Synthstrom Audible Deluge [inc. Open Source development]

Not yet.

The one Iā€™m focussing on is, with the deluge and the Oxi one, up to 8 tracks, and itā€™s all pretty straight-forward (on Oxi-one, a single multi-track ā€˜sequencerā€™ will do the job).

If you add up to 3 tracks more you could either have two multi-track sequencers (8+3) or 1 multi-track + 3 monos (because the Oxi One has 4 sequencers total)

For 12 tracks and up youā€™re definitely into the realms of two of your 4 ā€˜sequencersā€™ on the Oxi One being multi-tracks.

In the meantime ā€¦ on a deluge, youā€™re just continuing to add add one more track, up to and beyond the max 32 on the Oxi One I think ?

I donā€™t think my brain would cope with the Oxi Ones complexity ā€¦ but hey the only sequencer I know right now is the model:cycles, so what do I know ? :man_shrugging:

Yeah, so I had a chat with Boromir about that right before that Elrond thing, and he said that one simply does not need 32 tracks anyway.

Hmm. I donā€™t completely understand but Iā€™m going to respond anyways (caffeine, amirite?) :slight_smile:

On the Deluge, each kit clip is (I think) basically a multi-track sequencer. Each row can trigger a different sample (or send to a different MIDI channel). For melodic content, the Deluge uses synth clips, which are the same as a kit row except the interface is optimized for note transposing and sustains.

The number of tracks/clips on the Deluge is limited only by the CPU power (which depends on many factors, but if you are only using it for MIDI it should be more than enough for any scenario). Each clip can have its own length. Coming in the 3.2 update is the flexibility for each kit row to have its own length.

The Oxi certainly seems to be a deeper sequencer but Iā€™m sure you can slowly dive into the features as you learn it (like the Octatrack). If thereā€™s one thing Iā€™ve learned about choosing gear, itā€™s to consider your use case. I can get caught up on some features that a piece of gear has, forgetting that it has no place in what I actually want to do with music. Do you want:

all-in-one portable groove box forged in Middle Earth with an intuitive and powerful sequencer uniquely suited to capture long performances
OR
full-fledged sequencer begging to be the centerpiece of a modular setup equipped with performance tools and ready to bang out 4 bar sequences to your heartā€™s delight

[obviously that summary is, in my opinion]

@circuitghost and what would this Gandalf fellow say if he knew I was staying up late, spending my nights softly touching My Precious the Dellie?

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Heā€™d be totally cool with it. Heā€™s a bit filthy that way.

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Of course ā€¦ not taken the plunge with the dellie as yet but I know Iā€™m finding 6 tracks limiting on the model:cycles ā€¦ If I had not merged (and p-locked) the percussion tracks a bit, Iā€™d be looking at 9 tracks for the thing Iā€™m working on now. Which means my ā€˜upgradeā€™ path is looking like a dellie, not an oxi-one + external synths.

Or perhaps adding a synced model:samples

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I really think above and beyond all, the Deluge is a composerā€™s tool and as such, it offers venues Iā€™ve yet to find in any other instrument. There are sequencers out there doing lots of stuff the Deluge doesnā€™t do, but none does it the way the Deluge does it. Thatā€™s the killer argument for me.

And itā€™s not exactly barren on features. It compares favourably to pyramids and cirklons and elektrons for sure.

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My Deluge finally arrived last night - Iā€™m very impressed!

Overall initial thoughts:

  • As everyone says, itā€™s insanely fast to get ideas down, and the vast majority of the interface is really simple to grok.
  • The controls are mostly really intuitive - I did a fair bit of research/tutorial watching before it arrived, but I feel like after a couple hours with it I know 95% of what I need to finish a track, but can tell thereā€™s a lot more depth to uncover beyond the basics.
  • The grid buttons are harder to play than I thought. I have a Launchpad Pro Mk3, and both the size ā€œsquishinessā€ of the Deluge buttons threw me off a little. When MPE support comes I suspect Iā€™ll be doing some of my live recording using the Launchpad.
  • With most of my other sequencer experience coming from Elektron devices and OP-Z, Iā€™m realizing how much I wish those devices had ā€œcross-screenā€.
  • The screen is hard to read for pretty much anything other than numbers. Some of the ā€œlettersā€ legitimately look like some sort of Kiwi joke by putting half of the word in LOTRā€™s Cirth runes :upside_down_face:
  • It would be really nice to have some way to visualize envelope shape.

Points of confusion:

  • When live recording it seems like the behavior on when to extend a clip length by another bar vs. loop over the existing length is a little confusing. It seems like itā€™s doing something smart to try to determine if it should extend or overdub, or maybe Iā€™m doing something wonky
  • Can stutter be applied to individual ā€œtrigsā€ on the piano roll? I envisioned myself using this to throw ratchets in when programming the sequencer, but it seems almost exclusively for use in live recording or performance.

