Softube Modular

Electronic Music Production // Dark Arts
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Hades
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Re: Softube Modular

Post by Hades »

I've been listening to the famous "Brothers gonna work it out" mix from the Chemical Bros for the last few days in my car,
last night, a semi-tropical storm went through our region, catapulting some people's trampoline 5 meters away into their veranda,
throwing my neighbours biggest tree on top of my garden shed,
pouring 20cm of mudstream in my friends street,
biggest part of my cellar under water,...

this morning, while driving my kids to school,
though the only thing I was really worried about was the Brexit shit,
my whole town looked like some post-apocalyptic vision,
with barely no one around driving their cars,
and a LOT of folks staying at home checking the damage...

I had this mix on, where there's this wonderful mixture between "I want my planet back" and some sirene (car alarm ??) going on around 0:49,
never had a more "appropriate tune for the moment" kind of thing going on... :shock: :)

youtu.be/2eNf18LQP6g
Sin cambios no hay mariposa


Planar
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Re: Softube Modular

Post by Planar »

It's a cracking mix. It's stood the test of time incredibly well.

arkos
Re: Softube Modular

Post by arkos »

msl wrote:
arkos wrote:And boy do I not regret those 75$ cause this thing screams and howls and in a good way, my jaw is literally on the floor every time I'm playing with it.

Ok you have my attention. Let's hear something!


.
Ok mate, I'll stop listening to this loop while tweaking the cutoff and actually do something. Brb :mrgreen:

arkos
Re: Softube Modular

Post by arkos »

Here's a short clip I put together;

https://soundcloud.com/oskar81/modular-test

Everything is modular but the kick and hat are from Softube Heartbeat and the drone is some old didgeridoo recordings I did ages ago.

3 effects used, Ni Replika, Bx Cleansweep and Softube SatKnob.

Haven't had as much time messing with the modular as I wanted but that will for sure change with the weather :)

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SFBM
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Re: Softube Modular

Post by SFBM »

Lost to the Void wrote:It`s a fine balance in techno, between being a musician and an engineer.
The modular stuff adds another level of engineering and farting about that I can`t deal with.
It`s weird, people I know who used to go on about fiddling too much and wanting hardware because... ease of use, immediacy etc, then bought in to the modular fashion, and now end up fiddling about just to generate 1 sound, for lot longer than before, and getting less consistent success. It`s weird how mimetic and fashion led techno has become.
all the little sheepies are told, elektron or whatever is the thing, and then all the little sheepies do, then it`s modular, and all the little sheepies do. It`s the same with the vinyl fashion....

And as sad as it is for me to say this, all my mates who have got modulars, their music no longer sounds as good as it used to, and also sounds more like each other, despite having different systems.

That`s not to say you can`t make great stuff with a modular, I know some guys who make nice stuff (generally they piss about and then resample from the good bits), but meh..... It takes me away from the ideas in my head, and the technology starts dictating the ideas.... I no likey....
Definitely agree, I find that the creativity and musicality can sometimes be overridden by the technology and having a studio full of flashy, silver boxes that say "I make techno" when you look at them, but you might not even know how to use half of them. That is almost becoming the case with me vaguely, as I have a lot of stuff in my growing hardware setup but I haven't spent enough time just sitting down at one thing and learning how to use it back-to-front and diving deep in. Not even with a volca. I do think if I sat down with my machinedrum and just spend 2-3 weeks fully learning it, I'd be at a much better position than I am now (where I have a decent amount of kit, that can do a lot of stuff, but I only know 1/4 of each unit.

As for modulars, modulars can be amazing and I've heard friends produce amazing things with them. That said, I've also heard a lot of people building or buying them, incorporating it into their techno and it just gets this "modular feeling" that whilst distinctive, sort of tinges their original sound or creativity.

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Hades
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Re: Softube Modular

Post by Hades »

arkos wrote:Here's a short clip I put together;

https://soundcloud.com/oskar81/modular-test

Everything is modular but the kick and hat are from Softube Heartbeat and the drone is some old didgeridoo recordings I did ages ago.

