Why Sample and Hold Modules Are Ace

[@DivKid]

It turns into an audio down sampler, not a bit crusher. Bit crusher works in the amplitude domain number of available vertical bits (looking at a waveform on the screen). Downsampling is like the sample rate of a DAW or CD it's time based and that's what happens here. Over time you're telling it to pull samples (CD was 44.1kHz etc) and running at lower audio rates we hear the tone and affect of the lower sample rate ... you asked so I rambled.

[@movax20h]

It is not exactly down sampler. For the downsampling to work without aliasing, you need to have low pass filters on input and output, and they need have cutoff below the Nyquist limit. Otherwise, you get various aliasing artifices, which can be interesting sonically of course on its own. Actually if you put reasonably high sampling frequency, and appropriate low pass filters, you will reconstruct original input signal ;D

[@song-mode]

@@movax20h sample rate reducer might be better way to say, as it says what its doing right in the name, changing the rate at which we are sampling the source, via the trig on of the s&h module

[@jazzjeffjazzjeff]

Whatever we call it! This video finally helped me understand it! Thanks Mylar!

[@thomastoews7850]

That legowelt bit near the end was killer.

[@PrinceCobra1]

I was just gunna comment on the legowelt vocals... lol

[@tristanjaxen3398]

InstaBlaster.

[@memorycurse1342]

its like having headspace but also educates me at the same time. ur calming and genuine excitement is so peaceful and inspiring

[@mylarmelodies]

🙌

[@MikeHancho663]

So glad you’re using techno style repetition in your demos! So many people just do ambient when demo’ing and it’s 1: hard to find the structure and 2: not what I’m interested in Big ups

[@FracmentalMusic]

agreed

[@YourFreeBeats]

I completely agree....the reason kids are not going modular is because 99.9% of the "jams" you hear are either 'plinky-plonk-plunky-plink' or dark ambient drone...because they place constraints on themselves. I am no musician but never thought purposely restraining yourself was an art-form. Me, I don't use a DAW, but I am also not completely modular either. I'm semi/modular+, meaning everything play is live, but the majority of sounds are presets I've created (or borrowed) that I'll assign to a workstation such as my Roland JD-Xi or Yamaha MODX...but I never know how all the sounds will perform together until I play (and that is what you get). Nonetheless, if you check it out I play Trap, Techno, Trance, Dub, House, Hip-Hop, DubStep, DnB, Electro, Funk, and any mixing I do is on my phone (iMovie). Ha ha So I might use my DeepMind12 for bass, my JD-XA for lead, DFAM for drums, etc. Send it all to my workstation, assign it to a section/key and get busy. Long-winded way of saying you can still go DAW-less, organically create your music, and get your sh*t to knock.

[@Putrescence420]

Drone is for sound junkies literally and its also a form of art, you hear Drone in triple a movies, so you can see and hear that its also a good way to start making ambience for movies or games, in combp with some form of haromny it reaches perfection and takes its life form

[@Moishe230]

In fucking awe at the amount of information and overall musical quality in this video. Someone who doesn't understand synthesis or what modular systems are can still enjoy this video.

[@lucagunther5405]

I’m looking forward to your gardening videos too. Man, those hedges are tight!!

[@hlprmnky]

My poor poor Disting Mk4 - “Awe mister, I don’t *wanna* be just a sample and hold module anymore!” “Quiet you, sometimes I use you as a *track* and hold as well!”

[@jean-pierrejoubert6140]

“You’ll track and hold, mister, and you’ll *like* it!”

[@MmostlyRandom]

buy another to keep it company (I'm considering a 3rd) such a useful little module

[@couchcamperTM]

@@MmostlyRandom yes, distings are herd animals, hate to be alone.

[@JO-nt6tk]

I just wanna say mr mylar that your channel is my favourite eurorack centred youtube right now, you've inspired a bunch of new ideas for my music and helped me try and get my head around some really cool eurorack modules as I'm finally getting into it after many years of interest. My wallet isn't going to be happy but my soul will be. thanks for making videos and your podcasts are great too.

[@adroc9841]

I could listen to you talk about modular and jam all day.

[@bradburnwilliams-synthstronaut]

Recently listened to the whole run of 'Why We Bleep' , and then realized I've been watching your videos for quite a while now... you have inspired many of my Eurorack choices over the past couple of years. :) .. Thank you and keep on Wigglin' ;)

[@carloschafin9144]

Wow, thanks for the new perspective on S&H. I don't know why I haven't thought of using a module like this for grabbing and sustaining textures with pitch-cv derived from a common source. Excellent.

