Torso T-1: Generative Hardware Sequencer
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- čas přidán 3. 07. 2024
- A young generative sequencer discovers the ins and outs of a synth studio.
- More info: torsoelectronics.com/t-1
- Support this channel and join an amazing community: / bennjordan
- Those lovely custom acoustic panels in the background: psyacoustics.com
Timestamps:
0:00 - "Semi" Generative Music
1:45 - The T-1
3:24 - The basics
9:12 - The Patches 🎧
12:01 - Wrap up
#musicproduction #synthesizers #modularsynth - Hudba
We're obsessed with generative music too!
Something is something -
Love my Tracker and Torso T-1 - both great together
Benn there is a Midi scripting language called ORCA that I think you may have fun with, it's partway Conway's game of life - it can get rather robust and complex and it may be a fun little rabbit hole for you to dive in!
Been playing around with ORCA recently and it’s such a blast. Archeology on the Monome Norns has the same vibe, and makes for gorgeous content. ORCA reduces barrier to entry since you only need a computer, and you can run Archologies with a lunchpad instead of a Grid.
Either way, I’d love to see Benn bring his energy and attitude to either system.
Thanks for the rec ✌️
Never heard of it, looks right up my alley!
Orca sounds very interesting, need to try that out!
Careful what you’re sending the midi to, I had to do a factory reset of my Neutron one time after trying a random patch in Orca being sent to its MIDI port
I'm still waiting for them to update it to ORCA Madonna
Barry Harris was Thelonius Monk's roommate. Imagine just living with Thelonius Monk for years.
"living" I think you mean "surviving"
I found your channel just about two weeks ago and watched most of your newer videos, now I’m a big fan of your content. Keep it up!
I have both the Torso T-1 and the NDLR. I like to think of this sort of tool as a musical collaborator to interact with and respond to. As you noted at the outset, merely setting up a system and pressing ‘go’ rarely yields musically inspiring results. Rather, using generative methods to come up with interesting ideas for further refinement can be deeply inspiring.
I'm debating between the T-1 and the NDLR and wonder which of the two you find more engaging in terms of generative music that invites collaboration from a performer.
@@SyntheticWhispers-yu3dnThe T-1 is more interesting for generative composition. The NDLR feels like an elaborate auto-accompaniment section of a Casiotone keyboard.
Barry Harris was a legend!! The 6th diminished scale changed my understanding of harmony in a big way.
Benn, every new video of yours is a gift to me, truly. You're doing it right, thamk you so much.
I like that the Randomizer is a context dependent button which is integrated into a knob.
Keeps the whole thing within a nice minimal aesthetic.
It's an excellent design idea. I think the OP-SIX did something similar?
Oh bud, so lovely. Thanks for your work.
Always an inspiration - thanks for EVERYTHING you do, Benn! I aspire to have a similar set-up and approach to production and creation. You da bomb!
Mine just arrived so the timing of your video couldn’t have been more perfect. Great video! Thanks! (Also just became a level 2 Patreon supporter because of your consistently high quality, high integrity, and informative videos)
Ur stuff is always great benn
A huge yes to that piano playing!!! Beautiful 👊
this is a really exciting product, thanks for the demo
Ohh the new lighting really is nice in the studio!
Great video, excellent musical examples! This is a must-buy for me this year😎
RIP Barry, such a legend and incredible teacher
The best overview. Thanks
I used to play bass with these guys, and we did jazz standards. We used to do take five, but I could never count it, but I could pull it off, and these guys that were way better than me told me they couldn't count it either. I am not a jazz bass player we just did this for fun. I am just responding to the idea of feel that you were talking about.
Best demo of the T-1 I have seen
Benn, you were actually the person that first got me interested in generative music! It's still something I know very little about but the couple pieces I made were inspired by your videos :)
Nice overview Benn
Very cool. Literally just discovered Barry Harris's workshops yesterday! Having been reared on jazz, blues, and big-band, it has amazing relevance to me. Brilliant content.
Fantastic discussion of the T1 & thanks for the intro to Barry Harris
That's a nice little sequencer to jam along too!
Super interesting video and subject (we relate not much to music made by computers, but definitely to music made in a virtual environment and with virtual components). Some sweet results you got there with this synth!
The way those cycles present and interact reminds me of how milankovich and tectonic cycles present and interact in the sedimentary rocks I study. Very cool stuff.
I love generative content…I’ve mainly used the technique for creative motion content and other kinds of video, but it’s fun as hell. I’ve tried to do something like that for sounds and tones, and you’ve reignited a desire to create the soundtrack to motion images. You rock! (Edit) One thing that I find helps me, having zero musical training at all, and again it comes from my limited experience during my late in life academic spurt, we used a lot of interactive elements, you know the usual suspects…haptic gloves, the MS kinetic camera interface and since then I’ve bought keyboard/pads, and a cool thing from some guys in Nashville called Instrument 1, which feels interactive in that it looks a bit like the neck of a guitar, but you can work with it in a whole lot of completely interpretive ways.
