Thanks Venus Theory! This is exactly why I had bought the Keystep Pro and exactly the kind of stuff I want to experiment with! Your channel is a real treasure trove to me! Super!
if you reduce the math of your sequences. 16 = 4/4 time 12 = 3/4 time and 14 = 7/8 time so these aren't as weird as if you made sequences like 16 11 14 which would create loops in 4/4 11/16 and 7/8 time. So you can use this technique to make the pattern weirder or less weird ;}
It's also a lot of fun with extended step ranges as this controller goes up to 64 steps, which can allow for some really wild combinations that sound like they never really repeat.
Even though I own no hardware other than a MIDI keyboard, this was immensely interesting and valuable, I can see how some of the players in Reason can be used to create similar effects to this, combined with instruments that have their own inbuilt sequencers if needed. Really enjoyed this one and the amazing ambient sounds. Cheers 😊
@@RileyGein I took it back and got a Virus Snow. cost me another $900 though. I had a 1st generation Blofeld, buggy firmware and three encoders were screwing up after a couple of months.
Wonderfl to see that the Blofeld still is receiving some appreciation (I own one since 2009 and it's still one of my favourite synths - probably because for a long time it was the only one I had, and I know it better than any other...). By the way, I don't think You'd really do any external sequencer to do that (although I also enjoyed seeing You using the Keystep Pro, because that's in fact one of the other few pieces of hardware I own...). Anyway, I guess You basically could achieve that kind of randomisation inside the Blofeld using its arpeggiator, which also has a random mode. Of course, to get that polyrhythm thing going, You'd need to have four copies of the sound with different cycle length of the arpeggiator and then use multi-mode, but the result should be similar.
Cool video! It’s made me want to buy the Blofeld….I’ve used Waldorf NAVE on the iPad and love that app and the modulation possibilities, but this hardware version seems more suited for me!
I had a go at this using Cubase and the free FB Sequencair analogue sequencer plugin and got into difficulties trying to get the four sequences to both accept a Start/Stop command from the DAW and run out of clock sync. So I abandoned it, which is a shame. It won't work using a DAW's Key Editor, because the aleatoric pad sequences have to run freely at a much slower tempo than the rest of the tracks, and DAWs (or Cubase Elements, for sure) have no means to play with sequences as Key Step Pro does.
seen 20 videos of hydrasynth, and a few from Blofeld. why does the Blofeld sound so much more beautiful? hydra is so metallic feeling and the Blofeld is like eh, nice to the ears
Haha welcome to the Blofeld club! Some people love it, some people hate it. I can't say what it is about it, but the Blofeld is just a magic machine. So glad I finally broke down and bought one!
This might be a dumb question but how are you able to multitrack? I have one synth plugged in exactly how you have the Blofield in and am following the same steps. It seems like I can only record on Track 1. Any time I switch to a different track, the KSP recognizing the steps I am putting into it but I am getting no sound.
Great tutorial, gonna bring some of these ideas into the octatrack, should get similar results with it’s random sequencer, individual step lengths and 8 midi sequencers :)
Howdy Doody. Thanks. You inspired me to buy a Blofeld. Could you please explain how to connect it to my KeyStep pro? Thanks. (Or where to learn this clearly). Love your channel. One of my favorites. :)
Yo! Really just with a MIDI DIN cable. Sorta depends on what you want to do, but purely just 'control Blofeld with KSP' means a MIDI Cable from the KSP to the Blofeld and you're in business!
@@VenusTheory Thank you SO much. I really appreciate it. Keep up the awesome work. My nephew was a DJ and also thinks you have a very rich voice too. Thanks.
Did I catch that the keystep tracks can target 4 diff patches inside the Blofeld? Is that available in something like the cobalt8, or other synths? Is there a name for that feature? Or did I misunderstand… I tried to find that in the video again, but couldnt… thx
That's correct! The Keystep can output different MIDI channels, and the Blofeld can layer up to 16 sounds together and have them assigned to separate MIDI channels. Cobalt does not feature it, but most older synthesizers from the 90s/00s are multitimbral and can do that, especially the old sound modules and whatnot. For some reason, most synths don't have this feature anymore sadly.
