How to turn a simple sequence into evolving harmonies | Xaoc Odessa, Moskwa II and Sofia

[@Scoober222]

You are turning into my favorite channel for modular. Too many other channels throw new gear in your face and go 100 mph. You have a great pace and do a good job showing techniques, while also showing off modules, without feeling like you are selling me something.

[@TomChurchill]

Thanks very much - really appreciate the kind feedback!

[@modularinspiration]

@@russ254 totally agree and walkthrough of technique are far more enjoyable that wondering if someone was paid to show off gear. I’ve learnt something new today which I’m always looking for

[@TheDavidPoole]

That's a lovely patch Tom. I'm only just dipping my toes into the Modular world now. Even buying the relatively cheap Behringer modules it's getting costly. I barely have a voice, and I'm already on 2 19" racks with one full and the other over half full of basics. In order to do anything even approaching the level you are showing, it's likely going to cost me a kidney and my marriage! Keep up the good work!

[@RedMeansRecording]

That's really beautiful

[@TomChurchill]

Thanks man, that means a lot - it was your video on the Moskwa that convinced me to buy it!

[@rtplayer3543]

Wow so beautiful and very inspiring! Your channel is my favorite modular channel.

[@TomChurchill]

Thanks, glad you enjoyed it! :)

[@seansnyder7744]

Well that was just brilliant :D I need to step up my S&H game, these videos are very inspiring!

[@owenjaymalta]

Really enjoying your vids and especially your album Patched Up !

[@TomChurchill]

Thank you, much appreciated!

[@milesmacquarrie5851]

Incredible. Very impressive and well thought out patch. Subscribed.

[@TomChurchill]

Thanks very much! :)

[@ThePlate-rm9sx]

Tom, terrific patch. I picked up a used MI Stages recently, and at first it didn’t work right - stages kept sending off-key notes into Hel. Fixed easily with the final MI firmware [1.2] which adds a 2 MS delay to sampling, and that brought in the right notes ; ) I’ll use this patch often.

[@Winterdagen]

Gosh I love this patch so much!

[@TomChurchill]

Thank you!

[@stevekirkby6570]

Very nice result, and super well explained. Thanks!

[@gesslr]

Beautiful (and brilliant). Hopefully I’ll be able to figure out how to do something analogous with my rig. Thank you.

[@modularinspiration]

Great walkthrough Tom and not easy to explain sample and hold

[@nickilling]

Really like the Odessa, sounds lovely here, good work as usual Tom!

[@TomChurchill]

Cheers Nick! Hope you're well :)

[@DaveForgac]

This was great. Thanks for sharing!

[@TomChurchill]

Thanks, glad you enjoyed it!

[@dillipphunbar7924]

Beautiful undulating sequence. Good to see the MS70CDR still being appreciated. Mine is connected to a Bored Brain patchulator along with a few cheap pedals, and I run various eurorack (signal) outputs through them. Neutron has the ms70 all to itself.

[@TomChurchill]

Thanks - yeah, I’ve had that pedal for a while and only just started digging into it a bit. I use an AI Synthesis stomp box adaptor to get it in and out of the modular. Definitely quite handy for when you just need a quick reverb/delay, but think there’s a lot more it can do…

[@albaby001]

Thus is amazing, Calsynth is an awesome builder.

[@CinematicLaboratory]

I had no idea Stages could do S&H. Brilliant work on the Moskwa/Odessa, Tom.

[@Fluidstructure]

Brilliant !!!

[@Lightbath]

Brilliant 🌟

[@lockyp204]

Well done Tom 👍

[@TomChurchill]

Thanks 👍

[@precarious333music]

Great tip!

[@sabamacx]

This feels so much like David Moufan's "Sergio Leone's Wet Dream" from his album Solitaire.

[@dr.feelicks2051]

Smiles, bruised forehead. Medusan locks vs. petrified stare. This helps my shifty get more love✌️ ,enjoyed

[@JayHughes-zv5qr]

I noticed you’re sending the Pam’s offset at 9% to move the sequence up a 4th. Can you explain using music theory why 9% would equal a 4th? It seems that in a 1 volt/oct system, each semitone would equal 1/8 a volt. I’m simply trying to figure out a table/system so I can understand what % I need to set Pam’s to transpose various intervals. Thanks.

