Wiardgroup

I have been beta-testing the MOTU application Volta for a few weeks, and have been able to take my Wiard System to a new and interesting place - a 4 voice polyphonic synth!!!

Since Volta has precision envelopes that will replicate settings for multiple voices, it was relatively easy to create a simple patch - first by simply employing the VCA on each module - eventually expanding the patch to include a Borg II filter, which was also controlled by a second Volta Envelope Generator.  Once this was up and working, adding a second VCO and other interesting modulation ideas were simple, without a lot of attention to the interface....

The results, while we are still working out tuning bugs here and there, are REALLY COOL!!!!  I will try to get something to post when I get a chance.


YEEEEE!!!!!

Gary

--- In wiardgroup@yahoogroups.com, "Gary Chang" <gchang@...> wrote:
>
> I have been beta-testing the MOTU application Volta for a few weeks, and have been able to take my Wiard System to a new and interesting place - a 4 voice polyphonic synth!!!
> 
> Since Volta has precision envelopes that will replicate settings for multiple voices, it was relatively easy to create a simple patch - first by simply employing the VCA on each module

VCO module, that is...


 - eventually expanding the patch to include a Borg II filter,

(per voice)

 which was also controlled by a second Volta Envelope Generator.  Once this was up and working, adding a second VCO and other interesting modulation ideas were simple, without a lot of attention to the interface....

> 
> The results, while we are still working out tuning bugs here and there, are REALLY COOL!!!!  I will try to get something to post when I get a chance.
> 
> 
> YEEEEE!!!!!
> 
> Gary
>

i was wondering when one of these software outfits was going to realize that laaptops are getting to the point where they don't outweigh a PSIM by much!!!!
;'>
an interesting pointer... thanks GC,
-doc

(now, a whole bunch of my software-obsessed students will finally HAVE to learn the actual difference between AC & DC coupling....HA! serves 'em right!)



--- In wiardgroup@yahoogroups.com, "Gary Chang" <gchang@...> wrote:

>
> I have been beta-testing the MOTU application Volta for a few weeks, and have been able to take my Wiard System to a new and interesting place - a 4 voice polyphonic synth!!!
> 
> Since Volta has precision envelopes that will replicate settings for multiple voices, it was relatively easy to create a simple patch - first by simply employing the VCA on each module - eventually expanding the patch to include a Borg II filter, which was also controlled by a second Volta Envelope Generator.  Once this was up and working, adding a second VCO and other interesting modulation ideas were simple, without a lot of attention to the interface....
> 
> The results, while we are still working out tuning bugs here and there, are REALLY COOL!!!!  I will try to get something to post when I get a chance.
> 
> 
> YEEEEE!!!!!
> 
> Gary
>

Please Post your results! That sounds fascinating (I've been looking @ those Volta videos w/ a bit of GAS anyway...)

-andrew bunny

--- In wiardgroup@yahoogroups.com, "Gary Chang" <gchang@...> wrote:

>
> I have been beta-testing the MOTU application Volta for a few weeks, and have been able to take my Wiard System to a new and interesting place - a 4 voice polyphonic synth!!!
> 
> Since Volta has precision envelopes that will replicate settings for multiple voices, it was relatively easy to create a simple patch - first by simply employing the VCA on each module - eventually expanding the patch to include a Borg II filter, which was also controlled by a second Volta Envelope Generator.  Once this was up and working, adding a second VCO and other interesting modulation ideas were simple, without a lot of attention to the interface....
> 
> The results, while we are still working out tuning bugs here and there, are REALLY COOL!!!!  I will try to get something to post when I get a chance.
> 
> 
> YEEEEE!!!!!
> 
> Gary
>

Matthew Davidson, one of the guys behind the Volta project is a pretty hardcore analog guy, but also has written some interesting applications in MAX for the Monome project.  An interesting composer as well....

Aside from the concepts of controlling "voices," there is quite a lot of interesting potential when considering the idea of using it to mangle recorded sounds outside of the DAW, but allowing a substantial amount of repeatability and codifying of stuff that we normally had used our hands for....

