Ambient Drone Explained - Subharmonicon Patch

[@jewe321]

I came across La Monte Young a couple of years ago, when I found the dreamhouse here in a little village in southern Bavaria (Germany). A video of him playing the well tuned piano is on display there. Ever since I keep coming back to his music. Fascinating stuff, which gives you a whole new perspective on music. Thanks for this video.

[@chitlun]

Tremendous! I love the idea of feeding the VCA envelope to the sub frequency…

[@goingmodular]

Yes, I used it on several occasions too, it does create a weird, unexpected arpeggio suddenly popping up in the mix here and there. Quite a nice little trick.

[@alexandermontagnet3361]

Wow, that was timely. Spooky stuff. Right as I was watching the La Monte Young video.

[@braintree56]

I know! I saw your post as I was waiting for this to publish! Too funny...

[@The_Trees]

Love this! Super interesting

[@braintree56]

Thanks! :)

[@InvertedPopesMusic]

The reverb debate goes on and on and I have to agree with you. I do use a lot of reverb myself but then I always have. Like you I often wonder if I am losing something as the reverb becomes the sound. I was aware of La Monte Young most due to Brian Eno mentioning him as you found so again I am back listening to his work after all these years. Interestingly I am now listening through different ears and can appreciate so much more. Thank you for reminding me. Another great series idea and cannot wait to see where it takes you(us).

[@braintree56]

Glad you're here Popes! Thanks.

[@Just_lift_anyone]

7:28 Wow, I had no idea you could modulate the pitch by patching the envelope into it, I have so much to learn but it's always so fascinating, I only know 5% of what my Subharmonicon can do but I'm loving every second of learning about it :) Biggest problem I have with synths is always forgetting what VCO, VCF, or VCA is etc 🤣🤣 Great video, many thanks!

[@braintree56]

Glad you liked it!! There's always more to learn!

[@jasontimpson8449]

Great video. I’ve got a subharmonicon on the way to complete my sound studio.

[@braintree56]

Nice! I think you'll find that the whole is greater than the sum of its parts with these. They compliment each other so well.

[@mistergenerator5430]

I was wanting to work on an ambient drone and along comes your excellent video. How timely is that? I look forward to many more. Your channel is the best!

[@braintree56]

Ha! That's great. I'm pretty excited for this too. It's great it seems like others are interested. Years ago, I got into field recordings and did a bunch of ambient tracks that were made from those and cut up and mangled in a DAW. I wasn't into Eurorack then, but now I have all these new tools to process audio. I'm looking forward to revisiting that. It's such a great summer activity to go out on nice days and collect audio.

[@theleastsignificantbit4794]

I have come to loathe reverb. The problem is I can run a dirty shoe through Valhalla, and the dirty shoe would sound “magnificent.” Shimmer just makes it worse. It’s way overused and could be seen as too easy. TAKE THE SHIMMER TO 11! Great video!

[@theleastsignificantbit4794]

KORG should put shimmer reverb on the SQ-64 and see if it makes it a better sequencer.

[@braintree56]

Ha! Yeah, I feel similarly. I borrowed this pedal and I don't think I'd ever purchase it. It sounds great but it also makes everything sound the same. It would be like having a piano where you could just smash keys and it played Mozart no matter what notes you were playing.... At some point it's not even your sound or music anymore....

[@goingmodular]

Nice video. I did not know La Monte Young, so it was an interesting discovery. I too like the patching trick consisting in modulating a suboscillator with an enveloppe. With the suboscillators in the SubH being naturally quantised (as integer fractions of the fundamental oscillator's frequency), such modulations always produce arpeggios following that weird subharmonic scale. The effect can feel very mysterious, I find. I used it on my only Ambient-like piece so far, Out There (kzbin.info/www/bejne/rWqsg6NqmM6dndU), in the atonal parts near the end. On my side, it was a totally random, unplanned discovery !

[@goingmodular]

Oops ! I just realised I used that trick in a different piece too, Phase Trip (kzbin.info/www/bejne/hqSTl2OOptqJZpo). It rings very clearly at the end of the piece, where the enveloppe-driven arpeggio is triggered by the very last note of the theme. I had forgotten about it ! This particular scale will maybe become a staple of the SubH, it is so recognisable !

[@braintree56]

This is great stuff. I really like Out There. I got this idea from the patching for intention book per your recommendation!