ALM Akemie's Castle FM Synth Eurorack Module Demo

[@RedMeansRecording]

This still kicks ass in 2022

[@FreeThink1984]

Checking in 2024, this is still phukin based as phuk

[@senarodrigo]

Man you have the best eurorack demo videos! You explain very clearly, your pacing and tone is fun and easy to follow, and you have a good aesthetic sense to make all these make very musical sounds. Keep it up!!

[@rare_grooves_shack_1983]

i kind of like the LACK of (deep) explanation in this video. another one got so technical it made my brain hurt and for me to want to run away if i ever saw an akamie's castle in person. "i dunno what's going to happen... NOBODY knows what's going to happen... just twist the knobs." i like THAT "explanation" better.

[@GuitarsAndSynths]

He must have won the lotto to be able to afford the 300k plus in wall to wall Eurorack gear! I wanna know his secret to getting rich enough to afford this!

[@amycatass]

Hey I just wanted to say after about three years of watching this video over and over, dozens of times, I’ve finally purchased an Akemies Castle like I’ve dreamed of since first watching this vid. Thank you

[@mylarmelodies]

Good zings come to those who wait 🙌

[@proxymerchant]

Damn… I’ve been dreaming of owning this module for like 5 years also… should I do it???

[@FreeThink1984]

@@proxymerchantyes heckin dew it

[@FreeThink1984]

Based congrats!!!

[@gabrielhaggebrink6700]

I've watched this demo like 15-20 times now I think. Shit's amazing. I'd love another hour of castle jam from you, complete with blabbering and moaning.

[@t3l3phasicworksh0p]

24:44 - WTF!!! That was worth ALL the Patreon contributions.

[@Unifono2012]

"If it's good enough for autechre, it's good enough for me" :) best.

[@TiminatorFL]

I have watched this video 10+ times. Still the best demo of a module ever.

[@RigatoniModular]

Love that you stuck with that flat 7th on Operator 1 at 18:30-ish. Was a great timbre

[@MartinDoudoroffLLC]

You’re the perfect person to demo this module.

[@rexstringer9704]

he's the perfect person to demo everymodule

[@GuitarsAndSynths]

Yeah he is "ACE"

[@GuitarsAndSynths]

he is funny having modular orgasms everytime constantly going "yeah!"

[@tomlavelle8518]

More lovely noise, blinking lights and color cords. Awesome, thanks

[@precarious333]

All that shit starting about 20 minutes in was great! Hope you were recording to separate tracks so you can finish them off. I had zero interest in this module until seeing this video. Damn it!

[@ScottWozniak]

I want one of these simply to sit around and make Sega MegaDrive music 😄

[@MarcasLancaster]

I LOVE your enthusiasm! So glad I own this module - thanks for the video too - can't wait to get back on it now!

[@iminasamscar9432]

i remember when this video came out i was like its crazy people spend so much on having so many modules, now i have 9 full mantis cases lmao

[@mylarmelodies]

My guy.

[@elyssapalmer2298]

How did you fill ~1800hp in three years wtf

[@HenricWallmark]

Hence why you’re not in your own car..? ;)

[@iminasamscar9432]

@@HenricWallmark I actually don’t have a car, yes

[@yuforoden]

this is absolutely the king of a video demo for a module. freaking great!!!!!!!! thanks for opening the doors!

[@PinkBoardProducts]

This is my fav demo, can’t get enough

[@sunilsolanki]

Another fine mess you've got me into! First the Metropolis and now this! Brilliant.

[@nundale7273]

Insane music, insane insight. You are just a box full of surprises.

[@Mikeromeo18]

I actually just got back from a trip to Japan. I scored a YM2612 from a vending machine in Akihabara. Looking for a way to integrate it like this if anyone has any recs. Absolutely love this idea of having actual knobs for an FM synthesizer. Love the demo, so freakin good!

[@sneakyfatcat]

you got a ym2612 from a vending machine? wtf

[@sunilsolanki]

Just joined you on Patreon! You've already made me spend over a $1000 on modules... So what's $4 per month to learn how to actually use them! Wish you all the success. And thanks for sharing your knowledge and especially your enthusiasm. Malekko Voltage Block as a rather cheeky request! 😂👌😊

[@groovin1979]

I'm in the same boat, though running into the many thousands now. Looking forward to the next patreon vids!

