West Pest First Impression
Vložit
- čas přidán 25. 08. 2022
- In this video you'll see my first 20(ish) minutes with the Cre8audio West Pest semi modular synthesizer, West Coast counterpart to the somewhat more conventional East Beast. I come at it with a fair experience with synthesizers and having read the manual, but with only about 1 minute of off camera experience (turning it on and checking it seems to work correctly). Don't expect any music, but instead my experimentation with the features and my opinions on how and why you might want it.
TL;DW: It's limited in various ways and quite specific but interesting, different and quite fun. If the concept and sound appeal, the relatively low cost makes it a pretty good value proposition.
For more content like this, Subscribe now - czcams.com/users/ChalkWalkMusic?su...
If you'd like to contact me to request a certain video, or for anything else, message me on Twitter: / chalkwalkmusic
#cre8audio #pittsburghmodular #westpest #firstimpressions #semimodular #synthesizer
Great video, thank you!
Thanks for watching!
Thx and greetings from WestPest in Thailand !
Thanks for watching, and I appreciate your comment! I hope you enjoyed the video and the synth.
Thanks for this. Just received mine yesterday didn't have time to play with it yet. Definitely helpful information 👍✌️
Thanks for watching, and for your comment. I'd say the device isn't too complicated, so hopefully you'll get to grips with it quickly and have fun!
thanks for the video, Im thinking to pair it with an 0-coast... Question: is this just the synth dry or is it running through reverb?
Thanks for watching, and for the comment. I can't remember for certain, but I never have effects in when starting a video. Occasionally I'll add some later in the video when it's more "performing" and less "listening", but I usually mention it. Overall I can say that it sounds pretty good.
I know it’s not really in the same league but what are ur thoughts on this as a standalone box compared to the volca modular?
I don't own a volca modular, but a friend had one which I tried for a while. I'd summarize the differences in a few ways. First of all, one of the weaknesses of the west pest, from my perspective, is the fairly limited patch bay: 20 patch points vs 50 on the volca (i.e more sound design scope). One advantage for the west pest is having regular 1/8" TS patch point using modular voltages; in contrast the volca modular uses Dupont/pin patch points with various voltage ranges meaning no direct eurorack connectivity (though an adapter can be made). The volca sequencer is quite different to the west pest, but they are both reasonable. A negative for the volca is the lack of midi input (unlike all the other volcas) meaning you can only play it via CV+Gate (though there are midi connector pads on the PCB to add a midi in and out if you wish). All in all I'd say the volca modulator is probably more fun as a standalone device, but the west pest works better with other semi modular and modular synths. Sound wise, they are both okay with the west pest sounding nicer overall, but the in volca has the digital spring reverb. The west pest build quality seems better, but volcas seem to last well. All in all I couldn't say which one is better: they are both fun.
Thank you for sharing your thoughts! Great points to consider!
To get get "filtered" tones you could back off the wavefolding to get closer to a pure sine or triangle.
Thanks for your comment, and for watching. You definitely can do this and when I use the digital envelope (to animate the timbre) I do, but this has three limitations that I can see compared to a separate filter. Firstly, you don't get orthogonal control of this vs the folder mod and dynamics control. Secondly, you can only filter down fully if you are using a sine wave: all other waves would retain harmonics (especially anything using the saw). Finally, this is only analogous to a low pass filter; an additional filter could operate in band or high pass (which the wave folder can't do).
@@ChalkWalkMusic Thanks for a great review/demo.
For mine to be in tune/pitch I need to set the tune knob at aprx 9 o'clock, not 12. Is this normal behaviour?
As an analogue synth you shouldn't expect to get perfect tuning, nor tracking accuracy across an extended range. To test the tuning accuracy I would turn the synth on, leave it for 30 minutes, then set an "init patch": turn all the knobs down except the volume and sustain which should be at max, and the fine tune which you can set to the middle. Make sure your west pest keyboard is in the middle octave then play the low C and check the tuning.
If the factory calibration was very accurate you may find it seems exactly in tune at 12 o'clock but typically it will deviate a bit. 9 o'clock seems a bit far off the mark (I'd expect a setting more in the 10-2 range, preferable 11-1) but it definitely doesn't render it unusable; on mine the knob it at about 11:30 in the situation I described. You can play Cs up and down the octave range to see how well it tracks: typically you'd expect at least +/- 2 octaves to be in "reasonable tune" by which I mean
How to connect to my DAW (Deluge)? I only see a 3,5 midi jack, no usb or normal midi?
Thanks for watching, and for your comment. The west pest comes with a pair of 1/8" TRS to female DIN MIDI adapters. With those in place you have a regular midi in and out connection available.
@@ChalkWalkMusic Thank you so much!
yeah there should be a low pass gare coupled to some control not sure u need another filter but i can see what u mean
Thanks for the comment. I was thinking about a multi mode filter more than just another low pass: I think that would offer a lot of extra timbral flexibility.
I bought one.... but for the life of me I can't figure out how to change the midi chanel ? on that West Pest
Thanks for your comment, and for watching. The UI is a bit strange, but it is described in the manual. The G# note on the keyboard has a (yellow) secondary function called channel. Press yellow and channel (G#) repeatedly and the 4 LEDs under the waveform contour will count up (in binary) representing the midi channel, 0 being channel 1 and 15 being channel 16, with all four flashing if it's in "omni mode" (responds on all channels).
@@ChalkWalkMusic Got it ! Thank you
Still gonna make a follow up vid? 🤞🏼
I will get to it eventually, but presently I have a backlog of projects to complete and get out there. Having had the west pest for a while I'd say it's remained a go-to for classic (and not so classic) plucks and for rhythmic drones; it also works well alongside my pitched percussion modular case.
Has anybody made any good patching tutorial vids for this little synth?
No that I know of, but the patch bay is quite limited; most of the patch points are the audio ins and outs of each module and the midi signals. The ins and outs let you add other modules to the signal path or use the modules for other purposes, which might be interesting. For modulation destinations on device you only get FM, wavefolder modulation and dynamics modulation so there isn't that much to be gained with extra modulation sources. The only non normalized sources are the multi function generator and the square output of the LFO: I think this doesn't provide that much scope either. What I'm saying is: as a standalone device there isn't that much in the way of patching to explore.
Sounds cool at the first glance, but lack of envelope attack is a turn off for me. Thanks for the demo.
Thanks for watching, and for your comment. I guess they were trying to go for a "vactrol LPG" feel on the control section which turns a trig or a gate into a pluck applied to audio (with the added value of a release control, which a lot of LPGs don't have); that's not very compatible with setting attack directly, though you could slew limit the rising gate voltage to make an attack but that would mean it becomes much more sensitive to trig length. In any case though, it is definitely limited in various ways and certainly not for everyone.
@@ChalkWalkMusic I agree. It's a part of personality of that instrument, but I don't understand why they limited it like that. I think most people would gladly pay little more for some functions that most synths of that class have on their patchbays. I guess keeping price so low was their priority.
not sure i'd use one much but at 200 quid ..
Thanks for the comment, and for watching. That's exactly how I ended up with one: a West Coast style analogue synth for that price seems hard to say no to, even if it's limited.