An Impossible Synth Challenge For Alex Ball?

Synth Wizard ‪@AlexBallMusic‬ challenged me to make a track on his giant Roland System 100m modular synthesizer in ten minutes. After this stressful experience, a revanche needed to happen, so I put him in front of the Ciat-Lonbarde Cocoquantus MK2, an obscure but wonderful electronic instrument.True Dark Souls level of synthesis difficulty. WATCH ME ON THE 100M: • A Challenge For Hainbach
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[@Hainbach]

And here is me on the System 100m: kzbin.info/www/bejne/qJWvZ2mXh72hr80 Also check out our artist packs for the M-Tron: www.gforcesoftware.com/products/hainbach-artist-pack/

[@AlexBallMusic]

"This knob with no label introduces chaos" Ah, of course, why would it not. Thanks for the challenge Hainbach, with your help we got something out of that chopping board!

[@Hainbach]

Thanks for having me, it was a lovely time!

[@chinor3999]

Even with no labels you managed to create a good experimental jam there

[@AlexBallMusic]

@@chinor3999 Thanks!

[@billklement2492]

...Why would it not? sounds a little too much like me! And anything with a Chaos knob is ok in my book! Great video!

[@benanderson89]

Alex: here's a system 100 with many very clearly labelled controls and a mountain of patch cables Hainbach: wood

[@AlexBallMusic]

😂

[@SpikesStudio3]

You sooo funny. #choppingboard with smarties.

[@stefanherzog]

Holz und Bananenkabel

[@ukiemexican]

I would love to see the same challenge with that box given to Lookmumnocomputer

[@benanderson89]

That is such a damn good idea. The chaos would fit his punk aesthetic down to the floor.

[@DewtehDew]

And Simon the Magpie

[@ladyapp-titude]

Perfect example of solving by the method of error and error.

[@AlexBallMusic]

Haha, yes!

[@mirkocaserta]

When the 303 started I thought "Oh, sounds like The Prodigy" but then Alex played a jazzy Cm4 and my brain just crashed instantly.

[@monk3ymasta]

Immediately looks up Ciat-Lonbarde Cocoquantus MK2 - disappears into multidimensional modular wormhole - loses connection with previous plane of existence - hours later comes to, clicks thumbs up and comments. Thank you both!

[@monoamin_]

Using a 303 to accompany a guitar... Like it was meant to be??? Absolute madlads.

[@ORACLEBALL]

Funny enough, it originally was meant too 😂

[@DarkSideofSynth]

Roland waited 40 years for that but no biggie. Some retired executive would just go "See? I told you we had the right product!!!"

[@ORACLEBALL]

@@DarkSideofSynth 😂

[@illustriouschin]

Alex should have covered all of the labels on the System 100.

[@AlexBallMusic]

I should have turned it upside down too.

[@mattevans7884]

It's wonderful to see Alex totally baffled for once!

[@gustavoberocan]

4:20 the subtitles go: no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no nono no no no no no no no no nono no no no no no no no no nono no no no no no no no no no... :D

[@CtDawG77]

"Ok, so this is a woodworking class?" Best description of Ciat-lombarde ever.

[@bababooie9420]

Your content is always so enjoyable, there’s always something to learn and marvel at- keep doing what you do, you’re awesome Hainbach 🤗

[@RobFlaxMusic]

It's the look at 8:34 for me-that mixture of revulsion, wonder, self-loathing, and curiosity... "What?! How did you...?"

[@AlexBallMusic]

Yes, totally! Haha.

[@bricelory9534]

This was fun! I love these sort of collabs - both for making artists stretch and exposing audiences to different artists adapting and playing with new instruments/ways of thinking. Thanks!

[@jazzseba]

Love the way we all evolve into a child like beings when confronted to experiences like this!!!! pure gold!!!

[@nikolailinden-vrnle5824]

Seeing the two of you just having a good time makes me so happy! This is what music is about! Thanks

[@FLH3official]

2 legends together. With a mystery woodbox without any label, the challenge is quite hard, almost impossible!

[@Winterdagen]

Hahaha the "okay, I've made the mutant cows from hell" made me laugh out loud

[@AlexBallMusic]

That's the name of my next album sorted too.

[@DMTCYMATICSDreamMusicTemple]

So much to learn and get inspired by these two upstanding gentlemen of electronic sonic exploration. Humour, nostalgia, the best of synthesiser, studio, and test equipment pro users!

[@HoraceMash]

Super interesting to watch someone so capable and experienced tackle this kind of challenge. Just goes to show how much we rely on having a mental model of abstract technology (cf. my dishwasher or MS Teams)

[@skaermf]

I love this so much! Hope to see more coco in the future ✨✨✨✨

[@100ThingsIDo]

Lots of fun! Nice to see some vides with you both :D Hope to see more in the furuew!

