The Joy of Patching, Ep 1 • Live-patching Eurorack Modular Synthesizer

You asked for a live walkthrough of my patching process and here it is! Follow along as I develop a patch from scratch over the course of an hour-complete with stream-of-consciousness puzzle-solving and banter.
Join the Club Lightbath community on Discord, plus get patch notes and lessons through my Creative Mentorship program → / lightbath
Subscribe to The Joy of Patching playlist to see future episodes → lightbath.zone/thejoyofpatching
✶ THANK YOU ✶
Make Noise → makenoisemusic.com
Noise Engineering → noiseengineering.com
Xaoc Devices → xaocdevices.com
Tall Dog → www.tall-dog.com
Hosa → hosatech.com
✶ GEAR ✶
Lightbath Mall → lightbath.zone/mall
Audio + Video gear → lightbath.zone/video-kit
Eurorack Case → submodularsystems.com
Eurorack wall-mount → amzn.to/342RPZV
Hosa cables → lightbath.zone/hosa
Some of the above may contain affiliate links which earn me a small commission. If you'd like a way to support me at no extra cost, please use the links.
✶ ZONES ✶
Website → lightbath.com
Emails → bit.ly/lightbathemails
Instagram → / __lightbath
Twitter → / lightbath
Soundcloud → / lightbath
Spotify → spoti.fi/2X0GjtM
Bandcamp → lightbath.bandcamp.com
Patreon → / lightbath
#eurorack #tutorial #thejoyofpatching

[@rbeny]

Bob Ross-bath

[@Lightbath]

🌟👨🏻‍🎨🎨

[@Kenjinp]

That was my exact thought!

[@fosferus]

happy little cables!

[@iliatilev]

hahhahahah

[@robertsyrett1992]

Happy little patches.

[@rascal_rae]

Been in modular for a few years now, and even still I so appreciate when videos actually show the * process* of building a patch from scratch. So many videos edit out the parts where the artist changes their mind, or makes a mistake, and then will go on to use language like "obviously" and "of course". The reality is that this is an art form which is still in development, maybe perpetually in development, so there is no benefit to projecting the image that you know everything, or that you aren't experimenting every time you go to patch. Thanks Lightbath- keep it up!

[@aeropilot4419]

Lils Bee great comment !

[@goodforage]

Best comment ever said about Modular on KZbin IMHO, The joy and the art is in the process 😃 What they said 👆👆👆

[@HosaTechnology]

This is basically super-nerd ASMR, and I'm so here for it.

[@Lightbath]

Come for the cables, stay for the super-nerd ASMR.

[@HosaTechnology]

@@Lightbath Y A S

[@Sk8erMorris]

@@HosaTechnology check out the gecho loop synth; granular sample mode... you'll enjoy that if you dig ASMR.. imo

[@aAwaysNice]

this is spot on

[@andresgrumann4079]

really love this "Joy of Patching" video, please do more, thanks!

[@Limbic1000]

Yeah please more! 🙏

[@grimmy49]

Epic! this is the kind of video I've been looking for for ages, thank you :)

[@mr.brosio7915]

This was so incredibly relaxing and fun to watch. I hope you make more! :D

[@neildenari1007]

Thanks Brian...so generous of you to make this video.

[@MrRoskoPeko]

Seeing a patch come together is so incredibly helpful. Always great to see how others apply logic and work through problem solving. Thank you.

[@Contang0]

Need another one of these videos! so much fun and.. enlightenment along the way.

[@samhewerdine3505]

Definitely would watch more of this!

[@92JelaniMusic]

This format is everything! I'll watch for 15 minutes, get inspired to make a patch, record it, go on with my day, open KZbin, it reminds me to keep watching, and the cycle continues. Going to come back to this all week probably.

[@Lightbath]

awesome

[@aeropilot4419]

Lol, same here

[@chrisfjonesutube]

This is one of the very few modular videos I keep rewatching. Please make more ❤️❤️

[@SharedVision333]

Such a tactile & grounding activity that can lead to healing moments

[@petersirca223]

Keep re-wathing this, and Ep.2 as well, albeit this is better IMO. A masterpiece, thanks Lightbath !

[@caseyhunted]

really nice to see your process. thank you for sharing.

[@river_river_river]

This is one of my favorite videos of all time.

[@rattusrat]

Great patch. Thank you for doing this. I learned a lot.

[@CosmicAutumn]

Hugely inspirational. Thank you for taking the time to do this video. I'm a guitarist but boy you got my gears turning while relaxing me at the same time. So great to watch the process.

[@julsgud]

Everything about this is delightful. More walk thrus pls!

