Superbooth 2017 - A Conversation with Make Noise

[@robertsyrett1992]

Tony Rolando interviews are so fun!

[@DivKid]

Yeah I wanted to do more of these with people but just didn't get the chance.

[@lcortier]

Yeah, I'd be very happy to watch a much longer interview of Tony by you, like you did with Richard Devine and Mark Verbos !

[@DivKid]

Yeah we'd love to have him on for an interview with Modular Podcast I'll send him an email about it :)

[@lcortier]

DivKidVideo Cheers !

[@reptilespantoso]

Yeah nice interview :-)

[@dobermanpuncher8636]

Thanks for bringing superbooth to someone who planned to go but just wasn't able to. This interview could have been an hour, very entertaining and informative.

[@DivKid]

Great thank you! Hopefully you can make it next year.

[@MUNRO13]

Fantastic interview. I have a lot of respect for Tony's take on modular.

[@DivKid]

Yeah I do too, I see and have the luxury of working with lots of things and I like a solid vision for a system.

[@thaneco]

Make Noise is among my favourite eurorack companies. Tony is a genious!

[@DivKid]

They do a lot of good work all round. Absolutely on it with Walker making their videos too.

[@Tx66]

Tony is such a god damn hero :D I love this guy!

[@DivKid]

Always a pleasure to talk to.

[@lcortier]

Thank you for this Superbooth series, they're all great ! Funny how the guy from England is in t-shirt and the guy from Texas is fully clothed ;)

[@DivKid]

Thanks Laurent, appreciate that. I don't get the clothing comment. Wouldn't I be in a T shirt because I'm used to the warmth and Tony be warpped up because he isn't? It was pretty cold each day, just bright.

[@lcortier]

Quite the opposite, actually. You're used to the cold so the april climate in Germany is hot enough for you to be in t-shirt and too cold for Tony not to use a jacket, as he comes from Texas where 40°C temps are not uncommon. Does that make more sense ? I noticed that because I originally come from f*cking Belgium but also lived in Rio de Janeiro where natives don't go to the beach below 25°C ;)

[@cray56]

One way to look at the new(er) history of modular is that 12 years ago, when I started to get interested in modular, there werent the "dance music" drum modules and systems, modular back then was more about people into experimenting with sounds and as time went on people like TipTip made 808 kick, snares etc and people in the dance world started showing ( performing) live with dance orientated system e.g Surgeon etc This then got the crowd excited and this is really why we have a larger modular community now. It is mimicking the history of electronic music where it started off as an experimental sound instrument to now days partially aimed at dance music.

[@DivKid]

Really nice way to look at it. How it's developing is mirror the interest from the music scene.

[@2disbetter]

I can see that, but my main interest with eurorack and modular is that it is true sound generation and manipulation with no fixed path. While some synths can do a lot, a properly setup modular synth can do everything. I think this is the real drive that has led to the significant increase in eurorack popularity.

[@lg88-j5d]

love this man

[@DivKid]

thanks

[@lg88-j5d]

Thanks for this kind interview with Tony outdoor

[@DivKid]

He's great, nice to chat briefly and we were in the hotel or going past at the event too.

[@hans-georgdaun6270]

Brilliant. Thanks a lot.

[@DivKid]

Thanks for watching.

[@samirabia5050]

Great interview

[@DivKid]

Thanks Sami

[@forehead84]

I hope they'll be another instalment next year as your chats with Tony are really interesting.

[@DivKid]

I hope it's yearly, and in increasing amounts with others each year too.

[@0Metatron]

Sounds so good

[@DivKid]

What does?

[@0Metatron]

AH I was actually trying to comment on the multiband filter/vocoder vid as autoplay had taken me there but still kept the comment section from this page

[@NutritionalZero]

Oh man this is valuable, Make Noise really rocked my world when I discovered them around a year and a half ago. Kind of tossing around the idea of doing my own custom System Cartesian using some of the modules I've bought already plus some other bits and pieces from other manufacturers re-panelled in black.

[@DivKid]

Cheers.

[@TheSlowGrowth]

It's great to see how different manufacturers respect each other and value each others achievements. This is not exclusive to MakeNoise, it happens on many of the "big" eurorack brands. It feels like, in this small market that is eurorack, pulling together on the same string is also makes sense economically. After all, the whole scene is very much paying attention to the people behind the products.

[@DivKid]

Yeah that's what I love as well. Lot of respect for each other and not treading on each others toe too much. It's great to know a lot of the brands use each others stuff too. It's all about the people and their ideas and concepts which is really apparent at events.

[@barlobarlo303]

As always with your interview, this was great fun; wish I'd been there. Tony would be a great guest on Modular Podcast. Thanks much.

[@DivKid]

I'm going to email Tony and look to set that up.

[@barlobarlo303]

Fantastic! Look forward watching.

[@dan_dorjay]

Great interview, really interesting discussion.