[@mylarmelodies]

Thanks so much for supporting man!

[@GuitarsAndSynths]

so how do you guys get the massive amounts of cash required to buy the 200k worth of Eurorack gear?

[@rdean150]

Renaissance Man This thread perfectly explains how mylarmelodies was able to build such an impressive rack. Multiple people gleefully announcing that this person convinced them to spend thousands of dollars, and over 50k views on this video alone. Manufacturers notice that kind of thing and see opportunity. "What if he reviewed *our* modules? Let's send him one and find out." Not saying there's anything wrong with it, mind you. Frankly I'm jealous. Keep on rocking it Mylar!

[@steefdroid]

Love it - as always! Wish I had the space for it

[@brokenscart7989]

Well I’d didn’t know this existed until just now and now I want one. I love the sounds of FM synthesis being mangled… one day I’ll have one..!

[@jerod-s-rivera]

Such a great vid! All the discoveries your making with the audible surprises "ugh?!" " hm?" "yeah!" are priceless. Just picked up the Pamelas New Workout, thinking this might pair nicely with it..

[@nodflenders3665]

I remember Simon from London Modular showing me this about a year ago, I thought it was ace then but I only had a small amount of space in my system. Now that It's been refreshed in my mind, I just wanted so say thanks mylar for continuing to damage my bank balance!

[@jsogman]

just had a kinda cool/crazy idea: you could program in some of those cascading really high frequency distortions/harmonics a la 12:08 ... mult a single channel into a high pass filter and dry or low pass... then take the high frequencies and separate them out from the hp filter to some delay, verb 'above', what have you and do what thou wilt with the rest of the channel 'below'.... just creative boredom thinking at the moment.... great stuff as always Mr. Mylar!

[@tgeo2880]

think i am going to have to consider becoming a patron for you, good sir, once I start receiving an income again (couple of weeks now -- My eurorack journey begins soon!!). I am coming back to these videos again and again and need to get a hold of some of these juicy electro / ambient / generative jams in their full glory. expect a new patron in the coming weeks

[@nomusebefriends]

I own this module and I still keep coming back to watch this video. Awesome stuff.

[@mylarmelodies]

Thanks meight x

[@TiagodaSilvaSound]

21:02 I’m gonna just leave this time stamp here. I fucking love this riff so much. I keep coming back to it.

[@dasilvasoundstudio]

Still coming back to this riff. So good.

[@gabrielhaggebrink6700]

This demo is amazing. Thank you!

[@paultooken7038]

Love it when you say "yeah" I totally understand your sentiment

[@ronbo456]

Brilliant Shapeshifter videos --> gotta get a SS. Brilliant Castle video --> gotta get a Castle. Barely have rack space (and budget!) for one of them, both would be out of the question. In a complete feedback loop and getting nowhere. Thanks a ton! PS - You and a couple others provide amazing marketing for manufacturers. This should be a business school case, no joke.

[@SoundsandImages]

Great video, indeed lots of fun here. Would never have a dull evening with this module..

[@birthdaydinosaur]

been looking for music like this for ages! thank god i found out about modular

[@hiemehbarron9768]

Nice. I used to love deep diving in the menus for hours and coming up with complex patches but this looks tasty.

[@brianobush]

This is my next synth, thanks for the demo. A non-modular avenue for FM exploration is the PreenFM 2 synth, the dynamic control is not the same of course. Akemie's Castle is truly unique in that regard.

[@greganderson5972]

This thing always sounded great to me, but you managed to crank some crazy funky knobage. Worthy of serious study!

[@greganderson5972]

I have a TX81z and never got anything like that out of it.

[@EnviroDouglas]

I see why these are hard to find. It’s $600 new here in the states. It seemed overpriced until watching this video. Thank you!

[@andyq9669]

I just love these reviews, if that's what they are. Or are they just great effen entertainment? genius. best in the universe, or even further afield.