3 effects used, Ni Replika, Bx Cleansweep and Softube SatKnob.

Haven't had as much time messing with the modular as I wanted but that will for sure change with the weather :)
sorry man,
not gonna say I dislike what I hear,
but to me that sounds a lot more like you knowing how to work with your gear than what specific gear it was that you've been using. :)
Sin cambios no hay mariposa


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zukenbauer
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Re: Softube Modular

Post by zukenbauer »

What a devastating kick man!! Its the best kick i heard in a long time. Is that sample or?

arkos
Re: Softube Modular

Post by arkos »

zukenbauer wrote:What a devastating kick man!! Its the best kick i heard in a long time. Is that sample or?
That is Softube Heartbeat, it's my go to drum machine tbh. I like how simple and good sounding it is.

Hades; Well thanks for not gunning me down bro :D It's just a quick sketch I knocked out really, only tweaking the cutoff on the synth with my push and some drawn in volume automation.

It's like 5 channels or something which is I think a real step up from my usual 40 :D

Cheers guy's.

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WOLF!
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Re: Softube Modular

Post by WOLF! »

Seeing modulars as a very physical thing, I don't get the point of getting a vst modular.
Modular is the last thing I would bye as a vst.

I don't do modular because i've seen guys spend a fortune on modulars but the output of tracks has really died.
I'm sure it can be nice to spend hours of tweaking, patching and noodle but I think it will be very time consuming and very distracting production wise.
Whatever makes you happy eh.... .

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mr.chielos
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Re: Softube Modular

Post by mr.chielos »

Modulars are similar to fieldrecordings, either you love them or not.

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tsaro
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Re: Softube Modular

Post by tsaro »

WOLF! wrote:Seeing modulars as a very physical thing, I don't get the point of getting a vst modular
.............. I don't do modular because i've seen guys spend a fortune on modulars
See you knew it already 8-)
It's a way to get something akin to a modular without breaking the bank.

Though I can agree with your point here, one reason to get a (fully featured) modular is simply to replace a shitload of synths. If you know how to program it. Not the case with hardware btw, unless you are so rich you can build several...

Not saying it's for me, just thought I'd point that out :geek:
how far do you want to go

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Stace
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Re: Softube Modular

Post by Stace »

I am going to get it, well get the demo :D

arkos
Re: Softube Modular

Post by arkos »

StacieAnne wrote:I am going to get it, well get the demo :D
You won't be sorry it's not all about plugging cables, there are some really nice starting points with the presets. You'll be making bubbling "analogue" basslines in no time :) The sound is second to none imo.

Here's some sweedish dude with a dreamy lullaby :D
https://soundcloud.com/pretorium/softub ... says-hello

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Re: Softube Modular

Post by Southpaw »

I caught a video of a guy making experimental Techno/ish stuff which goes against the current realm of thinking in terms of a modular being unproductive. I have to say though, this guy must be the exception to the rule as I haven't seen anyone else at all who creates music from scratch which a modular set up. It's not something I'd get into but in this video I found the sequencing aspect interesting, esp the use of the 5 & 7 step patterns and then using certain sounds to trigger further sequencers where the trigger sounds move the sequence along 1 step.

youtu.be/x6hJa2lRRgM

buffered
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Re: Softube Modular

Post by buffered »

Southpaw wrote:I caught a video of a guy making experimental Techno/ish stuff which goes against the current realm of thinking in terms of a modular being unproductive. I have to say though, this guy must be the exception to the rule as I haven't seen anyone else at all who creates music from scratch which a modular set up. It's not something I'd get into but in this video I found the sequencing aspect interesting, esp the use of the 5 & 7 step patterns and then using certain sounds to trigger further sequencers where the trigger sounds move the sequence along 1 step.

youtu.be/x6hJa2lRRgM

Not to be harsh but this statement is a bit naive. To say you haven't seen anyone else at all. There are loads of people who make music on modulars. You just have to look a bit further.
Joseph Fraioli has been doing it for years for example.

