Pamela's New Workout SHALLOW Dive Tutorial: PART 2
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- čas přidán 11. 09. 2024
- This is the 2nd part of my shallow dive tutorial for the eurorack module, Pamela's New Workout. Part 1 is definitely the main tutorial, this is basically a less flashy follow up. Just something to address a few topics I might not have looked at in the first video.
Part 1 is here: • Pamela's NEW Workout: ...
Questions or comments? Please go ahead below! I'm really responsive in my comments section and just love talking about all of this.
Link to ALM product page: busycircuits.c...
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Cheers!
Thanx man, for your nice Pam‘s videos. They‘re by far the best, I.e. beginner-friendly, tutorials on the web so far… I just ordered my copy after Part One…
Thanks for the kind words! Glad I can help.
Found your last Pam vid super useful. This one too, thanks!
No worries! I'm glad you found it helpful! Cheers!
Thank you again for a very informative video that does not overloads me. You don‘t try to cram too much into your videos just to cover everything and that makes it very enjoyable to watch and learn. I am a new fan! 🥳
Thanks again! Yeah, that's why I started making videos. Of course I enjoy watching other people's videos, but I think sometimes they assume that the viewer knows a lot more than they really do.
Thanks for the videos!
No worries! Thanks for watching! More to come, too!
Purchased a PNW couple of weeks ago and your pt1 & pt2 videos have really helped me get my head around the module, thank you.
Hey, no problem! Glad I could help! I've actually been watching quite a few of your videos of late. Just subbed over there. Thanks again!
Hey that is awesome and I thank you. Have watched your pt1 of the PNW several times now really has helped. Again thank you for the down to earth demo much appreciated.
Again, no problem and thank you!
Pam's is the next module on my wish list. Your reviews are great and help a lot. And they increase my anticipation ...
Thank you very much! These are some really kind and encouraging words. I really appreciate it.
Currently I am planning a video looking at the Arturia Microfreak. I picked one up recently and it's really, really great. It's not modular of course, but it's a really awesome synth all the same.
Thanks again!
@@thedigitallost I tried the Microfreak once, but my skin is probably too dry for the keyboard: It sounded completely different with the left hand than with the right. What a bummer. The instrument itself is really amazing. And although not modular, it has so many options that you would otherwise not find in a monophonic synthesizer - or only at a much higher price in Eurorack. I look forward to your review.
Thanks for this great introduction to PNW, which is just as useful as the first! As someone new to modular I appreciate the down-to-earth approach. I’d watch a third part if you end up making one!
Well thank you so much! I really love hearing this kind of thing. I too am fairly new to all this so I try to explain things in terms that I would understand, which hopefully translates well to other newcomers.
I'm still mulling over a third part. At that point we're beyond shallow dive and getting into deep dive! I'm definitely not against the idea but it probably won't come in a hurry. Not counting it out, just not on my plans for my next few videos.
Aside from music, I'm thinking of doing a bit of a closer look at the two tip top modules, the Echoz and the Zverb. We will see!
I'm also making quite a few changes to my setup which might delay things. Not just modular, but all my hardware synths. In my last video I did a tune after my laptop crapped out on me so I'm still adjusting a few things to allow for all of that.
Seriously though, I really appreciate hearing that I've helped people out so thanks again!
@@thedigitallost - I'm in the same boat as Trey and this kind of video is extremely helpful. You are correct when you say that repetition is key to learning. One thing that would be super helpful is if you could superimpose a close up of the PNW screen as you are working- it is really hard to see what you are selecting.
@@kbowman0016 Hi there! Thanks for your kind words regarding the video. Glad you found it helpful!
Regarding the close-up of the screen idea, I did actually try that in editing. But the screen is very difficult to see. I had to use a fair few lights so my crummy, old phone camera that I use could pick anything up. This really washed out the screen, but to be fair to myself, the screen looks that washed out in real life, not just the video!
