Huge Tones & Drones in VCV Rack // Black WaveTable VCO by Erica Synths

[@yourpalrob]

First!

[@seangarland]

Your videos keep getting better! Easy to understand, well explained, and always with some creative ideas.

[@yourpalrob]

Thank you, @seangarland! I'm glad you've been enjoying the content so far, and thank you again for the support! You rock! 🤘😎

[@mikecurley3070]

great stuff as always

[@yourpalrob]

Thank you, @mikecurley3070 🤘😁

[@TheVoltar100]

Vous êtes vraiment génial👍🏻

[@yourpalrob]

Thank you, @TheVoltar100! You're awesome too! 🤘😁

[@MeditativeInstruments]

I have a large multi-voice drone patch I've been building with instances of Warp Core (Infrasonic) and Saich (Instruo) at the core. I was looking to breathe some new life into the sound and this video gave me just the inspiration I needed!! I replaced my Warp Cores with the Black Wavetable modules, using Frolic/Glee (Sapphire) modules to modulate the CV inputs. Then out to Valhalla Supermassive (because, of course 🤣🤣 ). It sounds AMAZING!!!

[@yourpalrob]

Awesome! That sounds like a great patch, @MeditativeInstruments. Drone patches are so good. I really enjoy listening to evolving ones with swelling harmonics. It sounds like your patch is one like that. Thanks for the comment and I'm glad you liked the video! :)

[@MeditativeInstruments]

@@yourpalrob I'm really excited about some of the new changes that have happened in VCV Rack. I make some really large patches, because I use VCV Rack as a DAW for live performance (mic'd acoustic flute w/ VCV drone). I was hovering at 75% CPU usage until a recent update, where suddenly the same patch is running at 34% CPU. I don't know what they optimized, but I like it!! 😇

[@yourpalrob]

I noticed that too. I think some of the major modules were updated recently as well to optimize CPU usage. A lot of my big patches are slick now too and I love it. I can add more to them now haha. I've been wanting to try a live setup. Your live flute and drone setup sounds sick! I'm going to try to make something similar but for harmonica.

[@MeditativeInstruments]

@@yourpalrob I've been building and incrementally improving a really big patch I call the "RackDAW." It mimics some features of a DAW like Ableton or Bitwig. One of these days I'll get busy and release it on Patchbay with a video on how to use it. The current version is a virtual audio-engineer's console, integrated with the studio microphones (using the VCV Audio-8 module). Microphone arming, transport control, channel & master volume & panning, and manual chord selection is mapped to a LaunchKey49 controller. Mic input, sample recorder, and multiple sample playback thru one "Mic Submixer" (I like the Venom modular mixers). A 2nd 4-channel submixer for background loops & VCV patches is sent to a side-chained compressor (sidechain input from Mic Submixer), then on to a master mixer. All mixer channels controlled by the Launchkey faders & pan/mute controls. The "RackDAW" doesn't make any sounds on its own. It's just the audio engineering infrastructure. I export all my good drone sounds as "Clips" instead of saving them as patches. I run the RackDAW as the actual patch, then import a saved Clip to add a saved soundscape. Clips don't need to be wired to an audio-output module. Instead, I wire them to a Venom 4-channel mixer strip before saving the clip. Then, from within the RackDAW patch, I can simply import the clip I want, wire its output to an open channel, then with the controller keyboard, unmute it and set the volume levels. I use the Record/Play section of the Launchkey's transport control section to manage microphone arming (Record button), loop reset (Stop button), loop clear (Undo button), etc. I like the "Lilac Loop" module for live looping. I plan to make a video of my RackDAW patch and publish it on Patchbay, but at the moment I'm deep in the middle of an audiobook project.

[@samigumiran6174]

@@yourpalrob yeah man! Do it! Show us what you got!

[@zamphzibaha]

Thanks for another really great video

[@yourpalrob]

Thank you, @zamphzibaha!

[@samigumiran6174]

unreal! thanks! and there goes my evening! All for the best! Whats up next, Robbo?

[@yourpalrob]

Thank you, @samigumiran6174! I could easily spend an evening with the Black WaveTable VCO too haha. Up next we have a math related video and then I've been working on a big update to the VCVRack Cheat Sheet so I will showcase that. I'm excited for the release! 😁

[@CatFish107]

​@yourpalrob Suggested swerve for April fools or whenever you want to have a vid that's way different: 4 hours of you manually tuning a piano, with the only vocals from a noisy tape recorder placed inside the piano, consisting of mumbling and muttering curses. (Distant voice, almost dominated by sympathetic piano vibrations) "Ouch!, stupid f@^*ing wrench." Camera only showing close up of the hammers.

[@yourpalrob]

Haha! I just saw this comment. So funny! April fools 2025 here it comes. 🎹

[@els1f]

I have the eurorack module and it's maybe my favorite sound source! I legit often think about getting several of them and I'm glad VCV rack saved me all that time and money🤣

[@yourpalrob]

Haha! They are so nice. I would love to have the physical one. The sound is HUGE! High on my list of modules to get IRL.

[@VirtualModular]

Ha, I did not know this VCO was polyphonic! I just assumed it wasn't because it's really old (I'm fairly sure it was in v06 in about 2019, I haven't used it for years!). I'll have to revisit this so cheers for the tip. My go-to free wavetable VCOs are the Blamsoft and Surge XT ones, and I also use the Morphing Terrarium from the Synthesis Technology premium collection. I'd totally forgotten about this one 😂

[@yourpalrob]

Hey, @VirtualModular! Thank you for the comment. Haha! It is pretty old! The hardware version is not polyphonic so I was happy to see that the software one is. Blamsoft and Surge XT have such great modules in their kit. I'll have to make some videos on them. I have the XFX Wave set up for a horror drone and I love it.

[@VirtualModular]

@@yourpalrob yep that one can get quite atonal, especially if you mess about with the harmonics. Shame that can't be modulated!

[@dpbennett]

Nicely done!

[@yourpalrob]

Thank you, @dpbennett! I appreciate the encouragement 😊

[@jaibhimadevi5805]

I'd just tried this out, and my only gripe is that the range for the frequency is non-standard instead of Hz, v/oct or 0-1.. when trying to enter a text value, it's not readily apparent what the value will equal in Hz.

[@yourpalrob]

You're spot on! I think the tuning is weird too. I always add a tuner when I use the Black WaveTable because the frequency knob is unconventional. If you switch between fine and coarse as well, the manual tuning becomes slightly flat. So odd, but it is kind of a fun quirk I guess. I usually just feed pitches through the v/oct and it ends up working fine 😁

[@000aleph]

Thanks

[@yourpalrob]

Thank you, dude! 🤘😁

[@GIPgarden]

Once you go black...

[@yourpalrob]

Lol! 😂

[@CatFish107]

The trouble with these hardware emulation modules is the GAS they give me. "Oooh, this is an awesome module." (Wallet cobwebs)

[@yourpalrob]

Haha! So true. Need that GAS therapy after seeing one of these.

[@letmefeelthevibes]

I love this VCO ! Cool video you did about it :)

[@yourpalrob]

Thank you, @letmefeelthevibes! I like this VCO a lot too. Top 5 on my frequently used list :)