[@daydreamjohnny]

For someone with a modular setup this was so fun to watch. The moments where you're trying to change a voice and you have three cables in your hands and your brain overloads "wait, what comes from where, goes to where"... the euphoric moments when you have an idea and it works 1st try... when something changes for the worse and you can't figure out why... That's why modular is so so inspiring, fun, challenging and good for the soul. To be able to go through all of that live, have it sound good and be entertaining is very impressive. Thanks for taking the time.

[@Lightbath]

🌟

[@girlinagale]

If the BBC did documentaries such as this I'd buy a TV and licence, but they don't and I'm here, which is just fine.

[@mynmyself]

This was super enjoyable, thank you very much!

[@ReductioAdAbsurdum1]

Please keep doing this! Great vid, man.

[@DarkMetaOFFICIAL]

dude, this was absolutely brilliant. stellar. transcendent to have the pleasure of watching and hearing. i was just patching for 1.5 hours, then took a break and found this video : ) also subbed yo ✊🔥

[@TheSpyFishMan]

I'd love to hear more of this type of spontaneous experimentation at the patch board. The creative whispers and whimpers are just as much apart of the sound as the synth and the sight of that growing web of gelatinous cables is as mesmerizing as watching the musician crouched over his array of knobs meticulously tinkering.

[@PARSEC_MT]

Bro ! You explain so nice ! I just love to Watch the Video ! Keep going !

[@andresgrumann4079]

love this video, please do more of this stuff, nice productive journey!

[@H3ath]

Thoroughly excited about the ability to play shape, such wizardry :D Thank you for all of this

[@Contang0]

This is the best content Bryan. Thanks so much for this, it helps so much to learn... better though, is the pure enjoyment you take from creating, modern life likes to take this away from us all too often. that's real learning.

[@Rapu-Santeri]

Sweet! I could watch and listen to this all day.

[@robertsyrett1992]

Let's just sit back and listen.

[@NICUofficial]

So nice seeing your thoughts while live patching. You’ve been a huge inspiration and teacher for me. This was great, enjoyed the whole thing thoroughly. Hope you’re doing well :)

[@Lightbath]

🌟

[@danemx5]

Thanks for sharing your workflow!

[@zamplify]

Fantastic content. Love your music!

[@kozmicstreamz]

Love your music ... and loved watching your process!

[@kozmicstreamz]

Also you were light years ahead of where I would typically get in a patch before I started to get lost with things .... I was already overloaded on the first half hour :)

[@Larry30102]

As a relative newbie, to see the process is very valuable. Many thanks.

[@benkarklins6537]

This guy is so damn likeable! I'm just getting into modular now so this was freaking awesome to watch rather than KZbinrs just rushing through their patches or not even talking about them at all.

[@laurenthilairet2004]

Thanks for sharing your joy of Patching !!!

[@jazzygerard8413]

So satisfying watching you do this! Same as watching Bob Ross doing some paint jobs on a lazy afternoon. Very educational aswell! Hope you gonne do more! KR

[@safetyfirstrecords]

I think this video has finally convinced me to start my first modular synth. I've often felt a detachment when watching videos of peoples brilliant sounding patches, but here we get to experience the journey, and it turns out the journey IS the music, not what you end up with after the patching is done. It's almost as if the music dies when the patching stops. Beautiful.

[@Lightbath]

🌟

[@stateazure]

Really enjoying this. Thanks for sharing your patching process!

[@stateazure]

I might be wrong, but isn't there an alt. firmware for Warps where there's a pretty cool tape delay effect added? Might be an idea if you use alt firmware :)

[@Lightbath]

Ooh. Right. Parasites adds a Doppler panner and a delay that I’ve been wanting to check out. Good call.

[@JonnyPez]

I still get so much out of this video. I've been rewatching for years. ❤

[@Lightbath]

🙏

[@lukecassidy829]

I'm only about halfway through the video right now, but I love your music and it's really helpful to see your process. I've got an itch to make some ambient music now.

[@NBSStudioMusic]

Great video, I think we need more of these from all Modular KZbinrs. thx

[@leejmalcolm1]

This was great man. Nice to step inside for a while and see your process. Made me want to buy Zadar! Thanks for sharing :)

[@atticuslikesbees]

Dreamy early morning tea for the soul. Thank you for sharing your art :)

[@ringandtones]

I'm not into modular (yet) but this video kept me pulling closer. It is as fascinating as it is informative while still being very relaxing. Good job, really enjoyed watching.

[@orangewiggler6838]

What a gift!

[@Z33803]

Really cool vid and sound man!