[@TomChurchill]

No problem! In a 1 volt per octave system, each semitone equals 1/12 of a volt, as there are 12 semitones in an octave. A perfect fourth interval is 5 semitones, so the voltage required is 5/12 of a volt. Pam’s outputs range from 0-5V, and the level is set using percentages, where 5V is 100%, so 1V (i.e. one octave) is 20%. Now, unfortunately when we divide 20 by 12, we don’t end up with a whole number ‘% per semitone’ value - and in Pam’s terms, a perfect 4th would be 5/12 x 20% = 8.333333…% But luckily Pam’s has a quantiser which lets us snap output values to the nearest semitone. With that turned on, either 8% or 9% will snap to the 8.3333% required to output a perfect 4th. (And similarly, 12% will snap to the 11.6667% needed for 7 semitones, or a perfect 5th, and so on.) So the short answer is: in Pam’s world, 1 semitone is 1.6666667% of the 0-5V output level, but since you can’t dial in levels with that level of precision manually, you’ll need to also use the built-in quantiser. Hope that helps!

[@JayHughes-zv5qr]

​@@TomChurchill Thank you so much! I knew my math was off somewhere, it's the 20% that threw me. For those interested, here's a chart I put together for Pams offset values, using the key of C: Note/Semitone/Pam's Offset C# - 1 - 1.66% D - 2 - 3.33% Eb - 3 - 5% E - 4 - 6.66% F - 5 - 8.33% F# - 6 - 10% G - 7 - 11.66% G# - 8 - 13.33% A - 9 - 15% Bb - 10 - 16.67% B - 11 - 18.33% C - 12 - 20% Do you know if there's a way to use Pam's on a single channel to do multiple offsets? For example, run the initial sequence for 32 bars, then offset 9% for 32 bars, then offset 12% for 32 bars, then return to the initial sequence? I'm trying to get evolving sequences that go beyond just (1) key change. I've found a way using a sequential switch and some transposers, but's it's complicated and clumsy. Thanks!

[@TomChurchill]

@@JayHughes-zv5qr I don’t know of a way to program that kind of thing on a single channel of Pam’s. I think you’d need to set up two channels with the appropriate level and phase settings, then you could use cross ops to combine them (so in your example you’d set them both to /96 with width 33%, then set the phase of one channel to 33% and the other to 66%, and use the ‘add’ cross op on one of them)

[@JayHughes-zv5qr]

@@TomChurchill I just bought the Ladik

[@JayHughes-zv5qr]

@@TomChurchill Tom Here’s my current setup: I just bought the Ladik T-240 Transposer, which has (4) transposers, each triggered by a gate/trigger. I feed the sequence through the Ladik, and then set the (4) transposer knobs to different semitones. To move through the transpositions I patch in a white noise signal into a Doepfer sequential switch, clocked/gated by Pam’ s or Steppy. Every “X” bars the sequential switch moves to a new slot on the Doepfer, which in turn triggers a new slot on the Ladik, changing the transposition. It works nicely, but it’s a lot of patching, and you can only run one sequence through it at a time. I’m going to experiment with the transpose input on my Shakmat Bard Quartet to see if it can move multiple sequences in unison. It would be great to get a lead voice, a bass voice and a pad all transposing together. My rig: cdn.modulargrid.net/img/racks/modulargrid_2520683.jpg

[@Gmartin4049]

Love this one

[@bammersify]

Hey Tom, beautiful patch! I’m curious about the signal flow post output on the Odessa here. I caught the part about routing through clouds, but is there an envelope/VCA going on too?

[@TomChurchill]

Thanks! There actually isn’t a VCA involved in this one - I’m literally just going straight from Odessa into Monsoon/Clouds. The changing notes on the Hel inputs give it a bit of rhythmic movement, but otherwise it’s droning constantly and I just fade it in and out on the mixer.

[@bammersify]

@@TomChurchill Ah! Thanks for the reply. I’m just beginning my Odessa explorations and this is illuminating.

[@TomChurchill]

@@bammersify no worries! I’m planning to do an Odessa deep dive video at some point pretty soon. Definitely one of my favourite sound sources ever…

[@sabamacx]

That high pitched pad sound at 0:15 is all over 90s ambient music and is *stunning*. What is it and how can I do the same?

[@sabamacx]

Oh, it's an "octave up" module. I will investigate.