[@mylarmelodies]

Ha, they're demos! But I am trying to make em fun as possible :3 Thanks Andy x

[@SoundsMick]

I wonder how many of these you have sold, great jams...oh and another one sold.

[@sauce_aux]

You're the first modular nut I've heard say, that FM synthesis is interesting. Thank you for not alienating me 😀 because I too love fm and my fm devices!

[@mylarmelodies]

amen

[@edjwise]

You are totally right about subtractive synthesis. Modular FM is awesome, thanks for the awesome stuff.

[@jdsc100]

Great video. I’m about to go down the Eurorack rabbit hole, I want to start slow, would you recommend this as a first module with say a MI stages? I also have a 0coast. Was also looking at Plaits instead of this. Thanks

[@TheRepublicOfJohn]

Finally scored one of these! All my love/lust for this module came from this review. Goddamn Mylar, you fuck up my life in all the right ways haha

[@ron2298]

That is one beautiful piece of kit. Wow it’s like a Digitone for the modular world awesome. I know it has been out for a while but I only got the bug from watching your personal channel. So thank you for me not having that new car. But I do have a dope rack lol. Thank you for your inspiration to play. Be safe

[@zogjones]

Yes. I just became a patron. GUYS--if you were moved by this video, is it not worth just some level of dollars or other currency to keep this stuff coming?

[@mylarmelodies]

thanks mate!! x

[@oldgoodrandomroutine]

12:24 What! MYLAR is evolving! ... Congratulations, your MYLAR evolved into Rob Booth! cuz Autechre XD

[@Unifono2012]

Randomroutine Rob Booth :D

[@StefanAuchda]

Hi @mylarmelodies, at the very end you are talking about a live set by ortecha, ortekka, ortecca ortacha... i dunno. Can you give us a link to that group / musician?

[@mylarmelodies]

Autechre! Listen to all of it, but the stuff in elseq is very FM-voicey

[@StefanAuchda]

mylarmelodies thank you! For some reason that artist always sounded completely French in my head like out-a-shre

[@ADDMIKEIX]

Hey Boss I have a question, can the castle do the Taiko's "things" ... I'm about to drop the extra money for the castle because of your super good demo. Thanks in advance.

[@Chicle777]

Great demo as always! The software brother to this is chipsynth PortaFM by Plogue or the RYM2612 for Reason

[@thetaflux6267]

I should be taking delivery of my Akemie's Castle on thursday. You sir, are terrible for my wallet, but fantastic for my creative process. Thank you/curse you!

[@1vootman]

Excellent video. You and Divkid are my go to modular dudes.

[@Starshine777]

After experimenting with simple A > B FM on a Prophet 6, I've had the itch for more ops, stable pitch, and knobs! This might push me in to starting a modular... Also glad you mentioned the DT7. It looks terrifyingly awesome...

[@MadelnMachines]

How difficult is it to recreate things like the DX-7 patches and the really beautiful classic 80s sounds? Is that stuff probably best left to the professional FM boffins? I like all the weird sounds but it would be great to hear do other stuff too.

[@royroger1984]

i totally agree with you about FM synthesis. So interesting!! and i find that it really cuts through the mix!!

[@Padbangers]

Really nice. First FM synth that seems fun to "program"

[@robertsyrett1992]

ALM Busy Circuits is pretty awesome. I am really looking forward to Pam's NEW Workout.

[@GuitarsAndSynths]

does a date with Pamela come with it?

[@JakeLavoieMusic]

Synth Hell Doom, you've got it. Great creative and expressive tut dude!

[@sentimental7167]

Nice vid, nice demo! I had a DX7, took me half a year to learn and then it was the most fantastical synth you could get. Many people seem to use it just playing rom-cards. I've tried several FMs as VST, but apart from the FM8 they all have only four operators. That might be less confusing, I agree, but it lacks a little the total crazyness, that you could get with a DX7...

[@gabrielhaggebrink6700]

I never fucking get tired of this demo

[@zogjones]

...currently reorganizing my rig on modulargrid to figure out what has to go to make this thing fit in! Thanks again.

