Hydrasynth from ASM

The Lounge Other Gear
#1410

Does anyone know if it’s possible to have a step LFO, such that it continues playing in phase while playing an arp? A bit like how “Trig Sync: Off” works, except it would restart the phase of the LFO when the first note of the LFO plays - right now it’s usually out of sync. If I set it to “Trig Sync: Poly” or “Single”, I only hear the first part of the step sequence repeated, as the LFO restarts for each arp note.

I love the step LFO and I love the arp, it’s a shame I can’t get them to play well together!

This thing is great though and any issues I have are minor nitpicks (that most synths have nothing like the depth required to even replicate the “issue”), I’m definitely starting to feel more at home with it. Once you get used to the layout programming is pretty simple given the power available. Had a jam just now with using the HS arp to trigger my 0-coast, then the audio coming back in and being processed by the HS (using the Mod In, Ring Mod src = Mod In, 0 RM depth trick) and it got really crazy even without any HS generated sounds :exploding_head:

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#1411

Great idea !

That sort of configuration adds just one more “modular” sort of piece with the HS.

I don’t know about syncing the LFOs with the arp. There are occasionally a few of those bumps around the edges trying to integrate various parts. Perhaps this is something ASM could address, or maybe there is a way already.

I totally agree, my complaints are in the nit pick category too occasionally when i try to push the envelope.

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#1412

Yeah I really like this aspect, the HS not only covers a lot of modular-style ground itself, but can actually integrate with any existing modular-ish stuff to fill in for a lot of things you’d otherwise need a rack of modules for! I just sometimes feel “bad” that I’m using it to make weird modular sounds rather than lovely expressive sounds but as long as I’m having fun, I’m happy :joy:

Yeah, I’ll send them an email. I emailed them once before asking about something (can’t remember what) and got a brief but accurate reply, haha, so they definitely read them.

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#1413

Definitely CC us here with their response, it would be a useful sort of feature.

2 Likes
#1414

This was their response

“This is not currently possible. As for feature requests. I have noted it. We do not comment further.”

They keep their cards close to their chest, haha

3 Likes
#1415

… like all good poker players. But there’s a bit off a tell there too. Sounds like they already knew about this, and that there is something there for which they’re not commenting about. They could have said a lot less than, “I have noted it.”

They did report back quickly, that’s good to see.

There is a culture to this, ASM and Glen has been very consistent about not talking about anything future. But even then it’s been clear they are working on things. Other companies are more “chatty”, i think of Rolf with Waldorf. And others go even further than that.

Thank you tdmusuc for the report.

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#1416

Heh yes indeed, I like your analysis! I quite like their approach (Elektron’s is quite similar I guess) - they don’t get hopes up for things that might not end up happening (or be delayed), and when you do get a great update it’s a nice surprise. Though I do also like the chatty approach, it’s nice to be able to engage with a dialog with these creators!

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#1417

I really hope they will add fixed time glide though… that’s the only thing that bugs me. Currently glide isn’t satisfying in many cases, especially when you have a melody with notes both close and far to each other.

2 Likes
#1418

Send an email to support@ashunsoundmachines.com with your request if you’ve not already, can’t hurt to register it :slight_smile:

1 Like
#1419

There’s no way to control the effect send amount, right? Just the dry/wet? I find the former more useful for modulating etc… on the Peak it’s available but hidden in a menu so thought I’d check I hadn’t missed it

#1420

Another niche “nit pick” one :slight_smile: Has anyone found a quick way to randomize all steps (but just the steps) of a step LFO?

The solutions I’ve found are either randomize the whole LFO then switch it back to step mode (and undo any other weird stuff the random has done), or randomize each step individually (go into Step Edit and press Random + step button). Would be col to just randomize the steps all in one go, I love the Step LFOs!

(While looking into the above, I only just realised that you can specify what percentage randomization should be applied to each section of the synth, super cool!)

#1421

I think this has to do with the architecture difference between Peak and HS. Wet/Dry is effectively the same as a send amount on the HS. You only have one effect applied at a time both at the pre and post points to the delay and reverb section, as opposed to the send to the parallel or path FX method in the Peak. Also the HS stays entirely digital, as opposed to the bouncing analog to digital to analog on the Peak, where the return mix happens in analog.

I don’t have a Peak so this answer is partly surmise on my part but i’m pretty sure. Anyone else have any ideas about this ?