[@humanbeing_]

Noice! That changeover at 21:32 and then adding the bass at 21:43... Man. Such a lovely jam. Then the last section of the video after that was so great. I'm a Drum & Bass producer at heart, and have been producing for 17+ years, but just got into analog Synths in 2019. Bought myself the Behringer Model D & Arturia Keystep for Christmas. Loving Modular as well. Experimenting with VCV Rack. But I love all music (except country and death metal) and you've made some fantastic vibes in this video!!! Great patching ideas. Already subbed to your channel with all notifications, but I'll be watching many more videos after this one. Well done! Cheers, -H.B.

[@TheSilentCartgraph3r]

The jam starting at 21:45 is super good. I love how psychedelic it gets!

[@MrIkesimba]

Rosetta Stoned It reminds me of Escape From NY

[@mod.3x]

caught me off guard haha. from one moment to another I feel a swirling sensation in my head und start bobbing around haha. mylar is the king of jamming

[@AdamTheAd-vanc3d]

That bass patch @13:50 had that punchy Dx100 phatness to it. Really digged this video very intreatingly narrated and the sounds... .phwaoooor, love that oldskool detroit esque vibe !!!!!

[@BosseCory]

Yeah, understanding sample and hold goes hand in hand with understand Analog to Digital Conversion. Because a computer has finite memory, it must encode waveforms into a series of finite steps to store, and it uses sample and hold to do it. The trigger clock denotes your sample rate, be it 44.1 kHz or up to 192 kHz. Its frequency resolution. Your S&H is running below 44.1 kHz and so you get sample crushing effects.

[@gamertag301208]

Cory Bosse excellent comment! This makes so much sense to me now

[@BosseCory]

@@gamertag301208 So glad to hear! This all ties in to understanding the Nyquist frequency, aliasing, oversampling, and a host of other handy things to know.

[@VCVRackIdeas]

thanks for the audiorate modulation tip, it sounds amazing!

His cable management quite accurately reflects the efficacy of my life plans.

[@danielsolomon63]

man that end jam is ace! those chords are soooo mad! now i want a S&H

[@mellowgeekstudio]

06:45 At this point the output of the sample&hold changed from the FM input of the Dixie to the volts/octave input. This little detailed confused me for quite some time while I was trying to understand the signal flow of both patches so, if anyone has the same problem, I hope this helps.

[@nealohara782]

just ordered some s&h modules based on this vid. live rig is looking good. happy new year m8! ;)

[@dalekjoe]

That jam from 18mins onward had me throwing all the best shapes in front of my computer. So good!

[@Neurotypique]

I think this is more of a sample rate reduction effect than a bit crusher, it's basically because you're reducing the sample rate, it's like you have your analog vector curve and the sample rate is the resolution of the pixelated image you get out of it. By lowering the sample rate of the sample & hold, your sound is getting more and more "pixelated". If someone could explain how a bit crusher works and what's the difference, that would be very interesting!

[@dysbomb]

a bit crusher reduces the resolution of the amplitude of the wave. Like 8bit audio only has 256 values to play with. The change happens at any time when the audio passes the threshold between values. This is the difference S&H reduces at different time intervals and a Bit Crusher reduces at different voltage levels. So if you are looking at a waveform one reduces on the X Axis and the other on the Y. Now i'm gonna go bitcrush some S&H for full XY control

[@Neurotypique]

@@dysbomb oooh right! That is very clear! It's width of the step and height of the step! Thank you for the explaination, i'll know what I'm doing with my ssr and bitcrusher ont the field kit FX!

[@aeu05172]

So theoretically an analogue bitcrusher would just be an audio rate quantizer with evenly spaced steps?

[@dysbomb]

@@aeu05172 yeah in it's most basic form. They're also loads of weird and wonderful ways of distributing the values that coders have come up with over the years.

[@Neurotypique]

​@@aeu05172 if we're talking about applying it to a pure waveform it will introduce amplitude steps, your sine wave is going to look like little steps going up and down. The more you bit crush, the less steps there are vertically ( a midi signal has values going from 0 to 127 for exemple ). The sample rate will affect the width of your steps horizontally, it's the time your value is held. If you're not modulating it, your steps will be even.

[@bluluva]

22 minutes in just took it to another level.

