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!

[@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

[@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.

[@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.

[@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

[@FLH3official]

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

[@jazzseba]

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

[@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 🤗

[@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!

[@d42kn355]

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

[@RedMeansRecording]

I like it when the cows came in

[@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🤣

[@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!

[@DJBuglip]

Man, that sounds amazing, y'all.

[@kennethjanczak4900]

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

[@simonisenberg4516]

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

[@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.

[@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!

[@scottstevens7639]

Chaos in a Box - love it! So squelchy…

[@projectz975]

lets be honest, Alex had the harder challenge

[@robertgevere113]

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

[@silkefupdates8926]

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

[@customerservicerobot454]

THOSE CHORDS ARE SO BEAUTIFUL

[@GizzyDillespee]

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

[@pugix]

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

[@temporoboto]

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

[@RobertDorschel]

sounds like a mtl count to five pedal, kinda

[@ianwynne764]

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

[@electronicbagatelle]

mutant cows from hell 😆🐮🔥

[@Makebelieve123]

@Alex Ball did he just call you bald 👩‍🦲?? Huh..No respect!

[@mattypaxton]

Alex is human after all! Fun :)

[@anibalvivanco5960]

This is utter nonsense. It's like having a mature pianist to try playing a Bandoneón for the first time. Awkward at best.

[@Stazma]

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

[@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

[@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.

[@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.

[@CtDawG77]

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

[@mattevans7884]

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

[@kyarsm]

7:19 - 9:19 is beautiful

[@JonMurray]

The collaboration the world needed to see 🙌🏻🖤

[@nikolailinden-vrnle5824]

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

[@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!

[@cosmicbackgroundnoise]

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

[@raistaparta]

Underrated comment

[@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!

[@DMTCYMATICSDreamMusicTemple]

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

[@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.

[@vvvictoriav5958]

What is this, a crossover episode?

[@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)

[@eagereyes]

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

[@RobinRimbaudScanner]

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

[@LaraSchilling]

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

[@adub303]

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

[@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.

[@maraomania1360]

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

[@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)

[@SusanAmberBruce]

Cows from hell was the most musical part haha

[@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.

[@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.

[@henninghoefer]

This instrument is … a little loopy?

[@skaermf]

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

[@frenchtrace9862]

This was so cruel lol

[@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

[@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!:))))

[@RikMaxSpeed]

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

[@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!!!👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍

[@PetterBruland]

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

[@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

[@Digiphex]

Call this Twins Separated at Birth.

[@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 ^^

[@jammystraub488]

Lol 😂 that was just mean 🤣 very enjoyable to watch Alex's head explode.

[@klinkske]

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

[@matsewunderlich]

So a nice Sound Laboratory 😀 very cool idea

[@danvitco771]

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

[@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!

[@multicatart7939]

This reminds me of Czesław Niemen's "Catharsis"

[@hellf.o]

Cocoquantus+guitar=🖤 👍👍

[@thchris]

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

[@barnumeffekt]

the mutant cows from hell

[@petersirca223]

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

[@davidpinto1195]

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

[@michaelharmer8591]

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

[@NinoJoy]

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

[@Sir_knomes]

799th like must mean good luck right?

[@DeadWhiteButterflies]

"Hi I'm Hainbach, and this is Synth Jackass"

[@jlindborg1105]

This was nervously fun to watch! :)

[@seaofsinewave9120]

Wow this sounded great though

[@elifarmer3815]

why do you look like John Green

[@nicolasg.1601]

Great job Alex ;-)

[@northerntao]

Free Ballin’

[@DJ_Cthulhu]

Flooper 😎

[@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.

[@100ThingsIDo]

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

[@RikMaxSpeed]

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

[@The_Sound_Technician]

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

[@Hainbach]

It has amps for XLR mic and piezo

[@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 ❤️❤️