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How do YOU store/remember your analog synth patches?
I had a Pro-1 that I barely ever used. This week I saw a cheap Neutron on ebay and was thinking of replacing the Pro-1 with it. Of course this led to me finally really working with the Pro-1 and of course I fell in love with the hard sync sounds it can produce and the long envelopes (I heard neutron only has <3sec envelopes) and now I'd love to keep them both. Which leads to the problem of how best to store the patches.
How do you store your hardware patches? Do you take photos, do you create sheets and print them out and take notes by hand?
I saw an app called Recall Sheets and it would be absolutely perfect for storing patch ideas on the ipad, but it only has the template for the Neutron. (and has a subscription model, meh...) Would be an absolute dream if there was an AUv3 plugin similar to that app so you could save presets directly within a project...
Comments
hmm, yeah I might just end up photoshopping some recall sheets like from that pretty recall app and collecting them in a folder... but I liked the idea of having an app to collect and organize them
Photos. Quickly done and not restricted to specific synths. Tip: Use differently coloured patch cables.
and use a flash strong enough to light up those black switches on black background on the Pro1 in my dimly lit music corner
no you can't store/recall patches on the synth im afraid
Yes exactly, if such an app was available as AUv3 I would be able to save the synth patch directly within the project, so least chance of getting lost... (just like SessionNoteAU lets you add text notes to a project)
Yes it has a pro version that allows for more patches to be saved and enables print/export. not sure how many patches the free version allows for... Sadly it doesn't have a Pro-1 or Crave template
I take pics as well but after I’ve used a hardware synth for so long I just kind of remember how to get the sounds I want from it and don’t really need to take pics as often unless I stumble across something real bizarre
Photos as well, with the understanding that it’ll likely never be recreated 100% accurately sadly. Honestly it’s one reason I haven’t gotten more into modular stuff yet, I bounce around ideas too much to tie up that much synth with one idea.
This does represent a serious shortcoming of physical synths which predate digital patch saving options.
I had to really discipline myself when getting into modular cos I wanted it to do anything and everything. I finally settled with just building something that has a lot of the functions of an Easel and then stopped cos I can do so much with mirack
Yep, photos, maybe with some accompanying text notes if needed.
MS-20/MS-20 Mini owners at least have iMS-20. Some people have argued that the app doesn't sound exactly the same but it's pretty handy to have an app that not only saves the a picture of your patch, but also plays the sound back on your IOS device.
Well, I guess Model D and Model 15 owners also enjoy similar convenience with apps that match their hardware, within reasonable expectations.
They have an app called Patch Modes I think it’s called that is designed for that, doesn’t have every synth but lots. You can also find blank “whatever synth” patch templates free on the internet. It’s a black and white image, probably pdf, of the synth where you can draw in the lines of knobs, sliders, etc, or write in the amounts. They have lots of patch books out there with presets done this way. In the couple times I searched for them I found what I was looking for. Ie Moog Model D patch Blank template, found this immediately.
I prefer not to trust this stuff to apps that might disappear. I use paper, or snap a pic with my phone. Or make a PDF book of blank templates and mark them up on the iPad
the model D template I also found immediately, finding a crave template does not seem so easy
If the synth is CV controlled via a sequencer then the sequencer that is doing the modulation
could quite feasibly keep quite a few of the settings other than the inbuilt potentiometers
on the synth itself.
This is something I'm going to experimenting with quite soon
other than that due to the nature of real analog synths,
pen and paper is the way forward.
hmm, with the pro-1 for example, very few parameters are accessible by CV
(and me personally I don't have a sequencer other than midi from the ipad)
Is this the Pro-1 from Behringer?
It has quite an extensive Cv patchbay on top and though it doesn't
detail it in the manual, it does have some midi which
should be enough to get back to a starting point sound that you like
and then a thought occurred to me.
Why not take a photo of the synth showing all of the positions of the knobs
yes that's definitely the easiest option
yes it has a patch bay, I just don't find it to be very extensive :P and you'd still have to write down which waveforms you used, all the switches' positions, mod matrix, etc...
does a "proper" manual exist for the pro-1? I can only find the quick start guide and a .doc file that is broken on behringer's website
Would definitely be interesting to see what midi commands it can accept. I heard it also gives out the envelope knobs as midi CCs... (the envelopes are emulated digitally, that's probably why only those are given out)
I see what you're saying, I only glanced at the amount of CV inputs/outputs.