[@DivKid]

thank you

[@moonzero-xm7014]

Haha, I know the "I don't wanna waste my Maths on that"-feeling all too well. :P :D Great interview!

[@DivKid]

It's always funny to hear but I think people always feel like they're cheating or missing out by using things that can be complex in a really simple way.

[@benjiwill]

Another interesting and fun interview 😃

[@DivKid]

thank you

[@minijackaudio]

thanks! such an inspiring conversation!

[@DivKid]

thank you!!

[@NedBouhalassaVideos]

Excellent interview/video. I really like this relaxed format, and your topics!

[@DivKid]

Yeah great to get outside and talk about ideas and concepts. Definitely something I want to do more of.

[@BlueWolfSe7en]

Awesome interview Ben, really nice to dig into a bit of Tony's design philosophy. Funny, been thinking a lot about non centralised mixing & obviously trickling logic is right up my street.

[@DivKid]

I think for me a mixture of both with mixing is the way to go. I absolutely love the WMD Mixer, but I still need little 4HP mixers dotted around for both modulation and feeding filters. I don't think I've ever just ran a single waveform into a filter for voices I use. Usually a mix of more than one oscillator of multiple waveforms from one to create a new shape. Same with distortion/folders/filters and modulation mixing envelope, un-synced attenuated and LFOs and 1v/oct tracking for the most part.

[@nectariosm]

Great interview! And spot on for non tunable drums.

[@DivKid]

Yeah I prefer flexibility with sounds too. Both angles work great though and depend on the use. Just having a small single function drum module if good for fleshing out sounds and getting the basics covered. But on a big home system it's always nicer patching up everything yourself.

[@nectariosm]

Yeah I agree too, I was refering to non tunable drum modules, like he TTA-808 and, well...it clones the original down a "t". I would have bought the module if there was a tune knob/CV input, but there ain't one. Drum modules are great, especially fo playing out live, I love them. Of course making your own drums sounds is even better, for me anyway, so at the comfort of the studio, a lot of drums get patched in from scratch.

[@DivKid]

Ah yeah I get what you mean with say the TipTop Drums, but every time I hear them they all sound great together! Totally with you on studio comforts vs. live.

[@Vanya01Sokol]

I wish you did more videos like this one, really interesting to hear the original intention/philosophy behind both modules and a full featured system! Could you explain a little more of what Tony was saying about mixing triggers with multiples on pressure points and tempi? Didn't really understand that. Thank you and keep up the great work!

[@DivKid]

with stack cables you should ever mix signals. As you don't want to send a signal back into the output of a module. However the Pressure Points gate outputs are fully protected meaning that with stack cables you could take two of those gate outputs into the input of another module and everything will be ok. So you stacking the cables one gate output into the input of a module then stack the next gate output and cable into the back of the stackcable already in and those two will mix and everything is ok. I'd love to do more of these but with so much to cover at the event it's hard to get round everything. However ... I do have a couple more videos like this one from this year.

[@Vanya01Sokol]

DivKidVideo that all makes sense now, thanks!

[@cxsz9939]

DivKidVideo is this because pp gate outs can never be high simultaneously? And thus never sum them together. Can I further mix all these with an RCD output for example?

[@DivKid]

Hey Ican, great glad to help.

[@DivKid]

S. filmer - well that is true (more than one won't output at once) that's not the reason. Current will flow down the cable BACK INTO the pressure points, but pressure points is protected so that's fine. Lots of modules aren't though. So it's not about two things hitting at once it's about signal from an output going through the cable then back through the stackcable connection to the output of another. Also with the RCD multiple outputs will be high at once. Use an OR gate or mixer for merging those.

[@FunkTree]

DK great questions

[@DivKid]

cheers.

[@marcoandreoni2112]

hi Ben, do you explain the "or" gate that Tony mentioned in some of your videos? thanks

[@DivKid]

There's an OR output on Maths isn't there? OR SUM and INV on the bottom I think it is.

[@gooneybird808]

Tony is the dude!

[@DivKid]

absolutely

[@wombra8314]

cool dude!

[@DivKid]

cheers

[@ngarjuna]

Envelopes! How I love Maths envelopes. Between the control ranges and the adjustable curve it's just the best envelope I've got. With the logic section you can get really interesting complex envelopes, accent implementation...it's hard to "waste" Maths (heh) on some of its other cool functions when I've already got it opening and closing stuff. I'm getting ready to purchase another Maths (I'll have 2 in 6U) and it will probably also get used as envelopes a lot.

[@DivKid]

haha hats off to the first comment to bring up the "wasting a maths" idea. It definitely makes for a cool pair of envelopes. One looping and modulating the other's decay is cool.

