Waldorf Blofeld tutorial - how to use wavetables & arpeggios

Rob of Seen From Space describes the sound design of arpeggiated soundscapes with sweeping wavetables.
Sorry about the stray cat hair hanging off one of the knobs. Didn't spot that till I was in the "cutting room"!

[@aksen303]

i don't use my blofeld anywhere near enough, and thus start thinking of selling it every now and then. then a video comes along and reminds me what that little thing is capable of, and i regret even considering getting rid of it.

[@SeenfromSpace]

aksen303 For me, it's how different it sounds from my other synths. Love it a bit more and it'll love you back.

[@bembeleee]

aksen303 are you serious I'm planing get mine next week..this little box is capable of anything what you imagination " throw's at you" the only downside is you need to tweak through the menus to shape your sounds

[@Uvisir]

you simpley dont know anything about waldorf then. i wish i had one.

[@chakko007]

The handling, and menu diving (unavoidable with so few knobs...) destroyed the experience for me, to be honest. I owned one 2 times now, and it was too much of a PITA to program, especially as i own Largo, and already have that sound in software form, and the software GUI makes it a breeze to program it, in comparison. I guess you really gotta be into hardware to connive that.

[@C1c4da]

aksen303 you can give it to me :)

[@pvillez]

Excellent presentation of the PWM function for reading wavetables. Thank you very much, I only just received my Blofeld testerday and this was really useful in understanding the essence of controlling the wavetables in a musical way.

[@DonSolaris]

My gawd for how long i've starred in that little screen, until i found out the editor existed. 😁

[@SeenfromSpace]

***** Thanks for kind comments. This is a good one too, from millolab It got me exploring deep modulations to get pads and space drones. kzbin.info/www/bejne/d2SYf6x4mZZ5mas

[@SeenfromSpace]

This one's good too: kzbin.info/www/bejne/aqrbp3eNpLppbZI Also from millolab.

[@millolab]

Seen From Space Thanks for sharing, mate! Great tutorial!! :)

[@EdmundQip]

Yours and millolab's tutorials are simply the best I've seen for any gear. Thank you very much!

[@SeenfromSpace]

EdmundQip Most kind! Thank you.

[@allisterainsworth9090]

Probably the best synth tutorial I've seen on here. Now I must have a Blofeld. Thankyou.

[@SeenfromSpace]

+Allister Ainsworth Thank YOU!

[@allisterainsworth9090]

+Seen From Space Just bought one!

[@fosferus]

every time i watch this i want to give another 'like.' thanks for such a clear and concise walk-through. visually pleasing to boot. well done.

[@SeenfromSpace]

+Dan Szeles Thanks very much Dan.

[@OrbEmber]

Great tutorial mate. Can't wait to get back home now and fire up the ol Blodawg. Many thanks.

[@reggietelly]

Hanging out for my Blofeld! Just love the sound it produces.

[@radarstationzebra6281]

This is one of the most inspiring videos I've ever seen concerning the Blofeld. I just took mine off Craig's List. I was selling it, because I didn't understand the overwhelming depth of patch creation this board is capable of. Thanks Rob for showing me what a wonderful board this truly is! It adds so much to my Subsequent 37, Prologue, Pulse 2, and MOXF6 as far as sonic depth!

[@SeenfromSpace]

Thanks John. Glad it's been useful.

[@blackclock7278]

Excellent! I've been hankering after a piece of hardware that's capable of that evolving wave table sound for a while, more to the point since hearing the effect so superbly demonstrated in the track below (comes in about 1:05). Reckon the Blofeld might be the one. I think it was a Dave Smith Evolver used in the Lowfish track but always wanted to get hold of a Waldorf on account of it's PPG heritage. Reckon it's time to source one! kzbin.info/www/bejne/o3XGl5-Ii8aNl9E

[@TheSynthZone]

This is a useful demonstration, thanks for taking the time to do this.

[@donaldpriola1807]

I really enjoyed this tutorial, and thanks for your insights. The Blofeld is wonderful, indeed.

[@SeenfromSpace]

Thanks for the kind comments Guys. Only got it a couple of weeks ago, so hoping there are no factual inaccuracies:)

[@TheSynthZone]

Seen From Space hehe, cannot get my cat to leave the studio. I guess they like the energy.

[@SeenfromSpace]

TheSynthZone Afraid Campbell has since bowed out of the studio for good:-( He was 16 y.o. so not too much before his time.

[@breslin44]

Excellent and inspiring video. So much scope with that sound.