Definitely worth getting one. Absolutely adore mine. Blofeld does have a reverb built in but it's pretty gross and not worth using unless absolutely necessary IMO. Don't let that steer you away though - not like you buy a synth for the effects!
@@VenusTheory No not a big deal, I can always send the Blofeld to a reverb insert channel into my DAW, or buy a hardware reverb if I decide to become DAWless, the Blofeld is worth every penny from what I've seen so far... I'd combine it with a Hydrasynth and that would become a music powerhouse, unbeatable for the price.
Nice video. At some point your 4 sequences are going to be so messed up that you’re effectively playing a chosen scale with random note triggers? Better maybe to have some of those patterns interacting cyclically so that the ear/brain tries to work out what’s going on!?
Boy do I hate that stupid ad for the "MIDI Packs" Anyone can learn how to play simple stuff like this guy is selling. Why are people so opposed to practicing. and a ctually learning how to play? Anyway - that's my rant ;} now I'll watch your video ;}
Great job Venus! Listen, I have bought an Arturia Keylab 49 Essential but via midi I can only play the Blofeld, I can't connect sequencer and other stuffs to Blofeld. Do you think the problem comes from the keyboard?
Wanna grab a Blofeld or KSP?
Use my affiliate link and support the channel in the process!
bit.ly/3nwp4PL
Thanks Venus Theory! This is exactly why I had bought the Keystep Pro and exactly the kind of stuff I want to experiment with!
Your channel is a real treasure trove to me! Super!
if you reduce the math of your sequences. 16 = 4/4 time 12 = 3/4 time and 14 = 7/8 time so these aren't as weird as if you made sequences like 16 11 14 which would create loops in 4/4 11/16 and 7/8 time. So you can use this technique to make the pattern weirder or less weird ;}
It's also a lot of fun with extended step ranges as this controller goes up to 64 steps, which can allow for some really wild combinations that sound like they never really repeat.
Mind blowing!
hey this is awesome content ! thank you
For those who don't have de KeyStep Pro you can do similar stuff in the pigments 2 sequencer 👌
it doesn't have the four tracks nor the randomness in the same way, though.
If you use Ableton you could have 4 different midi tracks sending to the blofeld (or any synth ) and use that like the 4 tracks on the KSP
Stochas can do it for free. www.kvraudio.com/product/stochas-legacy-by-audio-vitamins
Nice ideas. Recently bought this controller. This is (also) why I enjoy the Elektron machines. Even when occasionally vexing - LOL. Cheers.
Can’t wait to get my black blowfield to use with the key step pro
A great example of amazing sound design. Cheers, my dude.
Glad you dig the video!
lovely warm way to use such a great synth!
Great technique! Will definitely be using this. Thanks so much for sharing. Cheers. :)
Top notch stuff as always - learned LOADS from this video, thank you matey !🙂
thanks. now I just bought a blofeld.
Thank you. I did learn something and I did enjoy the video. 👍😀
Great video, I appreciate that you tie in musical methodology and device capabilities
Thank you very much for this, I have learned a lot!
Very cool, you could “Hainbach” it, record to (virtual) tape and slow down to your liking.
Is this appropriate time to mention that I love the "Drunk" LFO in Falcon?
No?
Ok.
Even though I own no hardware other than a MIDI keyboard, this was immensely interesting and valuable, I can see how some of the players in Reason can be used to create similar effects to this, combined with instruments that have their own inbuilt sequencers if needed. Really enjoyed this one and the amazing ambient sounds. Cheers 😊
Absolutely! If you’re a Reason user, check out the onboard sequencer on the Thor. Get a few different instances going at the same time and BOOM!