[@els1f]

I really dug this interview. Make Noise is the shit :)

[@DivKid]

thanks, have you seen the one from last year? Well worth a watch too. kzbin.info/www/bejne/q32tpqh5l697ga8

[@jasevaughan7829]

Good interview Ben. I don't suppose you could elaborate on the Optpmix, Maths patch you mentioned Ben could you?? Stereo panner one

[@DivKid]

Hey Jase, yeah sure. Take one LFO (say a cycling envelope from channel 1 of Maths) then patch it into the CV control of an optomix channel 1. Copy the input signal to both channels of the Optomix and then split the Maths envelope output into channel 2 of maths and invert and offset it then patch that into the CV input of channel 2. So you have the same sound into both sides of the Optomix and same modulation source but one normal modulation signal and one inverted (then offset to work in the right ranges) so that as one sides opens the other closes. It'll give a nice auto pan affect and as they close the Optomix will give a great top end roll off too.

[@jasevaughan7829]

Shot Ben, thanks for this detailed description i'll give it a crack this week. Modular has so many hidden tricks

[@DivKid]

Yeah there's loads, the learning is never ending which is really the appeal for me.

[@vryc]

Dear Make Noise, I want more *"Universal Modules"* whatever those might look like from whatever strange parts of your brain is giving them to us.

[@DivKid]

I want them too :)

[@samaBR333]

why they didn't shake hands at the end?! Tony is so fun!

[@DivKid]

Neither of us when for a handshake. Not sure modular is the world of handshakes. I'm hoping to catch Tony again at Superbooth for a third chat in the series.

[@barlobarlo303]

BTW, I agree: you can do some interesting rhythm changes using the logic page in Rene as you guys were discussing.

[@DivKid]

I haven't got a RENE to try it but it seems like it would work really well.

[@flannsixtyseven7489]

Late find, commenting this now, 5:02 enjoying the quirky weirdness of the 0 Coast and some Make Noise modules i thought they should make some standalone drum kind of thing but with the weirdness and crosspatching and modulation qualities of the 0 Coast and 0 Ctrl .

[@Symmetry77]

Good watch.. The thing is you never do any make noise demos though

[@DivKid]

You're right I don't, it's not something that either of us have pushed much. We have spoken about it just never worked it out. Be great to demo the Morphagene or other modules. I use the Erbe Verb, Pressure Points, Optomix and Echophon a lot in my own patching.

[@Symmetry77]

DivKidVideo cool no worries. Its just that make noise modules are somewhat dificult to crack sometimes and you always manage to get the most out of the modules you demo. Hopefully in the future anyway. Cheers

[@juergenbranz]

👏🏻

[@DivKid]

thanks

[@tiltedstudio]

Tony Rolando? or Tom Waits?

[@DivKid]

I had to google Tom Waits.

[@mykhayloslobodyan1250]

+DivKidVideo My problem with many MakeNoise modules is that they're HUGE, they're TOO WIDE (putting aside that they possibly could be cheaper). For example, take PerssurePoints. The pressure sensors themselves are too wide. My fingers, which are pretty normal, could work with like 60% of that width no problem, and the pots could for sure be packed more tightly. Or take DPO. Yeah, it sounds good, but it is way way too wide, especially considering limited number of waveforms it produces. Same goes for Maths - I haven't saw its PCB, but it looks like Maths could be made ~2-3hp narrower. My point is: hey MakeNoise, just make a slimmer Maths and sell it a tad cheaper, so people would just buy/install two and "waste" one, problem solved.

[@sketchdashaman]

nice :)

[@christdolphin69]

telharmonic is the best noise source imaginable

[@bootshausk39]

is this where x-pan inception happened :) ???

[@thomas_ad]

bootshausk39 noticed that reference too. X-pan’s Easter egg is divkid

[@EmBeeSeven]

Dear Make Noise, please offer DIY options!! I adore the Maths, but I hate spending a large amount of money on one module if I haven't built it myself. Sell me a PCB for $15 or $20 and I'll take care of the rest.

[@DivKid]

while it would be nice for the DIY community I don't think we'll see that happen.

[@EmBeeSeven]

A sad truth, though Makenoise is one of the more stand up Eurorack companies so I don't mind so much. Seems like Befaco will have to tide me over until I earn enough to buy pre-built modules

[@DivKid]

both Make Noise and Befaco are great! Both deserve your cash :)

[@FunkTree]

Maths = a giant Swiss Army knife

[@DivKid]

yep, but from Asheville and not a knife haha :)

[@James-cb9bb]

little face on the tree

[@DivKid]

where?

[@montgomeryword7748]

hahahaha NOPE WE AINT MAKIN YR NEW SCHOOL ISH yes yes yes

[@DivKid]

erm ... what?

[@montgomeryword7748]

DivKidVideo i just loved all tony’s responses to “any plans for a drum module or logic module or mixing module?” he’s just “well....” basically no, but we already did, it’s just you gotta work for it!

[@DivKid]

yeah this wasn't planned so I was trying to prod a bit and I loved his answers too. Looking forward to catching up with Tony at Superbooth again for the third chat if he's up for it.