Month: June 2022

On the 4th of June, I performed a semi-improvised set at the Iklectik Kiosk, this was my first time performing using a modular synth also my first time performing in open air.

Other than the modular, I used a sampler for some drum programming and as my master clock. I used a radio for live sampling and a dictaphone for some atmospheric pads.

I usually try not to plan my sets too much. But I’ve been realising that it’s better to prepare sounds and improvise with those. Similar with the modular, I didn’t want to be connecting cables during the performance, so the night before I did a patch that was easy to manipulate and take on many different directions, and with the ‘Morphagene’ have many different reels available with sounds for easy access.

I was satisfied with my performance because I felt it was the most dynamic Ive sounded live. I wasn’t worrying about the small details of the sounds, I was just focusing on the overall piece and its evolvement. It was stress relieving, because I like my music to be filled with different inter-lapping layers and I like to make it feel dense and evolving, so with fully improvised is hard to achieve this while also achieving something that is harmonically cohesive.

I still feel a bit limited with my modular, I’ve been building it for the past 3 years and this was the first time I felt that It would be appropriate to use it live, but if I decided to do it without the sampler it would be really hard to make something dynamic. I still lack effect units, and I only have a un-quantised 8 step sequencer to control my rack. For this set I didn’t think it was a drawback, mostly because it was a short 30 min set.

Overall, great experience and made me optimistic and less nervous about using modular live. The only thing I wish I was able to sit in the audience as well, because I’ve never been able to listen to my modular through a huge PA, where I was standing I missed lots of the high end.

One of the sounds requested for the videogame was voices for the characters similar to the ones in Animal Crossing which is called Animalese. Each letter corresponds to a different synthesised sound.

So to replicate something similar I took the approach of using formant synthesis, this method uses resonant bandpass filters to mimic the sound of human speech.

Mutable Instruments ‘Plaits’, is a great Eurorack module with different synthesis modes, one of them being formant synthesis. So I decided to record this module and with granular synthesis transpose the recording, spreading the grains and filtering.

This sort of replicates Animalese. I did different takes, and long recordings, to have lots to work with.

I also recorded my girlfriends voice and voices from the radio, and processing this with granular synthesis. Specifically with the module ‘Morphagene’, which is an amazing piece of equipment.

The idea was to use these sounds for a couple of levels in the videogame, since we didn’t actually end up doing this, and we use the trailer instead, we didn’t end up using these sounds. But now I have a huge folder filled with these funny sounds, maybe they will come in handy in the future.

I did some research to find other equipment that does formant synthesis, and I found the ‘Yamaha FS1R’, which sounds amazing.

The 1st of June, I went to Cafe OTO. Wade Matthews was performing using an extremely elaborate Max for Live patch, in which he was using a similar approach to this, using formant and granular synthesis, but he was controlling this which a weird looking touch sensitive pad. Really cool stuff.