Doepfer

Josef, all,
 
I think it is time for me to give an update on my A-100, now
that I've spent a considerable amount of time with it (like
on average an hour or so every day for the last 6 weeks).
I'm sort-of stuck now. Maybe someone can help me. I
need to explain how I use my A-100 Mini system and where
I want to go with it, starting with:
 
The "remembering the patch" issue is still there and I'm
still puzzled how to solve it. And I think there is only one
way to really solve it: Keeping the patch until a piece of
music is fully recorded and finished.
 
Because writing down a patch sort-of only works for
simple patches. I've had patches "evolving" over e.g. three
days. Like I would do a new patch, I'd like it, the next day
I'd refine it, and so on... What happens is that at the end
of the process, if you turn a nob just an unmeasurable small 
degree, you get significant changes, ie. a different sound. So 
you can't really express it precisely enough. Also, I think that 
things like the room temperature have effects too, like the 
next morning a patch would sound slightly different than the
night before, but that might be just my imagination, don't know.
 
I have to say that I'm using my doepfer for creating complex
rhythms only. To me, my doepfer is the drum computer of
my dreams. So I'd do the "groundwork" with my doepfer,
and then later add other instruments, if needed. I like to use an 
old Akai AX-73 on top of my A-100, BTW.
 
Making it groove is still very challenging. I'm about to order
my first extension, my second module rack, but am still
not sure what to buy.
 
I really like latin grooves combined with electronic music.
So I'm looking into rather complex rhythmic schemes I want
my A-100 to do. Now here comes the big issue, the right
mix between control and freedom for my doepfer:
 
I once managed to configure my A-100 M in a way so it
would keep a tight basic drum pattern (bass drum, snare) 
and on top would randomly add off-beats in a (supposedly)
uncontrolled way, but all those off-beats actually *made
sense*, ie. were timed perfectly in terms of free jazz and
latin grooves, while being *different* every beat. This
was based on the random noise output controlling the 
two oscillators on top of the LFO.
 
This is where, IMO, the magic is, because I've accepted
and incorporated into my work that this machine has it's 
own level of freedom. This is *different* to all my other gear.
 
I can say to a real musician in a jam session, "let's try
a latin groove in C minor". This usually means a) play 
some basic beats to keep the rhythm tight and b)
do whatever you like on top of that. The second part is
what used to make me believe is the difference between
real musicians playing in a room and just myself sitting
in front of my gear. 
 
My A-100 is different. This is what completely thrills
me. I wan't to extend my system in this and no other
direction, allowing me to create complex rhythms where
I don't know what this thing does next, but I do know
that whatever it does would always make musical sense, 
ie. limiting its level of freedom to a certain level, but still
allowing this freedom.
 
This approach is different because a lot of other folks I've
seen play with my doepfer have always tried to gain
complete control over the machine and have failed and
became frustrated. So now my doepfer to me is something
between a piece of gear (which I can fully control) and a 
real musician (partial to no control, depending ,-).
 
Moving forward without loosing this level of freedom for
my doepfer is the tough part. I end up (given the success
of a good patch) just letting this thing run for half an hour
and record everything, later analyzing it and cutting out
chunks of between 2 and 10 minutes and re-using that 
(like some talented little kid you would put in a room and
just record what he's doing without telling him...).
 
When I start using MIDI, I feel I impose too much control
over the machine. Since I don't use a keyboard, I would
send a drum pattern to this thing, but that is different than
letting the doepfer do everything by himself (including timing).
So then this thing essentially looses it's greatest strength, 
IMO, and it becomes more "predictable" instead of 
"unpredictable".
 
All I really want now is to syncronize my doepfer via MIDI,
ie. control the frequency of the LFO (and potentially the two
VCOs). I believe I cannot do that with my basic LFO now
(please correct me if I'm wrong), because I can reset it,
yes, but then the LFO will still have its own frequency, too.
(Sending a basic drum pattern via MIDI to the RESET IN
jack has resulted in *both* the MIDI pattern and the
own frequency of the LFO being overlayed). Please let
me know if I haven't gotten something. Maybe this is what 
the A-191 Shepard Generator is all about?
 
Thanks for listening & keep in touch,
 
- Sebastian
 
 

	-----Ursprüngliche Nachricht----- 
	Von: modularplanet 
	Gesendet: Sa 10.08.2002 21:40 
	An: Doepfer_a100@yahoogroups.com 
	Cc: 
	Betreff: [Doepfer_a100] Re: Now that I've got my first A-100
	
	

	Hi Sebastian,
	
	> I'd love to spend more time
	> finding out more about patches on
	> the web.
	
	I think there are only a few sites with A-100-patches (what a
pity!!).
	
	> I have only found:
	> http://www.modular-planet.de so
	> far. Unfortunately the patches are
	> not grouped by module set.
	> So it is hard to indentify patches
	> that I can do with just the A-100 M set.
	
	A possibility is to add a line with required modules:
	
	______________________
	    Doepfer A-100
	
	    Modules:
	    A-121, A-131...
	    Connections: / Settings:
	    ...
	    Notes:
	    ...
	______________________
	
	
	or an additional site like this:
	
	______________________
	    Patch:   | Modules:
	
	    BassDrum | A-121, A-131...
	    Claves   | A-118, A-120...
	    ...
	______________________
	
	
	But I dont know if this is a help for other group members?
	
	Greetings
	
	Josef
	
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