My Favorite Eurorack Technique

Separating your note-on events from your pitch events to create dynamic, performative musical patterns is one of my favorite things about Eurorack. Let me show you.
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00:00 intro
01:07 midi and playing styles
03:33 the technique in vcv rack
08:31 setting up the eurorack patch
10:18 using four bricks rook
11:00 setting up the pitch stuff
12:20 using acid rain constellation
14:07 using patching panda particles
15:37 recap
16:29 jam

[@matthodek]

It wasn't the krell. It is you, sir, that are musically addicting...

[@cabe_bedlam]

Hey, yo ehhh, got any more of that ummm, Other Jeremy?

[@Ldj8395jebr4]

Hey, that’s a callback!

[@decapitateallcops3214]

That’s not a word

[@TPsynth]

Really love the direction your channel is going. Educational and very entertaining. You seem to be having more fun too.

[@60400]

+1 Love the mix of jams and educational content. 👏🏻

[@caevv6026]

as a beginner on his music journey who started with an op-1 field, you just gave me that heureca moment, when you explained the different playing styles in more detail. i saw that i can change them on the op-1 but i didnt understand their actual use cases/differences. thank you so much!

[@Vilendank]

I don't know if you did in on purpose but the portmanteau of Heuristic & Eureka is genius

[@effiksmusic]

This is the power of acesequencing or as other call it decoupled sequencing. That’s why I love modular synths.

[@bob-rogers]

Cool video. FWIW, on cello or other bowed string, to play legato means to play without changing the direction of the bow -- basically to play without retriggering the envelope, but playing discrete pitches. Changing pitch by sliding is pretty rare. It's notated as "portamento" on the score.

[@RedMeansRecording]

ah!

[@MikkelGrumBovin]

Sherlock, -🥳

[@duncanhorswill3609]

Love this content! For someone who’s thinking about getting more into euro rack it’s so good to know what is the actual opportunity with modular compared to other forms of music making. If it was about making the same music but with slightly different tools it doesn’t make so much sense to me but if it opens up a new world of rhythmic and melodic possibilities then I totally get it. Thanks so much for making this. Eye opening stuff 😀👍

[@phed]

Oh Damn! I'm really enjoying this turn your taking with deep dives into eurorack patching techniques.

[@michaelkonomos]

Dude, you are on fire. Loving everything you are putting out there.

[@mastermachetier5594]

This technique has changed my approach to modular and honestly made a lot of concepts click thanks so much !

[@fecktoph]

This is an absolute game changer for live performance , great video , thanks !!

[@fouram_]

I like this approach. It's really about combining the best of both worlds and finding out what works together and sounds good. Thank you for being there.

[@LeoPerantoni]

The jam at the end was soooooo FUN! Really enjoyed it!

[@johntammena1128]

That was eye-opening. I had been wrecking my brain trying to figure out how to do this, and you make it look so easy. Thanks!

[@BrandonAaskov]

So much value in this video. Sincerely, thank you.

[@channelite]

Thanks for explaining your patch. Very informative.

[@bennos9588]

I have been thinking about this topic all day, so keen to play with it thankyou 🙏

[@chickenbonelives]

I miss playing with my eurorack. It's literally right in front of me and I haven't really dove deep into it in months. Work life balance is a rough mental obstacle. Amazing tutorial here!

[@turbotambourine]

This is one of my fave ways of patching too! The Bard Quartet has been amazing to glue melody together and allow so much flexibility. I’ve been loving using veils 2 to add two shorter sequences together but attenuating the sequences with cv to make longer patterns. Not to mention using the offset or response curve to change up the pitches and group them closer together. Fun jams as always. I like how there’s a stability provided by playing in bass lines. I’m gonna try that!

