Beat me to it The Micro and Microwave XT have really inspiring randomizers, so quick to come up with something interesting.
Wow, I had one of those for years and never noticed the randomization.
I remember seeing a Markus Popp performance where I believe that all the sounds used were on-the-spot-generated random patches from a Microwave XT, changing patches as fast as he physically could.
@robinrimbaud you played on the same bill (Tate Modern, London, 21 September 2001). Do you recall it?
Yeah, it sure has that feature, too. An amazing synth with a great amount of bang for buck.
Hi Peter - yes, I remember that well. Kim Cascone played on the same night too. Markus did use a Waldorf Microwave XT and was most certainly hyperactive at the controls. I vividly remember that. Might explain why my terrible photos taken at the time are so out of focus
When you pair the Korg DW-8000 with the DW-8P controller from Retroaktiv, you have access to a VERY powerful patch generator that can be totally random, partially random with certain parameters exempted, or partially random within instrument type; for example, it can be set on E-Piano randomization and you can slap the random button as many times as you like for endless e-piano variations. Many of the patches it generates are quite good, and I use them as jumping-off points.
and to think I used mine for years and then sold it for almost peanuts about 10 years ago. Damn, I loved that synth
This makes me think about patches that have some slow unpredictable changes over time built into them, a dynamic randomization as it were, in addition to the user controllable parameter changes.
Now that the Hydrasynth has made the Macros Mod-Matrix destinations, that would be one easy way to do this with the dynamic change of one or more macro through some randomized MIDI or CV source. You could do this same sort of dynamic random change with all sorts of other synths as well.
You can make the same sorts of changes off of slow LFOs too.
Thinking both in terms of static and dynamic randomizations when doing a Eurorack patch is an important aspect of its design too. A DIY randomizer.
a topic for another thread perhaps, but then again out of the oneâs that you didnât like which one did you least like the least?
Ruismaker Rozeta Suite on Ios
Canât answer this, because I didnât make a ranking. I like all those synths, but playing with their randomization just didnât get me something, which I would use. Even if creating generative music, which I love to do, I try to keep control and understand, whatâs going on. Must be a very personal thing though
Modal Argon8 has a patch randomizer, as well as the already mentioned Waldorf Blofeld.
The Argon8 is a lot more musical though, as the random patches on the Blofeld mostly are just noisy as hell because of the vast modulation possibilities compared to the simpler Argon8.
Yeah, from what i can tell the blofeld randomization isnât shaped in any way, meaning it sounds like it simply randomizes any and all parameters without discernment. In comparison, the digitone - again based on my perception - has a more gentle randomization, and is also being isolated to each of the parameter pages which makes it easier to hone in on something interesting.
So with the blofeld there can be happy accidents, but if youâre looking for something useful you may have to go through several randomizations.
AFAIR the virus C has a similar randomization function, but maybe itâs been mentioned already in this thread.
The topic of randomization is interesting, and generally speaking it seems to me that blind randomization without any adjustments rarely sounds interesting. You need to have a certain degree of control over the randomizations to make it work in a favorable way.
ââA certain degree of controlâ â this spurred a thought for me.
What about a synth without any hard patches ? All the patches are just just limits on randomization, both the static and dynamic form. Whenever you start a patch, or whenever you choose, you can roll the dice again.
By carefully defining the way the randomization happens, means you land at a different place, but always in a sweet spot.
Kind of like the Korg DW-8000 with the DW-8P controller that my friend Hawk described up thread, with itâs E-piano randomizations. So you youâd have factory randomization patches, or you could do your own custom randomization patches.
And getting real meta, you could randomly generate randomization patches !
No man ever steps in the same river twice, for itâs not the same river and heâs not the same man. â Heraclitus
My thoughts spin even further from here, but this post is already too long.
Without having tried, isnât that how the patch generating apps work (i forget the name)?
Hydrasynth has great randomization. you can choose to do the whole patch, or you can randomize each component individually.
As already mentioned, the G2 patch mutator is the ultimate patch ârandomizerâ imho. More often than not, after creating a patch, I will fill up the variations with âmutatedâ patches that outshine my original creation. I also enjoy the Hydrasynth random functions.
Medusa has a really great combination of patch randomization, parameter locking per sequencer step randomization, note randomization and sequencer direction randomization. Theyâve done a great job of making the parameter randomization successfully musical as it applies to 5 LFOs, 5 ENVs, filter types, cut off, OSCs and more.
Looks like itâs only been mentioned briefly above, but the MC-707âs random patch is really interesting because it can draw on the vast library of PCM samples. It doesnât take long for it to present you with a patch where you think well, how the hell is that put together? And you have to go and take a look at whatâs going on, which can give you some interesting insights into how the engine can be used and what itâs capable of.
I had a patch come up that layered a Juno-style pad with a sample of bubbles, but the pitch and filter settings with a bit of reverb made it sound weird and wonderful. Thereâs some guidance going on behind the scenes, so you never end up with a full random atonal mess, but I suppose you canât have everything.