TB303 or other analogue type modulations

cosmigonical · Post by **cosmigonical** » Sun Dec 04, 2005 9:38 am

On an RME is it possible to do acid like modulations via midi similar to those heard on a TB303? On lots of older records I have heard there seems to be more than one parameter changing from note to note to get those granular bubbling sweeps or filter sweeps, how many hands did these synth wizards have anyway ?

GregAE · Post by **GregAE** » Sun Dec 04, 2005 3:26 pm

Pot Mapping to the rescue. Through Pot Mapping you can set up multiple routings so that turning one knob will affect several parameters. It's a powerful feature of the Voyager and can yield great results. Take the time to explore it and you will be rewarded.

Greg

OysterRock · Post by **OysterRock** » Sun Dec 04, 2005 3:37 pm

A lot of the TB-303's "sound" came from its sequencer. There is a distinctive glide effect that isn't on most synths. I believe Future Retro makes a 303 style sequencer, though.

cosmigonical · Post by **cosmigonical** » Mon Dec 05, 2005 10:51 am

I did not see glide as a modulation destination. The TB303 had some kind of switchable glide in the sequencer right, something like in the soft synth VAZ? There is more than one way...

Lengai · Post by **Lengai** » Mon Dec 05, 2005 2:48 pm

If you look at LWG's monthly patch threads, you'll find his "patch sheet" for a TB303

GregAE · Post by **GregAE** » Mon Dec 05, 2005 3:45 pm

Lengai wrote:If you look at LWG's monthly patch threads, you'll find his "patch sheet" for a TB303

You can download all of LWG's patches (including the TB303) on SquareWave. Go to the LWG folder in the Voyager Patches file. The TB303 patch is part of the combined ZIP file for June, July and August.

Greg

baward · Post by **baward** » Fri Dec 30, 2005 3:57 pm

Greg, where is the best place to learn more about pot mapping? I looked on Squarewave but was unable find anything for pot mapping that you have for say Modulation Busses.

Thanks,
Ben

cosmigonical · Post by **cosmigonical** » Fri Dec 30, 2005 4:10 pm

I think I can answer your question.
Pot mapping is quite easy in theory. You have upto 4 mapping slots in each slot you set 4 parameters: a source, a destination, a direction and an amount (think of it like a plumbing job with 4 pipes the amount parameter is like the thickness of each pipe). It sounds simple but in practice there are just so many possiblities that it is more like a rubics cube puzzle with no defined end, it is up to you when you think it is finished, you might save your patch and come back later to edit it...

Have you read the get on the buss article and there is another one about creating a patch.

I have another question...
do you need the editor software to use those patch files?

nicholas d. kent · Post by **nicholas d. kent** » Tue Jan 03, 2006 7:28 am

GregAE wrote:Pot Mapping to the rescue. Through Pot Mapping you can set up multiple routings so that turning one knob will affect several parameters. It's a powerful feature of the Voyager and can yield great results. Take the time to explore it and you will be rewarded.

Greg

Not so sure how one would be rescued by pot mapping though there's no question it opens up many sonic possibilities.

My understanding is that the 303 glide is odd and essentially not a "realtime" effect because it happens before the beat then finishing right on the beat. it doesn't start on the beat and finish x amount of time later like standard portamento would. It can do that because it's part of a pre-programmed sequence. A couple hard and soft sequencers have this feature as standard. I'd guess you could fake it if you understand the differences between it and say Moog's portamento (the 303 will glide in x amount of time no matter what note, right? and I guess a Voyager has a constant rate)

The 303 filter and it's resonance is pretty unique and has come to define the Acid sound. I'd say most of what you are hearing is the behavior of this specific filter being modulated by the envalope (with a manual control for amount of envalope modulation and resonance amount) while it tracks the note played.

"Granular" I guess is just a descriptive term that came to the mind of the poster. I guess it caught my attention. I'd say the 303 filter behaves distinctively, so something that isn't copying it would have a hard time nailing it. FWIW, "granular" in electronic music is generally a digital synthesis term for a lot of tiny fragments of sound with an attack and release on each fragment. Pitch and time shifting often use a very controlled granular technique.

GregAE · Post by **GregAE** » Tue Jan 03, 2006 8:05 am

baward wrote:Greg, where is the best place to learn more about pot mapping? I looked on Squarewave but was unable find anything for pot mapping that you have for say Modulation Busses.

Thanks,
Ben

You can find an article on Pot Mapping on SquareWave. It was added in the latest update. Look for "On the Map.pdf" in the Voyager FYI folder.

Greg

GregAE · Post by **GregAE** » Tue Jan 03, 2006 8:22 am

cosmigonical wrote:do you need the editor software to use those patch files?

Not at all! The presets found in various member folders are (almost) all SysEx (.syx) files. You can download these to the Voyager using MIDI-OX for the PC or SysEx Librarian for the Mac.

Single presets will load into the Voyager's Edit buffer. They won't overwrite your own presets, so you can safely audition them without concern. You will have to manually save them to your Voyager if you want to keep them.

If you see a set of member patches listed as a BANK, however, be aware that uploading the bank WILL overwrite your own presets, so make sure you have backed up your patches first.

There's a lot of interesting patches to check out - over 200 at last count. Enjoy!

Greg

Chromatic · Post by **Chromatic** » Thu Jan 05, 2006 12:44 pm

Not had my Voyager very long but I am sure it will give you some great 303 "type" sounds, but to get that crazy sequencer sound you need two things

1/ the ability to "tie" notes together that you want to glide. I can do this with some synths that will only glide if the last note overlaps as a legato. Anybody know how to set up this type of behaviour on the Voyager?
2/ the ability to use a fixed glide time rather than rate. Is this possible on the Voyager?

Also check out oscillator sync sounds, pretty rude sounding on the Voyager, like a filter sweep but not.
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