The modular synthesis system we used is a Make Noise Shared System (Black and Gold Edition) with a few modules missing.

Chad Allen, Switched On Music Electronics

CHAD ALLEN
Switched On, Austin
Synthesizer dream space, storefront, repair spa, and online retailer of music electronics.


These missing modules make using the system more fun. Sometimes limiting yourself can foster unexpected creative solutions. Modules in this system: modDemix (dual balanced modulator with a summed output), DPO (dual oscillator and then some), Optomix (dual low pass gate with summed output), Echophon (digital delay), Erbe-Verb (digital reverb), Pressure Points (touch interface), René (Cartesian sequencer), and Phonogene (looping sampler). Of course, each module can do far more than its reductive description implies. Here are a few patches we came up with for the camera.

Zen

ZEN

All patching is no patching. Admire the moment by listening to the world around you assimilate the world within you. Make your next step only when you know it will be your first. Patience is key.

All Out

ALL OUT

When you get crazy, go ALL OUT. In this balls-to-the-wall configuration you wasted all of your precious patch cables by patching one end of each to the output of every module in the system. Well done!

flat-circle

FLAT CIRCLE

This existential patch involves only two modules: Echophon and Erbe-Verb. We have created a feedback loop by patching the output of Echophon to the input of Erbe-Verb and the output of Erbe-Verb to the input of Echophon, ouroboros style. You actually get quite a bit of control over the resulting moan by changing the pitch shift setting of the echo, the delay and reverb lengths, and the modulation on Erbe-Verb. It’s infinite fun.

the-tv-room

TV ROOM

You know how computers sound in old movies? They always sound like no computer ever has—lots of bleeps and bloops. This twist on a rather typical sequenced patch made us think of the sound of computers thinking in the cinematic Willy Wonka Television Room. Echophon clocks René, which sends quantized voltage to DPO (in Sync mode) and gate out to Optomix. DPO’s final output is fed into Echophon and then Erbe-Verb, while Erbe’s envelope following CV output modulates DPO’s wave shape.

angry-birds

ANGRY BIRDS

A new way to play! Pressure Points sends gate out to Optomix and voltage to the pitch input on DPO (which runs through Optomix and Erbe-Verb), while sending its pressure output through a multiple to various modulation inputs on DPO. This makes DPO mad and it screams at you like an unhappy avian creature when you really lean on the first pad of the Pressure Points. Squawwwk!

Preaching To The Choir Patch - Make Noise Shared System, Switched On Austin

PREACHING TO THE CHOIR

You talk to yourself a lot, but do you ever listen to what you are saying?! Now is your chance, using what may be the world’s most expensive headphone amplifier. The input amplifier is patched directly to the output attenuator so you can hear yourself crystal clear. Consult your inner voice and externalize your intuition about your next patch.

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