Actually added a second DFAM, a Syntakt and a Prophet 6 to the mix.
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YouTube turned me on to this guyās channel today, and Iām really enjoying his stuff. Sorry if this is a repost.
If youāre already using your lfo and attenuator and want more attenuated modulation, you can get another lfo of sorts from your sequencer.
Run the Clock Out through the high pass filter. HPF at minimum passes through the square wave, as you turn it up it slews the signal creating an lfo or at least a warbly modulation frequency.
I adapted this from a video and I canāt remember who it was to give creditā¦
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Thatās pretty cool. There are all sorts of āhiddenā capabilities on this thing. This video shows some other tricks with the sequencer. If you use tap tempo you can increase the range of the sequencer rate knob and take it high enough that it becomes a pitch you can play and shape with the sustain slider. Pretty āout-of-the-boxā stuff.
I keep finding myself getting lost in this machine. There are just so many sounds to be found even within a single patch. Itās a deceptively deep synth and a joy to explore. This is the synth I wish I had when I first started out, as I think I would have enjoyed synthesis so much more. I basically picked all the wrong synths for me along the way and convinced myself I didnāt like synthesis. Now I see the light.
On a side note, Iāve been wanting to experiment with running something through the audio in, so today I midiāed up the Volca Keys and ran it through the Moog and out the Vermona Retroverb, which Iāve decided to kind of permanently pair with the Grandmother. Lots of cool electric piano and experimental sounds to be found. I think I barely scratched the surface even after a couple of hours. The Vermona is tough box to master as so much is interconnected and the range on the knobs is pretty huge. This was a good experiment to get to know both it and the Grandmother a bit better.
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Iām still down the rabbit hole on the Grandmother, and enjoying the Moog Patch & Tweak book.
I was looking at the patch ideas in the book with the other Moog semi modulars and happened to come across this video of some patch ideas with the Grandmother and Behringer Neutron.
It made me wonder if the upcoming Behringer Model 15 will be the perfect cheap utility expansion companion for the Grandmother. Anyone thinking of getting one when they come out to get some extra oscillators, envelope, LFO, etc? I noticed it has some stuff not on the Grandmother, like a sub oscillator and maybe another different wave shape or two. Even if it sounds a bit different from the Grandmother, it would likely to be the same sort of vibe.
Also, I ordered the Midivolts paraphonic thing. Some people were saying earlier in this thread that it only works in drone mode, but the beginners guide video below shows it working in keyboard mode if you switch off local control on the GM. Not sure how much of a PITA it will be to use in practice, but we shall soon see (my gut tells me it might have been a waste of cash 
).
I did see that someone else on YouTube managed to connect a Grandmother and Neutron for four voices of paraphony. Could be interesting with the Model 15 if it works. I donāt have space for a Matriarch, but this might be a sort of poor-manās option for expanding the Grandmother into that territory.
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I totally have my eye on that Model 15. It looks like a great desktop version of the GM. The thing I donāt like is the patch bay. The GM and Matriarch layouts make experimenting easier, because you can better understand the routing.
As for polyphony in the GM, when I had one I would sample one note into the OG OP-1, which was almost instant, and let me play chords. It was actually a pretty killer combo.
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Yeah, I donāt plan on selling my Grandmother no matter how good the Behringer is as it feels like a proper instrument, but it would be nice to get to add a third/fourth oscillator and still have two LFOs for modulation. Plus itās compact.
Everyone keeps telling me to sample the GM and I really should do that, maybe later today. I just love playing the GM keyboard so ordered the Midivolts in a moment of weakness. He has 100+ 5-star ratings on his Etsy page, so fingers crossed. Also, just a super nice person to deal with and he shipped it really quickly, so if itās good Iām happy to support him.
This is the four oscillator Neutron/GM video, btw.
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Donāt forget you can detune an oscillator and get the LFO at audio rate to play āchordsā
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I tried the Midivolts with my Subharmonicon and it worked like it should playing duophonically directly from the Arturia Keystep. However, when I tried to sequence the SubH from the Octatrack there was a problem and I donāt know how to explain the technicalities of it but I believe it had something to do with how the OT (all Elektrons?) sends a note off command. So the problem was the combo of OT plus Midivolts.
I have a Matriarch but in an ideal world Iād have something similar in a (much) smaller footprint. Thatās why I tried the SubH/MV combo but since the intention was to use it mainly for sequencing two-note chords from the OT the plan kinda failed. Had some fun playing the SubH duophonically through a good reverb tho!
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Not sure what sampler you have, but the beauty of the OP-1 setup was that you could sample on the fly, and then play a chord of the sampled note instantly. You can also play the OP-1 using the GM keyboard, which is rad.
You could do something very similar with Koala on an iPad or iPhone too.
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The sp404mk2 can do polyphonic sample playback as well since one of the last updates! You got one right @DimensionsTomorrow?