Really useful tips for this type of sequencing. Thank you Cameron
Wow,..I'm buying this and I don't even make music lol.
Lol
Sad
An awesome video! Thank you for sharing this information, and explaining everything you did to make an awesome background was that evolves!
No problem at all. Hope it gives you some ideas for your next track/patch!
Awesome tutorial
thanks! this gave me a total new perspective for creating evolving sounds in general.
Quite lovely nice work👍
enjoyed that, THANK YOU!
Is that that (in)famous Blofeld effects crackling from external clock i hear???
I'm a simple man. I see blofeld - I like it!
When i see a Blofeld i wanna throw it across the room.
@@craigmoran893 send me it instead. I’ve already got one but you don’t say no to a free blofeld
@@RileyGein I took it back and got a Virus Snow. cost me another $900 though.
I had a 1st generation Blofeld, buggy firmware and three encoders were screwing up after a couple of months.
Thanx a lot, great tutorial! Really useful tips also for Blofeld users like me! Un saluto dall' Italia :-)
Love your coffee priority - I can relate
For those of us who do not own a KSP, the 'Stochas' and' HY-RPE2 free' VSTs can get you a long way along the road :-)
Need to try the HY sequencers, heard some pretty good things!
@@VenusTheory Just bought the full version of the HY-RPE2 euclidean sequencer. Damn this is powerful...
@@andrewhall6038 I just bought it yesterday day deal with plugin boutique and was going to use it with my keystep 37
Awesome! Thanks!
I’ll try this later :) great tutorial
Enjoy! Tons of fun to mess with and get some cool drones.
I don't have either of these, but a cool software version of the concept might be Vital and Stochas.
VCV rack is perfect for this type of FSU shenanigans.
Wonderfl to see that the Blofeld still is receiving some appreciation (I own one since 2009 and it's still one of my favourite synths - probably because for a long time it was the only one I had, and I know it better than any other...).
By the way, I don't think You'd really do any external sequencer to do that (although I also enjoyed seeing You using the Keystep Pro, because that's in fact one of the other few pieces of hardware I own...). Anyway, I guess You basically could achieve that kind of randomisation inside the Blofeld using its arpeggiator, which also has a random mode. Of course, to get that polyrhythm thing going, You'd need to have four copies of the sound with different cycle length of the arpeggiator and then use multi-mode, but the result should be similar.
Funny, I got HY-RPE2 recently and making a pad with it like this was the first thing I tried.
Really need to try their sequencers at some point!
Cool video! It’s made me want to buy the Blofeld….I’ve used Waldorf NAVE on the iPad and love that app and the modulation possibilities, but this hardware version seems more suited for me!
Can this be done with the beatstep Pro? I haven’t even used it yet that’s why I’m asking but I do own one
I had a go at this using Cubase and the free FB Sequencair analogue sequencer plugin and got into difficulties trying to get the four sequences to both accept a Start/Stop command from the DAW and run out of clock sync. So I abandoned it, which is a shame. It won't work using a DAW's Key Editor, because the aleatoric pad sequences have to run freely at a much slower tempo than the rest of the tracks, and DAWs (or Cubase Elements, for sure) have no means to play with sequences as Key Step Pro does.
You would probably love Loomer Architect (it's a modular MIDI toolset).
seen 20 videos of hydrasynth, and a few from Blofeld. why does the Blofeld sound so much more beautiful? hydra is so metallic feeling and the Blofeld is like eh, nice to the ears
Haha welcome to the Blofeld club! Some people love it, some people hate it. I can't say what it is about it, but the Blofeld is just a magic machine. So glad I finally broke down and bought one!
This might be a dumb question but how are you able to multitrack? I have one synth plugged in exactly how you have the Blofield in and am following the same steps. It seems like I can only record on Track 1. Any time I switch to a different track, the KSP recognizing the steps I am putting into it but I am getting no sound.
