Syntakt Science Lab

@Nils any plans to extend this great initiative to other machines? :slightly_smiling_face:

Having dedicated thread per machine we can start even several challenges in parallel

PS
I am still tend to one machine per thread :slightly_smiling_face:

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@igors48 For sure there will be more SSLs :sunglasses: I think it’s fine to run parallell labs, but maybe not more than two at a time? Might be a bit confusing for newcomers to get a grip of if there’s a jungle of ongoing labs.

That said, I guess we don’t have to Ā«closeĀ» a science lab thread, ever. It’s not a contest after all, and I don’t see any harm in coming back a year later with a new entry.

And I agree with you that for future SSLs we should run only one machine pr thread. It’s just that I started off with a single thread this time, and was a bit worried that people might get confused if I suddenly split it into three threads.

I haven’t thought too much about the next challenge, apart from maybe selecting an analog machine. What do you think? The SY Chip is an extremely versatile machine, I guess people can get tons of mileage out of. Or the RS Hard might be fun.

If you have any wishes, let me know :slightly_smiling_face:

As for timing, I’ll let the existing lab simmer for a few more days and start a new one some time within the coming week. I really need to get home from vacation soon because I have some work to do with my entries :sweat_smile:

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@Nils
This ā€œglobal threadā€ is a perfect place for a poll about the next machines. You can create the poll - let’s see what people want.

I would vote for SY CHIP :slightly_smiling_face:

Good idea @igors48 :+1:

OK peeps, it’s time to dip our toes in the analog bubblebath!

Here’s a poll with four options for the next SSL (Syntakt Science Labā„¢ :grin:). Please cast your vote!

Voting will run through Friday and close on Saturday.

  • RS Hard
  • SY Chip
  • BD FM
  • SY Raw
0 voters

IMO, we should start on the more ā€œnicheā€ machines and work our way towards the most flexible ones like SY RAW etc

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I tend to agree but I’ve all but ignored SY Chip since the update so that’s what’s getting my vote today :smiley: I would like to rinse the cowbell at one point though.

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Personally I think it’s better to have some variation between niche machines and more versatile machines. People might get bored if we only focus on niche machines for a long time.


Do you think it’s relevant to do SSLs for the analog cymbal machines on track 12? It’s only a single monophonic track, and most of the machines in this category have very little low end. It is of course possible to p-lock the shit out of it, use sound locks, delay etc to get a wider palette. But it’s still going to be a solid challenge.

One option might be to change the rules a little for this track, for example to allow multitracking. Or we could of course try one machine with the standard rules, and see how it develops. If it’s no fun, we can consider ways to make it more fun.

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You’ve got a point there. Having only one cymbal track available on the machine itself is a bit of a limitation. Multitracking would alleviate that to a point but imo half the fun is figuring stuff out on the device itself and having things interplay through the fx track like you can by stacking multiple digital machines.

Chip is probably one of the deepest machines on the syntakt, that’s going to be a really interesting one to see what people can do. I’m not great at programming it but I’ve seen people do wild stuff on youtube

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Yeah, the short time I invested in it I saw a lot of potential in p-locking the arp stuff. Gonna be fun when it gets picked.

I’m going to say no. I’ve thought about this already, and I’m personally not interested at all in multitracking or p-locking the hell out of one track.

I’m pushing myself to participate in this SSL and enjoying it so far, but I am very much not a ā€œpush everything as far as it can goā€ kind of person. I’m looking forward to using a more traditionally tonal machine, to be quite honest.

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I think there’s room for both. It should still be about creative usage of a single machine, but while some (me :sweat_smile:) enjoy the challenge of getting something interesting out of something severely limited I can also see that not being attractive at all.

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Likewise, I get how that might not be fun.

I also think anyone should feel comfortable just using it as what it excels at too, including the cymbal machines.

There’s still plenty to explore with timing, open/closed hats, shaker like effects, rhythmic effects that might not be as obvious the first time choosing to play it. Definitely doesn’t need to be a full on track.

EDIT: AND Sound FX! There were some nice Alloy Sound FX additions.

I do like exploring them all and abusing them, but doesn’t have to be a norm. One of the things I liked about the Alloy challenge was learning how the overtones could be exploited to sound like chords when pitched super low. I’m adding this to the mental library to check out later.

For Swarm, even though I didn’t use or post it, it makes great toms or melodic drum sounds. It’s a great atonal machine when abused. Plus p-locking the sub when use with modulated pitch added something new for me.

Either way, I’m having fun both playing and listening, but hope everyone is also having fun with it.

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I think it’s great that we can approach the Science Lab with different perspectives. Like I mentioned in a previous post, we’re doing this to share findings, cool techniques and cool sounds. So it’s perfectly fine if someone wants to explore eg Ā«traditionalĀ» hihat patterns while others want to p-lock beyond recognition.

The contributions so far also show that we work in very different ways with the exact same set of tools. I love that aspect of the SSL, and I think that’s the key to learn new ways with the ST.

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Just a heads up that there’s a poll going on to choose the machine for the next science lab. Please cast your votes :slight_smile:

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I spent a bit of time doing a CY ALLOY track. Fun little exercise but I didn’t have time to try to turn it into something cool. My time is a bit limited lately, but it’s been fun listening to everyone’s unique takes. Loving this thread a lot. You should thank me that you’ll never hear my first attempt :slight_smile:

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Ok but now I kind of want to. My first attempt was awful, yours can’t be worse.

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Don’t be so sure, friend

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43% voted for SY Chip for the next lab, so SY chip it is!

A bit busy today, so I’ll create a thread tomorrow. But you can all start tweaking :wink:

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Ive been traveling and busy, but have been following with great interest! Esp curious how folks got all those low frequencies out of CY Alloy, given its high-pass filtering.

FWIW, a thought about the Track 12 machines: what about an all-12 session, with every machine available to track 12, including UT-Impulse/Noise on tracks 9-11, and sound pool locks on track 12?

I mention it because Id be interested in poking around those track 12 machines more, Ive hardly used half of them…

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