[@everpuremusic]

Obviously, your other challenge video brought me here. It is really amazing and inspiring to see both of you getting totally out of your comfort zones and getting creative in a completely new way. :D Oh, and btw, The Notwist called and said they want that effect instrument for their studio too!

[@DMTCYMATICSDreamMusicTemple]

Reminds me of circuit bending. That feeling of discovery and plenty of happy accidents.

[@jossedobben]

Haha, poor Alex is really struggling. 😆Then Hainbach joins and all of a sudden we're in the realm of Fripp & Eno. ♫ Nice collaboration!

[@ejwatts25]

Props to Alex, there was a moment or two there where I would have gone in to meltdown, he kept his cool. Loved seeing you both working together and bouncing ideas off one another.

[@Chi_Mecha]

I enjoyed watching both videos. And they actually tell a lot of lessons about gear and workflow. Alex made a fair point about the Cocoquantus: between the unlabeled functions and the ducking feature it was actually harder to figure out than a monster modular system. And while the System 100m is a pristine instrument; the Cocoquantus packed some serious sonic potential in a portable wooden box.

[@AlexBallMusic]

I couldn't even spell Cocoquantus, let alone figure out how it worked!

[@AlexBallMusic]

(and yes you're spot on, it's quite a fascinating thing)

[@JonMurray]

The collaboration the world needed to see 🙌🏻🖤

[@gooneybird808]

Just beautiful...there’s so much pressure from my friends to make popular music but all I really want is to express myself with sound. Beautiful

[@kyarsm]

7:19 - 9:19 is beautiful

[@pablogutierrezsanchez5693]

It's great to make videos about colaborations with other people doing this stuff. Sometimes it feels like the synth and production world is so individualistic, we need to construct differents ways to share with others our passion cause loneliness sucks!! Love you Hainbach, from Spain ❤️❤️

[@williamtell1477]

That was cool, thanks you guys. Never heard of this device but it looks really interesting!

[@LaraSchilling]

"I've made the mutant cows from hell." NERDS!

[@d42kn355]

Well, I see a coco so I’m excited for this

[@kennethjanczak4900]

Great..... thanks for taking the time to make the musik and videos, and sharing...

[@RobinRimbaudScanner]

"How does that even work!?" - the perfect response to be honest 😂

[@RedMeansRecording]

I like it when the cows came in

[@jlindborg1105]

This was nervously fun to watch! :)

[@kaitlyn__L]

This is just like my first time with unlabelled Eurorack nodules, which I didn’t know if they were filters or oscillators etc etc, hahaha. My main instinct was MOAR PATCHING just like Alex.

[@projectz975]

lets be honest, Alex had the harder challenge

[@simonisenberg4516]

Some beautiful disintegrations. Makes me yearn for some live synth jam sessions.

[@RikMaxSpeed]

I like the bit where the mutant cows from hell morphed into wailing cats! 🤣

[@marcelloursic424]

Scanner (Robin Rimbaud) released an album in 2020 that features the Ciat-Lonbarde Cocoquantus MK2 front and center. It's titled Warp and Weft... I suggest checking it out! He also released an album last year composed entirely on the Wing Pinger, another fascinating little instrument.

[@pugix]

Lots of fun! Didn't hear any Chaos, though. I got my Coco V1 in November, 2011. I think it's Peter Blasser's most astounding invention. Took me years to understand the Quantussy.

[@needfortweed8734]

I loved the look of confusion on the face of mr. Ball. That would be me sat in front of a regular modular synth. Though I would probably get annoyed and stop messing around with it after less than 10 minutes...

[@PetterBruland]

Slightly high, and man... some of these sounds do not jive with me right now.... still, so retro super awesome. Thanks Hainbach

[@surrealchemist]

I’ve avoided even researching what that instrument did exactly because I might want to get one. It might be an odd reason, but a big one was because I didn’t want to end up with a different format of patch cables. Anyway, I was worried half way through because of that acid bass sound but it turned out to be a nice result in the end.

[@matsewunderlich]

So a nice Sound Laboratory 😀 very cool idea

[@jeanbonnefoy1377]

so typical of the Hainbach's way: creating ambient soundscapes and pulsating quasi random rhythms just by connecting things "sideways" ( or oblique ways, Brian Eno would say) even with a "classic" old school analog modular just calling for the traditional vco>eg>vcf/vca path. Toll!

[@RosalvoParadella]

"Coisa de outro mundo." Incrível, Hainbach !!

[@eagereyes]

"Mutant Cows from Hell" would be a great name for a band!

[@petersirca223]

Halleluyah, I can see the light now - guiitar into modular ! Thanks guys ..

[@Apg002]

I love that both videos have the same amount of views.

[@scottstevens7639]

Chaos in a Box - love it! So squelchy…

[@louadmurphy2587]

This little wood box of pure feed-back chaos seems realy inspiring

[@cosmicbackgroundnoise]

I'm sure that that is literally a bread board synth.

