painting with sound ... tempera & hapax ... ambient

After the Tempera received a ton of new features with the new 1.5 firmware (which is currently still in beta), it has developed into a fantastic playground for sound paintings in the few months of its life.
A performance on the new Beetlecrab.audio Tempera & Squarp instruments Hapax. Source Audio Ventris for reverb.
Recorded in one take into Ableton Live.
Mastered in post with a hybrid setup.
Canvas, project file and music are available for my patrons.
The great support from my patrons makes all of this possible ... thank you so much guys !!
/ substan
Substan Bandcamp Page: substan.bandcamp.com
Substan sound packs:
SUBSPACE - for Minifreak (V) substan.gumroad.com/l/subspace
Syntopia - for Syntakt: substan.gumroad.com/l/syntopia
HydraSphere - for Hydrasynth: substan.gumroad.com/l/hydrasp...
DigiSphere - for Digitakt: substan.gumroad.com/l/digisphere
DigiTales - for Digitone/Keys: substan.gumroad.com/l/digitales
Affilate links:
My Perfect Circuit Artist Page (buy via this link to support me) bit.ly/3NdLCmv
Gear List:
Modular:
big case: www.modulargrid.net/e/racks/v...
palette case: www.modulargrid.net/e/racks/v...
Synths/Sampler:
Elektron Digitone bit.ly/3FQ2dpw
Elektron Digitone Keys
Elektron Digitakt bit.ly/3uqvxkC
Elektron Syntakt bit.ly/3OHLs5E
Elektron Analog Four MKII bit.ly/3guZMP2
Elektron Octatrack MKII bit.ly/3HpIezT
Neutral Labs Elmyra 2 bit.ly/4a16Ywn
Roland JP8080
Korg Monologue bit.ly/42oK6CG
Behringer Neutron
Arturia Minifreak bit.ly/3ESAwOm
ASM Hydrasynth bit.ly/3oQPBJt
Polyend Play+ bit.ly/493UoLR
1010music Blackbox bit.ly/3PoYSFS
1010music Lemondrop bit.ly/3J1mTgk
beetlecrab.audio Tempera
Sequencer:
Squarp Hapax bit.ly/3TqFoBD
Effects (Pedals):
Source Audio Ventris bit.ly/3rv3MW2
Hologram Electronics Microcosm
Soma Cosmos bit.ly/3JCfh67
Elektron Analog Heat bit.ly/3WTaKSL
Computer:
Apple 14“ MacBook M1 Pro (2021) 16GB RAM / 512GB SSD
DAW:
Ableton Live Suite 12
Audio/Midi Interface:
UAD Apollo Twin Quad bit.ly/3qvDncQ
Behringer Ultragain
iConnectivity mioXL bit.ly/43BMwyU
Monitoring:
ME Geithain ME25NAD C268
Genelec 7040 APM (Sub)
RFT BR25
Presonus Monitor Station bit.ly/3qyztzF
Mixing/Mastering Gear:
Fredenstein Bento 6 S bit.ly/3viKO9X
Elysia Xfilter 500 bit.ly/43nXOI2
Elysia Xpressor neo 500 bit.ly/4ckb707
SPL Big
Headphones:
Beyerdynamic DT770 Pro 32 Ohm bit.ly/3IYdQPS
Beyerdynamic DT1990 Pro bit.ly/3IY4WBR
Mixer:
1010music Bluebox bit.ly/3J0YPds
Behringer XENYX 1002B
Microphones & Fieldrecorder:
sE Electronics sE2200a
Rode NT5 (mached pair) bit.ly/3Cg8wDM
Sure SM7B bit.ly/45MxGHy
Zoom M4 bit.ly/3oGQJT3
Zoom H2 bit.ly/3MW38dI
Midi Controllers:
Arturia Keystep 37 bit.ly/3Lead7O
Korg nanoKEY Studio bit.ly/45PUMgA
Camera & Lense:
Blackmagic Design Pocket 4K
Samyang MF 14mm
Canon EOS MCanon EOS M50 MKII
Neweer 1:1.8/25 mm
Video Editing & Creating:
Davinci Resolve
Videosync
#tempera #ambient

[@ThePurpleSnork]

You take these machines that have electronic buttons and led lights and grids and sequencers and are nearly 100% digital - and somehow create beautiful, organic, evolving, and emotional soundscapes. Truly incredible. Thanks again for this wonderful music.

[@substan_music]

🙏

[@hexwavemusic]

That was beautiful, I forgot I had music playing and wondered why I felt so relaxed 😁

[@G0nz0uk]

Nothing to say other than stunning.

[@substan_music]

Thanks mate !!

[@G0nz0uk]

Listening again. Could be the backing of a movie scanning a landscape of a distant alien planet :). Can you explain how you use the Hapax with the Tempera please?