When I zoomed in on the screen for detail it simply pushed everything together so it just looked like a big pink and red blob. Hopefully though, you can see enough and I'm hopefully explaining things well enough. You have any other questions, go ahead! Cheers.
@@thedigitallost -Thanks for the reply! Yeah, I have seen other tutorial videos that break out the screen into a little pop window which makes it easy to see what's being selected- but I know nothing about video editing so I no idea how difficult that is to do. Having said that, I would like to restate how much I really enjoyed your videos. They are really well organized and a very logical progression through the content without a huge jump in difficulty like some tutorial/walk-throughs seem to do. Speaking of logic- I would love to see a video on the new logic function of Pam's if you do part 3. Again thanks for the great content!
@@kbowman0016 No problem, man! The close up of the display screen is actually really easy to do in editing, again, it's more just the amount of lighting I had to use. Once you've lost some detail due to contrast or whatever, any kind of zooming in you do loses a lot of detail.
Hopefully someday I can get a decent camera and some proper lights! That'd sure be nice!
Still debating with myself about part three!
Again, well done. Thank you!
Thanks again!
Your videos are very clear and explain just enough to get me going on an idea with a direction for exploration. Would you be interested in doing another video that covers some of the other features like the rotate output function and the logic gates? I've read about people really enjoying the rotate function but I find it really hard to understand and it isn't covered in the manual much.
Thank you! I really appreciate the kind words.
I have been considering a part 3.
Though that'll definitely take us out of shallow dive territory!
I'm making a few moves towards my next tutorial which will be looking at some functions of the 1010Music Bitbox Micro. Then I have 1 or 2 other ideas. Honestly, I can't say that I definitely will do a part 3 for Pam's, but I won't rule it out. There does seem to be some interest.
Thanks again though! Glad you enjoyed and found these videos helpful. Subscribe if you haven't already as that'd be the best way to see when new videos drop. Cheers!
@@thedigitallost there does seem to be room on youtube for a deeper dive into PNW. Surprising that a module this popular, with such a brief manual has so few tutorial videos covering all of the features. It really is one of my most used modules.
Seriously. A lot of the existing demos on CZcams seem to assume that the viewer already knows how the module works... which just doesn't really make a lot of sense to me!
So many of these synth channels here on CZcams, the modular ones included, just put out the same content. They are very clearly being funded by someone, or at least given the gear for free, and they all put out the same content at the same time and don't actually explain anything. It's very frustrating. That's why I started making videos. They are not flashy or anything, and I don't have the latest or greatest stuff because I (shock horror!) have to pay for it myself, and I just film everything on my phone because it's what I have, but I at least try to explain things in a simple and honest way.
@@thedigitallost well you make great looking videos with what you have and your voice and speaking style is good for this kind of thing.
I’ve considered making youtube videos but my phone is garbage and I hate listening to my voice over and over. So, I definitely appreciate that you are trying your hand at the overwhelming world of youtube content creation.
@@thedigitallost It would be sooo helpful if you would cover these topics in another video, especially the logic function! For the life of me, I can't figure it out how it properly works and what it is supposed to do, and the few sentences in the manual aren't really helpful either. If you find some time to do it that would be great, if you don't want to do it, no problem it's your channel :
Thanks again for another great video. Looking forward to more tutorials.😃
Thanks again! I have considered doing a third part, but then we are sort of leaving shallow dive and heading into regular, old deep dive territory. We'll see.
At the moment, I am in extremely early stages of planning one for the Koma Field Kit FX module. I also just got a 1010music Bitbox Micro that I'm slowly figuring out.
Awesome instruction! Big thank you!
No problem! Glad it could help.
I'm going to assume that you saw the first part as well, but I'll bring it up now just in case!
Either way, thanks again!
Your first PAM vid led me here, super helpful and useful! Let me ask you please, I just pulled the trigger on it after learning I can feed it an external clock, but knew nothing of RUN input, so now what, am I going to have to shell out for the external mmMidi you have in your vid? Can I use anything else do you know to get it to run? I wonder if I hit play while it's getting the external clock if it would sync, that's all I really care about! Thanks again, great stuff, cheers, be well.