[@fashionablyari]

The framing of your shot at the start was vv tasty w/the modular in the background, big ups :3

[@DivKid]

This is a great example of decoupled pitch and gate sequencing. Great results in the jam :)

[@GenocidePanda]

take this concept to the next level by running a sequencer at audio rate and selecting different steps with a slower clock

[@MattTerry1]

Love the way you present these ideas, reminds me of lectures at university, beautifully broken down and very accessible, great stuff... Also I just watched the video about not buying more gear, and now you're showing me oodles of gear and how fun it all is to play with... ha

[@MrOtistetrax]

I don't have any modular. I don't even really make music any more. But I love your videos, Jeremy. I think I might have a bit of a crush, tbh.

[@BeniRoseMusic]

This was exactly my answer to a recent question of the day in DivKid's chat for what we thought the biggest "game changer" in eurorack was for us. It's so powerful and soooooo much fun!

[@DrDeemz80]

Glad I found this video, still extremely new to eurorack and got in a qu bit pulsar yesterday try to pull off this same technique but wasn't entirely sure if I was on the right path or not, definitely happy I was

[@chrisashley2563]

Love this video. Thank you

[@paulmakl6282]

This is a really interesting idea and made me want to create music. I like the videos like this that talk about cool ways of making music. Thank you for your video.

[@zhexum]

This is great! It's inspiring me to try using a polysynth as my sound source and route it through VCV rack to use this technique elsewhere

[@bennos9588]

Really great topic thankyou Mr red

[@pxt0909]

Thanks! Brother J - you are the best… much ❤ to you

[@RedMeansRecording]

Thank you!!

[@NullStaticVoid]

when I built the 4MS clock modules I had a lot of fun using the various multiplied and divided clocks to trig envelopes, clock a delay on the Disting and toggle sequential switches. Self patching all of this with a couple VCLFOs and Doepfer A160-5 ratcheter got very fun. Next thing I knew it was wayyy past dinner and I had to go to bed.

[@snoogllies]

Aaah this is super helpful, thanks!

[@rawpawss]

daaaaamn inspiring as hellll dude.

[@Rectangular_Eye]

Was using using Marbles for melody and Grids for gates last night! Def one of the best modular techniques.

[@ijazzmunki]

Freaking awesome 🤩

[@ringsystemmusic]

Thanks Jeremy you just saved tomorrow’s set.

[@chromaforma]

🙌 I just added a Bard Quartet and having lots of fun using it for pitch and Rene for gates.

[@TheNormalUniverse]

Wow the little piano riff at 1:10 was tasty

[@Lewp77]

very dope !

[@BackspinZX]

Oh so THAT'S why that one Volca Modular session I had sounded so good, I was doing this, but by accident! But now I know how to do it on PURPOSE! :D

[@JoelHooks]

I watched this right before bed and now all i want to do is PATCH. Ordered the DIY Particles kit too 😅

[@seazenbones6945]

Another great tool to add to my collection, once I’ve collected my mind from the ceiling after this blew it to pieces.

[@alwysgreen1781]

i particularly liked it when you made the plaits kick and went *ba-doo-doo-doomcha*

[@CommodoreCrush]

Love those little Ikea boxes. Going to 3D print something for them.

[@LoudPaul1]

Dis a good vid

[@oldunclemick]

Yep, there's a "keyboard" mindset. I play my gear from a wind synth. The only converter that I have that responds the way I need is the Behringer Neutron. 1. It recognizes that legato only has an initial trigger. 2. It doesn't have a null near the centre of pitch bend and therefore I can control vibrato with bite cleanly. 3. It has aftertouch to CV conversion so I can send it breath as aftertouch. It is the only converter I've found that ticks all those boxes and I wish they'd put it in a module.

[@thb-music]

Hey I just did an experiment using disjointed note/gate using two SQ-1 sequencers. Also Rex the Dog did a cool experiment with the two tom triggers from the TR-606. That's worth a watch too.

[@i_never_asked_for_an_alias]

This is actually important information if someone wants to understand musical and technical terminology, specially in combination with MIDI what still is relevant to this day.

[@TomasMutina-music]

I love this technique, thanks god in VCV there is unlimited number of quantizers while in my modular rig only one . I have patch created and its simple beatifull how that dual offset modules are influencing melody also I like separation of gates

[@ctrlaltgroove]

Gates are great!