[@chriscarrington4294]

Beautiful I will be keeping my blofeld after seeing this Thank you for the inspiration

[@SeenfromSpace]

You're most welcome. Waldorf produce most interesting instruments! Have you tried Nave for iPad?

[@chriscarrington4294]

Yes, i actually owned nave before Blofeld.@@SeenfromSpace

[@WhiteFrequencyNoise]

the worst knobs EVER! thats why i sold my blofeld is impossible to maneuver on live stages... endless knobs SUCKSsssss

[@SeenfromSpace]

WhiteFrequencyNoise I find it annoying when the amount you have to rotate the knob to get the next value varies with different parameters. You make delicate movements for one parameter, then the next one you twist it and nothing happens.

[@curetarechner]

great!! 4:59 pan lfo 8:20 wavetable

[@sonnyhancock]

More of these please.

[@danieldemayo6209]

I didn’t know this thing has a Cat filter ;)

[@wlee4120]

Excellent demo. Thank you!

[@AudioPervert1]

The Blofeld has a max msp editor and cc generator - Which yields some out-of-this-world results (not so useful for regular music) - The standalone version and ableton plug in sends one or upto 127 CC changes (via the randomization algorithm) to the device - resulting in some very far out sounds .. Moves the wave-tables too ...

[@l.erdhirsch3755]

great tutorial! was expecting the cat

[@AndreaCichecki]

Great video, thank you! I just got mine a few weeks ago. Such a beautiful instrument :)

[@luciferlost5934]

quiet intelligent synthesis...........

[@shawnmcclure876]

Thank you for explaining the Pulse Width parameter for the wavetables

[@paultimothycuthbert7290]

Hi Rob! Waddles of Wonderful of Waves ~ Can't wait! ~ was listening in surround actually ~ the shape of things to come ~ a sine of the times ~ PWN intended : ) ~ Thanks Rob! Cat going down the motorway ~ Meeeeeeeeeeeeeoooooooooooooowwwwwww! ~ ( purrrrr purrrrr )

[@7Spronge]

Pads, leads , etc, name it and I will make it on my Blo, but always had trouble making nice arpeggio's ... until now, really helpful tutorial, thanks

[@Moh-Tor]

Thank you for a wonderful tutorial! All the best! :) :) :)

[@SeenfromSpace]

+Moh M Thank you Sir!

[@ChristophePRINCE]

very nice video!

[@wax83]

Hi there! Please tell me what your firmware version is! Your unit seems to work just fine but people always tell about this synth being very unreliable & buggy! Have you experienced any problems with your Blofeld? I mean noisy ouputs or skippy encoders or the output level being too low or display faults or any kind of "standard" issue people talk about?? I plan to get one but Im afraid it wont worth the money... Thank you very much!

[@SeenfromSpace]

+akos bacso Hi. It's v1.22. It does have a very low output which you might have to compensate for with trim on your mixer. I don't experience major bugs and the encoders are OK, although a bit stiff perhaps. I find their responsiveness varies with how many steps the selected parameter has. Where there are fewer steps, you have to twist the knob more! The reverb is a bit rubbish I have to say, but in moderation is reasonably useful. It won't give you nice deep washes unfortunately. I think the synth is great value actually. It's not expensive and it does great digital sounds.

[@ben1210]

I know I'm a bit late to the party, but I've got a desktop with the 1.24 firmware, none of the bugs others have reported, but the clock delay glitches the output like crazy when running from an external clock source. Set to internal the issue disappears. Just me?

[@renedebakker3668]

super Demo thanks

[@MichaelMorell]

great, inspiring tutorial! thank you alot

[@asmr6773]

👍👍🏻👍🏼👍🏽👍🏾👍🏿

[@daub1]

nice tutorial thanks....any idea why my blofeld doesn't display the names of the wavetables??

[@Seafox0011]

Sounds a bit like the cadence of a peal of swung church bells at the end of the main setup. Presumably that's the temporally offset sinusoidal wave patterns. Interestingly taking this further could lead to a fractal soundscape (summed sine waves with the reciprocal component summed back into the dominant signal using time as the fractal dimension).

[@HoboMiracleMan]

I don't think "middle" in serial mode would equate to parallel mode. With middle in serial mode half of the oscillator signal is going to filter 1 and then through filter 2, while the other half of the osc signal skips filter 1 and goes directly into filter 2.

[@percussionboy4357]

Ah! I’m finally understanding from this video what wavetables are for, musically - WHY you’d use them in a synth. Thanks!