[vimeo]https://vimeo.com/135915833[/vimeo]

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Stace
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Re: Softube Modular

Post by Stace »

arkos wrote:
StacieAnne wrote:I am going to get it, well get the demo :D
You won't be sorry it's not all about plugging cables, there are some really nice starting points with the presets. You'll be making bubbling "analogue" basslines in no time :) The sound is second to none imo.

Here's some sweedish dude with a dreamy lullaby :D
https://soundcloud.com/pretorium/softub ... says-hello
TBH, I have REALLY been enjoying Beatzille recently. I would have had a go with it yesterday but I was getting all flustered with the iLok thing and I was at work and not giving either of them the attention they required :lol:

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Re: Softube Modular

Post by Southpaw »

buffered wrote:
Southpaw wrote:I caught a video of a guy making experimental Techno/ish stuff which goes against the current realm of thinking in terms of a modular being unproductive. I have to say though, this guy must be the exception to the rule as I haven't seen anyone else at all who creates music from scratch which a modular set up. It's not something I'd get into but in this video I found the sequencing aspect interesting, esp the use of the 5 & 7 step patterns and then using certain sounds to trigger further sequencers where the trigger sounds move the sequence along 1 step.

youtu.be/x6hJa2lRRgM

Not to be harsh but this statement is a bit naive. To say you haven't seen anyone else at all. There are loads of people who make music on modulars. You just have to look a bit further.
Joseph Fraioli has been doing it for years for example.

[vimeo]https://vimeo.com/135915833[/vimeo]
I don't have much experience with techno and I don't come from a techno background and any names you'd mention mean nothing to me, but the video you posted doesn't work so I had to copy and paste it only to find out the resulting music is a billion miles away from what I was expecting to hear. Is this a joke?
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buffered
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Re: Softube Modular

Post by buffered »

Hey sorry, didn't mean to be negative and not sure why the link didn't work. Was just saying that there are plenty of people using modulars for full composition in techno and beyond.
Where you say the sequencing aspect is interesting in terms of sounds/sequences triggering other sequences, the link shows this. Also may want to check out Richard Devine in terms of complex modular sequencing. Sure this may be very far from what you are interested in but it does show the possibilities of full composition with modular setup.

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Lost to the Void
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Re: Softube Modular

Post by Lost to the Void »

Southpaw wrote:I caught a video of a guy making experimental Techno/ish stuff which goes against the current realm of thinking in terms of a modular being unproductive. I have to say though, this guy must be the exception to the rule as I haven't seen anyone else at all who creates music from scratch which a modular set up. It's not something I'd get into but in this video I found the sequencing aspect interesting, esp the use of the 5 & 7 step patterns and then using certain sounds to trigger further sequencers where the trigger sounds move the sequence along 1 step.

youtu.be/x6hJa2lRRgM
Steevio used to play on our soundsystem occasionally back in the rave years.
He used to do sorta cheesy but funky techy house trancey stuff. It was his own thing.
Interesting that now he has gone modular, his music has kinda homegenised in to exactly the bloopy blip techno that is the plague of the modular techno scene.
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Re: Softube Modular

Post by Revaron »

Could modular vs. 'normal' become the new vinyl/mp3? Well, not so much new as an evolution - when will it end! Haha. But I personally found that Steevio clip quite cool, it's interesting to see how it all fits together. It's as much math as music - but then music is math! This is the sort of thing that interests me about modular setups. I find the idea of spending hours crafting helicopter sounds as tedious as most people, but this is different. It really fits with a lot of the ideas about human/machine collaboration that people like Kraftwerk and the early Detroit guys were inspired by. He is just feeding the machine number sequences and routing them to appropriate noise sources which he then tweaks to make them pleasing to the human ear. He's not really making music, but yet he is. I can't see myself ever getting involved with modular stuff, but still find this fascinating.


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