Thank you for your kind words!
You only need the mmMidi module if you want to use a MIDI controller/sequencer. If you have a controller/sequencer that uses control voltage rather than midi, you can just use that directly into the inputs on Pam's. Just make sure the PPQN settings match. This was talked about a little bit in part two of the video. I had mixed results with the Korg SQ1. The PPQN was matched, but it just wasn't consistent. Like, I could get it to run and I could get the clock to work. But then if I stopped and tried starting again it seemed to have some difficulties. No idea what that was all about.
This was the only other non-midi sequencer that I own and was able to try with.
But yeah, in theory you don't need the mmMidi module if your sequencer deals with control voltage, but definitely will if your sequencer is of the midi variety.
Good luck! Hopefully this clears things up a little bit. Any other questions go ahead. And thanks again!
Edit: I forgot to mention too, if you just want to deal with clock and run signals, ALM also have separate expander modules that I think I mentioned in part two of the video as well. That is if you are dealing with a MIDI sequencer/controller but don't care about CV controllled volt pet octave and gate controls. I think they're called something like the PEXP 1 and two. Definitely worth checking those out on their website.
Pretty deep for a “shallow” dive. Thanks!
Ha! Considering how deep this module can go, I figured this was pretty shallow!
Hi again! I am still researching the Pamela, and I got curios about one thing that I didn't found in manual. Maybe you could help out? There are number of scales in quantization mode, it is clear how to select and use them. However, I am confused about how to set a root note for a scale?? Or is it set by tuning the pitch of an oscillator that is being controller by Pamela?
A similar question came up from another viewer not too long ago. I believe that the root note is just set by your oscillator. When I use it, Pam's just affects whatever note is playing on the oscillator and then you can just make further changes on your oscillator's tuning setting.
Strange it isn't mentioned in the instruction manual as it's mostly a really concise and well-written manual. Honestly, to clarify I would probably email ALM. I have once or twice in the past and they got back extremely quickly.
@@thedigitallost thank you for your thoughts, I will get in touch with ALM and will report the results here.
OK, confirmed by ALM - the root note is the pitch the oscillator is tuned to.
Great! Kinda what I thought but good to get it from ALM. Thanks for posting!
Thank you for this.My go to tutorial
Thank you very much! I'm going to assume that you've also watched
Part one! Definitely let me know if you'd like to see a part 3 as well. I'm still undecided on that. After these two videos I'm kind of getting past shallow diving and getting into real in-depth stuff. But if there is enough interest then it's something that I'm certainly not against. Again though, I'm glad you found the video helpful and I really appreciate you watching and commenting! If there's anything else you need to know, go ahead and ask. Cheers!
@@thedigitallost Yes I've watched part 1 a number of times.Would you if I can clock the Pamela's from an exterior sequencer (minibrute 2) without the mmMidi?
Yes! You can if your sequencer has a CV style clock/sync out. You might have to play with the PPQN settings on either Pam's or your sequencer. I've had some success using a Korg SQ1, but it was always a bit spotty. Like, I had all the settings matched up properly and sometimes it worked sometimes it didn't. The timing would just drift. So your mileage may vary. In the end, I just decided that I liked Pam's as a master clock. But yes; in theory, you can set Pam's as a clock slave with an external sequencer without the mmMidi module, provided that your sequencer has CV clock out and the PPQN settings match.
Another great overview for this robust module! After seeing you walk through these functions, I'd like to see how you've been applying those same functions to something more musical. I mean, no shame if you just use it from some euclidian boom-ticks for a few hours, but I'm betting you've put those functions to more expansive use. ;)
Thank you! Glad you enjoyed!
Absolutely, I don't use it at all to make simple drums and bloops and bumps. Using drums and basic sounds is just the best way to get across what's going on. Something obvious and audible. Typically I use Pam's to modulate things. It's nice having what is, basically but certainly not limited to, a random wave LFO, multiplied by 8 that can operate at completely independent speeds. Does great for messing around with effects. But often that kind of thing can be a bit subtle for demonstration purposes.
