I recently got an Analogue Systems "French Connection" a controller inspired by the Ondes Martenot instrument and decided to play around with it. It's a lot of fun and I feel it opens up a lot of new possibilities of being really expressive with the synthesizer.
Also check out Josh Semans who inspired me to finally get a "French Connection" with his great work on the Ondes Martenot.
Hope you enjoy!
Patch notes:
The patch is made up of two parts. The French Connection controls two Even VCOs going into the BF-22 filter. Which is patched into the Hexmix VCA. The amplitude and the filter cutoff are controlled by the button on the French Connection. The output of the Hexmix VCA goes into two Doepfer A-199 spring reverbs which in turn are patched into the 4ms Dual Looping Delay which is used for some sound on sound looping later in the piece.
The second part of the patch is Mutable Instruments Plaits in chord mode with the timbre slowly modulated by a slow LFO on the Befaco Rampage. The output from Plaits in patched into Clouds which is in granular mode with the pitch set to one octave high.
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Refraction (Cassette and Modular)
After some time another one using tape loops. This time utilizing my portastudio 424 that I got recently. It's nice to take a step back and listen more sometime...
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Anew (Piano And Modular Improvisation)
A soft piece for the hot days...
Experimenting with two interlocking phrases on this one. The sequence feels a bit more "concrete" and less open then usually but I think it's a direction I could explore more.
Patch Notes: The patch consists of two voices. The first voice is made up of a triangle wave from the EvenVCO going into the BF-22 filter into the hexmix then into the DLD and finally into clouds. The second voice is the same exept using a saw output on the second EvenVCO. The delay times are quite long almost as long as the phrases themselves leading to some nice minimal music effects. Clouds adds reverb and in the end granular processing. The filter is being modulated by two sequences coming from Pressure Points and the RYO VC Sequencer. The sequences are clocked and reset by different outputs on the 4ms Quad Clock Distributor.
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Wait (Piano And Modular Improvisation)
Another slow one...
Patch Notes:
This patch is fairly simple: Piano comes in via the Intellijel 1U I/O Module and into Clouds. Clouds is in granular mode. Clouds is patched into the 4ms DLD for some extra delay.
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Slowly (Piano and Modular Improvisation)
Practising playing and listening between the notes...
Patch Notes:
The piano comes in through the intelijel 1U in/out module. It is then patched into the 4ms Dual Looping Delay which is set to fairly long delay times: 7 beats on the left channel and 8 on the right. the output from the DLD is patched into clouds which is in granular mode with low density and high size settings. The grain direction is set to reverse and the pitch is set down one octave.
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To Complete (Piano And Modular Improvisation)
Playing around with polyrythms again...
Patch notes:
Two Befaco EvenVCOs using the saw output going into the BF-22 filter and then into the Hexmix VCA. Envelope is two channels of Maths with the fall time modulated by Pressure Points and the RYO VC Sequencer. Output from the VCA is patched into the 4ms DLD.
If you like what I do please consider buying my music or support me on patreon!
Onwards (Piano And Modular Improvisation)
Trying one with a little more movement juxtaposed by a steady polymetric pattern. I really like the optimistic feeling in this one.
Patch Notes:
The sound sources are two Befaco Even-VCOs using the squarewave output. The pulsewidth is modulated by two sequencers: the Make Noise Pressure Points / Brains combo and the RYO VC Seq. The clock is coming from Yarns. The notes come in via MIDI from Pro Tools. The Even VCOs are patched into the Beface BF-22 MS-20 style filter and then into the HexMix VCA. The output from this goes into the 4ms DLD.
If you like what I do please consider buying my music or support me on patreon!
Clouds (Piano And Modular Improvisation)
Making piano clouds with piano and clouds...
Patch Notes:This one is pretty simple: The piano is patched into clouds in granular mode. The pitch is set to -1 octave and the position in modulated by maths. Clouds output is patched into the 4ms DLD for extra delay.
If you like what I do please consider buying my music or support me on patreon!
Daylight (Piano And Modular Improvisation)
Appreciating the days getting longer. Even though the world is a crazy place right now: summer is coming and I'm enjoying the longer days.
Patch Notes:
For this one I used two EvenVCOs with their saw out going into the BF-22 filter. This in turn is patched into Clouds in granular mode. The oscillators are also crossmodulated the amount of which is sequenced by pressure points (together with Brains) and the RYO VC Sequencer. The notes are coming from Pro Tools and I use Yarns as a MIDI interface. The microphones used are two Oktava Mk-12s and the camera is a Lumix GH4.
If you like what I do please consider buying my music or support me on patreon!
Ride (Piano And Modular Improvisation)
I planned for this one to turn out much shorter, but I got kinda lost in it and liked where it went. So I hope you enjoy this slightly longer video!
I've been riding my bike a lot in these crazy times rather than take public transportation which also has the positive effect of putting me in a much calmer mood when I arrive where I need to go...
Patch Notes: The piano is patched into the Sampleslicer which in turn goes into Clouds which is in looping delay mode. The two synth voices are EvenVCOs patched into the BF-22 Filter. Each gets its envelope from maths one of which is set with a short attack and a longer release. The other one is set up in reverse with a long attack and a short release for that "reverse" sort of sound. The synth voices then go through the 4ms DLD. The microphones used are two Oktava MK-22s and the camera is a Lumix GH4.
Thanks for watching...
If you like what I do please consider buying my music or support me on patreon!
Mixtur (Piano and Modular Improvisation)
Having a second go at the modes of melodic minor. This one has a very impressionistic vibe to me and I really like the floating feeling this conveys.