Hmm, did you say Paulstretch? Is that still available or are there good alternatives?
Great love it ! Can you do this same thing with Push 1 ?
Great tutorial, gonna bring some of these ideas into the octatrack, should get similar results with it’s random sequencer, individual step lengths and 8 midi sequencers :)
Great idea actually - one of these days I might need to pick one of those up!
@@VenusTheory yeah! if you find a second hand mk1 it’s more or less the same as the mk2 for a fraction of the price ;)
I was doing this earlier with my keystep 37
Okay, okay! I bought the damn KSP... jeez... :)
Now all they have to add is Global transpose to all tracks, and I'd be buying a KSP
Howdy Doody. Thanks. You inspired me to buy a Blofeld. Could you please explain how to connect it to my KeyStep pro? Thanks. (Or where to learn this clearly). Love your channel. One of my favorites. :)
Yo! Really just with a MIDI DIN cable. Sorta depends on what you want to do, but purely just 'control Blofeld with KSP' means a MIDI Cable from the KSP to the Blofeld and you're in business!
@@VenusTheory Thank you SO much. I really appreciate it. Keep up the awesome work. My nephew was a DJ and also thinks you have a very rich voice too. Thanks.
Did I catch that the keystep tracks can target 4 diff patches inside the Blofeld? Is that available in something like the cobalt8, or other synths? Is there a name for that feature? Or did I misunderstand… I tried to find that in the video again, but couldnt… thx
That's correct! The Keystep can output different MIDI channels, and the Blofeld can layer up to 16 sounds together and have them assigned to separate MIDI channels.
Cobalt does not feature it, but most older synthesizers from the 90s/00s are multitimbral and can do that, especially the old sound modules and whatnot. For some reason, most synths don't have this feature anymore sadly.
16:20 "wssshasshsiuuu" :)
Thanks, this is awesome! Is there any way to do this sort of sequencing in Cubase? Also, is this your actual voice? (I really am wondering!)
Set up the Step Sequencers in Midi Inserts at different step lengths
Awesome!
And now I need a Blofeld, which is already on my top list.
I thought the Blofeld already has built-in reverb, no?
Definitely worth getting one. Absolutely adore mine.
Blofeld does have a reverb built in but it's pretty gross and not worth using unless absolutely necessary IMO. Don't let that steer you away though - not like you buy a synth for the effects!
@@VenusTheory No not a big deal, I can always send the Blofeld to a reverb insert channel into my DAW, or buy a hardware reverb if I decide to become DAWless, the Blofeld is worth every penny from what I've seen so far...
I'd combine it with a Hydrasynth and that would become a music powerhouse, unbeatable for the price.
Get a second hand Virus Snow.
Nice video. At some point your 4 sequences are going to be so messed up that you’re effectively playing a chosen scale with random note triggers? Better maybe to have some of those patterns interacting cyclically so that the ear/brain tries to work out what’s going on!?
wow
I have a mint yellow q. ..and the keypro...im craving...any help anyone that has one..im enjoying my q....small...but ..ohhhh
Boy do I hate that stupid ad for the "MIDI Packs" Anyone can learn how to play simple stuff like this guy is selling. Why are people so opposed to practicing. and a ctually learning how to play? Anyway - that's my rant ;} now I'll watch your video ;}
They're almost a meme at this point
See also logic x new step seq for this stuff. Has probability etc to really F^
… multi-timbral, 16 midi channels, you ca do a full track if you have that kung fu in you.
Stop making me buy more synths.
.
why not just call it polyrhythmic ?
Well, polyrhythmic implies that there is a consistent rhythm. The magic of Aleatoric sequencing is that the playback is random.
did i seriously get beat at first by a bible verse
Great job Venus! Listen, I have bought an Arturia Keylab 49 Essential but via midi I can only play the Blofeld, I can't connect sequencer and other stuffs to Blofeld. Do you think the problem comes from the keyboard?