Honestly, this video took a bit longer to make than I'd hoped or planned, so I'm looking forward to just making straight up music again!
Combine cv over Rskip/Euclidean with cv over loop, and pam's can make for quite a powerful rhythmic sequencer -- basslines (although I would want cv over width/gate length), shifting drum patterns, etc.
Sounds interesting, how do you set that up?
Great! Thanks!
No problem! Thanks for watching!
Thanks buddy!
Glad I could help!
@@thedigitallost while u were scrolling the main know I saw logic. Looks like an option with a lot of potential. Thanks for sharing, btw, it was clever to patch pnw to it self.
Thanks again! I do what I can.
Yeah I do wonder in the video whether I should do a third part, and how logic would be one of the things I'd look at. There's not a whole lot left! We'll see how this all goes and, honestly, if I'm in the mood. I just really love this module and tend to get a bit over excited about these things! I also take a stupidly long time to plan all of this stuff as well. This one actually took longer than I expected so I just kind of want to focus on some music for a little while.
Thanks for this video! Quick question here: if you were to plug only the clock output from your Launchpad into the PNW, and nothing into the "run" input, would PNW start to play at the next clock signal and be synced to the beat as soon as you press the start/stop button on the unit? Not sure if I'm making sense here..
Hello! Sorry about the delay in reply, but I wanted to try it out before I did leave a reply.
So, the Launchpad Pro mk3 used here in this video doesn't really have a dedicated sync/clock out. So I tried it with the only other sequencer I had on hand which is the Korg SQ1. This does indeed have a dedicated clock out. Now, I think I did mention in this video that the SQ1 had some issues trying to talk accurately with Pam's, even with the PPQN matched correctly, but they were more just issues with keeping in time.
I connected the SQ1 sync/clock out to just the clock input on Pam's with nothing plugged into the run input, but it did not start Pam's running. It just sent a sync clock signal to Pam's.
Not sure this was the kind of thing you wanted to know, so if you have any other questions, go ahead! I'll try to answer for you. Cheers.
@@thedigitallost No problem, thanks for taking the time, I appreciate it!
Ok that's very helpful! And when you do this, if you press the start/stop button of the Pam on the fly, does it catch up to the tempo perfectly or do you get some stutters/skippings of the first steps for example? That's usually what happens with this type of units, my Moog Mother 32 takes time to run the sequence properly when I press play on the fly, with an external clock fed into it... Thanks again!!
No problem!
Yeah so, when I pressed start on Pam's it did stutter a whole lot trying to figure out what the tempo was. It seemed to lock onto it pretty quickly, but generally there were a lot of hiccups. If I changed the tempo on the SQ1, Pam's got really confused. It was not a great experience!
But again, the SQ1 and Pam's just don't seem to talk well together. Certainly not for me anyway. And trust me, I've tried!
You may have better luck with a different clock source, but I still doubt you can start Pam's running via the clock input.
If anyone else is reading this and has experience with this, chime in! I like to think that the comments sections for these videos can be seen as a bit of a backup document where we can all help each other out with tips.
@@thedigitallost Ok, well... Clock syncing is always kind of a mystery anyway, hard to predict the behavior of these units... Thanks for taking the time!!
Absolutely! And anytime! I love talking about this stuff and I'm always happy to help out. Cheers!
What were the other issues with the uPlaits that you had?
I got that module pretty early on. Once I had a bit more experience with different modules and companies, I quickly realized that the build quality on that particular module was just so poor.
The jacks and the pots are really wobbly. Like, the pots in particular just feel like they're being held in there with faith alone or something. I have read on a lot of forums that this particular maker is actually known for using very cheap parts.
The module is also quite noisy. There is a faint but definite background hiss. Also, from time to time you could hear the other oscillator engines being triggered in the background. Again, very faint but very definite. These are all weird problems that do not exist in the legit Mutable module.
