Modular Groovebox with Crazy Chicken Six Eyes

Modular Groovebox with Crazy Chicken Six Eyes - Intellijel 4u104hp

День тому

A while ago, I made a video where I mentioned the Crazy Chicken Six Eyes, a really cool compact sequencer with a great idea and a fun panel behind it. After some consideration and a bit of a deal from Crazy Chicken, I grabbed one. I wanted to see what this little sequencer could do. I loved the form factor and that it could sequence 32 steps and I liked the algorithm it utilized. I made a patch or two around similar ideas using gates which occupied multiple steps and summed them all together, quantized them and out came magic. Mind you, to patch like that requires so much more than 8hp.
My experience with this little sequencer have been great. I like that it’s quirky and not so precision. Initially, I thought it had an issue but I think that’s just this circuit and maybe a bit of the brilliance behind it. In modular - or electronic music at large - we embrace things that are a bit different, diodes that distort in certain ways, circuits that experience stress, all sorts of stuff. I know very little about any of it but in the end, I figure this is no different. The end results though are really musical and fun and offer more to learn within modular.
This is the second video in this little “modular groovebox” series. I’ll cram this Intellijel 4u104hp case with as much as I can and talk about either the whole setup, or one particular module. It’s all meant to show that the cases we see that are bigger than our bank accounts or knowledge aren’t the only way to have a cohesive modular setup. Meant as encouragement for anyone starting out that you can do a lot with not as many modules as you think you might need. That was a surprise for me and part of this little journey.
This video has some jams, some demos, many thoughts and ramblings as well. Hope you enjoy it. Also, I mention the context of occupation and a poster I designed regarding something going on right now. Hoping for thumbs up as I just bring this thing that I created to a community I love.
Get the Poster
/ 102828681
Get in Touch and Let’s Chat
/ turbotambourine
turbo.tambourine@gmail.com
Time Stamps
0:00 Intro to Episode 2 on Six Eyes
0:08 Jam 1 Six Eyes in action
3:48 About this series and sequencer
5:27 Let’s chat about Crazy Chicken Six Eyes
5:55 How Six Eyes works
9:16 Creating a melody and variations
12:23 Benefits and tricky bits of Six Eyes
14:03 Separating pitch and gate sequences
15:23 Sequencing in Eurorack and some module options
16:50 Drawing waveforms with Six Eyes
17:42 Ending chats, realities of the world, poster design
20:11 Jam 2 Can ambient be fast?
23:34 Jam 3 Sounds like a clarinet with distortion

КОМЕНТАРІ: 49

@christrinkle1688 14 днів тому

I could listen to jam 2 for hours. Absolutely love your videos! Can’t wait for the next jams!

@turbotambourine 14 днів тому

Thanks so much! That was such a fun jam and it was tough to pick a section of it to show. It has a certain energy to it I just love. Makes me happy others appreciate it too! Getting to work on the next one in a couple days. I think there’s a couple new modules I’ll be swapping in. I’m excited to see where they’ll take the jams.

@wgdmodular1252 10 днів тому

Dude that jam at the beginning! ❤ Extraordinary 🥳

@turbotambourine 10 днів тому

Thank you!!! Such a fun one! I love just discovering little melodies! Thanks for watching!

@swampflux 12 днів тому

A hex inverter crossed with a 6 channel adder.. Genius. Very musical!

@swampflux 12 днів тому

Something you should try next… veils isn’t just a VCA it’s also a mixer. Patch in the output of bard quartet AND the steppy. Boom. They are added together. Chicken setting common melody, steppy offsetting for key changes. Get them out of phase with a prime number and whoooowheee. Ear candy.

@turbotambourine 12 днів тому

I agree! Great idea with musical results! Yeah! That’s smart re steppy and prime numbers! And also could be interesting depending on the gate length of steppy as well! I could also requantize that if pitches were getting a bit off. I was doing some transposing on the Bard but you could definitely set up multiple harmonies on it too and cv that instead. I figured not to get too in-depth on Bard though for this one. Rare mind you I love setting up Harmony and chord changes that way especially as it can also have full octave shifts. There’s also a way to change root note so I should figure that out!

@clonzee 13 днів тому

Love how much your squeezing out of this handful of modules. This module looks like a good time.

@turbotambourine 13 днів тому

Thanks so much! I love squeezing what I can out of them while having good control over them. It would probably be a fun experiment to see how generative things could get in this case actually!!! I love compact sequencers! So much opportunity to get creative and build cool workflows off of them. And you have more space to do it!

@wildnotemusic 14 днів тому

Keep it up man, I've really enjoyed watching all of your recent videos, really interesting to hear your workflow and see different combinations of modules working together!

@turbotambourine 14 днів тому

Thanks so much! Stoked you’re enjoying the videos! I’m glad that the workflow and different combinations are coming through. I think that’s something that’s really exciting about modular. There’s many ways to do very similar things and endless workflows you can use. I find I can easily get inspired by other modules or workflows that I don’t have because it gives me new things to try. I remember some Rene videos being incredible resources to even think about what was possible with sequencing. I have a couple modules to swap out for the next one but is there anything currently in the case you’d want to hear more about?

@wildnotemusic 14 днів тому

@@turbotambourine actually I just got a squarp rample, so I was really excited to see you had one as well, I would love to see any tips or workflow thoughts you have on it!

@turbotambourine 14 днів тому

@@wildnotemusic love that! The Rample has been amazing. I’m admittedly poor at working with samples but love using it for drums. I haven’t touched on it too much as Red Means Recording has a pretty epic video on the Rample. I have an idea of doing a drum sequencing video though that might be a little while from now as I collect some more strategies. I’ll be digging more into the rample there to make use of the layers and other cv ins. I’ve also heard the sample chopping is pretty cool too. Is there anything about it you’re having trouble with or want to dig more into?