[@goingblankagain2187]

Thank you for this. I've been wrestling with this piece quite a bit. Waiting on a befaco rampage to handle maths type functions. Cheers! Ps. Your videos are contributing to my impending insolvency.

[@hardsync7873]

Like your demos! Very informative and musical! 🤟

[@Starshine777]

Noob question: if the input CV has already been gated, is additional gating required after the output to keep the sound from being continuous? I'm assuming it's not, but that sending gates to modulation sources is a key part of getting some of these sounds.

[@STAkbeats]

Off topic...but, have you used a VsT GUI to program your Dx-7? There's a free one "dexed"....makes my DX7IID totally accessible

[@lachrymal1707]

Thank you so much, best demo ever.

[@sadiekaye352]

This is great. I have an SY-77 and love it (and it's not so hard to program really:) but I can see the appeal of the knobs. Two questions: - I didn't see you using feedback loops in the FM path the way I'd often use with my SY-77. is this possible or a good idea with the castle? - For the same price i suspect one could get four Doepfer A-110-4 modules and have an equal amount of fun. That would take away the gritty digital glitches but still give the genuine FM sound. Any comments on the pros and cons of these options?

[@brianobush]

But the charm is part of the grit, no?! And being able to change waveform adds much more character than what you would get from a bunch of A-110-4 modules. Not saying that wouldn't be fun to toy with other operator algorithms though.

[@uhlectronic]

always wanted to mess with that chip! ALM rules!!

[@thom-alphaxiii-5106]

Impressive module and impressive review, thumbs up

[@paulbergel9191]

Just scanned the comments and didn't see it mentioned (forgive me if I missed it though!) - what reverb are you using? Excellent video as always!!

[@mylarmelodies]

Paul Bergel Ta, its Clouds Parasites in the end stereo filters bit, all the rest is the mighty Valhalla Room!

[@paulbergel9191]

mylarmelodies thanks!!

[@mirrorme2055]

thank you for your videos. top level explanation skills and contagious fascination

[@NEWO64]

Could you demonstrate a few patches using the Ornament and Crime along with the Akemies for modulation and sequencing?

[@ish233]

Nice, someone finally managed to get the knob version going eh? I've been messing with FM for a good time now, and I like how the machine utilizes it here. I also like your style

[@davidlewis1787]

My first synth was a 4 op Yamaha... used to get weird shit out of it and I am buying one of these!

[@squirrelvalhalla9386]

Smashing reverb underpinnings... in the 22:00 area. What did you use for that?

[@benoitlaine1131]

Rhaaaah... lovely. Tonight I'll shake the dust of my FS1R. I've had a love and hate relation to this thing since buying it more than fifteen years ago. Thousands of parameters, and four dials ! (!!anger!!). I agree with you : FM delivers the greatest fun in empirical sound design. With FM, NOT knowing what you're doing is essential.

[@mylarmelodies]

Ahhh yeah I remember when the FS1R came out, listening to the Future Music cover CD samples and being like 'whaaaaaa?!'. Fast forward to years later and I made samples for the Future Music review of the Akemies Castle. Maybe someone somewhere is like 'WHAAAAAA' to those. I would love to have a deeper knowledge of the recipes for creating certain sounds in FM, there is so so much to be tried, it's like a laboratory in even just a DX7.

[@totalSLACK]

10:55 "a funky ass patch" i am laughing waaaay too hard 😅

[@jesse8732]

Excellent vid!

[@elvishopper4495]

I have one Castle and thinking of doubling up... Do you think 2 castle's would play cool together? Or Overkill?

[@andywillis6697]

Man, even the colors take me back to 1987

[@diglet553]

such akemie, very castle, many epic!

[@ronsunsinger483]

great work, I learned a lot. Thanks!

[@TroyBlackford]

Woah, wideboy right there. What is that? 42hp? Really great module. Ahh, looked it up: 38hp. I've got literally no room, let alone for something like that, but that's a really great idea. I had a Sound Blaster 16 back in the day with Dr. Sbaitso on my 20mhz 386, so I am really the target audience. If I ever add a fifth 3U rack to my setup (doubtful! Not anytime soon, that's for sure!) this would be the main reason. Conversely, I could offload my Waldorf NW1 and something 6hp to make room for this, but... It's a Waldorf! This is just a lovely instrument though, and your videos always show off gear in the best light.