[@MikkelGrumBovin]

Hey Hey Hey - You stole MY Modus Operandi ! - If you wasnt such a damn nice guy - i would ...... nah , not that ... but.... Thank you for being you , the way you are you , - Youre such an inspiration , and i learn so much from watching your stuff ,- 😘

[@soupforare]

one of the not-so secrets of the monomachine is this inherent decoupling, trigless trigs or trigs that only fire on one, two, of the trio of control lanes. This kind of functionality has waxed and waned on elektron boxes but never again was so plain on the UI as it was there.

[@lagduck2209]

Please do more what you do, that's

[@robriki2]

There’s a Max for live device that’s called MDD Snake that is greatly inspired by Make Noise René. It lets you separate the gate from the note as well.

[@RedMeansRecording]

yeah! snek!

[@Pheonix0114]

Really making me want to get into modular lmao❤‍🔥

[@s2a0s1h2]

You‘re making me gear hungry Jeremy 😂❤

[@borisborisov500]

Jeremy, have you tried voltera expanders for metron? They can allow you to run notes independent of the gates. They are epic

[@Crackalacking_Z]

This is all voodoo magic to me, but I still love to watch these videos XD

[@MrLIVE150]

HE COULD POSSIBLY BE THE BEST INSTRUCTER OUT THERE OR HERE!

[@Jegkedermigmega]

Lovely content as always :) You're a great (and enthusiastic) teacher. Kinda bummed out you didn't put the greenscreen to good use and have yourself dancing over the video on the outro-jam ... ;)

[@RedMeansRecording]

i need to get a frame for the green screen!

[@joystickcan]

omg Jeremy i just whant more modules to try this technique !!!!🤣

[@dennisrochat7747]

Amazing content as usual. It indeed wasn’t the krell hahah

[@douglasdollars]

Oh that's tasty jam

[@apeirogonmusic]

At 13:00 Starting to sound like The Game The Messenger ( Classic Chiptune Music ) I love it

[@ThMntnst]

Boy, you could have fun with the Bard Quartet Expand, I guess. Love mine, was a struggle to upgrade the firmware on the Bard, though.

[@el_dani]

Jeremy you‘re fucking amazing ❤

[@guysmiley7289]

You should mention that sometimes you have to connect a sample and hold to the gate and cv if you are getting pitch irregularities.

[@discophone_6214]

Really cool endpstch here. Just wondering how expansive that modular setup is. Me wants that! 😃

[@jwhtn]

First tutorial I saw on this technique was from Mylar Melodies. Totally worth checking out if you want to explore further.

[@RedMeansRecording]

I got this from him

[@J1M0TEE]

Which video is it? He did a great one on modulation.

[@professortrog7742]

I bet MylarMelodies will approve.

[@RedMeansRecording]

I LEARNED IT FROM HIM

[@professortrog7742]

@@RedMeansRecording ❤ ✊

[@ScottLHines]

Could you possibly do a video on unusual or out of the ordinary uses for envelopes. Something beyond AD and ADSR. Thank you.

[@Vurt72]

Yeah it's a good technique. Gate length is especially fun to play with, constant gate length is idiotic to use, you'll totally be missing out. Gatsby from Ladik is awesome for that, hooked it up to the PreenFM2 (euro version), noticed that i could make completely new sounds just by gate length alone (e.g randomized or random but it sync).

[@J1M0TEE]

Here’s a random questionie - what headphones do you use? Do you use closed backs for jamming and open backs for mixing / mastering? I’m in the market for some cans. I don’t have any monitors, so do all my jamming through headphones. Thanks man! You da real MVP 🙏🏻🧡

[@SurfaceDweller]

Sliders are cool

[@DashGlitch]

What are those waveform blocks on your desk?

[@RedMeansRecording]

ikea frekvens

[@fashionablyari]

if you don't mind me asking, what are the fun oscilloscope-looking boxes on your desk?