[@sebastianrichter9008]

Just...yeah ;)

[@charlieminers2892]

Seriously cool grooves in this video! Loving the new setup :D

[@MSPatterson]

'Red Stripe Down' sounds like a fine track name, I reckon.

[@MChristian]

I'm from the future here to tell you that I agree.

[@homeslice1479]

5:05 You make a good noise source lol. Also somebody needs a Disting! Makes you say "I don't have _______" a lot less. Great video!

[@walrtbstudios5430]

Thanks for this. I’ve got a S&H section on my PM Lifeforms and never used it- but now I will, especially as it lies right to a white noise generator!

[@thewho60]

Great video! I’m personally more interested in types of functions and why the work instead of module specific videos, and this was right up my alley.

[@ricksnowden2150]

Logical, practical, musical. Great tutorial and creation. I feel so late to the party considering how old this video is 😅

[@PeterBogolub]

Thank you for such a clear description of S&H module. Now it appears as though I need one :)

[@blitbleep]

11:30 it's reducing the samplerate of the incoming signal (determined by the clock).

[@XiXora]

As you twiddle your pan pot I remember that I wish there was a pan CV jack on the Hexmix. There is no *perfect* Eurorack mixer (for me)! Awesome video for Boxing Day!

[@youdonotknowmyname9663]

Just design and build one that is perfect for YOU.

[@tychoclavius4818]

And you do that with two VCAs! Take whatever cv you put into the left vca, copy it, invert it, and put it in the right one, and you made a voltage controlled panner!

[@vibratemutate]

haha that hypnotic "red stripe down .... red stripe down!" at 18:10 is so fitting to the music it could be packaged and sold as our new anthem as it is xD

[@jamesmorrall]

wow, great opening performance, thats an amazing sound from that rig!

[@timnordberg7204]

A variation on this patch I love involves chaining multiple S&Hs into a shift register before one of the voices. Using the master sequencer's output and clock as the sample input and trigger source, you get a canonic variation of the master sequence (shifted some steps behind, similar to a round) on the output of the shift register. Adding one more S&H in that chain, clocked instead by an individual gate sequence for the "canon" voice, results in new patterns that are based off the same data set as the master sequence, but keeps the voices from following exactly the same patterns.

[@timnordberg7204]

YMMV getting the S&Hs to chain properly: successful implementation may depend on the charge and dispersion times of the capacitors in your analog S&Hs and some under-the-hood sampling times in your digital S&Hs. A quantizer on the back end may help combat droop from analog components. If it doesn't work quite right, there's always O_C.

[@tychoclavius4818]

Im gonna try this with my quad quantizer! A quantizer with a trigger input is basically a sample and hold all by itself, except the output is always quantized. Also they're digital so they can't handle triggers at audio rates (I tried).

[@THEREALDATALORD]

11:03 When you use a square wave as a modulation source it can do FM or RM which is where that bitcrusher effect is coming from. Look at it on an oscilloscope.

[@jekanyika]

17:55 I'm relatively new to Eurorack and with all the modules I've bought it has been impossible to put the red stripe the wrong way round. Is that a recent thing?

[@mylarmelodies]

Moreso yes - manufacturers are starting to make this problem go away through design, but not all modules have boxed headers.

[@eli-nm1ng]

At 11:30 ish he gets the 'ai ai" sound by adding a resonant filter, where does that get added to?

[@subatomicuk]

Thank you for the most used friendly hands on demo of S&H, very cool music too which is always inspiring :) I was about to dump my A 148 for space but not anymore

[@mylarmelodies]

Thanks m8, yeah defo don't! Here's another one on S&H's I just did actually, you can use this trick too: kzbin.info/www/bejne/d6G7kmZmd8hpeNk

[@easementh]

On O_c hemisphere the dual quantizer doesn’t need a trigger source and will sample values based on the changes from the input. It’s a similar effect and is even more interesting when selecting different scales that restrict the number of available values

[@maxwencelides3541]

Where is the bassline Coming from? At 14:30?

[@devmiles]

Hahaha Danny would be proud sir! Synthesizer all the way. This would perfectly fit at an obscure The Hague underground squat party. Make sure to send him the demo. Brings instant smile and joy. happy holidays and synthesize :)

[@multiKslice]

Wheres that nice "synthesizer" sample coming from? Did you sample that on the go or is it prerecoreded? I know very little about sampling on modular

[@doyoubinoame8483]

Wow. What do use for those pads on 21:45? Filter sounds amazing.

