Hey,
Playing around with this idea of a multi function West coast rhythmic box. This is not something that I have strong plans to build, but regardless thought it could be a fun question to pose to the MG racks community. Wondering if people had suggestions for this type of system.
Sure...what the hey, right? So...
Some of this is based on encounters with Buchla and Serge stuff in the past, with some updating because Eurorack.
Top: Quad free-running LFOs are paired with a three-in attenuverter/mixer for creating composite modulation, leaving one LFO free at all times. Kept the Quantum Rainbow 2, but added a Make Noise FXDf so that one noise signal can be divided into even tighter noise bands, similar to the Buchla comb filters and how you can use them for the same sort of thing. Dual quantized VCO next, and for screwing around with that, there's an Antimatter Crossfold, which allows simultaneous waveshaping via combination of the VCOs (or a VCO and noise source). The 6x Mix is to provide three two-in mixers for composite spectra of noise/VCOs/Crossfold. Then the MEAT...SIX lowpass gates, plus a dual multimode VCF (mainly for bandpass/highpass use, but your mileage may vary). After that are two pairs of Omsonic six-in stereo panning mixers with FX Aids; these are intended to sum down sources, process them as two separate 2-channel sources, then the Antimatter V3kt handles your quad sound projection.
Bottom: Temps Utile, Fractio Solum for CV over clock division/multiplication, then a Knights Gallop algorithmic pattern generator. After this is a pulse counter, then a probabilistic pulse skipper, leading to a Boolean logic module plus a Bytom for pulse summing/distro. Eight EGs are after this for control of the LPGs, etc. The Tonic is a sequencer that derives CV outputs from incoming pulsetrain info, and to help make that even more nuts, there's a Pithoprakta probabilistic sequencer. This ENTIRE ROW is intended to function as a single device for generating and manipulating timing signals, taking them from being simple clock/pattern outputs from the Temps Utile (which also has four CV ins for direct modulation of various parameters) through various stochastic and logical processes to arrive at the ENTIRE sequencing and control system for the upper row's parameters, from CV to gate/trigger signals.
But wait! Where are all the VCAs!? Don't need 'em in here, since the vast majority of what's going on involves timing pulses; there's very little in the way of CV going on, much of which has been optimized for MANUAL control. Instead, we have the Boolean gates, which are kindasorta a substitute for VCAs for tampering with pulse behavior instead of modulation amplitude. And up top, you have the array of LPGs (half of which is a VCA, remember?), plus a filter that can either be fed audio OR it can be "pinged" with a high resonance setting, which can give you two different ringing filters from the same general FM control. Mixing with the panning submixers is manual (which is a little different, given that you have to determine levels BEFORE the submixer, not ON it) but we get back to CV control when we get to the quad spatializer at the end of the audio chain.
Pretty nuts, actually...I wouldn't mind messing around with this sort of a "drum machine", although it doesn't have the "Teen Beat" setting found on my Seeburg Select-a-rhythm.
West coast rhythm machine you say? I highly recommend something that can do Euclidian rhythms and logic like Pamela New Workout or VPME Euclidian Circles! For percussion modules, Noise Engineering BIA is a must as it can do a lot of stuff if you modulate it. I also love Plaits. Here is my compact techno dance machine as an example:
I use 4 percussion modules and Eloquencer with WMD 4TTEN and Praga 4 channel CV mixer that has VCAs built in. Works great.
Plus Eloquencer lets me sequence random, pendulum, 8 channels.
Pretty nuts, actually...
-- Lugia
I think you nailed the spirit of the West coast. I find it quite funny that this system doesn't feature a full VCA. Very counter-intuitive to much of the advice on this forum.
Never think that Temps Utile gets enough credit. Really had a long of fun with it. The clock timing section seems like a blast to fool around with (especially with a circular logic cycle that affects temps)
Well, it does and it DOESN'T have VCAs. Half of an LPG is a VCA, but since it and the filter are controlled via a vactrol, it has something approximating "hysteresis", resulting in a ring-off "tail" after the CV drops to zero. But if you're talking West Coast, they're 100% essential to that sound...it's where that woody "ploonk" sound comes from because of how the vactrol decay works.