Thereās only 2 octaves, but full polyphony, also playable from an external midi keyboard. You could use that to make the gm somewhat polyphonic.
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Yep! Had it out earlier today as I was messing with some drums, but didnāt get around to sampling the Grandmother yet as I got side tracked.
Cool. It seems to be designed with the Grandmother in mind, so hopefully Iāll have better luck. Iām not intending to sequence it, probably just use it with a looper. To be honest, this is mainly meant to keep me from looking at other synths. Iām having so much fun with the Grandmother, I keep getting a wandering eye at what other cool things are out there. Hopefully it will scratch an itch and stop me from making a very expensive purchase.
Same goes with the Behringer Model 15. I keep telling myself that I should wait until that comes out to keep myself from buying a used Mother 32 (or DFAM) in a moment of weakness. Those look cool, but are not really ideal for my needs, so itās a lot of money to spend on something thatās not a perfect fit. I see how modular is like a drug. Youāve got those patch points sitting there and it seems like a waste not to use them, lol.
By the way, I read in that Moog Patch & Play book today that Adrian Younge scored this movie with a Grandmother playing along with an orchestra. I need to check out the soundtrack to hear what kind of sounds he was getting.
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Well, damn. That was cool as hell. I still need to experiment with the best length to sample and what not, but that sounded a LOT better than I expected. That latest SP update really is a game changer. This was my first time trying out the new scale mode. In poly mode, using the Dorian scale, and some of the effects you can really get a cool Boards of Canada vibe going from a Grandmother sample. Iām gonna need to go deeper into this when I get a bit of time, maybe hook up an external keyboard, but yeah, this opens up another world for the Grandmother.
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I had the same experienceā¦ adding some noise and some high pass filtering helps with making sounds work well when played polyphonically.
Another cool thing is that you have all those sp fx to experiment with!
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to be honest, I would never have considered buying the behringer instead of the moog grandmother. but giving the massive price hike, way over inflation and such IĀ“am considering it. would have bought the moog and I would have paid more because of increased prices for parts but what they did seemed just greedy. So even if I donĀ“t like to buy behringer it seems like its the way to go.
By me, there are still a few dealers selling the Dark ones at a lower price since they are discontinued. Maybe you can find one of those at a good price. I snagged one recently and love it. Itās such a solid instrument. Oozes quality.
The Grandmother is such a great synth. It is so full of character, and so fun to explore.
I would look for a reasonably priced used Grandmother. They are still around if you look, though Iām sure the used prices will creep up as well.
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Haha. I was just gonna make an argument that using the GM within her limitations would help you learn and get more unique sounds.
Then I started to say you could just multitrack. But then I realizedā¦,
Whatās the difference between sampling and multitracking?? None really.
And at the end of the day, itās about the work, not the gear or the workflow. So do whatever gets sound, with gear, effects or anything else that helps you get the job done.
Even if itās a ācheaperā brand.
Getting the Behinger with the GM might be a beast combo.
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Plus you can resample to higher and lower octaves, to get out of the two octave range.
Even the resampling would color the sound like a filter.
Also, those delays in the 404 would be fantastic to play the GM through. Probably sound just as good as having the Matriarchs stereo delay. But with WAY more options and versatility.
Itās even got Juno chorus.
Damn. I got to hook up my GM to the 404 now.
EDIT: donāt forget, if you push remain and effects, the parameter screen stays up so you can like tweak the sound while you play
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Yeah, I see a lot to like about that as an āexpansion moduleā, at least for my needs.
Pros
ā¢ Small and cheap, so even just for occasionally pairing with the GM for extra LFO, envelopes, oscillators, etc wouldnāt feel too wasteful (whereas adding something pricey for only occasional patching would to me).
ā¢ Sound should be pretty close, so should match well
ā¢ A couple of extras like the sub oscillator
ā¢ Same layout and features, so should be intuitive to use, with no need to learn another synth. Pairing two devices with different workflows often cripples me, and almost never works out.
ā¢ Potential for four-note paraphony with the Midivolts, so again, nice that the sounds should match up well.
ā¢ Possibility of syncing them up and running them separately with, for example, two different arps going for all sorts of crazy rhythmic possibilities, on top of all the extra patching possibilities
Cons
ā¢Wonāt look or feel as nice as say adding a Mother 32 or something like that for an extra oscillator/LFO. Having something that feels and looks nice is often tossed aside as trivial since it doesnāt affect the sound, but I find that to be absolute key to bonding with gear, and Iāve been through a lot over the years. In this case though, if I consider it an āexpansion moduleā it probably wouldnāt bother me.
ā¢Sound and features will be very similar, so doesnāt really bring anything unique to the table.
ā¢The reverb might not be very nice
ā¢Adding more of anything to the Grandmother, complicates the workflow and takes more time to set up, so there is that.
My 2 cents.