[@mylarmelodies]

It's a chonker for sure - but then the whole point is some real estate for the knobs! You could always get a happy ending kit for the 'overspill' 😆

[@TroyBlackford]

@@mylarmelodies You convinced me. Modular manufacturers should pay you royalties.

[@AFinalForm]

Also I hadn't heard about the DT7, double holy krap that thing looks awesome

[@mylarmelodies]

Amen!! www.dtronics.nl/pages/dt7.html For those who aren't aware

[@derekholland3328]

you're awesome dude...vids are great and informative.

[@cray56]

Yes, You are the best person to do modular visa although Div is up there too. What is your reverb?

[@mylarmelodies]

In this it's Valhalla Room except that final bit in stereo which is the reverb in the Mutable Instruments Clouds Parasites

[@G0dSeth]

Hey, where are those killer drums coming from? I'm shopping around for some good DIY candidates is why I'm asking. Thanks!

[@mylarmelodies]

Hexinverter and tiptop drums!

[@scout3031]

My god... 22:45 the groove is so deep... 100% Playable track there.

[@ubahnrider1337]

what kind of reverb do you use? sick tunes, keep up the good work!

[@burger659]

wow what a module !!! just amazing..

[@DanJohnson]

Nice review! I have the little sibling ALM Akemies Taiko which also has insane modulation capabilities (I think it has the same Yamaha chip in it too). Sit back with the Octocontroller tweaking it's sonic nipples and you've got an almost complete crazy FM track right there.

[@mylarmelodies]

Damn, you make me want the Taiko now...

[@RigatoniModular]

Was it the whole "tweaking its sonic nipples" bit?

[@mylarmelodies]

Yes

[@DanJohnson]

You need it. Seriously. :-D

[@MarcasLancaster]

At 23 mins in stereo its just incredible!

[@robertsyrett1992]

Oh, that's why there are two outputs. Makes sense now. :)

[@铭子-o1w]

so crazy man！！！love it

[@zwerty007]

I wonder why they didn't allow multitimbrality like on the tx81z? would've been cool to have presets or be able to stack sounds but I guess that would've required it to not be 1 knob per function Id love to see an FM synth based on a 4×4 matrix of rotary encoders representing the levels at which each operator goes into itself or the other operators, then individual or mixable outputs for each oscillator. that way all algorithms are intuitively accessable using the same interface for timbre and volume control. maybe there could be a button to allow waveform/frequency adjustment via the same encoders, and the intensity with which envelopes and LFOs affect them.

[@mylarmelodies]

Chartre Khan you can totally do multitimbrality on the castle, just depends on the algo - several have 'split towers' where the 1&2 / 3&4 operators are totally separate. but not all!

[@jamesdelrogers542]

You could program a Behringer BCR 2000 to replicate the programmer that Brian enyo used , it has a System exclusive learn function on it , then Use a cv to midi interface

[@tgeo2880]

god damn those sounds are gorgeous

[@adamsmith4416]

Love the sound of this. I'm really into synths and sound design that puts percussive and drum like textures to the fore and deploys them in a melodic way. Love the metallic nature of some of the patching here. I wonder if, possibly combined with a low pass gate, this could get into Buchla territory? I'll have put some cash aside and see... Wicked stuff bruv, loving this channel.

[@mylarmelodies]

Check out the Akemie's Taiko as well, from same chap, would love one of those for sure.

[@shane_l8085]

You've got me intrigued with this. Saw Autechre in November too, they blew me away. Where did you see them?

[@mylarmelodies]

Saw em in Brighton!

[@vuuvovuuv]

20:39 flipped the orbital switch

[@jorgenstil]

vuuvovuuv nice one haha!

[@cray56]

Early Derrick May and Ae in a box. Milk DX

[@apecityelectronicsoundstudio]

25:34 such a rich and juicy tone