Generative ambient patch with granular chords of overlapping ‘grains’ of sine waves, inspired by Clouds.
Little ZEBU experiment where I tried to recreate a nice use case of the MI Clouds module; whenever Clouds has a short buffer frozen, it will play each grain with whatever settings (pitch, spread, level, shape, etc) it has AT THE MOMENT that grain is triggered. So, if you send it pitch CV at audio rate (and other modulation) it will play overlapping grains forming chords, which – combined with that massive internal reverb – is great for ambient stuff. Well, this patch doesn’t quite achieve that, but after some tweaking it turned out interesting enough to publish. It’s just some sci-fi fun.
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[OVERVIEW]
-Input/Output: Stereo input (goes only through the reverb), Stereo out
-CPU load: Around 95%
-Build: Initial version built with firmware 2.70
-MIDI: Controls are NOT YET set to CCs (I normally use channels 21/36, see CONTROLS section for details).
-CV Inputs:
Not used.
-CV Outputs:
1) Pitch1 (1V/oct)
2) Pitch2 (1V/oct)
3) Pitch3 (1V/oct)
4) Swirly (slow random rise-and-falling CV)
[REVISIONS]
1.0: Initial patch.
[CONTROLS]
All controls on PAGE0 (see below for a “Picture Manual” in the comments). The Stereo Output module with gain parameter and the Reverb module are found on PAGE1.
RATE (sets the rate at which new grains are played)
VELOCITY (sets the average velocity of each grain)
COLOR (sets the pulse width, affecting the timbre of the grains)
SHAPE (sets the envelope shape of the grains)
ZOIA stompswitches = Unused.
ZEBU LEFT button = Freeze the reverb to infinite
ZEBU RIGHT button = Toggle scales between Prometheus and Akebono.
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[PATCH STRUCTURE]
In this patch there’s no ‘frozen recording buffer’ like in the Clouds module, but since the chord-trick works best with simple waveshapes I’ve just used sine wave oscillators. There’s 3-voice polyphony (or ‘overlap’) and I’m modulating the panning and pulse-width of each grain randomly. I’m also modulating the envelope shape, and to do that I’ve created a macro control value (called SHAPE) which goes from short/plucky through smooth through reverse-saw (so slow attack, fast decay).
The melody/pitch is created by summing a bunch of sine LFOs through a steps module (which is modulated to go from big chord voicings to simpler 2 or 3 note chords) through a Multiply (which is also modulated to go from high and spread out to only lower notes), into a quantizer set to Prometheus scale, providing an instant sci-fi atmosphere!
There is also an Aliaser module which sweeps in- and out every now and then, providing an extra layer of twinkly galacticness. Not sure if that’s a word, but whatever.
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[TIPS/TRICKS]
>>> Just sit back and relax.
>>> The patch also generates 3 individual pitch CV outputs (one for each internal voice) that can used to integrate other Eurorack modules.
[THOUGHTS/IDEAS/PLANS]
This patch is done, no future plans.
If there’s any bugs/questions/remarks/requests or suggestions for improvement, please let me know!
Enjoy!
(Image: Albert Dros)
Picture Manual:
Attachment Manual-Promethium-63c6838297eb1.jpg