"A young generative sequencer discovers the ins and outs of a synth studio." lol
man its literally a pleasure watching your videos no only am i learning a lot but i am listening to someone who has a lot experience and a good feeling of playing with synths and its fucking beautiful
Great video and interesting topic 😁
I started getting much more productive in the studio, when I drew a line under accumulating more synths / modules. A few good ones, plus some good VSTs and sample libraries is more than enough. And instead invested more in tools like these - OXI One, Soma Cosmos. Then instruments I improvise live with - processed guitars, keys, percussion, Soma, Lyra-8. And on the other end of the chain, extremely powerful delay and reverb processors - especially the Meris LVX and Mercury X. With tools like Torso T-1, as a solo artist, it's almost like having an ensemble you can improvise with anytime you choose. And you can just hit record, then come back and take all the good parts later.
Dude. Ur videos! And that piano jam! Bro.. dude!
Wow this thing is pretty great and seems weirdly intuitive? It's rare that I watch a video overview of something like this and feel like if you put it down in front of me I could just immediately start using it intentionally. Also, I want that guitar pick! Also, that piano improvisation was absolutely gorgeous wow Benn.
Beautiful Gear and Beautiful Music- What else a life wants?
Oh this thing is sick!
nice vid, got to meet the guys that made the t-1 at superbooth this year!
This is what I was looking for. A step by step beginners guide for what buttons to press to get some sound out of a newly unboxed BF Torso purchase. It makes more sense now. Thank you, I have taken notes. NDLR should be interesting, Conductive Labs seems innovative, but it is currently sold out worldwide due to a lack of chips. Oh, and RIP Barry Harris. :(
Aha - you kept yr word on the 2600! I’ve one here and it’s sooo much fun! Live to see what you can do with it.
Love generative music and I would not mind owning several devices that handle it just a bit different. Thanks for showing this.
Honestly, I see generative music as a sort of *collaboration* between composer and algorithm. Somewhere along the line, a human is always involved, either as the writer of the algorithm itself, or as recorded source material analyzed by a neural network. There's always a human being making the editorial decisions of a generative piece, though the algorithm might come up with something that the human would never have. It's a very "broad strokes" approach, but it can be rewarding sometimes.
We all "black box" our instruments to varying degrees and generative music is just more so than most. I want a generative synth that let's me assign "personalities" to algorithms and have them jam with each other. I seem to remember the Polyend Play was kind of like that?
I have been using Five12 Vector Sequencer. It´s so simple to use and results are always very good.
Five12 with expander has lots of ins and outs.
Those sweet flashbulb vibes….
Also have a look at Karma, in the korg kronos, its a product by Steven Kay labs, and its a real time algorythmic sequencer.. it works incredibly well for creating musical idea’s as base of a creative process
otherworldly...💜
Looking up Barry Harris now. Thank you for keeping his memory alive.
Ah, been there (helped by Maggie Boden). Agree.
Barry is under-appreciated.
Another cool device is the ndlr . Never heard of the torso… will def check it out !
I subscribed 20 seconds into this video
I'm getting one next month
Starting at 11:06 just awesome 😮
I have the Synthstrom Deluge and it can do euclidean sequencing very well, but I hope it'll have some more generative options in the future!
You remind me so much of Tobias from Arrested development hahaha
Great vid, thanks :)
Holy shit, this is cool!
Sounds kool
A nice, short and sweet video Benn. Also great to see your Barry Harris mentions. I fortunately just stumbled across him a few months back and there is so much more I need to get my head wrapped around. There is never, not an opportunity to continue ones music education for sure.
In terms of the T1, I backed the unit during their KickStarter campaign and still have a lot more more experimenting to do to get my head wrapped around it. One thing I tried was to try and use it to sequence my Roland TR8S drum machine with no luck. @Benn Jordan et.al., anyone have luck in this regard?
Pretty sure this is the best instructional video I've ever seen on any piece of gear. Greatly appreciated!
Just throwing this out into the ether - are you familiar with the Labyrinth of Limitations channel? Thomas Echols has really unlocked some of Barry Harris' harmonic concepts on guitar. He's also a programmer and is making software to learn and explore Barry Harris' harmony. I feel that the two of you could collaborate to make some generative music performance tool that let's you think "Bb 6 diminished into F7's tritone minor" and play around with voicings and borrowing, and using tricks like the T-1 has for rhythm and melody.
i'm hooked on Euclidean generators: Pulsar, Performer, Constellation.
For a generative sequencer, this seems to rely too much on randomisation for me. I prefer to use a chaotic network of function generators. You can derive rhythms from those functions by using the individual bit outputs of a slowly clocked ADC. And then you can use those gates to fire the function generators again :)
Instead of playing notes, it can also be interesting to scrub through samples instead and simultaneously modulate other parameters. That way you don't have to quantize anything and you can just use the smooth voltages of the function generators. Or run them through a S&H if you want.
You might like Sugar Bytes' Nest. Who am I kidding, you probably already have it. :P
I am also obsessed
I really wanted to like this thing but every video of it sounds like riff machine in fl studio. That piano jam was amazing
Would love to see a comparison between this and the ndlr. I know they are very different machines but they both can be used for semi-procedural harmonic creation. Also interested to see if they could work together and how. Cheers!