[@jaytee2266]

Searching around the interwebs in regards to the hapax. Landed here. Did not disappoint anything but my wallet as i want both now after looking into tempera 😂😂😂

[@FenLume]

Absolutely massive sound. Great work!

[@Sepelman]

Can’t wait to receive my Tempera in Batch 3. Gorgeous sounds!

[@TheBurdenOfHope]

You’ve got a gift for this stuff man. Whether you were born with it or you’ve worked hard or both. The output is supreme.

[@dezem7]

Sounds lovely, Well done.

[@foundatlantis]

incredible sound- great work on this

[@davidfalconmusic]

So intrigued by this. It sounds gorgeous.

[@dreamdealer]

this is stunning man, sounds huge and full of emotions.

[@substan_music]

Thanks a lot mate !!

[@Necrobot777]

Brilliant!! Majestical!! And I love your album art too!! You turn these electronic devices into artifacts of myth and magick! Stephen Stapleton, William Basinsky... they probably never even dreamt of being able to do stuff like this with two small boxes... This is hard proof that you no longer need racks of gear and a spaghetti mess of wires to make an aethereal masterpiece in 2024!! I'm still figuring things out on mine. I can make some very well layered drones, and created this 14 minute Neu/Can-esque jam last week... But I noticed that the Tempera allows the user to set the clock to "Internal" or "Receiving"... so I've been trying to figure out if I can make some granular textures and 'riffs' that can be synced to a loop in my Polyend Play or Drumlogue. And... thats where I've been for the last week (well aside from employment and other life obligations). But you sir, are one of the most prolific and productive dark ambient and drone purveyors out there!!

[@fxtreffer]

Fine soundscapes! Thanks ... 🙂

[@ErwinSchrodinger64]

Straight out of Blade Runner 2049! Sounds incredible! I wasn't familiar with the Tempera granular synthesizer. I have a Tasty Chips GR-1 and the Hapax but I've been so busy with teaching new courses at university, I haven't had the chance. Thanks so much for posting this. I love dark, cinematic, and emotional tracks... especially in the ambient, drone template. So glad I subscribed to your channel.

[@substan_music]

Thanks a lot ... nice to have you here !!

[@EnjoySynths]

Damn this was good. And beautiful to watch that Tempera flicker….

[@moonandmelodies]

Gorgeous! 👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻

[@thomaskoeln3872]

Wonderful epic Natur feel.... For me 😮

[@ambientether]

Are you having the HAPAX switch and change the selections of the various grain generators? What's being automated and controlled here? Just the notes? Really beautiful - lovely.

[@substan_music]

Thanks a lot !! Each of the Tempera's 4 emitters is sequenced on its own MIDI channel. It's mostly notes but I also used some midi LFOs to modulate various parameters of the emitters. The five LFOs in the Tempera are quite a lot but they can only be assigned to one parameter. With 4 emitters (different sounds) I quickly run out of LFOs, but thanks to the Hapax that's not a problem at all.

[@willswitchcraft]

wow................just - wow...................I just love what you're doing with this.............I've been interested in the Tempera since it was introduced....nice to hear it in action..................(great bg viz as well)

[@substan_music]

Thanks so much Will !!

[@projectvime]

Hey Will, intriguing, isn't it...I am also tempted.

[@willswitchcraft]

Yeah, it's really awesome, but I try not to get G.A.S. these days.......it's a slippery slope.

[@projectvime]

​@@willswitchcraft😄 I absolutely feel you!

[@FakthorX]

Fire

[@totophe68000]

GoOd One

[@adde65]

I'm a string player who has been looking for a hardware device to create interesting ambient pads. Have owned synths in the past (most recently Hydrasynth Explorer), but I need something reasonably small/portable for travel, and have had my eyes on everything from Digitakt, Dirtywave M8 tracker, SP-404 etc. Now this Tempera is on my radar, and I really enjoy your approach here - it's beautiful. I'm just concerned that learning how to use this device would be over my head, and I'm also wondering how versatile it can be vs. something like Digitakt?

[@substan_music]

A granular synth and the Tempera in particular are definitely my first choice when it comes to the ambient pads you mention. Digitakt is great (M8 & Sp-404 I've never had my hands on) but definitely wouldn't be my first choice when it comes to pads. If only because of the lack of polyphony. The Digitakt is great if you want to make whole tracks with a single device. Playing around with loops, samples, building beats... things like that. How difficult it is for you to learn tempera is unfortunately impossible for me to answer ... From my perspective, it is not exceptionally complex and difficult to understand. Definitely no more difficult than an Elektron device like the Digitakt 😅

[@adde65]

@@substan_music thanks so much for the comprehensive reply, I really appreciate it. Even more interested in the Tempera now!