#1422

I guess the effect I’m interested in achieving is, for example, if you have a delay set up as a send effect, you could have “wet/dry” at say 50% and “send” at 0%, then if you increase “send” momentarily then decrease it again, that “snippet” of sound is captured in the delay and you hear it echo out, like it would on e.g. the Digit* boxes.

On the HS, “wet/dry” fades in/out the delayed signal, but it’s always being sent to it… so if you modulate wet/dry, you hear the delay repeats themselves fading in and out, rather than the amount of signal being sent to the delay modulating. In my example above, you’d hear the delay repeats fade in momentarily then fade out, you wouldn’t hear that “snippet” echo out. I think the latter is a much nicer sound usually.

Like you say, it’s probably somewhat an architectural thing, the effects are insert rather than send… thought you could still have control over how much signal is being input into the effect even with an insert configuration, I think?

Also, it’s not a big deal at all of course, just something I was curious about as I wanted to try to achieve that effect and couldn’t!

3 Likes
#1423

So in keeping with my theory that you can do anything on this synth if you try hard enough :joy: I figured out a workaround for this. It’s slightly fiddly but not too bad really, especially if you save the setup to a preset.

It relies on using the ribbon to trigger a silent (or audible, if you choose!) drone note, which for whatever reason causes the step LFO to be synced to the arp, rather than restarting every note (in Single trig sync mode) or being out of phase (in Off trig sync mode). I can’t honestly remember what clues led me to work this out haha, but if you want to give it a go:

  1. From an init patch, set up an LFO with wave: step, BPM sync: on, rate 1/16 and dial in some steps. For testing I was using a 4 step pattern, ascending like a staircase, because its easy to hear.

  2. Route the LFO to something - again for testing, I put the filter cutoff right down then routed the LFO’s positive modulation to cutoff, as it’s clearly audible. Hold down a note and note how the step affects the cutoff in a synced way (currently in Poly trig sync mode)

  3. Turn on the arp and observe how you only ever hear the first step of the LFO - it resets the phase on every new arp note. If you set trig sync: off, you hear the whole step pattern, but there’s a high chance it’ll be out of phase so you hear the cutoff change mid-note for example.

  4. Now the trick: set trig sync to single, then go to Voice setup and set Vib Amt to 0 (so the mod wheel won’t add vibrato). Now go to ribbon settings and set mode: theremin. Observe that now if you hold down (or latch) a chord, then touch the ribbon, the step is in time with the arp! The time at which you touch the ribbon seems to set the “start phase”, but it quantizes to the next arp note. If you set the mod wheel to full, the theremin note becomes silent.

  5. Now you can set arp latch on, then play a chord, then turn ribbon hold: on and play a note on the ribbon, and it’ll keep playing with the LFO in sync until you turn off either arp latch or ribbon hold - you can change chords freely etc. You can turn ribbon hold off and on again then tap the ribbon to restart the LFO at a different “phase”.

Note that doing this the other way round (ribbon hold, then arp latch) doesn’t make it synced. Also if you setup another step LFO I think you need to restart the note to keep it synced.

Have a go, it’s really fun to create evolving step based patterns, while having the power of the arpeggiator available too :rocket:

4 Likes
#1424

I recently got an A4MkII to sit alongside my Hydrasynth and I thought it would be pretty cool to sequence the Hydrasynth using CV.

My current attempt has my going Pitch v/oct out of A4MkII CV-A and Gate out of CV-B into the two Mid Inputs of the Hydrasynth. I can route ModIn1 to AllOSC Pitch with the Mod Matrix and if I trigger a note on the desktop pad, it will track the little sequence i put on the CV channel of the A4. But it won’t trigger when I start the sequence on its own.

What am I missing? Does anyone have experience with this?

Thanks in advance!

#1426

But you can set Mod 1/2 as a trigger source in the envelopes. That’s how you use it as a gate.

3 Likes
#1427

Right, and I’m doing that. Still it’s not triggering when the A4 sends the gate.

#1428

Do you have to put a Trig on the A4 sequencer?

#1429

I did. I set up a little sequence on the CV track of the A4.

#1430

I don’t know what format the gates are on the A4, but it might be worth looking up, and then seeing if they correspond with the Hydrasynth CV settings on page 9.

1 Like