Patch Notes: Disting MK4 as Pitch & Envelope Follower

[@BeatnikHimself]

I'd love to see a follow up video.🎉

[@DivKid]

Nice video, really nice to answer Toms question with a full on video like this!

[@_truck]

Thanks Ben! It kinda grew well beyond what I originally pictured, but once I got into it I had to keep going. Haha.

[@garystone9177]

Thanks for the demo. I was considering buying this module just for the pitch tracking function, but I think you just saved me some money.... Nice L6S by the way. I played one of those back when they were new, and loved it - keep thinking I should add one to my herd now.

[@_truck]

Yeah, I think the best way to think of the pitch tracking is that it's *extremely* accurate, to the point that atonal stuff gets captured as well. So I think there are probably ways to calm that down, with a slew limiter on the output (as opposed to the built-in control), for instance, but I haven't played with those ideas to see how stable I can get the tracking to be. In short, out of the box, this is the functionality, but with some tweaking and additional filtering/control via other modules, it could likely be great.

[@_truck]

Oh, and yes, the L6-S is actually my favorite guitar because it's so versatile. I actually have two. My love of them actually started with one of the Ibanez "lawsuit model" clones, which I highly regret selling. It was even better than the originals in my opinion, but those are pretty hard to track down at this point. The originals are not, and they remain relatively obscure, so they're still pretty cheap. Or at least they were a few years ago. Haven't checked recently.

[@neuroclassical1330]

Brilliant video, _truck. Thanks for sharing!

[@_truck]

Great! Glad it was helpful! There will be more like this coming, but it's taking me a while to nail down my writing/editing workflow to actually be productive. :)

[@N0B0DY_SP3C14L]

Nice demo! I had been meaning to try this out using my bass. I didn't see anything in the manual about other adjustable parameters except the slew. I imagine that a threshold control for a noise gate (bypassable, of course) at the input might be of immense help. The slew function is essentially a low pass filter to eliminate the high frequency content and allow the pitch conversion to more readily focus on the fundamental of the incoming tone. Folks who are newer to synthesis and pitch conversion might be helped by understanding why this parameter is significant, why, when and how it should be adjusted for best results.

[@_truck]

Very good point. I am planning to do a follow-up to this at some point, so I'll be sure to touch on this. Thanks! And yes, I think a noise gate would be extremely useful. I'll experiment a bit and see how it works if one is added to the chain ahead of the incoming signal.

[@stujay]

Really cool, _truck, thanks for doing it.

[@_truck]

Thanks! Glad you enjoyed it! I think I'm going to do a followup with some patch ideas.

[@TroyBlackford]

Woah! Never seen your videos before, but I searched for Disting MK4 and I have to admit: I had no clue it could do that. Never seen your stuff before but this is an instant subscribe. What do you usually do to do modular with your guitar? I have a Boss SY-1000 and the GK pickup, and also an old plugin that works pretty well called MIDI guitar. I really appreciate your style of editing and explanation. I had major life incident involving my youngest child dealing with a life-threatening illness and ultimately passing away just after I got my modular stuff, so I'm just now getting into a position to be able to learn this stuff.

[@_truck]

Oh, wow. Super sorry to hear about your youngest. Hopefully the modular can be a really useful outlet during a time like that. Being a dad myself, I can imagine how difficult that must have been. To answer your questions, this is actually my first video of this type. I've been planning to do content like this for quite a while (as well as courses on synthesis and audio production) but only finally felt ready recently, so I really appreciate your comments and support! My modular setup has a fairly wide range of functionality, so how I use it with guitar can vary a lot. Some days I might just be using it as a wild delay/effects box. Other days I might be using the Roland GI-20 to control it via MIDI -> CV converter (with a different guitar, the L6-S isn't outfitted with a MIDI pickup). Other days I might be sampling the guitar or bass as a phrase to sequence in a larger composition with the Cirklon. It can really depend on my mood! I think this weekend I'm going to film a followup to this with some patch ideas for various instruments. I'm also planning to basically go through my setup and do a deep dive with any of the modules that I don't feel have seen a lot of coverage out there, so there will be plenty of content upcoming!

[@TroyBlackford]

@@_truck Thanks, man. Yeah, getting back into music and tackling a new area has been helpful, for sure. Wow, I feel lucky to have stumbled onto your first video like this just days after you posted it! Definitely think you have the right idea about videos to make next. Wow, you've got a versatile setup! I'm really interested to see the content you're proposing, and I'm just some guy who randomly found your channel. I'm sure you could develop a meaningful audience: you have a clear way of presenting complex info, a great sense of visuals and how to show what you're talking about on screen, and obvious passion for the subject, as well as experience. I've seen plenty of videos where the only real positive you could say is that the people making the video had *access* to the devices they were talking about. I've even thought making a joke modular tutorial channel where I act like I have no clue what I'm doing at all but pretend to attempt to sound like I'm an expert. Not far from the truth on the first part haha. You've got my vote! I'll keep my eyes peeled for more stuff from you. Thanks a lot!

[@_truck]

@@TroyBlackford Definitely appreciate the thorough feedback! (and not just because it's so generous, either) I had to laugh at the part about having access to the devices. I know what you mean. I'm basically just modeling these videos after how I feel I learn best, and hopefully it translates. Also, I would definitely subscribe to your joke channel! The delivery would be key on that one, I think.

[@patrickmiller2579]

Does the pitch tacking work any better if the cv out is ran through a quantizer?

[@_truck]

I haven't experimented yet, but I'll give it a try and follow up. I think it will depend a lot on the response time and/or any slew on the signal. It does really well at grabbing the fundamental eventually, so the biggest task is to find a way to filter out the transients and noise that cause those little glitchy bits. You could think of it like the module is actually a bit too sensitive in certain situations, and that quick response and sensitivity to changes needs to be toned down somehow to filter out those unwanted parts.

[@jonkruth4157]

maybe you could make it with a bandpassfilter ..or not?@@_truck