Erica Synths SYNTRX

Awesome.

I really want to have a MkII to compare directly with my Mk1.

5 Likes

Some interesting stuff here!

Is there such a thing as ā€œaudio epilepsyā€? :wink: The first piece in particular, with the right panning of the percussive elements and the repetitive fading in and out of had an almost dizzying effect, almost like Iā€™d expect from a video source with lots of high frequency flashing lights! My brain was definitely like ā€œwoah, thatā€™s some gnarly audio dude ā€¦ā€ (to be read in Keanu Reeveā€™s voice from Bill & Ted)

1 Like

You might be experiencing something similar to the Haas Effect. When playing around with glitchy stuff and/or extremely short delays, I find it easy to create material that triggers something like a fight-or-flight reflex. Probably just tricking the brain into thinking a tiger just stepped on a twig back there someplace.
:running_man: :tiger2: :deciduous_tree:

Edit: Great jam @josker. I may have to plug the Mk1 into my TimeFactor this afternoon.

2 Likes

Interesting! I wasnā€™t familiar with the Haas Effect. Iā€™m not sure what Iā€™m experiencing quite fits the description of the Haas Effect on the wikipedia page, but as you say perhaps theyā€™re related.

I think Iā€™d described the effect Iā€™m experiencing as one of having a hard time isolating where the sounds sit in my aural field; the pulsing creates a fore-aft perception and coupled with the right panning of the percussive bits it leads to an unsteady effect. This ā€œunsteadinessā€ is what I think Iā€™m perceiving as slightly dizzying.

Iā€™m pretty sure thatā€™s the Haas effect. To confirm, try the following experiment:

  1. Start with a very simple ā€œpingā€ sound - woodblock, filter ping, enveloped sine, etc.
  2. Make a regular pattern of hits on every 16th or maybe just every 8th note
  3. Hard pan left
  4. Add a delay that ranges from 0-5ms, output is hard panned right
  5. As you play with the pattern, adjust the delay from 0-5ms and pay attention to how the ping moves around spatially in your mindā€™s eye.

Elektron delays usually give a little Haas effect at values of 0/1/2. You may need a VST delay and a DAW to really play with spatialization.

Another thing to try:

  1. In Audacity
  2. Generate 2 seconds of pink noise in a mono channel
  3. Cut the 2 seconds into two 1-second long segments
  4. Move the two segments into the right and left channel of a new stereo track
  5. Paulstretch (via Audacity) to 1 hour
  6. Put headphones on, press play
  7. No, I didnā€™t dose you while you werenā€™t looking.
4 Likes

Cool! Iā€™m going to try these experiments this evening after work!

2 Likes

Thatā€™s my evening sorted.

2 Likes

I considered the same today, as a fellow across the hall (MW) was selling his for a good price.

come to think of it, thatā€™s been marked as sold shortly after you posted thisā€¦ :thinking:

2 Likes

I bet :slight_smile:

2 Likes

Syntrx owners - howā€™s the trapezoid? The stated minimum times donā€™t seem super short, but I donā€™t peep specs too much. is that a problem at all - are they plenty snappy? Just covering bases, so to speak.

Depends on how snappy you want your bass :wink:

For me it works pretty well. Often I only use one VCO or the second as a kind of sub only to get a well defined sound.

Iā€™m thinking about getting a controller for my Syntrx I, and interested in all your advices and day-dreams on this subject. Here are my thoughts:

  • small is important: I donā€™t want to take my 49 key synths out when I take my Syntrx out (of the house)
  • keystep 37: manual melodies and duophony; arpeggiator; step sequencing; small
  • Torso T1: automated melodies; maybe duophony? broader-range arpeggiator (I think); no manual step sequencer. I think it has multiple tracks, so perhaps it could be a creative tool for more of my gear? Smaller!
  • Pyramid: obviously overkill for one instrument, but Iā€™ve toyed with this for a while as I donā€™t enjoy doing long-form melodies and chords on my Octatrack very much. Iā€™m getting away from the Syntrx focus nowā€¦

What do you folks like to drive your Syntrx with?

(I could take this off to a Sequencer thread, but as this is mostly about driving my Syntrx I thought Iā€™d post here first)

I donā€™t have a Syntrx (though I may grab a Syntrx 2 when available) but out of those, if youā€™re planning on doing any live playing as well as sequencing, the keystep would be my pick. Just one note:

The Torso does do per step sequencing/editing, if you want, though obviously thatā€™s not what it was originally designed to do.

I think either the keystep or the make noise 0 ctrl. Keystep probably wins though- itā€™s the cheapest. Also the multiple lanes on 0 Ctrl would be wasted - or are there multiple CV ins on Syntrx?

Very useful info! I will research it more.

Regarding playing liveā€¦ I have a slow-burning project in flight. We improvise around a pre-agreed atmosphere on a variety of gongs, hand percussion and Syntrx + Mood. Iā€™ve been playing Syntrx by turning the pitch wheels and opening the filter or level controls. Itā€™s basically ā€œenoughā€ because Mood is great at filling in space and creating undulating textures. I hadnā€™t thought the work needed Western melody but I sometimes crave a defined octave, fifth or fourth. Keystepā€™s certainly the cheapest option. Arps or sequences would give this all a really different flavour - but it might be what we need to better define ā€œa setā€ā€¦

Two, but only one gate. The CVs arenā€™t available on the matrix, however: theyā€™re just for notes. I plan to get the audio ins DC coupled (which gets around this problem), eventuallyā€¦ but I donā€™t want to ship it to Latvia from the UK at the moment; and I donā€™t want to entrust it to someone else 'til the waranteeā€™s lapsed.

Is the dc coupling of the audio ins an option?

Yes. Erica said theyā€™ll do it. I think someone mentioned up-thread they had a local 3rd party engineer do it for them.

1 Like

SQ-64 is great (The Obvious Improbable)

2 Likes

Iā€™ve mostly sequenced the Syntrx with my Keystep 37 or Octatrack. I donā€™t think Iā€™ve driven it with the SL61 mk3 or SQ-64 yet, but the Syntrx is a fairly basic MIDI device so those should work just as well as anything that can emit MIDI notes.

1 Like