Drone Poem 25 | 0-Coast Semi-Modular Synthesizer (with Valhalla Supermassive)

#modular #synth #ambient

25th entry of my semi-daily practice of drone sketches using the 0-Coast semi-modular synthesizer from Make Noise.

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PATCH AND PERFORMANCE NOTES:
Patch:
- Midi-B CV (slow LFO) to Lin FM In
- Clock on (slow tempo)
- Random Voltage split two ways:
1. To Attenuverter
2. To Slope Time In
- Attenuverter Out to Gate in on the Contour
- Slope set to cycle (Exponential)
- Slope Out to Balance In
- Contour Out to Overtone CV control

Valhalla Supermassive settings:
- Default "We Are Stardust" preset. No need to fix what isn't broke!

Perhaps this one is more of "melodic soundscape" than a "drone," but it fits the overall goal of the Drone Poems as essentially study pieces (etudes, perhaps). As mentioned in the title, Valhalla Supermassive deserves a more dominant mention here because its doing a ton of work on giving this very intense patch the space it needs to bleed and smear.

As with Drone Poem 24, this was another attempt of mine to avoid the "Drone Mode" on a synth to build a droney soundscape. The goal is to challenge myself to keep sound alive and interesting. Sure, the reverb in this case is doing a lot of heavy lifting to compensate for that, but the origin of these sounds isn't a constant output of sound. That's moving me to consider unique ways to guide the 0-coast as it navigates this patch. And speaking of this patch, this one's kinda generative! It's something I don't do a whole lot of.

The patch is a variation of another one I came across for a different project. The goal is to push the polyphonic capabilities of the 0-coast into some satisfying directions. In this case, the randomized voltage does the job of randomly spitting out completely unquantized voltages to the self-cycling Slope. This same voltage also triggers the Contour to open that LPG up and let sound through. At the same time, I introduce the Midi-B CV to modulate the frequency of the main oscillator.

The result is a super-cool patch that bursts to strange, alien life through a dense reverb like the Supermassive. It was just fascinating to sit there and listen to it from time to time. That said, navigating the Contour's shape and the various harmonic possibilities of the Overtone/Multiply circuit was also a wonderful way to try and coax more interesting shifts and movements out of this patch.

This patch certainly deserves to be included in a more substantial recording project at some point.

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Recorded in Reaper with a PreSonus AudioBox 22VSL.

VSTs:
Valhalla Supermassive

Recorded with a PreSonus AudioBox 22VSL. Shot on a Google Pixel 8.

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DISCLAIMERS
I am not affiliated with Make Noise, Valhalla DSP, Cockos, PreSonus, or Google.
This material is not produced in coordination with or affiliated with any corporate entity.