Manually Modulated Polyphonic Wind

Posted on April 12, 2011 by John CS Keston

I created this polyphonic wind sound on the Roland MKS-80 using the Bitstream 3X to manually modulate the filter to give it a more natural and irregular sounding whistle. I did this rather than using the LFO because although I could adjust the rate the sweep would be automated and too regular instead of being based on human judgement. I am presenting it here in mono with no processing. If I were to use this I would process it in several ways including some volume automation, panning, equalization, probably a bit of slap back delay for stereo imaging, and a fairly short linear reverb that doesn’t sound too roomy.

Robot Wolf Pack

Posted on April 11, 2011 by John CS Keston

I accidentally created this pack of cyber wolves on the Super Jupiter. I was dialing in sounds while watching the oscilloscope and getting all sorts of crunchy delights when all of a sudden I was hearing these eerie howls. Fortunately I was recording all along, so afterward I edited it down to the best bits and uploaded it for your enjoyment.

Robot Wolf Pack

Stacked Polysynths Part 4

Posted on April 10, 2011 by John CS Keston

Here’s another example that fits into the stacked polyphonic synthesis series I started on April 4, 2011 with Stacked Polysynths Part 1. This time I played a chord progression while recording rather than adjusting parameters in realtime, making it into a micro-track of sorts. The fifths sounds was on the D-50 while the filter sweeping sound is something I dialed in on the MKS-80.

Stacked Polys Part 4

MKS-80 Through the MOTU Audio Express Oscilloscope

Posted on April 9, 2011 by John CS Keston

One of the several software features available with the MOTU Audio Express is the oscilloscope. I shot this video of it visualizing a pulse wave being modulated and filtered on the MKS-80.

DGK Improv with Drums, Soprano Sax, Pro-One, Monotron, Posc, and Grain Machine

Posted on April 8, 2011 by John CS Keston

This 1:52 minute segment of improvisation from the DGK performance at Try This 2 on March 25, 2011 contains drums by Tim Glenn, Soprano Sax by Jon Davis, and jumble sale of gear played by yours truly. These instrument include, in order of appearance, the Sequential Circuits Pro-One, followed by the Korg Monotron, my handmade Sonodrome Posc, and my Max for Live, granular synth, Grain Machine. Prior to this performance I had been limiting my palette of textures to the Rhodes and the Pro-One, but for this performance I thought I would try including the Monotron, Posc, and Grain Machine in order to draw from a few more atonal colors.

DGK Try This 2 Segment