[@danmcgirr4210]

Great lesson. Thanks.

[@SeenfromSpace]

Danny McGirr Thanks for the sub Danny.

[@sepposeppo2687]

Awesome demo! Thank You! Just the right tones to make the decision to buy or not to buy. :)

[@byrdy60]

Thanks for the helpful programming tips ☺👍

[@SoundmanCH]

Cool video, learned a lot, thanks!

[@SeenfromSpace]

Thanks Frank.

[@reneotten7376]

To me the Blofeld doesn't sound like analog modelling at all... it sounds analog. How come?

[@randommuiscchannel1049]

Thanks for the demo. Never really considered a Blofeld until now....

[@ampism]

Really helpful vid, thanks! At 3:12, you say "here's the arpeggio" - how did you trigger it? You mentioned that you've pressed "hold" so that you can have both hands free, but I'm confused about how you start the arpeggiator. Have you just pressed one key on a controller keyboard? Or something on the Blofeld? Thanks

[@hundovir]

I have the keyboard version rather than the desktop, but it should work the same. Here goes: if the arp is set to "off" then no arp of course; if set to "on" then the arp will play whatever notes you hold down for as long as you hold them down; if set to "one shot" - will play once through the notes you hold; if set to "hold" will keep playing forever! Quite a few built in patterns and you can program your own as well. It's a great feature.

[@hundovir]

You'll need a midi keyboard if you have the desktop version.

[@ampism]

@@hundovir Yes, I have a Keystep 37. Thanks for your replies!

[@dxtrs_mnpltr]

It’s such a great synth! Thanks for the video very inspiring 👏🏽

[@michaelbauers8800]

must be nice to have Clk Delay working. Mine does not work, I presume because my MIDI clock is not stable enough

[@SeenfromSpace]

Have you checked your MIDI cables? The clock from a DAW, groovebox or drum machine ought be perfectly OK.

[@byrdy60]

Brilliant video thanks for the insight. ☺

[@garyliddon]

Great vid, thanks so much. Bought a Blofeld a few weeks back and this is a brilliant and really practical way in for me :D

[@SeenfromSpace]

Very glad of that Gaz. Hope you get on OK with it.

[@dvdny]

Great vid, Rob. It really demystifies programming this underrated monster. Have you ever had a Q or XT? I was wondering how they compared, as Waldorf contends the Blofeld is a compendium of all their previous vintage synths (minus the 28 knobs of course :-). Would love to see a similar vid on how you achieved the patch that plays at 14:32.

[@SeenfromSpace]

+Dreux Donelan No I would love a Q! I do have Nave on my iPad which is excellent. I think the Blofeld has the same wavetables as the MicroQ.

[@woodswalker88]

I got a used Blofeld module recently...I don't mind the nice menu interface at all. I'm looking forward to diving into this stuff when I get the chance. Meanwhile, the presets & wavetables are cool!! ps. I could listen to that Arp of yours All Day!!!

[@SeenfromSpace]

It's got one of the best screen interfaces of any affordable synth. My only gripe is that you have to turn the value knob very different amounts depending on how many steps in the parameter. Feels a bit odd sometimes. Build quality is fantastic too. Glad you like the arps 😎

[@gvickerschtick]

Have you ever used the Blofeld in conjunction with an analogue filter? I'm curious if this combination could a sort of poor man's prophet 12?

[@SeenfromSpace]

+gvickerschtick No, not tried that. Some way to trigger envelopes on the filter would be good too.

[@blackclock7278]

Right...have sourced one! Just as a matter of trifling interest, was wondering if subsequent o/s updates gave the arp a random setting? Just in case I fancied a spot of early Duran Duran worship!

[@SeenfromSpace]

There's no random option among the usual up down settings, but you can get much more complex patterns via the different arp pages. I've not explored these fully myself yet. I only got mine a few weeks back so my OS is presumably up to date. Not at home tonite so can't check! Thanks for kind words about the video.

[@Popart-xh2fd]

5:47 Isn't the clock delay bugous in the blofeld, with clicks and pops noises when controlled from an external device?

[@SeenfromSpace]

Funny you should say that. I’ve not had that from the Blofeld because I’ve only clocked it from Logic, which must have a v steady clock. I’ve had this crackle with other synths, including on the iPad when clocked from hardware sequencers, or even from iOS apps. When a digital delay is synced but the clock speed changes even slightly, you can get that glitching. On occasions I’ve even turned off delay sync and set the delay time manually so it’s in tempo but not being forced to follow the external clock. It then won’t glitch. It’s very annoying I know!