Hey Ben. Have you programmed any generative patches on the Polybrute? I haven’t attempted any yet but would love to see your take on it.
There are so many ways to approach those and with all of the Polybrute’s morphing and control options I bet it could do some pretty magical sounding stuff.
I have a Pyramid which is great, but this seems like such an interesting and different approach that I may need to consider picking one up. Very different workflows....the Pyramid feels like it is more "traditional" with some generative features , whereas this is more generative from the ground up and doesn't stray anywhere near the traditional landscape.
Awesome video Benn but by looking at the Torso I think you need that Befaco synth dusting brush ;)
I bought the Polyend Play based, in large part, on your review of it. Play really is great, but I'm not sure that it's the right tool for what I'm doing (sort of like plunderphonics that requires quick changes.). I know that this question will be difficult to answer, but which sequencer do you prefer: Play's or the T1? Sorry for the lack of detail. I hope you understand what I'm getting at. Thanks for your help!
might get one..
The piano towards the end was magical! What do you think about the aiaiai headphones? Mine are arriving tomorrow. That Wireless + seems awesome especially for my live sequence based performances where a lot of cables and stuff can get in the way.
I’d love you to look at a Deluge as a generative tool please. With love, Ken
thanks for the vid. rip barry ~~
I love the berry vids
Checkout zoa on the ipad!
a bit off-topic...some time ago i build a NI Reaktor Preset with two "skrewell´s" and a mixer, thats a lot of generative fun with "metyphysical function". Also i visit the user libs on NI, nice skrewell mods there as well. And this Torso is nice toys holy cow...for 500 bucks
I also found it important that T-1 has Ableton Link build in!
That's how this got on my radar, from the link list on ableton. Was happy to hear this T-1 reviewed so recently...
Hey Benn, love that review of the T-1. Starting taming my unit as well.
Quick question: can you put the link of the FM Synth running on your iPad.
Thanks
Great stuff. Very tempted by the T-1. What was the book on the piano?
i wish something like the torso would exist as a vst or maxforlive plugin
Your vids always help when I’m trying to determine on buying new equipment. How do you feel about the midi side of this. I use fl studio and would like to do more creative Melodies and patterns with the VSTs. Does this sync well with DAWs to be a midi controller?
very interesting indeed. I would argue however that it is more expensive than it should be. I suppose the BOM should be somewhat comparable to Arturia’s sequencers.
Naw, much smaller batches and it’s a smaller company with less SKUs. Makes sense, not too expensive imo
6:12 I thought you'll make Sandstorm lol
How are things with your polyend seq?
Great video, but I am cautious about new stuff like this and it ends up being abandoned like the seq.
Was the Seq abandoned? I still find mine useful. It's a great visual sequencer!
@@BennJordan Was abandoned years ago, mine is a good door stopper or can break burglar knee caps
Ha! I got into this argument in 2001 with a very smart dude. I'm on the "no" side. Music is a expression of mood. When compy can feel sad, then compy might be able to write a good song. Until then, compy will be restricted to corporate promo bumper music.
do you like the Stochastic Inspiration Generator
So how do you compare the Torso T-1 to the Polyend Play
Excelent video...
I star to create minimal music and micr house.
So I need a sequencer for mi tanzbar, for create new patterns and rythms more latin with a lot of percussion.
Wich one do you recommind me the torso t1 or Squard pyramid.
For eucliand, polimeter and polyrythm.
please!
im waiting for my name to come up on the cirklon list but in the mean time i need a sequencer that i wont want to sell when number is called. i have a friend doing mobile massage therapy and am looking for a piece of gear i can use to help generate some awesome atmosphere for him. this looks like a prime contender
This may be a naïve question and yet I am curious to know as I get back into musical equipment. Does this generate loops and sequences on its own or does it have to be connected to a computer or some midi device?
This vs NDLR vs Squarp pyramid what are your thoughts?
a Jazz great... R.I.P
LSTMs and GANs perform much better than RNNs. Not saying they can bring emotion, but they can reference a lot of noticeable patterns present in training data.
the thing about generative music, or what i prefer to call procedural music
is there are so many egos in the way of the music. people used to say my sequencers were genius (xoxos) eric morabito could put an algorithm together as well. but everybody else wants to be the one who did it, so we get obscured and you get a bunch of crappy vst by people with twenty years less experience.
The T1 is still relevant today? Or there is something better in the same ballpark?
Just curious what you would do if you succeeded in making a computer make music for you!?
Seems like a great way to defeat writer’s block.
Defeat is a big ask but it's maybe up there with oblique strategies as an aide
Nice, I love this content! But your color grading seems a bit off
You might like Loomer Architect, a lot.
For a long time I've been trying to find "Phish in a box" and this is the closest I've found. I think applying some of the same ideas - generative programming with boundaries.
Wow. That's cool, ma. That's way cool.
Autechre vibes
Correct me if I'm wrong but isn't musical scores just human generated algorithm though?
That's vastly understating something like feelings, "soul", or individual style honed over a lifetime.
It's technically true but if your algorithm is single purpose (or somewhat more with licensing) it's not really the most important thing about it