I’m currently in love with the Udo Super 6 and Roland System 8. I feel a strange urge to buy any synth with a ‘7’ in its name to sit between them.
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I’m full of great ideas. Over the years, a handful of companies have listened to them. 
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In a typical patch that I’m creating, I’ll almost always have the bottom row of macros set up to manage fx wet/dry’s, simply to bring them to a performance level so I can adjust the fx to sit in the mix while I’m playing/tracking. Occasionally I’ll group the Delay/Reverb wet/dry’s under a single macro so they’re easy to turn off (the Control Button is king here) if I’m planning to use different (vst) reverbs in my actual track (as in I design the patch with internal R/D to get an idea of what I want it to sound like, but know that I want to use a plugin that offers something else).
On the top row I will generally create more transitional/morphing style combo macros, or things that get me to sweet spots. Usually I’ll create one that does a combined filter cut-off and res adjustment that takes me to a pre-determined spot. Another that does some sort of destabilization (maybe messing with tuning, or wavestack depths). A macro that controls a few Mutator functions, and one that adjusts wave scanning. Basically I want to be able to crank them all and have a different but related patch, with lots of interesting things between the min/max settings.
If I’m creating a pluck or arp, I usually create a humanizer that send LFO’s to Env2’s Attack/Decay in the mod matrix with depth at zero, then a macro that micro-adjusts the MM lfo depths.
Nothing here is set in stone, I seem to find new uses for the macros all the time based on what kind of sound I’m creating, or how I want a sound to progress over time
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Great ideas here braken ! I will try splitting the Macros the way you suggest, and see how i like that.
Nothing is set in stone with Macros for sure, i find i am mucking with them often.
Your idea would work well with the Explorer ( i will abbrev with HSX ), with one page of Macros just the Effects Wet/Dry, and the other page the more patch specific controls.
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I stole the idea from the presets! Sometimes they split them as L/R columns, others are T/B rows, but the idea is the same.
I forgot two other concepts that I use fairly frequently.
If I want to adjust filter drive or distortion (in fx) over time, but I don’t want the volume boost, or I want less boost. In those cases I’ll create a macro that increases drive, but also decreases the patch volume. It’s a bit tricky to get right, but can be super useful in keeping levels in check.
Another ‘destabiliser’ style trick plays on the LFOs modulating LFOs concept. You set it up by sending LFO’s to other LFO rates w/Depth at zero in the MM, then create a Macro that adjusts those MM depths to you liking. I’m still playing with ways to use this one, but I’ve found that you can generate some pretty insane rhythmic modulations (aka chaos) depending on what you have those LFO’s pointed at, and how you fine tune the macros to modify each others depths.
edit: dammit, I keep mixing this thread up with the tips and tricks thread!
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It seems it’s ONE THREAD for everything.
Good idea to balance out the overdrive volume increases.
ADDED: Tips and Tricks Thread.
Things to put on your Deluxe Shelf:
So i’m thinking with the dual stereo outputs in MultiMode, something nice to put on “The Shelf” would be a dual stereo ( or more ) to 3-D ( quadraphonic ) processor of some sort. There are a few of them, that can move sound around in 3-D space. Then you could integrate control from either CV or MIDI CC coming from the HS Deluxe, and create quadraphonic patches on the Hydrasynth.
For more on 3-D immersive sound technology see this thread:
Anything else that makes sense on the Deluxe Shelf ? How would you use that with the HS Deluxe ?
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what the heck, the mutator is a randomizer right, you can actually set the macros to the randomizer???
I know earlier I think Jukka said something about the macros being save with a patch, but if you want them to be used globally can you do that, or would that be basically just creating a template patch?
Template patches are something i use. The “Init” patch if you look at it is pretty often a strange place to start.
Mutators are additional ways to change the oscillator operation. The basic mutators are:
- FM-Lin
- WavStack
- OSC Sync
- PW-Orig
- PW-Sqeez
- PW-ASM
- Harmonic
- PhazDiff
Look up in the manual for detail. There is all kinds of variety here.
ADDED: There are two Mutators with both Oscillator 1 and 2, so four Mutators total per patch, mix and match any of the above.
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I use the macro’s in pretty much the exact same way 
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requested LEDs button color change option on existing Hydras…
got a response…no can do, they don’t have multi color LEDs 
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requested the ability to customize colors on the pads, which DO have multi color LEDs in them…
*as showcased upon powering on.
@phaelam if you’re feeling adventurous, I would think you could open it up and put a piece of colored plastic behind the button faces. I dimmed my Digitakt buttons this way, and it seems like it would work on the HS buttons too. Just a thought…
** if your insane you could swap the existing leds and solder in your favorite colors.*
Daniel Fisher must really like the Explorer. Even more than the Deluxe. I mean, this vid is almost an hour - quite a bit longer than his Deluxe vid.
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Fisher gives a great show here really playing the HSX. It’s great to see a product demo that is a real performance.
Notice @captain8 that having only four Master Controls is almost no impediment. Fisher has clearly practiced on an HSK, and it’s good to see that the skills transfer over so well. Notice how he plays the Macros, but also how frequently he goes directly to control modules through the access given with the Module Select buttons. ( That’s why you don’t necessarily need to devote a Macro to a single control. )
Another thing occurs to me about the HSX from this upclose performance. It being so small means you can have both hands on the keys, and still reach a finger to twist a knob, or slide on the Modwheel sliders, or quickly press a button, on this minisynth. It’s not always possible on the larger siblings. Plus your stretch on the keys is farther.
Another very simple performance thing he shows, using the patch select knob to cut off the sound quickly. A good use for a feature, sometimes complained about.
He uses the arp and filters together well, while using the octave switch buttons. The range of the keyboard ( the number of keys ) is only a small limitation, with these controls so accessible. He definitely uses the set controls for the filters and arp well.
Notice how his hands roll as he uses the poly-aftertouch. He explores lots of the presets here. Notice also some of the bass patches.
It’s hard to resist. I had thought as an HSK user that i wouldn’t be interested in the HSX, but no. I definitely see how this fits. I would have to learn a new count with multiple presses on module buttons to get to a set of parameters, but that won’t be too difficult. There is a real appeal to having a common engine in all four HSes. And if you have another HS, that allows you to use the HSX for 16 voices using Overflow, if you’d like.
( I want keyboard split on the HSK, to use the HSX for bi-timbrality, without a MIDI filter. )
Plus using the HSX as an MPE controller with all the MPE soft synths will also a huge appeal for a lot of customers.
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man I would love to see Dorian Concept demo one!
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Reminds me of the APC40 thread on the Ableton forum, years ago. It got hilarious…60 pages of posts. Sadly a lot of the images have disappeared along with the image hosting companies.
https://forum.ableton.com/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=116396&start=870
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Daniel Fisher has a credit at the start of the Hydrasynth manual for sound design. He knows the thing inside out.
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the choices we have these days are phenomenal…
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Around 19:36 into the Explorer video, Daniel Fisher uses the octave up button.
His right hand solo jumps up an octave. The note he’s holding with his left hand, however doesn’t seem to change octaves. I don’t think the Explorer has keyboard splits so I guess it’s just clever patch programming.