Hydrasynth from ASM

The Lounge Other Gear
#2427

Thats Step One. That allows the HS to receive the Channel Aftertouch messages in the separate MPE channels and connect that up to almost all patches.

Step Two :
You can also handle other MPE controls that get sent. In the Mod-Matrix are the Modulation sources MPE-X, MPE-Yabs, MPE-Yrel. There is also Note Velocity OFF, which i am pretty sure is available in MPE form.

MPE-X is MIDI pitch bend ( En ) in the separate MPE channels. This is 14 bit data.

MPE-Y is MIDI CC #74 again in the separate MPE channels. The abs one is treat as 0 to 127, the rel one is treated as -63 to 64.

Note Velocity OFF is MIDI message ( 8n ). I think it is a dimension available in some MPE streams.

You need to be aware of what MPE data your controller generates. I think the Linnstrument can do all the above, but that is just my half informed opinion. I don’t know about Velocity OFF.

I am off-hand not aware off any pre-made patches with these MPE hooks already in place. Maybe there are some out in the Vast HS Patch Universe.

But more likely you make your own. You can go from scratch, but i’d recommend modding existing patches you already like, it should be pretty easy.

What i would do is look through the Macros for your favorite patches, and find Macros that would be good to modulate with either X or Y. Then use the destinations those Macros affect, and add them to the Mod-Matrix for the MPE-X and MPE-Y controls.

NOTE : The MPE X and Y are only received by the HS, you can’t generate those messages. Note Velocity OFF can only be generated by the new HSs, the Explorer and the Deluxe.

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#2428

I bought the desktop version instead of the keyed version of the HS because I had planned to buy an MPE controller for use with it (and Cobalt8). The Linnstrument has PolyAT, plus other “dimensional” expressiveness, so I wanted to go that route.

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#2429

This is truly excellent detailed advice, exactly what I was hoping for! Thank you so much. Elektronauts is such versatile, helpful, useful, and fun place to hang out.

For anyone else interested in the use of the Linnstrument (or maybe any MPE controller) with the Hydrasynth, here is a pretty long thread over at KVR: https://www.kvraudio.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=263&t=538346&sid=48ab41c71416c02bed9b6bd9048a33c7

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#2430

yup. if set to auto, when you stop your external device, the HS reverts to it’s internal clock.
it gives some great dub style effects when this happens…

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#2431

Great idea HiGrade1 to use this as a feature.

Clock settings are a good thing to remember when trying to fix mysterious behavior. It’s been the culprit more than a few times, in this and the Tips and Tricks thread.

Like – Why is the arpeggiator not running ?

#2432

If you are considering options, i put together a list of MPE controllers.

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#2433

Thanks for putting the list of MPE controllers together. I had been waiting to see if Roli were going to come back to life and bring back the Seaboard. I had a block, but the battery in it died, and wouldn’t hold a charge, even when plugged in. Bluetooth Midi was also super sketchy. I can’t afford a continuum, and not sure I want one anyway. I have doubts about the playability of the Linnstrument, but it seems really well thought out, and you gotta give serious credit to Roger Linn for his support of it. I was browsing the Linnstrument forum on KVR on Thanksgiving (yup, I was), and lo and behold, there is Roger Linn, spending part of his Thanksgiving helping some new purchaser with questions about chords and scales.

I really think MPE is boss, and it is hard to understand why it hasn’t taken off. The options are pretty limited, and even a number of “MPE” controllers on the list you’ve created don’t really utilize anywhere near the full potential of the extended MPE Midi spec. I wish there were more options.

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MPE Synth/Controller options
#2434

Actually mine was set to USB and it also gave this issue so for me nothing to do with USB/MIDI or AUTO clock…

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#2435

Small Observation : It’s nice that the Theremin can quantize to Microtonal scales.

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#2436

The Deluxe allows you to layer two separate Hydrasynth patches overtop of each other.

As an alternative to that here’s two examples with Sun God RA layering a Hydrasynth Explorer, with an older lo-fi sampler, the AKAI S612.

This first example uses a vibe sound from the S612, with a vocal patch on the Explorer. ( These are both short videos. )

This second example uses some icy samples from the Explorer, combined with a bass played by the Explorer.

This is a way to do interesting layered sounds with the Explorer, without the expense of the Deluxe.

Again notice how well the Explorer fits physically with this synth.

Obviously layering with other synths ( non-sampling ones ) is possible too. There is also a real opportunity, to use a small amount of MIDI processing, between them as well – for instance inverting the velocity, and / or thresholding and such. There are ways to do splits too. ( ADDED : More on this later. ) Also applying output MIDI modulations and Macro control from the HS, and per note aftertouch, adds options too.

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#2437

Hi all, I’ve learned and discovered a lot through this thread. So I just wanted to share a link to a patch library I found on youtube the other day that I’m really digging. I tried searching in this thread to see if anyone had posted it yet, but nothing came up. Also, I thought I remembered seeing a post on this thread (from jukka maybe?) that was compiling a list of new patch libraries/sound banks, but I couldn’t find that either. I might just have bad thread-searching skills, lol. So apologies if this has already been posted.
Here’s a link to the demo video. The link to the patches are in the description beneath the video. There is a Part Two video on his youtube page where he demos the rest of the presets. I’ve played a lot of the different patch libraries that are available online and there are some really good ones (the 300 preset Ultimate Patches collection is excellent if you’re looking for recreations of other synths/sounds), but I’m posting this one cause it’s pretty unique. Really creative use of the Macros, Mod wheel, Poly Aftertouch and Ribbon. A couple individual presets were worth the price alone for me (the strings at 1:27, for instance).

2 Likes
#2438

How does everyone feel about the Hydrasynth’s PWM? I’ve played the keyboard version twice now but every time I try to make some Juno-style PWM keys, it sounds a little off to me.

I’m told I should try using the PhazDiff mutant with a saw wave.

#2439

I actually just compared the pwm using phazdiff with the Juno-106 emulation on my System-8 and it could come pretty close. You just have to make sure that the duty cycle range matches. Not sure about the exact settings anymore, but I think you get better results by using an LFO unipolar to the depth of the phazzdiff

1 Like
#2440

Did we have this video already? Sensel Morph controlling a Hydrasynth Desktop.

It’s like „listening“ to an abstract painting. How the hell does she get all those tones out of it at the same time?

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Waldorf M
#2441

Appareciate that, I’ll try it out.

By the way, was I hearing things, or would you agree that the Hydrasynth’s PWM-Orig setting is interesting but not quite the classic Roland PWM sound?

#2442

I’ve watched a couple of her videos. Pretty cool in a westy-Buchla-style sort of way. I thought about setting up something like this, but since I build modulars of this sound-aesthetic anyway, I figured it would be redundant.

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#2443

But I think it’s pretty impressive what the Hydrasynth is capable off in the right hands. Modular in a box.

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#2444

That’s right. For classic PWM use the phasediff

#2445

I don’t think so. Sarah Belle Reid has been working on using the Morph with HS for a while. I posted an earlier video of hers using the same Buchla Thunder overlay with the two. Your video link is later and you can see the progress. She knows both parts of this pair really well.

A small part of the trick for getting such a range of sounds is using the extra MPE parameters in the Sensel Morph interface, beyond those available from the HS key or pad interface. Best to apply those parameters to the per voice factors that you can vary. Sensel developed a series of MPE interfaces for various synths including the HS. I posted about that earlier in the Tips and Tricks thread.

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#2446

This is happening to me as well, luckily it is a minor inconvenience.