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Analogue Meets Digital 3: The MicroKorg and the MicroBrute

This is the first of two videos dedicated to exploring the world of sound that exists when you hook up a MicroKorg with a MicroBrute. In this episode of Analogue Meets Digital the MicroBrute is used as a Sound module controlled and processed by the MicroKorg.

This is an extremely easy way to link the two machines: a MIDI cable goes from the MIDI OUT port of the MicroKorg into the MIDI IN of the MicroBrute (if you use a MiniBrute instead of the Micro, make sure you don’t accidentally connect both MIDI OUT ports).  At the same time, use a TS 1/4″ cable to connect the Line Output of the MicroBrute to the Audio 1 Line In port of the MicroKorg. This is essentially the same setup I did with the Volcas, although working the MicroBrute is much more satisfying experience, in my opinion. One thing to have in mind: the MicroBrute is muck louder than the Volcas, so you have to be extra-careful not to clip the input on the MicroKorg. Despite this, the MicroBrute is a monophonic Analogue synth, much like the Volca Bass (and most voice modes of the Volca Keys), and the operation of the MicroBrute in this setup is similar to that shown in previous episodes.




 

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Experimenting with Drones

Just a little experiment in Drone Music. The composition process is actually quite different than what I’m used to. I recorded 12 minutes of uninterrupted D in the Microkorg, using the Volca Bass as an auxiliary sound source. Then, the audio was cut into four 3 min segments and overlaid, resulting in a lush, thick drone sound. Finally I had to re-EQ the whole thing to remove some of the fundamental and first harmonic, since they here very high, as expected in this process.

The video is just the speed up footage of the 12 minute drone recording, and part of the cut and line up process.

I hope you enjoy it, for this Sunday evening chill out. Have a great week!

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Mantra

Here’s something I made last weekend… partly inspired by the Delay Lama plugin (hence the track’s title), which I tried to recreate in the Microkorg. One nice thing about programming synths is that you start of with an idea of what you want, but then you start talking to the synth and new ideas emerge… All I ever wanted was a patch… ended up with a track.




The Volca Beats provides a much needed fill of the sonic spectrum. I hope your weekend was as good as mine, and which you a good week. Thanks for watching and listening.

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Analogue Meets Digital 2: The Microkorg and the Volca Keys

The Volca Keys we all know and love (it is still my favourite Volca) can play up to 3 voices in POLY mode… It’s not true polyphony, because it shares the same filter and envelope, but it is still useful for playing chords. However, the envelope generator of the Keys is rather limited and playing good pads on the instrument can be very frustrating. In this video I explore the Microkorg-Volca Keys hybrid (analogue/digital) system. During this process you may hear a handful of interesting pad sounds.

The Microkorg and the Volca Keys are connected the same way I used with the Volca Bass a few days ago: the Microkorg is the centre of the system, sending MIDI data to the Volca, and receiving the audio output of the latter through its Line In for further processing. One thing I didn’t mentioned in the video is that Continue reading “Analogue Meets Digital 2: The Microkorg and the Volca Keys”

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Analogue Meets Digital

So, I recently added a MicroKorg (MK) to my collection, and although this little digital (Virtual Analogue) synth sounds great on it’s own, I thought it would make a nice addition to my Volca setup.

As a fist patch, I tried to hook up the Volca Bass with the MK. This can e easily done using a MIDI cable (MK MIDI Out to the Volca’s MIDI In) and a 1/8″TRS to 2×1/4″TS audio cable (Volca Audio Out to the two Audio Inputs on the MK). Continue reading “Analogue Meets Digital”