[@crominion6045]

I wish there were a way to modulate the arpeggiator functions via the mod matrix. Imagine being able to mod the tempo, octave range, or pattern selection of the arp via an lfo or envelope.

[@SeenfromSpace]

You could do at least some of these things, or get similar effects, using your DAW or sequencer. A sequence of sustained chords would let you tailor some variations, and using the DAW as master clock could give you tempo changes. I’ve not tried program changes from a sequencer where similar sounds contain the variations you’re after. I don’t know whether it could do this without audio glitching on the program change. Might be worth a try?

[@pictobug]

For some reason I'd never given much thought to the Blofeld but after watching a few demo's (particularly this one), I have to say I'm absolutely sold. Very unique sounding little synth and your patch demo does indeed do it a great service. Well done, sir.

[@SeenfromSpace]

Thank you. All Waldorf synths have something a bit distinctive. Well worth getting Nave if you have an iPad. kzbin.info/www/bejne/j4SvmmemfraggbM

[@GennaroGiugliano]

great function on waldorf blofeld,many thanks for this tutorial,ciao

[@SeenfromSpace]

Thank you Gennaro. Ciao

[@davidbrown8600]

5 mins 44, thinks get heavenly.

[@vintagesynthlover]

is the patch avaible for downlod or what notes your using for arp?

[@SeenfromSpace]

+vintagesynthlover No I've never got this together for the Blofeld. I'd hoped the tutorial would give you an idea how to roll your own. I don't remember the notes for arp - probably just a 6th chord with a major 7th thrown in?

[@deanc2000]

When using a wavetable, most commonly people use the sweeping method to modulate the sound, and leave the filter alone? Or both?

[@SeenfromSpace]

I do both usually. Couldn't say what's usual practice.

[@fantasyproduct1042]

Very informative. Thank you.

[@mattkavanagh7058]

Nice work - I've got a blofeld coming in the mail, and this video is easily the best one ive found as far as showing how to actually use the features and interface.

[@SeenfromSpace]

Matt Kavanagh Thanks very much Matt.

[@reggietelly]

Sound at the end is delicious.

[@anthonytristan917]

Thank you for this concise but smartly done introductory look into the Waldorf Blofeld.

[@SeenfromSpace]

+Anthony Tristan Most welcome, Sir. This is my most popular tutorial, probably because more people own a Blofeld than Elektron gear. It's hugely more affordable is probably why?! It's an amazing value synth.

[@FunkTree]

Thanks amazing 💚💚💚💚💚💚💚💚🆒🆒🆒🆒🆒🆒🆒💚💚💚💚💚💚💚💚

[@SeenfromSpace]

Thank you! Glad it's useful.

[@MUNRO13]

Thanks for this. Please do a full Blofeld series :)

[@Buttyshag]

Blofeld dubstep

[@oO5Dynasty]

awesome

[@denizkustu3056]

thanks for the valuable tutorial man

[@oorcinus]

Oscillator balance set to middle doesn't quite mean ”parallel” feed to both filters either. It's actually half through both filters, and half through just the second filter (so it's actually a 2:1 mix in favour of F2). Odd terminology indeed, but only because of the chosen routing.

[@SeenfromSpace]

Thanks for explaining that. Not sure the manual did as much!

[@oorcinus]

Note that i don't own one, though, i've just been eyeing one for a while now, so have been browsing through the manual, youtube vids etc. I'm basing this purely on what i've seen so far.

[@greentoaster]

Urge to buy a Blofeld... Rising :)

[@SeenfromSpace]

greentoaster Nice and cheap:)

[@agedefiant-heteromundane-s6943]

can;t hear ya

[@gregbrosofske]

Nice tutorial. . . thx!

[@ashleyhaak3487]

thank you for this!

[@felippeboulderdash8453]

Beautiful sound!

[@christopherharriott2928]

wow! I wonder, could you have an external controller 'learn' those parameters cc, so you could tweak them in real time via that external controller?

[@SeenfromSpace]

I don't see why not. The MIDI implementation chart will have all the CC numbers.

[@thomaskolb8785]

Of course you can. I am using my NI Komplete Kontrol II mapped to the Blofeld.

[@ZenMountain]

Thank you!

[@LeonTrimble]

niiice!

[@breslin44]

I'm sure your capable of doing some pad tutorial vids too. That would be great

[@SeenfromSpace]

OK I'll give that some thought. Thanks.

