Here is a great example of what can be done with multisampling. In this #ModularTransmission session, I used the LABS_Choir multisample stock library in the Disting EX.
Recall that a #multisample library has a dedicated sample file for each note (and often multiple files per note to account for different velocities). There are three voice channels feeding into the Disting’s unified stereo output. In this case, each channel is set to the LABS_Choir folder, but in the Disting settings I specified the note ranges for each of the three channels ; the whole patch spans about 6 octaves, with Voice 1 handling the lower 2, Voice 2 the middle range, and Voice 3 the highest 2 octaves.
The pitch of each voice is being modulated by chord progressions being pumped out by Ornament & Crime, which is in turn being modulated by Marbles/Pachinko, which really is the master ‘brain’ behind the patch.
It’s a semi-generative piece, with me continually (and gently) nudging it in various directions.
I hope you enjoy it, and leave a comment to let me know what you think.
As part of my ‘No Gear 2024’ New Year’s Resolution (4 months in and still holding fast!), I’ve been spending a lot of time learning the deeper features of #Eurorack modules that I already own. Perhaps my most formidable mountain to climb has been the Disting EX by #ExpertSleepers. In the past I’ve learned it well enough to navigate the UI and menus (really it’s not so bad once you get the hang of it), but all of the cool algorithms involving sampling had eluded me. So I buckled down, and after going through the manual (repeatedly) and watching a couple YouTube videos (Andrew Osler’s short and sweet instructional videos are really on point (see below)), I dove into the Disting EX Multisample algorithm.
So what the heck is multisampling anyway?
Although now somewhat familiar with sampling, until very recently I was completely unaware of #multisampling and it’s power. Essentially what one does in multisampling is to take an instrument (physical or software VST), record or otherwise individual WAV files corresponding to individual notes or semitones (you can also have additional files for velocity, accessed via MIDI).
Multisampling software (like the Multisample algorithm in the Disting EX) will then play the individual notes accessed either by MIDI (i.e., keyboard presses), or by control voltage (the latter more relevant for Eurorack). A multisampled library played in this fashion is not unlike playing a rompler (for good examples, see the various (and excellent!) Audiokit synths available for iOS).
Why multisample?
There are many reasons why one might get into multisampling, depending on their gear and workflow. In my case, I wanted to add something interesting and melodic to my usual Eurorack workflow. Once one feeds the Disting EX with a multisample library, it can then play back the samples at Eurorack signal voltages making it accessible to all the other modules in my system via patching. Furthermore, there are a ton of useful configuration options available for the algorithm, and I’ll go into more detail on those in a later post.
Creating my first multisample library
I’m an OG fan of Blade Runner (still prefer the theatrical release – fight me!), and have always loved Vangelis’ soundtrack, much of which was performed on the legendary Yamaha CS80 synth. So yeah, I love the sound. Fortunately I own a license for the Arturia V collection , and it has a very nice software version of the CS80 (named, unsurprisingly, the CS80-V), so I decided to start with that. I’ll save the details on how to create a library like this for another post, but below you can hear the end result of the library I created and played through the Disting EX from a recent #ModularTransmission session.
Here the Disting EX Multisample algorithm was controlled mostly by the After Later Pachinko (a clone of Mutable Instruments Marbles), both in terms of tempo (T2) and pitch (X2). The X2 output of Pachinko was quantized using the After Later uO_C (Ornament & Crime) module (CopierMaschine algorithm). It’s a simple, evocative, and gradually evolving piece that nicely conveys the iconic characteristics of the CS80.
Later on we’ll delve deeper into using the above modules for more elaborate quantization options and ways to generate interesting melodies in the polyphonic realm.
A fun little piece that I whipped up on Koala Sampler using nothing but a few audio snippets from early 70s TV commercials (the very first thing you hear, in fact, is an absurdly stretched out sample of Joanne Worley laughing in a laundry detergent commercial). You would never know. The end result is a dive into ambiguous cosmic horror. Who (or what) is making the distress call? Who (or what) is encountering it? That’s up to the listener to fill in the blanks.
The dispassionate computer voice is wink to Alien and 2001, and all the other great scifi films in which cosmic terror is met with cold machine precision, offering absolutely no comfort to any accompanying humans (or the audience!).
This was my first stab at anything remotely narrative (some of my early Elektrodoom tracks had hidden narratives, but nothing overt).
‘Distress Call’ is now up to something like 200 plays now on SoundCloud, so I’ll probably do more of these since people seem to enjoy them.
BONUS QUIZ: Somewhere in there is a very brief sample from Blade Runner. Can you find it?
The Polyend Tracker Mini is a magical little device that’s forcing me to approach music in a different way. Typically it uses very short samples in an almost multisampling context, but here I’ve pushed it to use longer voice samples from my ever-growing library of 70s TV commercial snippets that I’m preparing for my hauntology project.
The ‘Uh huh!’/’Cool clean taste’ bit is from a 1971 Certs commercial, and it’s deliciously mangled using the PT Mini’s granular engine. ‘Purely For Pleasure’, believe it or not, is taken from a 1971 Butterfinger commercial! The laugh you hear was from a CB radio transmission I captured over the holidays. The broken melody is just a Euclidean sequence I used to fill out the bar.
Anyway, it’s a fun little track that is a harbinger of weirder stuff to come. Stay tuned, space cadets!
This is an interesting patch since I’m using self oscillation of the Bastl Ikarie as a primary voice, along with Mutable Instruments’ Beads. Further processing of the audio signal through Mutable Blinds, with the whole thing being orchestrated by ALM PNW and After Later Pachinko.
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