

Post by pushrax »

motohagiography wrote: post #5

The slider interface on the second prototype is very appealing as a UX. His other ones look sold out, and naively I could see custom collector synths from artists become quite a thing. What I love about making music with synths is you're essentially exploring a fractal overlaid on all possible audible frequencies, modulated by time. There is a kind of romanticism to the analog aspect of it that emphasises how it is a…

> the art of it is something discovered and shared

That’s what microtonal harmonic structures feel like to me, in the present day. Exploration and sharing of a new but familiar frontier. Even when done digitally.

Re: I built my own analog drum machine (2020)

#12

Post by doctorhandshake »

In school I studied computer music, and I participated in a grad seminar for which the final project was a group concert. Alvin Lucier, one of the progenitors of electronic music, led the seminar as guest faculty.

For the performance I built a software instrument in Max/MSP with some similar principles around free timing to those in this drum machine, but with a digital granular synth voicing.

At the pre-show critique, I performed a piece using this instrument, and explained that the synthesizer had 3 voices because I found that to be a sweet spot between a full-sounding texture and what I could manage live.

Alvin asked me if I had considered 5 voices. Confused, I said I had, but, and I repeated, I found it too much to manage. Cryptically, he replied something to the effect of ‘well, ok, but three is three but five is five.’ This was bizarrely hilarious to me but I kept it to myself.

Later, the student who designed the show poster elected to call it ‘Three is Three but Five is Five’.

Re: I built my own analog drum machine (2020)

#13

Post by smoldesu »

danboarder wrote: post #4
smoldesu wrote: post #3

Thanks to the magic of Eurorack, it's easier than ever (albeit expensive) to build your own synth. Even "from scratch" oscillators aren't too difficult, if you're familiar with breadboarding/soldering.

Thanks for mentioning that, I was not aware of Eurorack and when I looked it up I found the Synth DIY Wiki, which is a treasure trove for this topic, super cool ( https://sdiy.info/wiki/Main_Page ). BTW, some friends and I build the Box of Boom, which is an interactive digital + analog drum kit that uses actuators to play real drums with a video game console ( see https://www.boxofboom.com ). We're exploring doing a…

That's neat! I forgot to mention VCV Rack [1] which is a great way to get started with Eurorack for free.

[1] https://vcvrack.com/

Re: I built my own analog drum machine (2020)

#14

Post by munificent »

motohagiography wrote: post #5

The slider interface on the second prototype is very appealing as a UX. His other ones look sold out, and naively I could see custom collector synths from artists become quite a thing. What I love about making music with synths is you're essentially exploring a fractal overlaid on all possible audible frequencies, modulated by time. There is a kind of romanticism to the analog aspect of it that emphasises how it is a…

> you're essentially exploring a fractal overlaid on all possible audible frequencies, modulated by time.

Another way to think of it is that every knob on the synth gives you a new dimension and each patch is a single point in that n-dimensional space. Sound design means exploring that volume by changing coordinates.

I look at synth usability (which is very similar to how a lot of game designers talk about fun) as in part a question of how that space is arranged. How much of that volume produces sounds users will like versus ones they won't? How continuous is it? If I like a sound at point X, how likely am I to like sounds near X, or will moving even a small distance radically change the sound? Can I intuit what neighboring regions will sound like based on the current sound?

I think a big part of why subtractive synthesis has been so successful is that it works well in that model. Most parameter changes are continuous and intuitive. The space feels like it smoothly changes in useful and predictable ways as you navigate.

FM synthesis is really cool, but it feels a lot more like a chaotic universe where there are tiny islands of brilliant sounds separated by empty volumes of noise, or indistinguishable FM bloops.

Re: I built my own analog drum machine (2020)

#15

Post by munificent »

danboarder wrote: post #4
smoldesu wrote: post #3

Thanks to the magic of Eurorack, it's easier than ever (albeit expensive) to build your own synth. Even "from scratch" oscillators aren't too difficult, if you're familiar with breadboarding/soldering.

