The Hydrasynth is like a box of chocolates. You never know what you’re gonna get.
Not only are there various things that might happen over time when you hold a note, or you apply p-at, or with the Mod Wheel, but you have all eight of the Macros, and those all interact with each other.
Fun thing to do with any patch : Randomize the Arpeggiator
Here are some other easy mods to do on patches, listed at random :
Do things like switching around how the ribbon works and what it mods.
Add mods to the Mod-Matrix with the Mod Source being Keytrack.
Use Random on one little thing, like Mutant 3, or Filter 1.
Filter 1 changes are always good, drop it into a Vocal Formant as for instance.
Use the percentage Randomizer on one specific area on any patch, maybe like 20% on the Mutants.
Add external audio from lets say a looping sample, and play with that input.
Change the waves in the Wavetables, in patches that use a wavetable.
Muck with Oscillator 3, it is often an extra part of a patch, and a small tweak there can bring interesting changes.
Figure out how to use VoiceMod. This feature was added later and typically is not in early patches. This is a way to add per voice variation, from subtle to dramatic, to a patch.
Redoing Mixes and Pans and recofiguring Filter Structure ( Parallel ↔ Serial ) is an easy way to do what may seem a neutral change to a patch that can make dramatic differences.
Pay close attention to the mixer and filter configuration options. This feature’s power isn’t always apparent to early HS users.
A lot of people miss that the scale and key selection for the ribbon controller ( in Theremin mode ) are independent from the voice scale and key settings. This gives an option for bitonalities.
Also fun is using some voice Scale and Key, with the arpegiator and treating what you munge onto the keyboard for the arp more as a shape, than notes, with spread, density, amount, and order of notes being what you you paint with. Try the Phrase mode with this too.
ADDED : Arpeggiator Length, Phrase, and Offset all affect what gets played with the Arp Phrase. Length and Phrase are both Destinations for the Mod-Matrix.
These are great suggestions, some of which I still need to try!
One more thing that I would suggest: get the Jexus’ and Steplowski’s HS patches. Excellent showcases for the less obvious sound design options often flying in the face of what is considered the “typical ASM sound.”
I don’t think ASM would ever approve a firmware decompile, plus it is probably inearly impossissibleble on proprietary DSP hardware.
But i really wouldn’t mind a reverse engineering on the patch file format. I’ve dug far enough to see it is some sort of XML format, and could be decoded if someone had enough coffee and pizza.
ASM should open source tools for the patch files, as well as stuff with NRPN control, though the NRPN stuff would be easy for automated code generation.
Has there been any hint of this happening? I love my Hydrasynth so much, I’d be fascinated to see what a mk2 could bring. The only limitation I sometimes run into is that I’d like OSC3 to have the same parameters and mutators as 1 and 2.
I thought perhaps Leviasynth was them moving on from Hydrasynth, but on paper it seems very different, and I’m sure there’s more to do within the Hydrasynth paradigm of wavescanning and mutators.
I’ve seen so little buzz online about the Leviasynth (compared to the ubiquitous buzz that surrounded the Hydrasynth) so I wonder if sales have been slow.
I think it’s just expensive, but each time I’ve been able to try one (Sweetwater and Knobcon), I get why the price is what it is. It looks, feels, and sounds like a flagship synth. Most of the new gear that we’re seeing on social pages appears to be in the $1,000 range or thereabouts.
On topic - LOVE my Hydrasynth Explorer. (Team orange!)
No. ASM has a strict policy of not talking about future development until they have something to ship. ( The Leviasynth leak being unintended and down-played. )
Yes and no. The core synthesis engines are completely different, but the control and things around that engine are very similar. ( Ask if you don’t see it. ) An experienced user of the HS immediarely has familiarity with the LS interface. ( The effects engine is a carbon copy as for instance. ) Don’t forget the company’s internal early protoypes of the failed and canceled first LS system were augmented and modified from the Deluxe.
I don’t think the LS was ever set to replace the HS. But you can see a pathway laid down for a hardware upgrade to the HS, the larger color main touch screen, the touch sensitive control knobs, etc. You could drop this, along with the improved keybed, into a HS 2. Don’t forget the HSK has been a generation back without the MIDI Key Off Velocity capability.
… for the LS.
Different cost structure, so you don’t expect the same sales volumes. It’s only my perspective on this, but i think ASM is satisfied with the LS sales volume so far.
So my talk of a hardware HS 2 is just me talking. But i think the signs of this eventually happening are as clear as ASM will allow them to be.
Not common, definitely contact your seller, and optionally ASM. Sorry to hear this.
Is it like jumpy, or not responding ?
The only thing i can say that i’ve experienced that’s similar, is difficulty dialing in very small changes, like going from 1 to 0 and having it jump to -1. That’s annoying but not broken.
I assume you’ve experienced a broken encoder before. It might bounce up and down when you are turning it in one direction, or simply not respond at all. Basically you really can’t use it.
There is a calibration function though i don’t recall specifically if it has anything to do with the encoders, its been quite a while since I’ve run it. Might be worth looking into. @Jukka you never fail to inspire in either hydrasynth thread. I’ve had my hsk for years and it seems like every time i look in here you have multiple suggestions that have never occured to me. Thanks!
The calibrations for the HS Page 10 of the System Setup pages are for the Ribbon and Wheels, that’s not going to help, i don’t think.
Page 10 of SS, the Self Test, i think is just a LED test, and maybe some other small tests. I don’t think that helps.
But something to mess with is Page 2 of SS. That allows you to change the Knob Speed, and Knob Mode for pickup. I don’t know the factory default for these but it is worth playing with these, particularly the speed, and see if that is more to your liking. I set mine, along with the keyboard and pedal characteristics ages ago, so i don’t even think about them. ( I do know they get blasted by a Factory Reset though. )