I always had thought that the Buchla 200e should have been made this way - an analog sound path with modules with digital guts that, instead of being complicated and finite digital hardware, had a firewire or parallel interface to a PC, so that there would be no limit to the digital side of the system....

gary





--- In wiardgroup@yahoogroups.com, "drmabuce" <drmabuce@...> wrote:

>
> i was wondering when one of these software outfits was going to realize that laaptops are getting to the point where they don't outweigh a PSIM by much!!!!
> ;'>
> an interesting pointer... thanks GC,
> -doc
> 
> (now, a whole bunch of my software-obsessed students will finally HAVE to learn the actual difference between AC & DC coupling....HA! serves 'em right!)
> 
> 
> 
> --- In wiardgroup@yahoogroups.com, "Gary Chang" <gchang@> wrote:
> >
> > I have been beta-testing the MOTU application Volta for a few weeks, and have been able to take my Wiard System to a new and interesting place - a 4 voice polyphonic synth!!!
> > 
> > Since Volta has precision envelopes that will replicate settings for multiple voices, it was relatively easy to create a simple patch - first by simply employing the VCA on each module - eventually expanding the patch to include a Borg II filter, which was also controlled by a second Volta Envelope Generator.  Once this was up and working, adding a second VCO and other interesting modulation ideas were simple, without a lot of attention to the interface....
> > 
> > The results, while we are still working out tuning bugs here and there, are REALLY COOL!!!!  I will try to get something to post when I get a chance.
> > 
> > 
> > YEEEEE!!!!!
> > 
> > Gary
> >
>

On Apr 14, 2009, at 11:09 AM, Gary Chang wrote:

> I always had thought that the Buchla 200e should have been made this  
> way - an analog sound path with modules with digital guts that,  
> instead of being complicated and finite digital hardware, had a  
> firewire or parallel interface to a PC, so that there would be no  
> limit to the digital side of the system....


I can appreciate this aesthetic, but I'm not sure I would like to use  
it. The immediacy of a piece of dedicated hardware can be really  
great. I find knowing that "this physical thing does that" a good  
thing. Having the synthesis functionality split between some hardware  
and software running on a general purpose computer has the potential  
to take me "out of the moment," I think. I also seem to function  
better with some limits, but that's probably just me.

I do run a system where the note-level stuff and the gesture-level  
stuff is running on a computer. These get transmitted over MIDI. I can  
see wanting to use something like Volta to improve this bandwidth, but  
there would have to be more channels of this data than is currently  
available with existing interfaces, and it would be nice if there was  
a standard for representing this sort of data.

OSC is close, and I have hope for HD MIDI, should it ever see the  
light of day.

- C

Chris Muir
cbm@well.com	
http://www.xfade.com

--- In wiardgroup@yahoogroups.com, Chris Muir <cbm@...> wrote:
>
> 
> On Apr 14, 2009, at 11:09 AM, Gary Chang wrote:
> 
> I can appreciate this aesthetic, but I'm not sure I would like to use  
> it. The immediacy of a piece of dedicated hardware can be really  
> great. I find knowing that "this physical thing does that" a good  
> thing. Having the synthesis functionality split between some hardware  
> and software running on a general purpose computer has the potential  
> to take me "out of the moment," I think. I also seem to function  
> better with some limits, but that's probably just me.

I am not talking about a system that splits your attention between the panel and screen - just to use a pc instead of digital guts behind the panel.  Of course there are numerous stories of older systems that are door stops due to video chips (Buchla 700 Series) or other rare components no longer available.  This is becoming increasingly common (my friends at Apogee Electronics mentioned a while back that sometimes they consider that buying used old Apogee product on Ebay so that they could have spare parts for some of their older devices still in use).

> 
> I do run a system where the note-level stuff and the gesture-level  
> stuff is running on a computer. These get transmitted over MIDI. I can  
> see wanting to use something like Volta to improve this bandwidth, but  
> there would have to be more channels of this data than is currently  
> available with existing interfaces, and it would be nice if there was  
> a standard for representing this sort of data.

Volta has no limit to the number of interfaces employed for cv and gate outputs - I am using 12 outputs, but I could employ another interface to expand the system.  Although it is not limited to MOTU interfaces, one could run one or several 24 i/o MOTU pci interfaces for maximum output density.

Also, it does a rather good job of taking various other typical DAW functions such as automation and outputting them to control the modular....

> 
> OSC is close, and I have hope for HD MIDI, should it ever see the  
> light of day.
> 
> - C
> 
> Chris Muir
> cbm@...	
> http://www.xfade.com
>