[@raistaparta]

Underrated comment

[@vvvictoriav5958]

What is this, a crossover episode?

[@danielpirone8028]

Love the stereo spread

[@DJBuglip]

Man, that sounds amazing, y'all.

[@customerservicerobot454]

THOSE CHORDS ARE SO BEAUTIFUL

[@d.u.o.digitalunitoperated5256]

In addition to what concerns synthesizers we all want to know where you buy your t-shirs your sweatshirts and sweaters!!!👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍

[@SusanAmberBruce]

Cows from hell was the most musical part haha

[@DarkSideofSynth]

Alex's challenge: let's just have him figure out a modular synth he probably never played before but with clear labels, and we all know it DOES make sounds. Hainbach: let's go full-on SAW-style riddles, and hand him his guitar and an alien wood plank with holes and banana cables. Pretty fair... KEINE FRAGE!;) What could possibly go wrong? You've probably summoned creatures from other worlds which summoned other creatures from other worlds, and so on and so forth. Not sure we'll even get to to the end of April but hey... thanks!:))))

[@thesadwolf]

Just watched Alex's video. Now for the sequel.

[@reggiep75]

No labels? Hmmm.. I'd be inclined to have just run the 303 into the chopping board then plugged, turned knobs in small increments, unplugged, next socket, turned knobs.. rinse & repeat. I've no doubt that there is magic in the chopping board tho!

[@LFOVCF]

The irony of it sounding like I've dropped some acid. I sit here gaffawing my head of, especially the cats after the cows🤣

[@michaelharmer8591]

Damn, that jam around 9:00 is something else...

[@PocketUnv]

I did try the Cocoquantus for like ten minutes at one point, it infuriated me to no end, but apparently there are some really cool sounds to be had if you put in the effort to understand it somewhat.

[@RikMaxSpeed]

Proof, if ever it was needed, that an excellent musician can make harmony out of any gear!

[@robertgevere113]

Very cruel of Hainbach to do that to Alex! LOL. Love you guys.

[@Stazma]

The look on Alex face at 9:46 is just perfect hahaha

[@davidpinto1195]

The first 5 minutes were pure cacophony lol but still loved it

[@LaraSchilling]

Just FYI, when the 303 starts going and there's nobody talking, the auto-generated captions keep popping up with "no" to the rhythm played. Haaaaa!

[@multicatart7939]

This reminds me of Czesław Niemen's "Catharsis"

[@gladlawson61]

I cant be happier I passed on the Lombard stuff.... I like hearing other people use it though..

[@silkefupdates8926]

02:30 Thats a new genre - comedy n' synth! ;-)

[@danvitco771]

Well yeah, when ‘Bach’ is already in your last name, we get brilliance.

[@adub303]

Why can't I get my mancala or cribbage boards to sound like that?

[@nicolasg.1601]

Great job Alex ;-)

[@GizzyDillespee]

I had to give it a like unseen, after giving the other video a look first. This ought to be ghastly...

[@frenchtrace9862]

This was so cruel lol

[@maraomania1360]

JFC in a bucket that shirt! Still a poser who used to collect junk. Awesome 😂

[@pugix]

Imagine if you didn't allow any external inputs, necessitating the use of Quantussy as oscillators!

[@klinkske]

Ok. Let s not do a search on that coco thing. No gas no 😅

[@temporoboto]

No labels?! Alex gets 20 minutes🤣😂😛Thanks for sharing.

[@seaofsinewave9120]

Wow this sounded great though

[@NinoJoy]

coco is so great (as deerhorn, and others), but so expensive

[@T.H.W.O.T.H]

Delicious!

[@jhowe5571]

That was not fair!!! Nothing is labeled on that thang!!🤣 Alex wins!😉

[@byteborg]

Now this was something... The instrument seems to be made for the evil genius ^^

[@leslie1526]

Pls update it more often

[@hellf.o]

Cocoquantus+guitar=🖤 👍👍

[@marcelomodular]

greaatt

[@BobbyLachapelle]

Is the Cocquantus a little like a Microcosm or a Blooper in some way? It always been a mystery for me.

[@thchris]

just so the thumbnail and have to givbe a thumbs up already.. should be called a thumbupnail

[@ozerik]

I like to pretend that Peter Blasser is my nemesis because his designs are so intentionally (pointlessly!??) obscure. But watching you play your expensive cutting board with the weird name (also the weird names, why are they so desperately awkward!??) is making me respect C-L a little bit more. Not for everybody, that's for sure, but okay FINE, they're pretty good :D Also why have I not already subscribed to your channel!???!?? :D

[@The_Sound_Technician]

How is the guitar going into the coco? Is there an amp?

[@Hainbach]

It has amps for XLR mic and piezo

[@Digiphex]

Call this Twins Separated at Birth.

[@ianwynne764]

Hello: At around 5:46 it sound like something by Philip Glass. This was really interesting. Stay well and safe.