New version of my patch emulating the Hologram Microcosm effects pedal, but this time only using free VCV modules to create a granular delay.
After a phaser, four Nysthi Simpliciters record the incoming audio (triggered by Squonks) and loop short segments, with the loop length randomly modulated by Caudal. The looped outputs then pass through low-pass filters and into a Mindmeld mixer, with another phaser, another Simpliciter, Chronoblob Delays and reverb on the aux sends. There’s also some regular delays on the entire mix with the time parameter randomly modulated to get a slight pitch wobble or tape delay effect.
Some of the Simpliciters play backwards and an octave higher, for a complex shimmery sound.
I use this on live guitar, but the patch sounds great on percussive synth voices, or you could try your own samples too.
Great sound! Could someone please give me a hint at which point in the patch you plug the signal? Somehow I can not find it.
Thanks! Depends on the interface you’re using, but it’s usually the first connection labelled ‘From device’ on the audio module.
Let me know if you can’t get it working.
Oh, yeah right. Maybe I should have mentioned that I don’t want to patch external instruments into VCV via an audio interface at the moment… sorry 😄
I tried to connect the patch within VCV with a sequencer and oscillator as sound source. Do you have a tip for me for this? Thanks!
Ah right, that’s entirely possible. I’ll have to check but usually I connect the audio interface to quite a few different modules. You’d have to reconnect all the cables from the input on the audio module, and re-patch them to the output of whichever oscillator you want to use. Might be worth patching in a mixer, so you can try different sound sources without repatching everything.
Thanks for your answer, now I got it. From the screenshot you can see how I extended the patch for further testing. I marked your cables in purple, which I re-plugged from the audio module to the second mixer.
I really love this patch, it sounds totally magical… I could listen to this forever! Now I just need to figure out which parameters have the most impact on the sound 😄. It might be worth putting some “Mildmeld Patchmasters”.
Thank you so much for sharing! 😊
Attachment scr-extended-patch-644e27632a688.png
No problem, have fun! I’m quite proud of this one to be honest. It’s really satisfying to use with live input, I’ve sat and played guitar through it for hours. I also put my old Juno-6 through it, there’s a video of that too on my YouTube channel although I think percussive sounds work better than pads. Probably worth running a sampler into it as well and resampling it for new sounds. Loads of possibilities….
Yes, you are absolutely right, possibilities are endless and percussive/plucky sounds work best. And to have a Juno is really a dream… I envy you :-)
I just added this as an effect in Bitwig Studio (works great) and will try it out with all my VST instruments (including Arturias Jun-6 V) when I find time. First tests are very promising. Unfortunately I don’t have much hardware available at the moment, except a Behringer Neutron.
Just discovered… next what i try out is your “Rings into Clouds FX” Patch ;-)
That’s a great idea actually, I can use VCV Pro with Reaper so I’ll have to try that. I was lucky with the Juno, bought it way back in the 90’s with a student loan for about £150 and never imagined prices would get so silly. Just wish I’d bought more at the time!
I’m thinking of revisiting the Rings into Clouds FX patch, and seeing if my desktop can handle 16 instances of Rings. That would definitely detonate my laptop ;)
I can’t even think about the fact that I sold a “Moog Sonic Six” for 150 German Marks () when I was a student in the late 80s 😆
By the way… I stumbled across this video 4 weeks ago… maybe interesting for you (and others, of course):
Recreating a $450 pedal with FREE plugins
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4ciU63kG8Nc
I don’t know if you know that channel. Lots of videos about sound design, in high quality.
Ouch, that has to hurt!
Yeah, I follow Venus Theory but hadn’t seen that, thanks. I also have Emergence, which is a great plugin. I think I used Soundhack Bubbler++ for the first Microcosm patch, which is similar.