[@AtlasMvm]

great! so relaxing

[@burgetron]

soo coooool! very much much enjoyed seeing & hearing the process...we all really do patch one cable at a time.

[@Lightbath]

Thanks. And yes! I'm pretty sure that r beny puts his pants on one cable at a time.

[@mgscheue]

Love this! More, more!

[@marcuswalnus6617]

Hey brian! I'm a patch beginner and your Video its full of wonderful secrets for my module journey!! Magic!!

[@natejmattson1870]

We need more videos like this.

[@Lewp77]

awesome !digging it

[@Lightbath]

I’ll let you in on a secret: Episode 2 is coming this month!

[@ultrabillions2208]

I made it 9 mins before I had to go play w some delay. Always takes a day or two to finish an inspiring video ⚡️ 🧠

[@SomethingDeepMunich]

Pls do another one!!! This is wonderful, you need to do a Series out of this ❤️

[@Chozal]

That's a wonderful case.

[@BigPlasticPlant]

The calmest I’ve been in months.... 🙏

[@carolineszczurek6401]

I know very little about substractive synthesis in general, and nothing about modular. Still this really was fascinating to watch ! Always great to witness someone sharing his passion with such ethusiasm. That's one of the beauty of YT, I guess. I would never have watched this without the Corona crisis, I'm glad I did. Very cool vid man, thanks ! Cheers from France, keep doing what you love, take care.

[@Lightbath]

Thanks for expanding your sphere and spending some time in the Lightbath Zone 💫

[@colinwright27]

Fantastic video . You should definitely do more of these if you get chance. Love being able to watch the creative process- I always seem to end up using my modules the same way each time I patch. I need to experiment a bit more.

[@dafedeloss]

Greatness and very inspiring.

[@edinmesic8015]

this is just great and I hope you will continue this...that was a missing part...my wish come true

[@daren.t.housse2121]

Nice cool you need to more of these live patch session 😎😀😀😀😀👍👍👍👍👍👍 keep up the great videos 👌👌

[@Koettnylle]

Very inspiring!

[@Basimilus]

Do more of these! Love it

[@baltergeistsound8366]

Thoroughly enjoyed this, especially the bits where how a particular module works (Shifty needing a gate, for example) make me feel a lot better about my own muddleheadedness.

[@Lightbath]

Haha! Yeah. All the mistakes throughout this video are basically me... every day. Like, why the eff is everything messed up? What is going on? Oh, I plugged this in here when I thought it was there.

[@baltergeistsound8366]

@@Lightbath Yes! Modular in a nutshell!

[@SlowDescentToWild]

Wonderful, thank you :)

[@casualdecay6775]

Oh my gosh when the plonk comes in :) :) :) I think you should make more of these, even if you can't dedicate much editing time to them. I'd leave these on in the background at work all day.

[@fosferus]

wow, amazing video! very fun guided walk through of the process. hope to see more, you've got a wonderful personality for narrating your patches. (though i can't imagine the wrist pain that'll ensue editing hr+ of footage.) you and keith fullerton whitman have multiple STOs, and i've been waffling about replacing some things in my system with them, but their sound here i think finally made up my mind.

[@Lightbath]

Thanks. Yeah, that's the thing. All of the editing is what is causing it. I might look into some sort of ergonomic controller for all of the most-used NLE/DAW commends. But yeah, I love STO. I sort of want two more. M Geddes Gengras is another good example of a quad STO user.

[@GuitarsAndSynths]

Cool video! I really enjoy modular synthesizers even though it can get expensive. Patching cables into jacks and experimenting is the most fun aspect of sound creation.

[@lognan9077]

man this was such a fucking beautiful thing to watch and hear. felt like my own musical battery was charged just by observing you in this process. absolutely sick.

[@willmeier2785]

within the first minute, thanks for the craft in this

[@kozmicstreamz417]

Great video! Shared on facebook Modular Soundscapes group.

[@Lightbath]

Thanks!

[@derrick-cruz]

Lovely. Learning. Past hugs future 👍🏽.

[@MimiAdamson]

Thank you so much for this video. I am building my first modular synth, 10U. It was very helpful for you to talk through the patch as you made it. I don't have the same modules, but I do have the same functions. I've been using the Richter Wogglebug and a Turing Machine as dual sources of random pitch CV, and the Rene as a single source of sequenced notes. What I don't have, but will be investigating, is an audio repeater function like Morphagene. Thanks again!

[@geraldgoodiii6993]

We all know this guy is super talented with the ambient stuff. But I really enjoyed the glimpse into his personality and quirkinesses. You’re a cool cat lightbath

[@Lightbath]

😎

[@hidikitalks]

I watched this with Jean-Luc . He said to the screen, "Bryan that was fantastic! More live patching should soon follow...Make it so."

