Carillon - SOMA Terra + Cosmos + Matriarch + ZOIA + Nord Drum 2

The goal of this session was to explore one of Terra's arpeggiator algorithms and sync it to an external clock. Also to experiment with using the Pulsar's looper recorder to trigger the Nord Drum 2 with some additional MIDI CC modulation from the ZOIA.

—TERRA—
"Synthi" arpeggiator algorithm synchronized to external MIDI clock generated by ZOIA. Performance utilizes sensors B, C, & D for timbre variations, several different rhythmic LFO waveforms. Tons of built in delay, also processed through cosmos in short granular delay mode. Tuned to same pitch collection as planchette video

C Blues Hexatonic
Sensors 1-7
C Eb F Gb G Bb C

Cm Pentatonic
Sensors 8-12
Eb F G Bb C

—ZOIA—
The ZOIA is being used to generate midi data from analog triggers sent by the pulsar's discrete modules. This patch is duplicated 4x in parallel, once for each channel being triggered on the nord drum 2. Each 'voice' of the nord drum 2 requires two pages of the ZOIA patch.

The first page is responsible for generating and distributing 4 MIDI CC values each time a trigger is received and creating a 1ms delay between CC modulation and note trigger. This is to give the modulation time to be received before a note is triggered and create a timbre variation on a per note and per voice basis independently.

Pulsar Module Trigger out → ZOIA CV IN → 4x Random value on trigger
ZOIA CV IN → CV Delay 1ms → MIDI Note Out Trigger  
Trig Random → MIDI Note Out Velocity
Trig Random → CC 30 Tone Spectra
Trig Random → CC 47 Timbre Decay
Trig Random → CC 52 Tone Timbre
Trig Random → CC 53 Tone Timbre Envelope

The second page is responsible for controlling the pitch of the voice with pseudorandom variations. Triggers are received, generating a random value that continuously populates the buffer of a CV looper module. Simultaneously the trigger is sent to a clock divider with a 1/8 division that controls the play/record modes of the CV looper. When a series of triggers is received the clock divider generates a clock signal that punches the CV looper in and out of play/record modes. These values are then sent to a pitch quantizer module to create a pseudorandom melodic idea.

Pulsar Module Trigger out → ZOIA CV IN → Random value on trigger → CV Looper CV input
ZOIA CV IN → Trigger → 1/8 Clock divider → Flip Flop → CV Looper Mode input
CV Looper CV Output → Quantizer (Cm Pentatonic) → MIDI Note Out Pitch

The ZOIA also generates a MIDI clock for the Terra. It uses two stacked layers of slew limited random LFOs for a nice slowly shifting random value constrained to a range.

Random LFO → Slew Limiter → Random LFO frequency modulation depth → Slew Limiter → MIDI clock frequency → Terra Clock input

—Pulsar—
The pulsar does not produce any audio in this patch and is being used as a trigger generator / clock to create a feeling of shifting amorphous time when triggering the Nord Drum 2. One single trigger has been recorded into each module's channel of the looper recorder, as the clock pulses arriving change speed the looper recorder slows down or speeds up accordingly. The HHT module is synchronized to the pulsar's LFO. Varying the LFO frequency and range between low / mid / high and changing the shape of the waveform creates rhythmic variations. The remaining 3 modules SD, Bass, and BD are synchronized to the pulsar's master clock which receives slow random LFO modulation from the ZOIA. 

HHT Trig Out → alligator to TS converter → Mordax → ZOIA CV IN 1
SD Trig Out → alligator to TS converter → Mordax → ZOIA CV IN 2
Bass Trig Out → alligator to TS converter → Mordax → ZOIA CV IN 3
BD Trig Out → alligator to TS converter → Mordax → ZOIA CV IN 4
ZOIA CV OUT 1 → Pulsar master clock modulation

—ND2—
Utilizing only 4 channels of the Nord Drum 2. Receives complex MIDI data from ZOIA so that every note triggered has a different timbre. Using the D algorithm spectral waves. Processed through eventide space in hall mode 50% wet 5 second decay
Ch 1 D1
Ch 2 D2
Ch 3 D4
Ch 4 D6

—Matriarch—
2 voice sawtooth bass played in octaves. Heavily lowpassed with lots of delay and long release to glue things together.

Audio recorded directly into iPhone XR via iConnectAudio4+ interface.

#terra #pulsar  #zoia   #cosmos  #soma  #somalabs #somalaboratory #synthesizer  #synth  #doom  #noise  #ambient #ambientmusic  #drone #music