Nightmarish Synth Effect

Posted on March 30, 2011 by John Keston

One of many things that the MKS-80 is really good for is creating synthesizer effects. Through the use of the XMOD (cross modulation) parameters strange, metallic textures can be obtained similar to FM or frequency modulation. As heard in the Synthesizer Noise Jam series , I’m discovering a variety of ways to use these techniques to create unique and fascinating effects perfect for electronic music, or scifi thriller sound tracks. Here’s a short segment from one of these experiments processed through reverb and delay.

Clangorous Cross Modulated Analogue Bells

Posted on March 10, 2011 by John Keston

After working out a new MIDI control scheme for the MKS-80, I decided to take a closer look at the cross modulation section. After reading the article in Sound on Sound that I discussed in Cross Modulated Microtonal Improvisation I thought it would be a good challenge to try and create some “clangorous bells”. It took me a little bit of trial and error, but I programmed a couple of bell-like patches that are pretty damn clangorous. Here’s the more clangorous of the two. They sound very analogue, weird, and more bell-like in the upper versus lower register, almost like something off a Tomita record. I added a bit of stereo imaging and reverb to liven them up a bit.

Cross Modulated Clangorous Bells

Cross Modulated Microtonal Improvisation

Posted on March 9, 2011 by John Keston

I created this plucky microtonal patch by using the cross modulation on the Roland MKS-80 to effectively put the instrument into an instable, out-of-tune state. I mentioned in my previous entry that cross modulation is a form of frequency modulation or FM synthesis made famous by the Yamaha DX-7. My curiosity about this technique led me to an article in Sound on Sound from 1994 titled Exploring Analogue (Part 2) by Steve Howell. In the article Howell states,

“…take the output of one oscillator (Osc A) and feed it into the control input of another (Osc B). As the modulation level at Osc B’s input is increased, so its tonal quality becomes progressively nastier. In fact, in the absence of a ring modulator, cross-modulation can be used very effectively to create clangorous bell sounds and the like. But be warned! Because the tuning stability on old analogue synths leaves much to be desired, the oscillators don’t track too well, and a sound that is perfectly tuned on C3 may well have disintegrated by the time you get up to F3.”

On the Roland MKS-80 the tuning stability is pretty good, but it does use VCOs (voltage controlled oscillators), so they won’t track as well as DCOs (digitally controlled oscillators). This imperfection is part of what many of us find attractive about analogue synthesis, and what made it possible for me to produce this bizarre, out of key, yet delightful sound.

Cross Modulated Microtonal Improvisation

It Spoke to Me in a Strange and Rhythmic Language

Posted on March 8, 2011 by John Keston

This dissonant microtrack was created on the Roland MKS-80 with MIDI mapping on a Korg nanoKONTROL for real time manipulation of the settings. I setup three scenes on the nano to control virtually every parameter, although I was only adjusting a few of them for this recording. What makes this patch so interesting to me are the opposing oscillator frequencies. I managed this by routing the LFO to the VCO and by using cross modulation, which are settings on the MKS-80 that I’m just starting to get familiar with. Everything else on this machine fits snuggly into the subtractive synthesis model, but the cross modulation uses the second oscillator to modulate the pitch of the first. This can be used to produce FM or frequency modulated sounds including bell like tones similar to what the famous Yamaha DX-7 was doing around the same time.

It Spoke to Me in a Strange and Rhythmic Language

Sequence Made with Curve Shared Preset Synthesizer

Posted on January 17, 2011 by John Keston

Cableguys.de have recently released an excellent community-driven software synthesizer called Curve (downloadable demo available). The synth has three, aliasing-free oscillators, three five stage envelopes, two filters each with ten modes, and four LFOs that are either, beat, note, or frequency synced. One of the coolest things you can do is draw your waveforms in the editor. You can even randomize them for some interesting results. Here’s a sequence that I created and recorded without any processing using Curve. This is one of my first attempts at creating a patch in Curve and I shared it to the preset community (available within Curve’s interface) as Bouncy Arpeggiator by AudioCookbook. Stay tuned for a lot more from this powerful and great sounding software synth.

Cables Guys Curve Sequence

One Synthesizer Sound Every Day Debut

Posted on January 5, 2011 by John Keston

It’s been more than fifteen months since I finished posting a self produced sound everyday for three hundred and sixty five consecutive days. This all happened in the One Sound Every Day category. As a result I produced my solo debut under my Ostraka moniker titled, Precambrian Resonance.

In the spirit of One Sound Every Day, I am starting a new project called One Synthesizer Sound Every Day. My plan is to use hardware synthesizers from my collection (and eventually soft-synths) to produce a sound, musical phrase, or microtrack to share here on ACB every day for a year. As well as my own sounds, I’ll be accepting select sounds from other artists and ACB readers to share on the site in the daily article.

My long term goal is produce a synthesizer album where I focus on inventing new sounds and allowing these textures to inspire the compositions. I’ve already got a good start on this by writing nine or so tracks in the few days since I conceived of the project (some of these tracks can be heard in the mix I shared here). I’m looking forward to sharing more of these sonic textures here as I discover them.

Let me start with a sub bass patch I made for my newly acquired Casio CZ-1000. I used to own a Casio CZ-101, which is virtually the same synth except that the CZ-1000 has a full sized keyboard compared to the mini-keys on the CZ-101. Years ago I misplaced my affectionately renamed Sleazy-101, probably in a move. Pining for the sound of this under-rated little instrument, I picked up a mint condition CZ-1000 on eBay recently for a steal. Here’s a bass line using my new patch.

Casio CZ-1000 Sub Bass

Frequency Modulated Drone Generator

Posted on May 9, 2010 by John Keston

I’m currently working on a sound design project for a client who is looking for a way to generate specific sorts of sounds using easy to understand controls. I started by creating a frequency modulated drone generator. The tool has a mixer with six preset pitches plus noise. I also included amplitude modulation, with sliders to control the amount, LFO, and a frequency multiplier to allow for FM synthesis effects. Here’s an audio example that illustrates the range of sounds possible with this set of fairly simple and intuitive controls.