[@TomChurchill]

The pad sound is from Odessa, and the ‘octave up’ effect is from Clouds (or Monsoon, which is the clone I have). You can also get a similar effect with any ‘shimmer’ reverb effect…

[@AllanEising]

Ah! This was my secret method for a long time, but I plugged moskwa into rings. With MI Rings you get such beautiful sequences, or chords if you set the polyphony to four notes.

[@TomChurchill]

Yeah, I'm a sucker for the sound of Rings too!

[@modularinspiration]

I plug everything I can think of into Rings to see how they sound, even resonating filters lol

[@JayHughes-zv5qr]

Is there some trick to setting Pam's for offset to transpose? I tried it and it doesn't sound right. I set a 9% offset, divide by 32 clock, a square wave at 50%, and quantized it to the same scale as the Moskwa scale (penta minor). Ran in into the Transpose in on the expander. It sounds terrible. I must be doing something wrong.

[@TomChurchill]

If you’re running Pam’s into the transpose input on Ostankino, you don’t need to quantise it in Pam’s first (the transpose input is pre-quantiser in Moskwa so you’re quantising twice, which is probably throwing things off). Try turning off the quantiser in Pam’s and experiment with the level percentage until it sounds right. Note that transposing pre-quantiser in Moskwa will sound different to transposing the output of Moskwa using a precision adder. The former will keep everything in the original scale, just moved up by a number of notes; the latter will effectively change the scale by moving everything up by the same fixed interval (e.g. C minor pentatonic becomes F minor pentatonic).

[@eurotium]

great idea to use sh to get notes to chords. got my self an odessa and finding new ways to make it play without herassing my sequencers. i am using marbles 3 outputs to make it run chords, it´s also pretty sweet. there is a new alternative firmware that makes it repeat less notes and also allows different chords. thinking of getting an harmonaig to explore odessa more. I own chords v2 but find its sound a bit limiting, and few cv ins to modulate it, so im actually getting deeper into odessa every day. thanks for you video. will take some ideas. I dont have any sh module at the moment and am considering getting one, but stages is a bit overpriced in second hand markets at the moment. is there any good clone out there ? Cheers

[@TomChurchill]

Yeah, Harmonaig is on my wish list too - I've also been doing a lot of thinking about the best way to use chords in Eurorack! Have you got an Ornament & Crime? I think there are a lot of possibilities with the Acid Curds app in the main firmware which I keep meaning to explore properly. As for Stages - I think the lack of clones is mainly due to shortages of the STM32 chip that it uses. If it's just the S&H functionality you need then maybe consider grabbing a couple of 2HP S&H or Doepfer A-148. (SSF RND Step is also a great triple S&H but seems to be impossible to find at the moment...)

[@eurotium]

@@TomChurchill What i like about the marbles combo with odessa is that it sends the different notes at different times. i was looking at harmonaig, but that way all notes change at the same time, unless, again, one uses a quad sample and hold. marbles also kind of triggers itself so we dont even have to send it triggers or notes. it does have to be a happy accident thing (although in key) since its not easy to program a sequence of pre-desired chords, but i think it works really well with odessa. Like, marbles into odessa and you are done. You can also loop chord sequences using deja-vu, and manipulate them via the bias control. Still looking a bit to understand the combo better. Another cool thing is the new alternative firmware you can also reset the chord sequence using the X Clock in, which was a bummer since usually marbles had no reset. If youd like to discuss this a bit we can have a talk on whatsapp or something.

[@richarquis]

CalSynth now has Stages clones available!

[@pixelfrenzy]

Lovely Sunday morning vibes! I was trying to work out something similar the other day (with a much smaller rig)... is there such a thing as a tapped BBD that will handle CVs rather than just audio? I suppose having multiple S&Hs is doing the same thing, albeit in parallel rather than series. Cheers!

[@TomChurchill]

Thanks! Yeah, a BBD for CV sounds interesting - I haven’t come across anything quite like that but wonder if there are any DC-coupled BBDs out there that would work with CV. Food for thought!

[@digital_crickets]

Superior patching, sir!

[@TomChurchill]

Thank you kindly, sir!

[@JohnGraemeMorrisVIDEO]

Great video Tom, as always. Really well broken down and explained. Quick question. What is the device you are using as an oscilloscope?