That company also ended up being pretty shady too. They have a well documented problem where they will take money for orders, not send the order, and then ghost the customer. I was on the receiving end of this myself. Money left my account, no order sent, and then they just stopped responding to emails, online messages and phone calls. I got my money back through a PayPal dispute, but still, that tied up my money for weeks and it was a very frustrating experience, not to mention that it's a pretty crooked thing to do. A lot of people have had to deal with that issue.
And at the end of all that, there is even a small error on the front panel! The oscillator type symbols are out of order at one point. I know that it's a Magpie panel, so that company didn't make it, but it's another negative point just stacking up against Momo modular.
I'm not against the Mutable clones as such, but there are so many other good quality makers out there doing much better work. Apparently Momo used to do decent work, but those days are long gone. They are definitely still in business selling very cheap clones, but if a clone is something that anyone is interested in they would be better off spending the extra few dollars and getting it from a company like Calsynth, After Later, or Michigan Synth Works.
Regardless, now that I have used some genuine Mutable modules, I can't imagine using a clone again. The legit modules are so nicely built and sound great. They are rock-solid.
@@thedigitallost Ah, thanks. I'm pretty sure I know the company that you're talking about and I just had a similar issue with them taking money, going silent then eventually getting around to shipping. It's been a nightmare. Hopefully I'll have better luck if and when my item arrives. Thanks for the detailed response.
Oh, I see you named the company. Yep! Same company. It's a shame. I think they're just overwhelmed.
Ha! Yeah they are really pretty bad. I sort of avoided naming them here but my incident was well over a year ago so I figured there was no real harm in sharing my experience with them!
I'm not really down with the whole "they are overwhelmed" excuse thing though. There is absolutely no excuse for taking people's money and then completely ignoring them. Even if you are running behind, just answer the damn email! There are plenty of small companies doing similar products who can get their product out on time, probably doing as much or more business than Momo, and answer emails promptly. As I said above, there are plenty of great companies making these Mutable clones who not only make a better quality product, but are really great with communication. Calsynth, for example, have always gotten back to me within about 20 minutes when I've had any kind of sales or technical query. The guy followed up after the two modules I ordered from him within just a couple of minutes confirming things like firmware choices, and then had the modules out the same day. Such a great experience and the modules are far more solid than the Momo one that I have. And I've spoken with far too many people, mostly on Reddit, who, like me, never ever heard anything from them again and had to rely on PayPal and credit card disputes to get their money back. And even then no one heard anything back! They made no reply to my PayPal dispute. Complete radio silence.
I noticed that they do business on eBay under a different name, and rumor has it that eBay canceled their account due to all the PayPal disputes so they just started doing business under a different name on ebay. And they have a great Reverb rating because, and I can tell you this from my personal experience, Reverb makes it almost impossible to leave negative feedback for large accounts.
Whatever though. If you and anyone else gets there Momo module and it works fine for you, great! I'm not trying to take that away from anyone, I just think that people should be aware that far too many people have had some seriously terrible interactions with this company and their products, and that there are plenty of other far better companies with nicer people putting out a better product to be dealing with.
Either way though, thanks for watching and commenting! I'm more than happy to talk about this stuff anytime. Cheers.
@The Digital Lost Thanks for sharing your experience (and for calling me out on being too diplomatic). You're 100% right. This whole experience has also made me doubt Reverb. They were so quick to invalidate my concern and defend Momo. My uO_c is finally supposed to arrive today after three weeks. Having learned what I learned about Momo in the past few weeks, I’m now worried about the quality of the uO_c once it arrives. I’ll try to remember to report back here once I try it out.
Can‘t see the pnw screen :(
I do make reference about that in the video. It really is pretty washed out in real life, especially under lights. I did my best to try and get a balance but at the end of the day I basically film with my not very fancy phone and a couple of cheap lights that I could afford on eBay. Again though, the screen can be difficult to see even with the naked eye in certain conditions. Hopefully you were able to work with what I had and still got something out of the video. Thanks.