Ambient Patch from Scratch with MARBLES, BRAIDS & CLOUDS - Tutorial - VCV Rack

This is a tutorial about my current favourite combination of Eurorack modules by Mutable Instruments, Marbles - Braids - Clouds, in VCV Rack. You can achieve great ambient soundscapes and music by using only these three modules.
MindMeld BassMaster tutorial: / mindmeld-92843623
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Timestamps:
---------------------
00:00 Intro
01:17 Patch from Scratch
08:40 Recording 1**
12:20 Adding the BassMaster
18:22 Recording 2
22:31 Final Thoughts and Peace
**Recording 1: Ambient Recording #28 • 3 Modules in VCV RACK ...
List of Modules Used:
-----------------------------------
Audible / Mutable Instruments:
- Marbles (random sampler)
- Braids (macro oscillator)
- Clouds (texture synthesiser)
MindMeld: BassMaster
VCV: Audio, Rec
Check out the super-useful manuals and quickstart guides for Mutable Instruments modules!
pichenettes.github.io/mutable...
Gear I use:
Microphone: Behringer XM8500 Dynamic Cardioid Mic - amzn.to/3WGYmYf
Audio Interface: Solid State Logic SSL 12 - amzn.to/4ajhRcl
Studio Headphones: Sony MDR-7506 Professional - amzn.to/3QMI9g7
Wired Earphones: Sony MDREX15LP In-Ear Earbuds - amzn.to/4byGWRu
Download the patch here: patchstorage.com/ambient-patc...
Enjoy! 🙂
Get VCV Rack for free here and start making music: vcvrack.com
#vcvrack #patchfromscratch #tutorial #3modulechallenge #ambient #generative #mutableinstruments #marbles #braids #clouds

[@nateh2665]

Im trying to learn and this is probably the best way for me. Every other video i see just has a tun of modules connected all over the place a things get confusing. Thanks

[@greghawley7852]

Peace back at you. Nice tutorial. I'm kind of amazed at how much you can get out of (just) these three modules. Watching this I feel compelled to read the docs (in detail) for these. It's such a shame the Mutable isn't anymore.

[@koma2000music]

Thank you! The Mutable Instrument modules are amazing, versatile and with character at the same time, very creative. If I could only pick one oscillator.. Plaits / Rings / Braids.. that would be a difficult choice!
It's definitely worth looking up the manual, for Braids e.g. it describes the funcrion of the Color and Timbre knobs for each synth model.

[@exoner6110]

Thank you for sharing this. Minimalism rules.
I totally agree that Mutable Instruments are a class of its own. They are very useful if you want to explore what synthesis is all about. I wish they would have a dark user interface. Building a fixed rack with these modules and adding some little NYSTHI-stuff is all you need to get very creative.
To be honest, when looking at the VCV-patches posted on YT I usually get bored very quickly, because in the end many sound the same, are drenched in reverb and lack of creativity. And I think, VCV Rack is not built to simulate a DAW or synth-studio/wall but for creating playable sounds and patterns. If you know what kind of sound you want and you have the knowledge how the major types of modules work (VCO, LFO, VCF, VCA), you can get rich results out of a minimal set of gear.
I'm a big fan of the Westcoast-style and modules that help to build Westcoast-style racks. These modules support simplicity, clear functionality and are a challenge for your creativity. The sky is the limit.
For sound-design I built a fixed rack inspired by the ARP 2600 with very few extensions (some more mults, basic LFOs and simple VCAs) to make the life a little bit easier without changing the character and idea of the ARP 2600. I even added the very basic ARP-sequencer that is available in VCV Rack. This rack has almost no limitations when sound-design is what I'm after. I use this rack as a plugin in my DAW. With this rack I created to sound like a Dalek (Dr. Who) when speaking to a microphone. And I simulated the sound of a helicopter (like they did in 'Apocalypse Now'). (Maybe I will post it on YT some day.)
I also built some 'pedal-boards' with VCV-Rack, use them with hardware-instruments and get great results. All this needs a small amount of modules to create rich sounds.
So keep going with minimalistic patches and simplicity. This is a key to the universe of sound.
Peace

[@koma2000music]

Hey, thanks! Yeah, VCV is definitely suited for this kind of stuff, sounds and patterns, as you said!
It's cool for sound effects, too. I've tried using a microphone. How did you connect hardware to VCV?

[@exoner6110]

@@koma2000music I simply use my audio-interface. There is a module in the fundamentals of VCV Rack that offers audio-in- and -outputs. Click in its 'window', select your driver (for me its ASIO) and (the channels of) your connected device. Connect an output of the audio-module to the V/oct-input of any module (filter, oscillator etc.). That's it.
The audio-module-outputs deliver voltage, and as voltage is voltage is voltage, you can do anything with it in VCV.
So it just works the same way as you transfer the VCV-output to your audio-interface, but the other way round.
To ease my cabeling, I connected/routed the stereo-outs of my hardware-mixer to a stereo-in of the audio-interface and connect my hardware to the mixer-inputs. So my guitar and a microphone are connected to the mixer, also my synthesizers and my drum-machine. But you can connect any hardware-instrument or microphone to your audio-interface directly, too.
Hope that helps. There are a lot of tutorials out there to show all this in detail.
Have fun.
Peace

[@koma2000music]

@@exoner6110 All clear, cheers! :-) Guitar etc. into interface + Audio module! Peace.