Overall it feels like itā€™s going to be a great device, it checks a lot of boxes I was trying to accomplish with OP-Z (battery powered, portable, etc) but singificantly easier to use with non-Hobbit fingers :smiley: Iā€™m looking forward to getting some tracks completed with it!

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This also confuses me. The logic I think Iā€™ve figured out so far is:

  • if there are no trigs on the clip and you hit record before play then it will extend the clip
  • if there are trigs on the clip or if you hit record after play then it will just loop over the existing clip length

Could be wrong about that behavior though :slight_smile:

Yes! Just added in the 3.1.0 update:

Note repeat - hold down a noteā€™s pad, and hold down and turn the vertical scroll knob to dial in more or less repeats of the note, which will be spaced as equally as possible within the time interval represented by the pad youā€™re holding

Whoa! Nice to know. I can imagine thereā€™s a thousand more little shortcuts waiting for me :smiley:

So if Iā€™m in 16th notes view and the note Iā€™m selecting takes up one ā€œpadā€, the ratchets will be 16ths, if two pads 8ths, etc., yeah?

Also Iā€™ll try to test your theory about the live recording clip extending logic and see if it matches what Iā€™m seeing and report back :+1:

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I almost forgot to mention the best take away from my short time using the Deluge!

As a guitar player who mostly pretends to know how to play keys, god damn if it isnā€™t refreshing to play a digital instrument that leverages existing theory knowledge and patterns I have locked away in my brain. :brain: Once I started looking for it, I was able to find all my tried-and-true lower string triad, 7th, and related inversion shapes. I can already tell that alone is going to make composing 10x easier for me, along with the scale mode highlighting everything

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Sounds to me like you need a LinnStrument. :wink:

Cheers!

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My brand new Deluge arrived in record time from New Zealand. My 64GB FlashAir arrived the same day. Had some trouble with FlashAir as it was formatted extFS but after some finagling got it formatted fat32 and used the FlashAir tool to get it back in working order. Loaded it with almost 50GB of Samples from Mars.

First impressions are wow. Just completely positive. Itā€™s extremely fast to get going with it. So seamless of an experience laying down patterns. I donā€™t think Iā€™ve ever had a piece of gear that allowed me to get down ideas this fast. Everything about the workflow just works.

And the multisamplesā€¦ Incredible. It brings in the samples from mars multisamples with ease and you can just play them like a regular instrument. Scroll up and down through the octaves, transpose the whole clip, itā€™s amazing.

Going to be really fun working with this instrument and I havenā€™t even hooked it up to any of my other gear.

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Really interested to know first, what device(s) are you immediately coming from that makes the deluge such a contrast, and second, if you have any insights into what it is that makes the difference with the deluge ā€¦ is it perhaps a synergy of all the features ā€¦ or one feature in particular ?

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More generally, to everyone, what itā€™s it that makes it so fast to get ideas down with the deluge ā€¦ is it a synergy of all the features ā€¦ or one feature in particular ?

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Iā€™d say, the sequencer workflow. If you gel with it, itā€™s killer.

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Alright, but what is it that makes it so different from, say, the Elektron workflow ? Maybe:

  • You can visualise all tracks (together with, you can scroll vertically through all of them) ?
  • You can scroll left and right through 16+ steps ?
  • zoom in/out on steps ?
  • colours ?
  • easier to change track length ?

(Hmmm ā€¦ I can foresee an answer: ā€œAll of the aboveā€)

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Stating some obvious stuff here but Elektrons give you immediate visual feedback of a single 16 step sequence. Sure you can look at displays and page through things for more but thatā€™s your foundation.

Deluge gives immediate visual feedback of 8 rows of 16 steps. Like Elektrons you can change that by zooming but thatā€™s itā€™s start point.

It all buolds from there and when you layer on the scales/keys modes and things it becomes super quick and intuitive.

Both approaches have their benefits but i find the Deluge to be a much quicker sequencer albeit one that lacks some of the more advanced Elektron quirks. Just being able to do more than 4 notes on a ā€œstepā€ is huge to me!

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Basically, two totally different experiences. Like piano and guitar. Fantastic instruments. Completely different approaches. Your preferences come down to which one you prefer. Itā€™s not so much about features but how you play them.

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Okay thanks @circuitghost and @J0n35y ā€¦ Iā€™m getting a sense its visual feedback for one (which I already figured is going to be important to me) ā€¦ plus more generally ā€œthe whole thingā€

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