Thanks for mentioning that, I was not aware of Eurorack and when I looked it up I found the Synth DIY Wiki, which is a treasure trove for this topic, super cool ( https://sdiy.info/wiki/Main_Page ). BTW, some friends and I build the Box of Boom, which is an interactive digital + analog drum kit that uses actuators to play real drums with a video game console ( see https://www.boxofboom.com ). We're exploring doing a…

If you search for "eurorack kit", you can find a ton of module kits where you get all the parts and solder them yourself. It's a really enjoyable hobby and a nice way to ease into electronics.

Re: I built my own analog drum machine (2020)

#17

Post by PaulDavisThe1st »

smoldesu wrote: post #13
danboarder wrote: post #4

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Thanks for mentioning that, I was not aware of Eurorack and when I looked it up I found the Synth DIY Wiki, which is a treasure trove for this topic, super cool ( https://sdiy.info/wiki/Main_Page ). BTW, some friends and I build the Box of Boom, which is an interactive digital + analog drum kit that uses actuators to play real drums with a video game console ( see https://www.boxofboom.com ). We're exploring doing a…

That's neat! I forgot to mention VCV Rack [1] which is a great way to get started with Eurorack for free. [1] https://vcvrack.com/

Rack is awesome, and I use it almost every day. But it's not a way to get started with Eurorack.

It's a (great) way to get started with modular synthesis.

Eurorack is specific term for a particular hardware format (physical dimensions, power supply specifications, electrical standards). In general, most of the modules are analog, though there's no requirement for this to be true. Hardware modular synthesis existed before the emergence of Eurorack (perhaps most famously the Moog modulars, but also Buchla and perhaps 6-12 other companies making modular systems). Eurorack is an industry-wide specification that allows many different module makers to create modules that will all fully interoperate with each other.

Re: I built my own analog drum machine (2020)

#18

Post by smoldesu »

PaulDavisThe1st wrote: post #17
smoldesu wrote: post #13

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That's neat! I forgot to mention VCV Rack [1] which is a great way to get started with Eurorack for free. [1] https://vcvrack.com/

Rack is awesome, and I use it almost every day. But it's not a way to get started with Eurorack. It's a (great) way to get started with modular synthesis . Eurorack is specific term for a particular hardware format (physical dimensions, power supply specifications, electrical standards). In general, most of the modules are analog, though there's no requirement for this to be true. Hardware modular synthesis existed b…

My distinction is that it's to get you used to the standard, not the hardware. VCV Rack still uses 1V/Octave and CV just like a real Eurorack synth, so calling it "modular" is a bit of a disservice. VCV Rack is an emulation of the hardware, so much so that you can actually mix and match the two if you have the proper interface.

Re: I built my own analog drum machine (2020)

#19

Post by mastazi »

PaulDavisThe1st wrote: post #17
smoldesu wrote: post #13

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That's neat! I forgot to mention VCV Rack [1] which is a great way to get started with Eurorack for free. [1] https://vcvrack.com/

Rack is awesome, and I use it almost every day. But it's not a way to get started with Eurorack. It's a (great) way to get started with modular synthesis . Eurorack is specific term for a particular hardware format (physical dimensions, power supply specifications, electrical standards). In general, most of the modules are analog, though there's no requirement for this to be true. Hardware modular synthesis existed b…

Several VCV Rack modules are software renditions of hardware Eurorack modules, e.g. the Befaco or Expert Sleepers ones.

I'm sure there are some VCV modules inspired to other systems like Buchla or Serge but they are not official software reproductions of hardware products, like the examples mentioned above.

Re: I built my own analog drum machine (2020)

#20

Post by erikschoster »

qrv3w wrote: post #9
erikschoster wrote: post #6

It's nice to see this here -- as Ellen Fullman said, instrument building is composition.

Is that quote from a particular interview or talk? I'm interested in the context and learning more about Fullman

Yes it's actually paraphrasing the title of a nice piece she contributed to the second issue of the Spectres journal published by Shelter Press! The full title is "Instrument design is composition, resonance is harmony." It's an inspiring essay -- the Spectres issue on Resonances has a number of other nice essays from composers, sound artists etc loosely grouped around the subject.
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