Wanderings | Generative Ambient Patch in VCV Rack 2
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- čas přidán 3. 06. 2023
- The Geodesics set of modules have piqued my interest ever since I started with VCV Rack. Their distinctive design alone makes me want to use them more and the functionality that they offer is unlike most modules that I've been using so far. But that's exactly what kept me from using them more often: most of the modules never really fit into the patches I was working on.
So if you're interested in a collection of modules, but never get around to actually using them, how can you get to know them more in depth? You start working on a patch in which you use the Geodesics modules as often as you can. And even if there is a different module that does exactly what you have in mind, check first if there isn't a way to do it with a Geodesics module without making it too complex. And yes, that does mean that all the voices are generated by the Dark Energy oscillator. Which I don't mind, because that's the module that I was already using a lot in my previous patches anyway.
As usual, this patch started with a chord progression that is driving the bass line. The Ions module has two 8-step sequences in C minor and will switch between them at random at the end of each sequence. These notes are sent in two octaves through the Dark Energy module, in which the second VCO is switched to the LFO mode. This, combined with the modulation that is applied to the Cross Index and Self Index inputs provides some movement in this voice that occasionally turns into a slight growl.
The second voice in this patch uses the sequence generated by Ions and gets the chord notes based on this from the dIKTaT module (more specific: the 1st, 3rd, 4th, 5th and 7th notes of the active chord). These notes are sent to the top part of two Pulsars modules, which will move up and down these note sequences (where the movement direction and frequency is driven by the "Free will" of a set of Fate modules). The resulting notes are sent in two different octaves through a Dark Energy module into a filter which uses the same Fate modules as before to move the cutoff frequency and resonance. Each of the voices then gets sent into a ping-pong delay, the output of which is slowly crossfaded over the stereo field.
The output of the filter in the previous voice is also reused by the third voice in this patch. It is sent through a Torus module in low/high pass mode, which is then connected to a Pulsars module. An Energy module in LFO mode instructs the Pulsars module which signal to send to a reverb module. Only the wet output of this reverb module is sent to the mixer, where this voice will be panned from left to right by the previously mentioned Energy module.
So far, the Entropia module hasn't been used yet to construct a sequence. The fifth voice in the patch will change this. Two different sequences have been programmed into it, and a slow triangle wave (attenuated by the Torus module) will make Entropia slowly move from one sequence into the other. To add some more randomness to the sequence, a Fate module will occasionally add or subtract a random voltage from one of the notes. Another Fate module randomises how often the clock triggers actually reach this voice. The resulting notes are once more sent to a modulated Dark Energy module.
A final way used to generate a sequence is complete randomness with the Branes module. But even complete randomness must be kept in check, so Branes is set in the yellow "Young" mode, where each incoming trigger will cause only one of the outputs to get a new random value at a time (while the others keep their previous value). Four of these outputs (in the -1 to 1 volt range) are sent to the Blackholes module, where they are attenuated by four different Branes outputs (in the -5 to 5 volt range). The resulting sum defines which note to play. A Dark Energy with no VCA applied to it will play this note. But since the second VCO of the oscillator is set to LFO mode, the resulting notes will still fade in and out. And since there are some extra outputs left on the Branes module, these are used to modulate Dark Energy after being attenuated by a Torus module and being sent through a Slew (to avoid pops and clicks on sudden value changes).
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__ Setup __
- VCV Rack 2.3.0 on Windows
- All audio generated internally within VCV Rack (no external connections)
- Video is captured by OBS
- Audio output is sent through a VB-Audio Virtual Cable to Ableton Live
- Audio recording synced to OBS, and fade added at the end with Reaper
- OBS video and Reaper audio are merged and cut to length using Shutter Encoder.
__ Copyright __
All rights reserved - Hudba
This is beautiful! Great work. 👍
Thank you very much!
Fantastic relaxing music to work to. Great job!
Thank you very much!
What an awesome patch. So soothing and melodic with amazing textures. Thanks for sharing.
Glad you like it :-)
That is a fantastic patch and a very insightful writeup! Thank you!
You're welcome 😉
Mesmerising! The Surge reverb works really well
Thanks! I usually use the Valley Plateau reverb, but it kept overdriving at times. Haven't regretted switching to the Surge one, it does the job beautifully.
Wow absolutely amazing would love to maybe see this on patch storage at some point!! Wonderful work and very inspiring! Thanks for the write up as well!
Thanks! While I do plan to occasionally do some more tutorial videos about certain ideas or parts of patches (and upload those on patchstorage), I'm currently not planning to upload the full patches on there. The write up of the patch in the description is my way of compensating for that 😉
that was beautiful from start to finish! thank you :-)
Thank you for the modules. I'm glad I took the time to check them out in more detail, as they have since become part of my favourites.
@@not-things this is the kind pieces that reminds me why I do that :-) thank you it's very inspiring!
Of the patches that I created up until now, this is still the one that I like the most. Since it was created because the Geodesics modules inspired me, its good to hear that the patch also inspired you :-)
Really nice patch. Geodesics is such a pretty plugin, great use of it here.
Thanks! It was a lot of fun trying to figure out different patching approaches since the Geodesics modules are based on different functional principles then the modules I usually default to.
beautiful!
thanks!
Beautiful!!
beautiful patch
Thank you 😁
this is awesome, i love it :) thank you
Thank you!
Subscribed! 🙌
Welcome aboard 😉
epic description
I do more writing on a video platform then anywhere else ;-)
nice!!
Thanks! :-)
This is called the sound design
Amazing...
Thanks :-)
I really wish I knew how to get something like this up and running in VCV Rack 2. I love this and it sounds spectacular, but VCV Rack 2 seems incredibly complicated.
The end result might look very complicated, but remember that each patch starts out small. Connecting a couple of modules together to try and get going with a single voice that sounds good as a starting point. And after that, it's a lot of experimenting. A lot of trying, backtracking and re-trying. You don't get to hear all the ideas that were attempted and scrapped while building this patch, but I can tell you that there were many 🙂
Make a video tutorial please!
A video tutorial of a full patch would be a bit long I'm afraid. This patch also developed very organically as I was reading the manuals of the different Geodesics modules to see what they could do, so there isn't a clear structured approach that would be suited for a tutorial.
However, if you like the way this patch sounds, check out the Dark Energy oscillator module since that is the one that is used by all voices to turn the notes that the other modules generated into actual sounds. In the end, it all comes down to the Dark Energy module with reverb 😉