[@christianthompson1473]

Is someone eating a packet of crisps?

[@mike_aviafan]

Hello. What do you advise as the first device (Digitone orSyntakt)? Considering that the second device will not be able to buy soon. I think about Syntakt, but it is more expensive and it seems that it is less customizable than digitone, but in your videos I like more Syntakt compositions (That analog 90s-2000s sounds!!! Mmm) . ps: but I like your digitone compositions too :))) I broke my brain

[@substan_music]

Even though the Digitone is my absolute favorite, I would recommend the Syntakt as the first device... in my opinion, the best start into the Elektron world.

[@mike_aviafan]

@@substan_music Thank you! I bought syntakt. As a photographer with 20 years of experience, as a specialist who has achieved a good level in photography, and as a person who has a classical musical education (finished music school in the 96th year accordion class ololololol),as having occupational disease perfectionism (it is difficult to start new sphere's), I am depressed that I do not understand anything about this syntakt:))) But you inspire!

[@hexwavemusic]

I am really interested in this Tempera, but I have a couple questions, I hope you might be able to answer? There aren't a ton of people out there with these it seems, at least on youtube. 1) Is it possible to load a "canvas" using bank/preset midi from a device like a Syntakt? Or would you have to manually load the right canvas for a song if you were playing live? If so, how long does it take to do that approximately? 2) I know the primary use is granular textures and its really good at ambient etc, but would you say it is also good at being used as a polyphonic "synth", using either wavetables or grains of samples set up to be played melodically sequenced externally? Or would this be a difficult thing to achieve? 3) How long would you say it takes to get where you need, starting a canvas from scratch? I know it is not as immediate as an Elektron device, but would you say it is a long process or can you get there fairly quickly once you learn it? Thank you in advance, and no worries if you don't feel like answering these, just curious :)

[@substan_music]

Of course I´m happy to answer your questions ... 1) A canvas is like a project on the Elektrons .. unfortunately you can only load it manually .. it's very quick (it was improved again with the last update) .. I would estimate 2 seconds. 2) Of course, that is absolutely possible. I did exactly that with this video. The four emitters can be played on different MIDI channels. What you have to keep in mind is that all emitters share a global envelope / effects / "proper" filter (there are now simple filters for the individual emitters). So it's not possible to have a plug sound with a short attack time and a pad with a long attack time at the same time... it's hard to explain but despite a long attack time you can still set the emitter so that it produces long grains with a fairly fast attack If desired, in sync with the MIDI clock .. to do rhythmic things. 3) That depends a lot on what you have in mind. If you start from scratch and want to use 4 emitters and 8 samples, it will take a while. In principle you build 4 different sounds. You select 8 suitable samples one after the other and then set the parameters for the 4 emitters. But you don't have to... you could just as easily load 8 samples and only use a single emitter. Or you build a preset in which the emitters are already configured as desired, which you then just fill with samples... or you sample directly with the Tempera via the mic or external in. There are so many possible applications that this is almost is impossible to answer. If you compare it to a standard granular synth.. a single sample and a single emitter.. that's pretty quick on the Tempera too.. and in some cases that might be all you want. All in all, I can only warmly recommend this box. It's not nearly as complex as it looks. simply refreshingly unusual

[@Subtronik]

How do you feel about the Tempera after months of use? Has it become boring to use? What negatives does it have?

[@substan_music]

The fact that the Tempera has already received such extensive updates in the last six months means that most of the weak points have already been resolved for me. Only a global filter ... now there is a filter per emitter. Only 5 modulators, each with only one modulation target ... now there are 10. shortcut to show the overlay keyboard ... now available. The only thing I could call negative is that the emitters are not completely separated from each other ... the amp envelope, the "actual" filter, the effects are global ... but it's actually fine the way it is. So far there has been no chance of the Tempera getting boring ... rather the opposite ... and there are still some exciting updates to come. For me, it's definitely one of the most innovative and exciting devices of recent years.

[@Subtronik]

@@substan_music thanks so much for the very thoughtful and thorough reply. I’m getting my wife a Tempera in a week for her birthday so we both want to be 100% sure about it as her main instrument and your reply just sealed the deal. Thanks again.

[@projectvime]

Hapax doesnt have velocity sensitive pads? Which sequenzer is best for tempera in your opinion?

[@substan_music]

No .. the pads are not velocity sensitive. But apart from that, the Hapax leaves little to be desired for me. But besides the Elektrons, it's the only hardware sequencer I had under my fingers... so I don't have a complete overview. I don't know of any sequencer that offers more... maybe the Reliq (which isn't released yet).

[@projectvime]

​@@substan_musicthanks for the info!

[@Timespacefractal]