DIY Volta - Max/MSP + Audio interface CV output

The main reason I put together the little portable modular rig in the post below was to have something that would be easier to travel with than my tb-3031 rack but still get the live tweak-ability and sound of the 303. One of the biggest sonic features of the 303 is the envelope control over the filter and the accent circuits which are responsible for the punchy, funky acid basslines. I was using Massive through Ableton Live for my basic oscillators and then running the sound out to the waveform processor and wasp filter, with the LFO doing some modulation. I got close, but not quite what I wanted. In order to get the filter accent and envelope working I created this max patch that takes midi in and splits the notes depending on their velocity, to trigger a line~ object connected to my soundcard's output. I'm not sure if this will work with all soundcards, but I'm actually using the built in output of my MacBook Pro and it generates a nice little ramp voltage that I can connect to CV1 or 2 of the filter. End result - not a perfect 303 by any means, but punchy, funky acid basslines for sure. The large rotary control changes the length of the envelopes and the slider at the bottom controls the total amount of output.

mini modular rig

mini modular rig, originally uploaded by recompas.

getting ready for ATL/London/Utrecht/Amsterdam tour, bringing some Doepfer modules for live knob turning.

Steiner VCO + Buchla 292c LPG Clone

Steiner VC Oscillator with square wave PWM from Doepfer Variable Waveform LFO and Saw waves going into a Buchla 292c Lopass Gate Clone. LPG modulated by Serge VCS. Drums from Jomox XBase 09.

All working and sounding totally awesome!

Steiner + 292c by recompas

Watermill Center

Large Gallery, Watermill Center from Travis Thatcher on Vimeo.

Last week I spent some time working on music for a few performance pieces at the Watermill Center in the Hamptons. An amazing place, filled with an incredible art collection. Hopefully I'll have some videos of the performances soon.

Native Tekno dream machine guts

Steiner VCO 99% working

So I finally finished building David and Nyle's updated Steiner VCO. Initially I used some 25k trimmers where there were meant to be 5k ones. I figured since they were basically just voltage dividers that it wouldn't cause any trouble, but I was wrong. Once I replaced those I was able to get all the different wave-forms working. My only issue now is scaling the thing to v/oct, but it sounds fantastic! The sync and pwm modulation inputs are super useful. I'll post some video of it being controlled by a VoS sequencer soon.

Sawtooth:


Square:


Tri:


Sine:

components in Manhattan

Today I needed to grab some standoffs for my Steiner VCO project and in looking around online I finally found an awesome place in Chinatown. Check out this review on NYC Resistor's blog of 269 Electronics on Canal St. At first glance its another crappy storefront with knockoff sunglasses and headphones, but in back is a great little shop with the owner apparently being well known for fixing all sorts of electronics!

DigATL Circus - 10.28.10

Next Thursday at the Star Bar in L5P Atlanta, there's a killer show being put on by 4thWardHeroes. I'll be DJing and there will be some rad free masks that I designed based on the Voice of Saturn schematics, printed thanks to Mindzai.

Tragical Misery Non-Tour (USA 2010)

A few months back - or maybe longer - Blake Helton and I and some of our other musical compadres said goodbye to his gorgeous Mellotron M400 with some fantastic improv sessions. Read the great post and download the tunes on HLFP, my favorite space music blog!

recompas and Voice of Saturn tracks on HLFP sampler!

Check out the new Homemade Lofi Psych sampler that just came out HERE! There's a recompas/visitor track on it, as well as a Voice of Saturn (I believe what I'm calling my solo work for now) track. Its full of great music. HLFP is a really fantastic blog based out of Berlin with a wealth of killer music.

Music in NY

This last week was insanely busy. Here's the mix I did for Friday's Lorick New York fashion show at Tela Design Studio. It was a lot of fun coming up with something that would compliment the collection.

DJ Mix for Lorick New York show - 09.10.10 by recompas

I'll have an excerpt from Wednesday's Siki Im fashion presentation where I did a live minimal electronic soundtrack to a choreographed fashion show.

Next up: playing with Zoroaster on Wed the 15th at Webster Hall and Sunday the 19th at the Knitting Factory!

The Voice of Saturn in NYC!

I've been in Brooklyn for nearly a month now and it looks like I'll finally be able to set up shop soon. Lots of interesting things happening in the next month. Look for the Voice of Saturn VCF in Eurorack format at Analogue Haven very soon! Also, I'll be doing some live performances for fashion week for Siki Im and Lorick New York. Analog modular synths and fashion - who'd have thought!

That's all for now. More noise soon!

T

LIL CHUD

Finally got this built for mr. Visitor before I leave Atlanta for NYC. He made a video, I'll get some photos up soon. Its a really fun little modular consisting of an MFOS VCO, a Thomas White Buchla LoPass Gate clone, 2x Voice of Saturn Modulators (LFO sections) and a Voice of Saturn VCF. Lots of noise in a nice little compact unit.

lil chud cvm modular from blake helton on Vimeo.

Voice of Saturn synth in good company!

Check out this post on Matrixsynth about the Sydney Fringe Festival.

We've been busy

Finally, the new Voice of Saturn VCF is nearly ready. We'll be selling it through Analogue Haven soon. I'm really happy with the way this one came out, visually. I'll be doing a panel for the synth soon!








We still have a very limited amount of the Blacet/Frac versions, so get them while you can here, at the Curious Inventor store.

In other news, at the end of this month I'll be moving up to NYC for a while. Looking forward to setting up shop in Brooklyn/Williamsburg and making a lot more music!

-Travis

BentFest Performances

I've got tons of photos and videos to dig through when I get home from NYC (tomorrow) but for now, here's my Bent Fest performance from Saturday, and the set I did at Silent Barn in Williamsburg on Sunday. Its been a great weekend, and musically, this was a pretty fun experiment.

Bent performance Dumbo, NYC 2010 by recompas

Silent barn performance by recompas

NYC Bound - Bent Fest here I come!

Leaving tomorrow afternoon for some dj gigs and BentFest 2010. I've just packed the most ridiculous amount of electronics into 2 suitcases that I will end up paying a fortune to take on the plane.

Anyway, Come check out the Voice of Saturn stuff at BentFest this weekend. I'll have sever VoS synth, sequencer and filter kits along with me, as well as a fully built sequencer for sale. I'm also bringing along a few of my telephone microphones to sell. I've only got a few parts left, so I probably won't make many more of these.

If anyone reads this blog - hope to see you in New York!

recompas performance, with 5 Drummers!

Saturday we had a really interested Recompas show at the Star Bar along with Noot D'Noot and the 4th Ward Afro-Klezmer Orchestra. My "score" can be seen to the left. I was basically going for a great big kraut-rock/drone explosion, and I think we executed it rather well. We managed to have 5 Drummers playing at once, with help from members of Noot D'Noot, A Fight to the Death and more! Below are some videos.

recompas live part 1 4/17/10 from Travis Thatcher on Vimeo.

recompas live part 2 4/17/10 from Travis Thatcher on Vimeo.

Help Bent be Awesome!

So Wednesday I'll be flying up to NYC to participate in BentFest 2010. Really looking forward to hanging out with some fantastic designers and musicians (see previous post for more info). I wanted to post up the kickstarter widget for Bent. They still need to raise some money to help make sure the fest really kicks off. Donations are really appreciated, and there are different levels. One of the prizes is a Voice of Saturn synth.

The Voice of Saturn at BentFest2010

Check out the post on CuriousInventor.com. Can't wait to get up to NYC next week and kick glitched out stylee!