Torso Electronics S-4 (sculpting sampler)

Beta testers. Can you trigger the tape playhead from midi in current BETA?

Yep, some tape effects were shown in the trailers, so I really hope it will be for the next big update, my S4 is waiting. Cool stuff by the way!

2 Likes

Is that what you are looking for?

From Beta 13

  • Fixes to MIDI NOTES for controlling functions externally (play, record, etc)

But I haven’t tried myself…

Aah, Yeah it might be.
It was seriously debilitating that you could only trigger the tape internally.

I’ve seen that with the beta you can mute but also play / stop individually each track (sync or not). That way you can stop the track but not cutting the fx like delay or …

2 Likes

Good record @Bardial !
Really good use of S4.

I particularly enjoyed S4 filter and dirt fx modules from my experience and your record shows it really well.

As I said, my main thing was granular stuff, so I moved to Tempera, but S4 has particular things ĆŽā€™d wish to have.

BTW I am curious about what type of filter is used…Multiband filter with control of curves and random lfos on specific freqs ?

3 Likes

Thanks! Yes random LFOs are fantastic. The filter is ultra versatile and on top of that there’s is another filter in the track page. This machine is special and unique.

I just ordered one. I’d followed all the discussion about it being incomplete and was a small bit wary about that, but after seeing Sarah Belle Reid’s demo I thought ok whatever I can make it work as is. But what finally made me pull the trigger was your video (ok well that and another drum-featuring demo by someone named Han_cheng_yeh on IG). I can’t be sure how much is the s4 and how much is your source material but it doesn’t matter and I am really excited to play with this thing.

2 Likes

Most of it is S4. Source material are a couple of drum loops (I’m changing it through all the video to add another couple) and 2 simple synth samples. The original material is boring. The magic is in S4. Thanks for watching the video.

4 Likes

From video it looks like a lot of knob twisting in mixer section and other pages. Is there a way for quicker value changes? Like in Elektron devices you just push and twist encoder.

1 Like

Yes, I think you are right. Knobs needs a lot of movement. Personally I don’t mind, you can be very precise. As far as I know, there is no bigger increments. Surprisingly, I’ve checked the manual and you can go more precise with ctrl button.

I know elektron knobs, wich are maybe the best. The S4 knobs are very different in my opinion, very loose. At the beginning for me it was the worst of the S4 build quality but now… I don’t think that. I’ve used it a lot and I think they are great. But very very different.

1 Like

I have had the S4 for a while, the knobs are not different, they are low quality= cheap

1 Like

I wonder why you say they are cheap… Can you share your thoughts about that? Thanks.

To be clear these are not knobs, a knob has a start and an end point at specific points.

Encoders, the ones on the Torso, can be rotated endlessly, there is no stop point.

I think there are better encoders out there on the market, for example those on the Push 3 or on some of the Native Instruments gear.

the ones on the Torso are not at the same level, low quaity, hence cheap.

2 Likes

Thanks for the explanation. I’m not a technical person, the only thing I can say is that the encoders are very different to the ones I’ve tried. I don’t know if it’s good or bad but but I’ve gotten used to using them and now I’m very happy with how they work.

Definitely, is the worst part of build quality in S4 but I can live with it. Time will tell how strong will be.

1 Like

good observation.i think theres no encoder value change preference options on the s-4 at the moment

I don’t really agree with this. The S4 encoders support both using slow turns for fine adjustments, and quick turns to make big adjustments. Pretty nice.

3 Likes

I didn’t notice the larger increments. Thanks for pointing.