[@bennos9588]

Your not allowed to ask that.

[@brandonlasater8613]

I believe those are the Teenage Engineering IKEA light boxes

[@RedMeansRecording]

ikea frekvens

[@SplotchTheCatThing]

I'm a little confused about what the attenuverters are doing in relation to the quantizers... are they controlling what octave ranges each voice is allowed to play in, or something else?

[@PandaPotPies]

all of the problems people have would be solved by getting a modcan touch sequencer. its not divey (basically just one screen) and three lanes where you just draw gate pitch and slew and then easily chain then together

[@eubique]

Bold claim.

[@trollkarlenjp]

@ 6:44 i got some cat vibes (the one that learned about synthesis)

[@ywenp]

One thing I never understood in modular is why gate signals are always either full ON (+5V) or full OFF (0V). You could have a gate have any level between 0 & 5V, therefore carrying velocity information as part of the gate line, which your ADSR module could directly use instead of needing a separate signal path for velocities.

[@MikkelGrumBovin]

Isnt that kind of what the whole idea with CV is ? I think you maybe got "trigger",. "volts per octave" and "gate" confused ? Or maybe im the confused one here 🤗 im a newbie so im deff. Not sure on anything - i know i believe , but in what , i have No clue...but my faith is STRONG !

[@MikkelGrumBovin]

Aah ! - Penny drops !

[@jeffripley9062]

You're not wrong, but maybe I can help clarify - a gate is useful outside of just driving a volume envelope, and they're also quite easy to generate from a circuit standpoint. So it makes sense to have modules (or interface elements like a keyboard, etc) generate gates, and then to use that gate to trigger an ADSR envelope to control the volume . The ADSR also, by definition, generates a signal that extends beyond the gate signal (the "R" section is how fast the signal falls off to 0, after the gate goes away). So... there's nothing stopping you from using a gate to control volume, but it's just not as flexible as a purpose-built envelope generator. If you haven't played around with VCV Rack, you really should, it's free, and really helps to make some of these concepts make more sense in a practical way

[@ywenp]

@@jeffripley9062 Yes, but (unless I'm mistaken) ADSR modules usually have 2 inputs: one for gate, one for velocity. The first one (gate) determines when to start attack & release phase, the second one (vel) determines the level that the attack phase will reach. My point was that all that information could be carried the same via the same signal: a gate whose level (when opened) would also encode the velocity (ie. the peak amplitude to reach at the end of the attack phase)

[@MrMiar94]

​@@ywenp ADSR modules don't commonly have velocity inputs in euro (based on my experience). You can modulate the amplitude of an ADSR (or any other flavor of) envelope via a VCA, where the input is the envelope signal and the modulation input is a cv signal with the velocity level. I reckon the envelope generators with velocity inputs actually do just that internally. The thing about carrying velocity info in the gate signal is that the gate signal has to pass a certain threshold (cv level) to be "understood" as a gate signal by the envelope generator, so you wouldn't be able to carry all the possible velocity values in it anyways. However, you can use a slew limiter to generate a sort of ASR envelope that will have an amplitude equal to the gate level.

[@oxiinstruments]

And Matriceal mode!

[@etricflame1716]

where do you get your desk? or is it custom made?

[@RedMeansRecording]

It's from musicians friend I think

[@johnchiappone2163]

Where did you get that eurorack case?

[@RedMeansRecording]

2manysynths. They're great.

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

Hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm. Wonderful.

[@dylanh2591]

Shout out MidiOx for being able to send sysex files.

[@slick8086]

I'm just going to get 80 disting Mk IV's and call it a day.

[@edoardoschnell]

I feel a bit flexed upon... but nice jam

[@hiddenmaterial]

:catvibe:

[@googleyoutubechannel8554]

Ah Eurorack, a great investment if you want to make noises that nobody is going to care about, but you also really need attention on youtube.

[@RedMeansRecording]

sorry your dad didn't love you

[@smatchimo645]

How much money do I need to get a rack even half that size? the DNB starting at 15:40 is siiiiick