I found one.
Just one moment...
As well as the "Quick guide" I also came across this which maybe useful
https://www.sunnysynths.com/_files/ugd/48bb89_0fb82176ba0949a0abd37200d7f219ea.pdf?index=true
The main website is www.sunnysynths.com where
they have Patch Mappers/Savers and Full Editors/Librarians.
Myself also.
I'm now intrigued.
hehe when I found that manual a few days ago it made me run to the synth to check if it really had those extra CV ports on the back side that you see in their software. No idea what that's about, they simply do not exist... also, this software makes it seem like you can set some parameters of the pro-1 via sysex message, but isn't everything but the envelope pods entirely analogue? what are these global settings they mention?
Oh dear...your hopes must've been dashed in an instant.
Hhhmmm..thinking about it, maybe those are
the parameters that can be accessed via midi.
Have you tried sending it standard midi cc's?
I have no idea.
I'm learning about the Pro-1 right now.
Thought about getting one as well and hack the electronics to make it a U-he REPRO-1/5 controller. Would solve the preset and polyphony issue too.
But it's a lot of work so I'm hesitating...
no I haven't played around with its midi capabilities yet, other than playing it with a keyboard or app sequencer. if it really does send out the envelope knobs as CC then you could probably easily see what CC it sends and send the same CC# back.
All the extra ports seem to be related to the sequencer. maybe you can buy a eurorack extension panel or something...
@rs2000 have you seen this thing: https://sound-force.nl/?page_id=2775
edit: dang, seems like that one's out of stock, but they have a bunch of others
wouldn't modding the pro-1 into a midi controller mean gutting it entirely and basically only using the casing? maybe you can find a cheap defective one on ebay...
Before I get something like the Pro-1 I'm going
to get something a little bit simpler and hack that one. 😏
The Volca series seems interesting, the lower cost Behringer series
can be modded but not really extensively and
I've come across a few other low cost possibilities
such as the MiniMo synth series, Patchblocks (though discontinued)
and a U.K. based DIY synth company called Rakit.
They have a DIY Metal synth kit which can be CV controlled
and also be used as a standalone Polyvoks filter.
historically I’ve never really bothered writing down or photographing patches (especially before digital cameras), I’d mostly get back to where it was just by knowing what I’m doing
lately last year I was using my Behringer Cat for stuff on my song remake projects into Dobly Atmos spatial on LPX, and tried photographing the control panel with my iPhone, same with the old ARP 2600, didn’t bother with the Roland SH-09 though (it’s usually only a bass patch I can get straight back to almost in my sleep), but to be frank, I didn’t ever look at those photos once I’d taken them so after some months I just stopped taking them
getting back to a sound isn’t difficult, you know roughly what it takes to get that sort of sound by listening to it, what was required, what modulates what etc, then the rest is fine tuning or not having the vco waveforms mixed in proportions properly, and really with the Cat, almost any slight movement of the pots in a cross-modulation patch (which most of mine were) just sends it wildly off in other directions anyway, so following a photo would’ve got me nowhere, I just have to manually rebuild and twiddle it again until it’s there (ish) and then leave the bugger alone while I get it down on tape (well, a Logic Pro X recording)
Generally I don’t 🙀
what's the lower cost behringer series to you? the TD-3? I was looking at that one too but went for the volca bass over the TD3 because it has 3 oscillators and now I'm very happy with that decision. the crave is also fun!
ohh exciting, DIY solder projects are so much fun! that little 8 step sequencer might also come in handy, especially with the neutron's slew rate limiter it might make for some cool modulations
I’m umming and arrring at the moment.
That’s a good point in regards to the Korg Volca bass.
Yeah, they have a few DIY projects.
The Atari synth appeals to me simply because of it’s name.
I have left my modular running all night and the patch sounds completely different the next day. The more interesting your patch, the less replicable it is. Be here now; always be recording; play it different every time.
Wise words, definitely. Should print that out and put it over the doorframe of the studio. I’ve been doing the Sam Harris meditation course over the last month and the app gives you a little chunk of wisdom each day and this here is right on topic