[@Lightbath]

Yes, Captain!

[@sunkenforest]

More of this! There's not enough live patching videos out there.

[@ChazSeamus28]

Very cool video

[@serge933]

This is incredible! I love this format, hope you do more Bob ross style live patchings lol

[@funkytransport]

nice video man

[@pnKroKbobby]

Please more of this

[@subfusc2848]

This is sounds lovely and educational, what more can you ask for, thanks

[@benlogan4038]

Beginner here. Head swimming immediately. Still, fun! Inspiring. Fan of the guy’s music.

[@oldsoulsound]

Awesome! I've been wanting someone to do a complete patch from scratch. I love that you left all the moments of confusion and second guessing. I would love to take it one step further from the very start like how are your VCO's tuned? What was your mood and inspiration for the composition. I truly love this concept and welcome more vérité style. I've learned so much from this.

[@Lightbath]

Ah, nice. That’s a good point for me to mention in the next one: the fact that I always tune all VCOs to C. As for the mood/inspiration there really wasn’t any. I just wanted to show Mimeophon using my ‘standard STO thing’ and then combine that with the bell sounds. The rest just happened.

[@allhandsmusic]

Thanks for sharing this. If I weren't already into Eurorack, this would have done the trick!

[@Lightbath]

💫

[@InvertedPopesMusic]

Awesomeness in wires.

[@techsture]

I love this for so many reasons: 1.) A look into the process. 2.) The explanations of everything. 3.) Mistakes happen. 4.) It takes a long time. #4 might be the most important because usually in videos creators are only showing the end result. This makes most people say "wow, so easy, I need this module, or that module." Worst case, especially in the case of generative systems, people say "geez, not even making music, it just does it for you!" Seeing that you can't just plug stuff in for 5 minutes and have the end result is definitely worth showing. Bravo, this was a great video, and I'd love to see more!

[@Lightbath]

Thanks! I really appreciate your reflection on this. I think I’ll do more of these this winter once I reassemble the large system.

[@richardtarantino769]

This video reminds me to make small changes in my system. Thanks!

[@Lightbath]

the sweet spots can almost always be found with enough patience... and small changes

[@nellsonogmore5938]

I can hear that wooden cabin! Great stuff!

[@Lightbath]

🎨

[@YannGuillermou]

This is making me wanna plug my synth, haven't touched it in months!

[@SoundAuthor]

Great deep dive! I would love to see more of these live patching sessions! I'm also a die hard Trekkie. DS9 is my jam, but TNG was also wonderful!

[@Lightbath]

The heads all seem to love DS9. I suspect I'll get into that once I'm through all of TNG.

[@SoundAuthor]

Similar to TNG, DS9 doesn't really pick up until season 3. It takes some getting used to, but once you acclimate, it's some great Trek!

[@ritec]

You said it, it’s not about the result, it’s about the journey.

[@tinypatches6939]

Ha has to do a "The Joy of Patching" series! I need more pleaseee :)

[@Lightbath]

there are more planned :)

[@ethermod307]

Alternative title: "Inside the head of a master". I also have an interesting thought about the clocking of Marbles and Batumi messing up with that. Marbles is life, our everyday natural rhythms. Batumi is the events that happen that give our life a more meaningful purpose, push us forward, advancing our rhythms. What a genius idea to have the music move in different levels!

[@Lightbath]

Patching as life 🌞

[@aeropilot4419]

Looking forward to DivKid’s øchd when it gets here 🙂✨

[@lucafrancinimusic]

I've spent the last minutes thinking about Marbles and Batumi relationship and you got close to my vision of it. I think Marbles is Earth ecosystem while Batumi modulating his rate is humans. With our actions we change our own world, that answers back by pushing us, amplifying our actions in a mad symbiotic loop. Trippy :)

[@Lightbath]

🌟 🌍 💫

[@wegmore1]

This vid was the best. The best parts for me were when your wheels are clearly turning, sussing the situation, in between moves.

[@Lightbath]

Thanks. Lifting the veil.

[@wegmore1]

@@Lightbath It's entertaining and enormously useful. Thank you for making it happen.

[@vkboogie]

please do more of these

[@insan0r]

haha, your reaction after bringing in Mimeophon: Priceless. Same for me, I'm madly in love with mimeophon, morphagene and qpas (in no particular order).

[@stevenstavropoulos8858]

wow blessed us all

[@AndrewPRoberts]

PLEASE MAKE THIS A RECURRING SERIES

[@Lightbath]

It will be, it’s just taking a while with all the other projects I’ve got going on :)