This is pretty much what I’d be looking for in a bass synth right now. Not ready to drop 500€ on one right away though, and I’m not in a hurry anyway. Just realized that obviously I can use the Analog Four for cv sequencing the pitch, although it’s not as fun as the DFAM sequencer.
I bought a SQ1 last week, for my rusty old MS20. Just a lovely old machine and I should use it more, hense the purchase. Cant believe the build quality for something that cheap.
However, it could also do naughty things to A DFAM. Havent explored that yet, busy!
Are the DFAM and the Pulsar-23 the only semi modular drum machines on the market?
Theres sound demos on that page…
Yep and that’s ya lot mate
Let me know how it goes. I hadn’t really thought about an sq1 for the DFAM, I guess it seemed too similar to the DFAM’s own sequencer but now you’ve got me thinking…
1 Like
Yeah I will report my findings, possibly post some sounds no doubt. My juju tells me good stuff will happen.
1 Like
5 minute jam from this evening. It only really does one thing for 5 minutes but whatever. DFAM is doing most of the work with support from Erica Bassline in acid mode and Lyra in Lyra mode. There is a hihat sample on the Digitakt too but I don’t like it so let’s not listen to that.
4 Likes
Listening to this now. Sounds really Ravey, in a good way.
One thing you might want to think about though. Your recordings dont have much dynamic range, are you smashing the limiter or what ever you use for final treatment? Over a big sound system this may not translate so well at all. In my experience, in general, the more dynamic range you have, the harder you can push a sound system before it distorts. Especially for big sounding bass and kicks. Speakers need room to breathe.
Anyway, this track sounds lush. Totally didnt notice the you know what.
1 Like
I know what you mean, but it’s odd because I’ve not been using compression or limiting on the last few tracks. I have been overdoing it a bit with the eq though and my room always hides some of the low end so it’s pretty normal for my tracks to be a bit thick in the lower end and a bit missing at the top. I’m making some absorption panels next week to try to mitigate this a bit.
Cool. I dont have much room treatment at all. But I’ve played on big sound systems a fair bit so I think that has given me valuable experience or something. I Dunno, works for me.
Could just be too much saturation in the heat? Giving you a recording with no headroom?
Anyway re: SQ1 plus DFAM, yeah so far kind of interesting, but nothing immediately grabbing me by the knackers. I bought the SQ1 for my old MS20, so in the regard its awesome. As an expander for the DFAM? Yeah its alright, to be honest I enjoy sending gates from a drum machine or octatrack to get polymetric. Other than that, I like DFAM as it is.
It could also be the Heat, I do tend to push the inputs right to the limit, maybe there’s some limiting going on in there. I’ll ease back on the levels and see if that helps.
I’m kinda with you on the whole sequencer thing. I keep telling myself it would be awesome to sequence it with this or that but then I just play it and it’s so good as it is. It’s them patch points, you can just hear the CV demons through them.
Join ussss!
Joooooiiiin uuuuuuuuss!
Just been noodling. Got something nice going. Thoughts.
Basically… yes bypassing the dfam sequencer and sending independent cv and gate for trig velocity and pitch across two lanes each with their own step length etc blah blah is cool in a chin strokey kind of way.
But is it smash you in the sternum fuck off techno? No not really, its more, watch the pretty light show ooh isnt it all so mathematic ambient dark room kind of thing. Which of course is totally fine too. Mind melting? Meh more mind-chin stroking and nodding in whistful ambivalence.
It seems increasingly silly thinking about spending all this money on CV sequencing options when my DFAM is sat a foot away from my Digitakt. I think I’m just gonna sample it if I want it to go outside of its own parameters, given how banging its own parameters are anyway.
2 Likes
I sequence the DFAM with the OT. just recorded the DFAM trig signal directly to the OT. works perfect.
So instead of fiddeling with microtiming to skip steps I had this simple Idea:
just create a sample chain with 8 slices containing 1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8 (very fast playing) trigs.
makes the DFAM more playable like a regular drum machine.
(propably someone else had this idea before, but i didn´t read all these posts)
2 Likes
Yea I use CUE out and make the DFAM poly rhythm. I have posted this before but for those that don’t want to read through the entire thread:
There’s a short 1min vid in there. The freedom you get with using trigs from the OT is awesome!
Never tried slices. I just use regular trigs. Conditional trigs can also be nice but depending on what you have dialed in it can get pretty weird 
1 Like
you should try slices. it´s the most convinient way to sequence the DFAM.
slice 8 plays the same step, slice 1 the next one, slice 7 the previous one, etc. of course you can change the order.
I´ll try to do a template today with nine slices. the 8 trigs (slice 5) in the middle. one the right 1,2,3,4 trigs on the left 7,6,5,4 trigs.
good overview and easier to play live…i hope
1 Like
Moar choons.
Not that different to yesterday, a bit too lovey dovey really, but I’ve got things pretty much how I want them so expect things to get significantly more filthy over the coming weeks.
6 Likes
nice. the more I hear this kind of application of the Lyra the more I wish it’s LFO could be clocked somehow. it could create some really great rhythmic textures. I mean I know it can do that now, but keeping it in time would be super cool.
2 Likes