I own both. They’re very different voices, imho. Atlantis is exactly what you expect it to be with very clear boundaries and constraints that make it easy to follow and use. Cascadia has completely different VCO’s and everything else about it’s architecture leads to results that can go places the Atlantis couldn’t possibly go. Yes, you could get something out of Cascadia that sounds like Atlantis, but then you can keep going and end up in places very, very far away from that.
With regards to Cascadia being polite, there’s 2-3 places in the signal path you can drive things in very impolite ways and that’s in addition to the wavefolding, so no worries there. If you listen to the first Mylar Melodies demo he’s got a few examples that show Cascadia getting quite gritty. I’ll link to the nastiest example.
Sequencer is quite fun… I wonder almost if there could be a way to scroll through the notes with the fall slider, like if you put the rise all the way down and moved fall up if it would always play the last note in the sequence and then you could use the gate button to trigger in new generative notes to more or less selectively edit out a notes you didn’t like vs just trying to time it with the sequencer in motion and the shape slider. I suppose this sort of sequencer is more so generative sample fodder for me so maybe its not needed.
my understanding from using it is its at least semirandom, not sure if there is an order or method it uses to generate new notes. When Shape slider is turned up it will have a higher % chance of grabbing a new note, so you can basically move the slider to max when you want to catch a new note and have the sequencer on a slower setting to more accurately catch the notes you want changed… its kind of odd but fun… like I said above I see it more so as something to just happen on something to sample and perhaps use the sample as some inspiration for a more detailed song. Maybe there will be a demo showing some workflow tips with it.
The name Entropic Sequence Generator sort of implies that the sequence will be random/disordered to some degree.
I’ve had the Cascadia on my list under the heading of things to buy when they are about to be discontinued, but this update may bump it up to must buy before end of 2024.
I should add, it’s not quantized, it’s a random voltage sequencer, similar to the Turing Machine (from Music Thing).
Cascadia was truly designed to be sequenced and played externally, but for techno, this can be a great lil’ atonal sequencer (attenuate!). For a lot of other things, this makes a better random modulation source for modulation which is where the normals from Env B end up.
fun fact! This was actually a pre-release alternative mode for Quadrax that we dropped (for the LFV) because it didn’t fit the overall vibe of that module, I was happy to drop it in here, i think it’s really fun
Why not just press a button for notes mode and use the slider to choose a note? When I was working with artisan on the same thing that is how we did it.
I get that a lot of engineers feel they built a synthesiser and if we want a sequencer then get that, but I promise you, after the point synth’s got small enough to carry them people see them as their instrument… they want to be able to play them… hooking up other boxes is not the same.
Anyway this will do i guess, great job on adding what many wanted. Would make for interesting times.
I find it great for when you definitely want a four to eight-step thing that gives some noticeable consistency to the filter (or other element) that just kind of moves on by itself at a rate you specify. So many happy accidents.
I’m using the people’s sequencer the SQ-1 for quantised notes
I should just say that as good as I find the entropic sequencer, the new Dual Mono mode is gorgeous for any fan of paraphony. Cascadia is sitting a few feet from a Sub 37 CV and this update has made it a completely amazing semi-modular version of that to me. Both have great drive circuits. Both have multi-pole low-pass filters. But suddenly I’ve got a wavefolder, TZFM and ring mod, and the modulation is far, far deeper — but it can still be played expressively by a keyboard player.
I mean, it was amazing before, but the sheer care it’s getting from Intellijel makes it a very special instrument indeed.
Having bought a cheap Memory Boy Deluxe to wire into the effects loop, I’d say this: I thought perhaps the same as you, but after having used with an external pedal, I wouldn’t now want that. Because what is there is far more special and flexible than some one-use end-of-chain in-box unit. I didn’t think I’d be using the external effects loop, but I’m happy to have been proven wrong. I only have three things I can use with it, two distortion pedals and that delay, but it’s a force multiplier for cheap outboard gear you may already own.
For example, patching the delay tails back into the filter as audio modulation of the filter — these are possibilities that only arise because of this unique design.
If you could go into anymore detail about the dual mono mode I would love it… the update now are pretty sparse on details and I don’t have one. Did it work on two different midi channels? Where can you send the midi info? Just the oscillators or other stuff?
There’s only one tiny issue that I have with it (that I already sent to support@) and that’s that when you’re using the same MIDI channel, you effectively have two copies of the same gate coming through both the MIDI GATE and the MIDI MOD jacks — I’d like to get the MIDI MOD jack back at that point for use with the mod wheel or aftertouch.
Perhaps I’m behind the times, but I’d much rather have an option for external FX (which is trivial with a modular system even if it doesn’t have an explicit FX system like Cascadia does) than FX from most Eurorack focused makers.
Generally I’d have liked it to have the second pitch on CC, velocity on mod, and gate on the trig like the midi 1U modes do so that you can get two velocities. Or for paraphony specifically it would have been nice to get the second pitch on the midi LFO output or something so that mod wheel and aftertouch can still be used
But agreed that the paraphonic mode works really well!
Are there any videos out there that show how to use these features? I read the manual and I can’t for the life of me get these to work/know how it works?