[@mylarmelodies]

Plaits plus Jove filter

[@doyoubinoame8483]

@@mylarmelodies thanks

[@rednax3333]

Just seeing this one- ace job, mate! 😎👍 Love me some sample & hold! 👌

[@charlieminers2892]

Also the Legowelt jam? Please. Release. This. As. A. Full. Track.

[@markfrygell7852]

0:38! Wow, How Did you achieve this ”style”. Do you have longer vid of this jam somewhere?

[@BristlyBright]

It's just amazing what can be done with a modular system! 😍

[@softservomusic]

I was wishing the other day "If only I had a module that could take a voltage and just hold it until I fed it another one... I bet one already exists." And of course it was a simple thing. It's amazing how far you can get with simple building blocks, once you take some time and learn a bit. Thanks for the video.

[@MrMarcLaflamme]

I know this is an old video but what is the reverb module being used during the first S&H example at 5:16?

[@mylarmelodies]

Make Noise Erbe Verb!

[@MrMarcLaflamme]

mylarmelodies oh my it was incredible!

[@JaseLovesDub]

Super useful video, especially using slower clocks to get longer pads / notes from sequencers. Cheers!

[@lassejensen1210]

Love, love, love this channel! Always something new to learn.

[@johnshima01]

Really good video this one. I always my S&H for the usual stepped random volts, so this has inspired me, thanks

[@aaronbridgeman5634]

Super handy vid, watched a few times now as I'm considering buying a Beast's Chalkboard and the dual s&h to maximise my sequencer usage across my choices. Top stuff 👍

[@mylarmelodies]

Thanks! One thing to be aware of is you can get a bit of voltage drop with analogue sample and hold modules - Divkids one is totally solid though, so usable for pitch!

[@aaronbridgeman5634]

@@mylarmelodies awesome, thanks for the heads up - saved me some potential drama there!

[@cbrooks8806]

What's producing that funky bass line at 1:21?

[@tysonwood9488]

What are you using to lengthen the gate time?

[@churchofaggressiveaudio6498]

Nice! Really enjoyed it. 👍

[@electriceric8726]

What is the module you’re using for the bass voice?

[@EternalTurtleStudios]

Giving me some anxiety with those lens uncovered but besides that, as always, great video!

[@Natemasterflex]

Just what I was craving! Thanks for the video duder!

[@paranormind-music]

This video is madness, excellent explanations AND performances. Well done!

[@AlexKopeikin]

You are a constant source of inspiration, sir!

[@zhennTil]

Hang on! Did I feel my Rob Hubbard pun-sense tingle right there at 3:03? Niiiice!

[@alb2935]

What produced those chords that came in at 12:14 ? Thanks

[@homo192]

That’s Plaits by Mutable Instruments, I guess.

[@switchyard2456]

Love these tricks to use in patches. Very nice, thx!

[@karlfrancke8980]

time to dig in my Doepfer A-100 tool shed from the 90's thanks ! great jams too :)

[@whitenoisefromelectronicto1728]

How did you create the pads with S&H?

[@Robota73]

As always, really fun, good explanations and good sound!

[@frankjamesbonarrigo7162]

is there any way you could take the amplitude of the wave form at specific times and use those as clicks for triggering things?

[@mylarmelodies]

Yup with a Doepfer A119 or similar

[@chitlun]

I’ve had a few “Red Stripe down” moments myself but in an entirely different manner to the power cable issue!

[@sergebontemps2063]

Love the Legowelt reference at the end ;-)

[@Rolf102]

What module is creating the Kick at 14:11 ? i like it!

[@mylarmelodies]

That’s a sample in the Tip-top One!

[@Rolf102]

@@mylarmelodies then I'll get me "one"

[@0228christian]

Could anyone tell me what module is being used for the bass line for the second half of the video? It’s the perfect bass tone that I’ve been seeking.

[@mylarmelodies]

Intellijel Dixie and Tiptop Audio Z2040!

[@0228christian]

@@mylarmelodies thank you so much! I love that you often use very affordable modules in your videos to such great effect. Usually when I hear a tone I love and ask someone what it is it’s some crazy expensive but incredible piece of gear. It’s really refreshing to get a response that is two modules I could totally snag! Thanks again.

[@AdamTheAd-vanc3d]

Wow loveeddd those tones you had going on in the beggining ☺☺☺

[@subfusc2848]

So will the audio rate/ sample reduction thing work with the Disting Mk4, not behaving as I would expect? or is this only with an analogue S&H circuit?