[@TomChurchill]

Thanks! It’s a DSO138 kit - you can grab them very cheaply as kits or fully assembled on Amazon or AliExpress 👍

[@richarquis]

@@TomChurchill Really beautiful melodies in this clip! Re: the oscilloscope - It has alligator clips - Do you just clamp them onto the end of patch cables? Or is there an adapter with regular jack plugs?

[@TomChurchill]

@@richarquis I use a BNC to 3.5mm jack cable like this - amzn.eu/d/6QcA27q - instead of the alligator clips. The BNC end connects to the scope, the jack end goes to a passive mult (so I can take a copy of the signal I want to monitor). Alligator clips to the end of a patch cable would also work, but a dedicated cable is a bit less fiddly!

[@martintaylor9205]

TOM another superb demonstration of patching beyond my comprehension, so complex but always inspiring to try new patching destinations Also wanted to ask you about the Disting Phaser module compared to WMD ORION which is more expensive than Dist Phaser, do u think get same results???? Keep up the great content output as really appreciated, many thanks Martin🆒👍🎶🕸⚡️🌟🌟

[@TomChurchill]

Assume you mean the Expert Sleepers Beatrix phaser module, rather than the phaser algorithm in the Disting? I haven’t used the WMD Orion - looks like it has fairly similar functionality but with a built-in LFO and a mono-stereo effect (and smaller). Your call if that’s worth the extra money I guess! I’m very happy with the Beatrix for what it’s worth…

[@KNHSynths]

I knew the trick but the realization is at the top as usual, it's always a pleasure to see and listen! Just a question, I don't use my Pam's for transposition and it seems a mistake because your demo shows the interest to do it. However, I didn't quite understand how you set channel 3 to have a progression by fourths. Could you tell me in which mode you set this channel? Thanks in advance !

[@TomChurchill]

Hi! I set channel three of Pam’s to a default square with a division of /32, with output level at 9%. Depending on what you’re sending it to, you can also set the quantise mode to CH, to keep it to semitones. Basically 20% output level = 1 volt = 1 octave, and you can adjust from there. I hope that makes sense!

[@KNHSynths]

@@TomChurchill Thanks for your reply! Yes it makes sense. Perhaps a last question, if you send a square (setting the voltage to the proper value, for example a fourth) you'll get only 1 variation, but when listening to your performance it seems there is a cycle of 3 or 4 transpositions. is it just a slide effect of the patch or an illusion created by the way chords are made? Thanks again and keep up the good job, your videos are always informative and inspirin!

[@TomChurchill]

@@KNHSynths I think that's probably an illusion caused by the clock divisions that are triggering the S&H to generate the chord notes. I'm using /2, /3, /5, /6 and /7 (relative to the speed of the sequence), so you'll get a variety of combinations from bar to bar. The notes of the chord will always be taken from either the 'root' sequence or the 'transposed' sequence, but some of these notes will be 'held' and overlap when the sequence gets transposed, so you get some interesting harmonies that contain notes from both versions of the sequence. Basically, using these kind of 'odd' clock divisions in combination with a very 'even' sequence can produce some complex results, but without being 'random' - they will eventually all line up again at some point!

[@KNHSynths]

@@TomChurchill Thanks for this clear answer. It makes sense, notes that are making the "chords" are changing permanently and using odd time divisions this creates an ever changing dreamscape as if the chord progression was more complex. Nevertheless, the effect is very well done in your patch and the result is great! I supposed you are using the Moskwa built-in quantizer using perhaps a pentatonic scale to avoid dissonance ?

[@TomChurchill]

@@KNHSynthsI do use the pentatonic scale a lot, but I'm actually just quantising to semitones in this patch, so that when I send CV to the transpose input it shifts all the notes by the same amount. If you use one of the Moskwa's scale options, it will keep the notes within that scale when you transpose at the input. (A workaround for this, if you want to transpose the entire sequence and maintain all the relative intervals, is to use a precision adder to add the Pam's voltage to the output.) As for avoiding dissonance - that's really down to the choice of notes - Cm7(9) and Fm7(9) have several notes in common so there's never anything that clashes too harshly for long..

[@GrvMUSIC4U]

😮😮😮

[@conk971]

very insipring. i'm about to try this in VCV. thanks!

[@TomChurchill]

Nice one - enjoy! :)

[@LeonTrimble]

Lush