[@SeenfromSpace]

Ben Breslin Have a look at millolab's videos for this: kzbin.info/www/bejne/d2SYf6x4mZZ5mas

[@scumimpaler]

Hello. Very nice and clear tutorial! Just bought Blofeld too. I had some problems I discovered on a similar path you do here. Could you perform a little test? After creating arpeggio just like you did here in the movie, try to set your own arpeggio scheme (the screen where you can set accents, longer and moved steps of arpeggio. Then try to set some steps to a "gliss" mode (still having sequence underway thanks to the "hold" function). Unfortunately on this step, when setting glisses I keep hearig terrible pops and noises. I am really curious if this is just my piece, or just a bug in the machine. Thanks in advance!

[@SeenfromSpace]

scumimpaler Hi. Just had a go at this. No pops or anything unusual. You'd think a new unit would have the latest OS, but it might be worth checking that? Does it do it on all patches that you arpeggiate? Could it be something about that particular sound?

[@scumimpaler]

Seen From Space I am not at home, but am going back to my city tomorrow to do more checks. The OS I have is 1.22, so it can be upgraded. It would be great to get rid of the problem. I got the noises using various sounds - it was enough to try glisses. But there was a factor I did not mention - the Blofeld has been working with external MIDI clock signal flowing from AKAI MPC 1000. Maybe something here goes crazy - since you say that glisses work for you. :) Thanks for info - it helps me investigate. BTW - the arppeggiator they built here is one of the best I've seen - in terms of design. If it only worked without problems - it is a powerful tool.

[@SeenfromSpace]

OK good luck with getting it sorted.

[@scumimpaler]

Seen From Space Looks like it really helped :) Been jamming after OS upgrade and could not reproduce those artifacts! :)

[@frunkfrankly]

Absolutely excellent, thank you!

[@SeenfromSpace]

Thanks very much Frank.

[@gvickerschtick]

How does the blofeld compare to the pro 2, sonically ?

[@SeenfromSpace]

+gvickerschtick Some of the more digital-sounding waveforms in the Pro 2 are quite similar to those in the Blofeld. And you can morph them around a bit, although it's not quite wavetable territory. The machines are totally different otherwise. It's great to have both. I've carefully chosen all my synths to do different jobs. The best combination I've found is the Virus C + Korg MS2000BR. They're a great double-act and just whatever sounds I make from both seem to work nicely together!

[@gvickerschtick]

Thanks!!!!!!

[@liseros9932]

Someone can tell me how can I change the banks in multi mode with program change?

[@SeenfromSpace]

If you can do this on ANY synth you're smarter than me! The manuals never tell you how it's done.

[@liseros9932]

Seen From Space It depends by the product...I'm asking about this, I really hope that is possible to do...otherwise in Live this will be quite narrow for many people...

[@SeenfromSpace]

Luca Ferrari It must be possible, but I've never had a machine with a manual that told you how to do it! Except a Roland D110 that was pretty rubbish in most other ways:( Hope you get a solution.

[@liseros9932]

Seen From Space However thank you! :)

[@SeenfromSpace]

Haven't used this forum myself, but this looks like a post related to what you're doing. No replies yet unfortunately. www.waldorf-music.info/kunena-en/blofeld-en/395-blofeld-program-change-on-multi-mode

[@desktorp]

0:01 *pubic hair*

[@SeenfromSpace]

+david esktorp Cat in fact. Since passed on to the litter tray in the sky.

[@desktorp]

Seen From Space RIP kitty :( (cool video btw) I still need to get one of these.

[@SeenfromSpace]

+david esktorp Yes do. Very good value. Not expensive at all and brilliant for certain things. Not great for others, but then we all have several machines to cover that.

[@raffitchakmakjian]

my 5 year old wanted me to click on this video and we were both immediately blown away. What a beautiful sounding synth! I've watched several Blofeld vids, and only few do it justice, this being one of em. Great job, just put it on the wish list!

[@SeenfromSpace]

Thanks for your kind comments.

[@felipejaramillo124]

Raffi Tchakmakjian Your 5 year old knows

[@subconscious.com_usa6691]

Hi bud cool video. I have got one of these synths they are really good for the money. i only paid £220 for mine brand new of amazon in a prime sale iam really happy with it. I really like the square wave and the pw i think it sound a bit analogish. The only thing that lets it down is lfo key retrigger mine doesnt retrig when i use the lfo in sync when i press a other note the lfo just continues. Am i doing something wrong does yours do the same