The patch for this one is fairly simple. It's a simple drone made up of two EvenVCOs and the BF-22 and the Piano going into Clouds in granular mode. The output of the modular is then sent through a Revox A-800 tape maschine that I use as for it's tape delay mode here.
Seeking (Piano and Modular Improvisation)
Exploring the modes of the melodic minor scale. I really like the rich colours these different modes create. In this video I'm using dorian b2.
Patch notes: The synth patch consists of two intermodulating Befaco EvenVCOs going into the BF22 filter and then into the HexMix VCA. Finally delay is added with the 4ms DLD. The amount of pitch modulation is controlled with two sequencers. The piano is routed through the Befaco Crush Delay and into Clouds in looping delay mode.
If you like what I do please consider buying my music or support me on patreon!
Chopin Waltz in C#-Minor Op.64 No.2 (Piano + Modular Rework)
Trying something different today. I was practising this waltz by Chopin and thought I could do a little remix/rework of the arpeggio section. The main idea is that I'm not playing all the notes but using a clock divider only choosing every fifth or seventh note respectively.
Patch Notes: MIDI comes in from my DAW via Yarns the pitch information is patched into two even VCOs who take turns playing the notes. The gate CVs are patched into the 4ms Quad Clock Distributor where I'm dividing the gates by different amounts. The resulting new gates trigger Maths which provides CVs for the VCAs. The two resulting sequences are patched into clouds which is running in granular mode for that sweet sweet ambient wash...
If you like what I do please consider buying my music or support me on patreon!
Clocks (Piano And Modular Improvisation)
Sneaking back into the studio when nobody's there... Hope you find some distraction in this piece. I played with a bit of subtle polyrythms on this one: the first synth voice playes a pattern consisting of 9 ninetuplet notes, the second voice a pattern with 5 eight notes and the piano a simple 4/4 pattern with chords supported by a 4/4 pattern on the Sampleslicer.
Patch notes:
The two synth voices are made up of 2 even VCOs going into the BF22 MS20 style filter and then are patched into the 4ms Dual Looping Delay. The Piano is patched into the Ginkosynthese Sampleslicer going into Mutable Instruments Clouds.
If you like what I do please consider buying my music or support me on patreon!
Improvisation Over Simeon Walkers "Absolution"
I was supposed to play a concert today in Düsseldorf. But instead I'm at home like everyone else. Fellow Düsseldorf piano person Tom Blankenberg had the great idea to collaborate on a little YouTube playlist instead. Since my piano is at my studio to which I can't currently get because of the pandemic I had the idea of doing a little "remix" or re-work of some one else from the concert. I am very glad that Simeon offered up his fantastic piece "Absolution" for this mini collaboration. I hope you enjoy my take on it!
Flutter (Piano And Modular Improvisation)
Exploring the Sampleslicer once more. I really like the lo-fi sound it produces and I've been sort of neglecting it for a while but no more...
Patch Notes:
I patched the output from the piano mics into the Sampleslicer which then goes into Clouds in looping delay mode for another layer of 8-bit delay goodness. Parallel to that I patched a bass sound with two Even-VCOs going into the BF22 filter. Everything was recorded in Pro Tools where I added some reverb and compression. Camera is a Lumix GH4.
Half-Whole (Piano And Modular Improvisation)
Playing around with different scales today. I've been interested in Messiaens modes of limited transposition for quite a while but never incorperated them in the videos here until now. I really like the unusual kinds of harmony that arise with each different scale. The mode for this video is the second mode (also known as the octatonic or dimineshed scale).
The patch consists of two Even VCOs going into the BF-22 filter. Two envelopes from maths are patched into the fm input of the oscillators for the rising or falling motion of that occurs periodically. The two synth voices are then patched into the 4ms DLD. The piano is patched into Clouds in looping delay mode for that sweet 8bit delay.
Locking (Piano And Modular)
This weeks video required a bit more pre planning thant usual. I wanted to explore polyrythmical patterns a bit. So I thought I'd give the thing a bit more structure to keep myself limited somewhat and not risk going too much overboard with experimentation. I ended up needing quite a bit of practice for this but I hope to experiment more with this idea in the future.
The synth is made up out of my usual combo of two Even-VCOs with the BF-22 MS20 style filter and some FM cross modulation on the VCOs. The piano is recorded using two Octava Mk-12s. The beat was built with samples in Ableton.
Camera is a Lumix GH4.
Rain Passing (Live At Galerie Lausberg)
In November 2019 I played my first concert with the songs I wrote for the piano and modular. It was a really nice experience to play the music live and develop the pieces further. When seeing the space I thought immediately that it would be a great location to shoot a video and also to film the whole concert.
The concert took place at "Galerie Lausberg" in Düsseldorf and was part of "Die Digitale" festival. Thanks for Mr. Lausberg, Werner and Peter for inviting me.
Also thanks to Johannes for doing the lighting design and for shooting and editing the video!
Rain Passing is a piece that I wrote for this channel in May of 2019, during rehearsals for the concert I added drums and a base line that weren't in the original performance.
Video by Johannes von Barsewisch
Music by Raffael Seyfried
Filmed at Galerie Lausberg Düsseldorf
Versatz (Piano And Modular Improvisation)
Playing around with two interlocking arpeggios. Shifting in and out to create different patterns. This is an idea that I want to explore more in the future, splitting the same part over multiple sequences to change different sets of notes live.
Patch notes: CV comes in from Ableton via Yarns. I used two cross modulated Even VCOs going into the BF22 filter by Befaco. The cross modulation amount is sequenced by pressure points and the RYO 8-Step sequencer. The output from the BF22 is going into the 4ms DLD and then into my computer.
Mics are two Octava Mk-12s.