[@mylarmelodies]

It might only be possible in an analogue one as it’s an audio rate effect, yeah

[@gaziola]

Alex. You say your A148 was faulty. What was the fault? I’m on my 2nd one after returning the first after the 2nd output started giving a dirty signal. Now the second module is doing same......aaaargh the pain!!

[@markmccarthy3304]

Thank you, I learnt so much. Again.

[@mrparksy]

Great, thanks. Really good content!

[@urbannpa]

That birds nest of cable's was a great deterrent for no buying Modular. My OCD would go into overdrive!

[@Vadlife]

Mate! Very good tutorial!

[@noor-rx1ij]

Great video! How did you make the kick drums?

[@hefeng5338]

WOW！really like the vocal at the end, but how you do that, first, it's "synthesis" looping with delay but when the kick if off it, it becomes "synthesis radiation........". it's not looping it keeps going. so I want to know how you change the loop mod with what modual.

[@lemonaut1]

what a nifty trick, thanks for sharing! comments go hard.

[@robcosh9754]

Thanks for this - fantastic as usual :)

[@n1d3q]

So what does the label say on your MCO?

[@AnalogDude_]

You need one more module, the Befaco Inamp, to import audio from a external source and gating it via a VCA and what not. that's also pretty fun. manipulating external audio.

[@gullyman777]

Another great video! What module was used to record and process the vocal live? That was cool

[@philipborlin]

Wow I love the last jam. It sounds so berlin minimal electro a 'la Sascha Funke.

[@kaerkiu9815]

I have a small problem with my s&h module holding improper pitch. Whenever I do the same thing as it is being shown here from around 15th minute, the pitch information that I get back after sampling it is different. I am using the same triggers for s&h and my plaits. My s&h module is intellijel 1u Noise Tools. Maybe someone knows why it is happening?

[@mylarmelodies]

So something I didn’t mention here (and which didn’t crop up in shooting the video but IS massively an issue on some modules) is the fact that some analogue S&H modules may slowly reduce the voltage they’re “holding” over time unless they’re specifically built not to do so - and they’ll probably say on their site if they have been designed to stay precisely level. The Doepfer I tried here was fine but I borrowed it from a kind soul, and others with the same module have had issues - eg. it may vary from unit to unit. The Divkid sample and hold module is specifically designed to stay at held pitch, and the Expert Sleepers Disting is a perfect S&H if you have one!

[@kaerkiu9815]

@@mylarmelodies thanks for quick clarification :)

[@illaarocc9469]

Thanks for the detailed tutorial, I got some new ideas to experiment with.... Would you mind using different coloured cables when patching so the connections are more clear? I sometimes got lost in the cable jungle ;)

[@DJChuko1100]

Watched the whole thing i have a roland 555 that works wonders love my sample and hold

[@sjkentucky]

Been thinking about doing this with my Octratrack and a Midi to CV converter. Sending different gates and pitch into a S&H module. Combine that with probability etc, could get wild.

[@sebastianrichter9008]

I literally was applauding at the end :D

[@mylarmelodies]

😘

[@TravellingSynths]

Thanks for sharing all this knowledge!

[@robinsloan]

Whoaaa, this reference near the beginning: "…that we would know from the Thick-Stark texture synths of the yester-'90s" was to me as gloriously opaque and tantalizing as Rutger Hauer's Tannhauser Gate speech. I kinda want to know what you are talking about… but… I also kinda don't… okay no, yes, I do

[@mylarmelodies]

Hah, “fixed-architecture synths!”

[@robinsloan]

@@mylarmelodies Oh no… what am I going to do with this 1993 Thick-Stark Texturmaschine I just ordered from eBay?? 😜

[@franciscofresen1915]

HI, man great explanation for the use of S&H modules...every time i watch your videos i get to some new patching ideas....Btw where are the drums and the bass coming from...cheers!

[@TheSwircle987]

Absolutely lovely. Thanks so much!

[@aeropilot4419]

Blowing my mind ... (again) ... sterling work 🙂✨👍🏻

[@kirkegodfrey414]

Once again nice work. Thanks. Btw. What’s the verb/delay thing your using on this stuff? Is it 1 module or a pair of toys?

[@MathHammer]

Red stripe down except for Cwejman 😎 Your random skin voltage had some periodicity to it. I wonder if you were picking up fluctuations in skin conductance with blood flow.