Doepfer

Hi, I am new here. I have no previous experience with A-100 synths but am 
thinking of buying one. I have been reading up about them and I am thinking 
of getting one of the basic systems, System 1 or System 2, but I am not too 
sure if they will be able to do what I am hoping they would do.
I have very little equipment (guitars, small yamaha keyboard with Midi 
output, cheetah MS6 synth and some microphones.) and I would hope I could 
use some of these with the a-100.


The type of thing that I am looking to do is this ---�

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m5D2OVzG8U0


or also the sort of thing that Jonny Greenwood does in Radiohead for the 
song Idioteque. Is this possible with the a-100?
	One last question is, how does sound come out of the a-100? Does it just 
have to be plugged into an amplifier?

	Thank you for your time. Any help would be much appreciated.

*Lurk mode off*

Hi Chris,

You should probably take my suggestions with a grain of salt since I
only recently got my first Doepfer modules and I'm a newbie in the
modular world. But I don't want you to have this request unanswered
and don't want you to be frustratet, becaus you bought something you
have no use for ;-)

On 4/30/06, Christopher Scullion <chris_t2000@hotmail.com> wrote:
> Hi, I am new here. I have no previous experience with A-100 synths but am
> thinking of buying one. I have been reading up about them and I am thinking
> of getting one of the basic systems, System 1 or System 2, but I am not too
> sure if they will be able to do what I am hoping they would do.


Well, first of all, I wouldn't recommend the System 1 or 2, since they
are equipped with quite old modules. Doepfer developed a lot of new
modules in the meantime, which are quite cool (especially some filters
and the A-143 series of modules, and actually a lot more...). So it's
probably wisest to put together a system, that fits your needs... You
could start with one of the basic systems and replace whatever modules
you prefer... (Doepfer has a quite useful system planner Excel
sheet:http://www.doepfer.de/pub/a100_sys.xls)

> I have very little equipment (guitars, small yamaha keyboard with Midi
> output, cheetah MS6 synth and some microphones.) and I would hope I could
> use some of these with the a-100.

Maybe taking a look at the Sound Processing System
(http://www.doepfer.de/a100_systems_e.htm) to get some ideas of how
your instruments sounds could be "mangled" by a Doepfer system would
not be bad ;-)

> The type of thing that I am looking to do is this
>
> http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m5D2OVzG8U0

Oh... I love these (not so) new (anymore) Frusciante records... Well,
he has as far as I know some mix of Doepfer, Analogue Systems and Plan
B modules. But he does also have quite a lot of modules. So don't
expect, you could do this (live, rhythm sequenced rhythm sounds whil
processing a guitar) with one of the basic systems. Probably a good
live rhythm sequencer (I'm thinking korg electribe s or something like
that...) and a well thought out system with some sound processing
abilities could do the job...

> or also the sort of thing that Jonny Greenwood does in Radiohead for the
> song Idioteque. Is this possible with the a-100?

What does he do? I mean I know the song and I like it, but I don't
know what he does. The harmony in this song is actually sampled from a
70ies computer music piece "Mild und Leise" by Paul Lansky (see
http://www.music.princeton.edu/paul/radiohead.ml.html) and he used FM
synthesis to create it. I'm way to new to modular sound synthesis to
be able to say, that you can or can't do it with a doepfer system. But
my guess is, it would be quite hard... But some of the rhythm stuff
and the ambient sounds from Idiotheque should be possible...

>         One last question is, how does sound come out of the a-100? Does it just
> have to be plugged into an amplifier?

Yes.

-Michael

To try and be helpful here, I'd suggest that you start with the 
absolute necessities for what you want to do and build out from 
there, tailoring the system to your needs.

From the Frusciante clip and what you're saying, for example, you 
absolutely need an A-119 external input / envelope follower - this 
is used to plug in your external audio sources such as guitar and 
keyboard so that you can create envelopes & triggers from their 
sounds and also mix their sounds into your Doepfer system.

Also you want to think about what you'd like to use for sequencing - 
one of the Doepfer sequencers or an external sequencer - so that way 
you can make the rhythm patterns. Do you want a MIDI interface to 
use external sequencers and controllers or do you want to stick with 
the internal controls of the A-100?

You need an A-118 noise source for making percussive sounds like 
snare drums and hihats.

You will need a mixer like the A-138. "boring" but so necessary.

You need some VCOs for sound sources, perhaps 2.

LFOs for slowly varying volumes and filtering can make percussion 
tracks more animated and interesting.

ADSRs to generate envelope signals for VCFs and VCAs.

Then from there.. loads of filters to choose from and that's a thing 
of personal taste. Ring Mod for metallic and bell-like resonances to 
really transform a timbre. You can always get your basics and play 
with them first before you decide on what else to fill up your 
system with.

Lastly, think of how water flows to give you an idea of the 
architecture of a modular - you route and divert the flow of 
different "water" sources and mix them together and modify them. A 
VCO is always "on" with a audio signal available at its outputs - 
you either let it continue flowing or you can interrupt the flow 
with an envelope-modified VCF or VCA, as an example. Either patch 
the signal to an amp or to a mixer with headphones to hear it.

keep researching. good luck.
-bryan k.

--- In Doepfer_a100@yahoogroups.com, "Christopher Scullion" 
<chris_t2000@...> wrote:
>
> Hi, I am new here. I have no previous experience with A-100 synths 
but am 
> thinking of buying one. I have been reading up about them and I am 
thinking 
> of getting one of the basic systems, System 1 or System 2, but I 
am not too 
> sure if they will be able to do what I am hoping they would do.
> I have very little equipment (guitars, small yamaha keyboard with 
Midi 
> output, cheetah MS6 synth and some microphones.) and I would hope 
I could 
> use some of these with the a-100.
> 
> 
> The type of thing that I am looking to do is this ---à
> 
> http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m5D2OVzG8U0
> 
> 
> or also the sort of thing that Jonny Greenwood does in Radiohead 
for the 
> song Idioteque. Is this possible with the a-100?
> 	One last question is, how does sound come out of the a-100? 
Does it just 

> have to be plugged into an amplifier?
> 
> 	Thank you for your time. Any help would be much appreciated.
>