@wildnotemusic 13 днів тому

@@turbotambourine Yeah, RMR's video is good! One thing I don't think he got into much is using the chord abilities and pitch sequencing samples, which I would be very interested in. Might be something to look into!

@turbotambourine 13 днів тому

@@wildnotemusic will do! That’s a fun idea! Chord stuff could be a blast actually. I don’t use the pitching too much but do like that Rample allows you to pitch things chromatically. Hmmm. Good thought! I’ll put this in cue I think cause I have definitely underutilized Rample and it’s capabilities could send me into pretty new territory!

@ModePhaser 14 днів тому

Always inspiring brother! Your production value and performances are always top notch! Love the message of peace as well. I stand with you on that. I think when I finally get that patch from scratch video up it'll be dedicated to Turbo Tambourine and my other favorite Synth personality Jay Hoskings! Cheers and love brother! ☮💜

@turbotambourine 14 днів тому

Thank you so much! So glad that you’re liking what I keep putting out there. Such a fun journey and I really appreciate those that watch. Heck yeah! I’m so happy my message resonates with you. Too much going on in the world to ignore, yet so much to learn. We can do so much if we stand up, unpack what came before us, learn from each other and figure out better ways forward. It’s cool to see so many young leaders standing up and speaking out. Hope in the future generations for sure! I feel like Jay Hoskings’ jams got me so stoked to check out more synths for real. Such good tunes every time! Ehsan Ghelsi too! To be put up alongside Jay means a lot to me. Appreciate that tons! Love to you to my friend!

@raktNewsletter 14 днів тому

Another great video. Your system feels unique. Haven't come across something like that. Everything feels cohesive. A good proof that choosing the right modules with the right features and a high sense of synergy can turn a small case into a huge beast! I know you are looking for a new module to had but if you don't see a real hole in it, don't hastily fill it. Take the time to find the perfect addition. It'll be even more rewarding.

@turbotambourine 14 днів тому

Exactly! I think the collection of modules has been made one at a time, each really focussed on the idea of which module out of a couple options would enable patches to expand in interesting ways. I feel a couple gaps while patching but you can’t really notice in the jams cause I think it is fairly balanced. I would be happy with some additional attenuverting. I also really want a 1 in 2 out switch of sorts. I think the branches clone “Flip” would be really cool for this use cause it has a couple different modes with it’s function, one of which is probability. I think that’s just an example of my approach though, it may add one thing but compounding on the functions of the other modules, there’s lots of possibilities on where to use that. Another gap might be mixing haha. Veils is pulling a lot of weight here! Mixing in 1u is trickier especially as having something stereo would be sweet. Prox might be a good fix for that. Interested idea if you’re not familiar with it.

@raktNewsletter 14 днів тому

@@turbotambourine what do you want to mix exactly?

@turbotambourine 14 днів тому

@@raktNewsletter oh for the 1u mixer? It’s more that I think I may not have space. For instance the STmix could fit now but not with a flip and 1u out. 🤔

@turbotambourine 14 днів тому

@@raktNewsletter of course, I’m always up for suggestions to move about in my modular grid haha.

@raktNewsletter 13 днів тому

@@turbotambourine I meant, what type of signal do you want to mix?

@markbooth 14 днів тому

Creative fun playable modules always get my vote

@turbotambourine 14 днів тому

I agree Mark! The more that I can mess with the module while I’m jamming the better!

@turbotambourine 14 днів тому

What’s your go to compact sequencer atm?

@markbooth 14 днів тому

@@turbotambourine I use Steppy as a playable gate sequence and Mimetic Digitalis into uScale for pitch. I’m more recently enjoying Rene but that’s one for a much bigger case!

@turbotambourine 14 днів тому

@@markbooth So good! Rene is so sweet! It was some videos on Rene that made me think more critically on how I want to sequence melodies. The power of being able to control so much gate and pitch information, pitch range and cv addressing! Exciting stuff!

@clonecrow217 14 днів тому

What a great little sequencer, love the way it works. Great video, every now and then I break my rig down into a much smaller case, a good way to really learn your modules.

@turbotambourine 14 днів тому

I agree! It’s a tricky module to convey because of the algorithm but I think the way it stumbles on melodies was pretty clear! It’s such a great idea and I was surprised how musical it is. Afterall, there’s a certain amount of repetition in music and this gets at some really cool bits of that. Wish I had a scope again for this video mind you to see all the different steps. I think breaking things down into a smaller case is something I’ll have to do even if I end up going to a larger case. It makes patches pretty straightforward to work around. I also bet as I continue this series I’ll come up with lots more playing strategies.

@Burt_Cokaine 14 днів тому

really dig the performance aspect of your rig. very nice dude! im a broke ass so i use VCV but i have a few midi controllers that make it fun

@bastiaanvanhoorn6306 14 днів тому

That's the way

@turbotambourine 14 днів тому

I love that! Honestly, that was my first experience with modular and that was solid for like a year probably. I also went the route of buying a broken Beatstep Pro so I had some sort of hardware controller to twist some knobs. VCV Rack has come a long way in that time and with more modules popping up by great manufacturers, you really can’t go wrong. I’m a big believer in doing what works for you in the moment and making the most of it. That mentality will translate to whatever you get your hands on! Thanks for watching!

@turbotambourine 14 днів тому

@@bastiaanvanhoorn6306 So agree! No one needs towering debt over a modular rig you’re just learning haha.

@foxjet77 14 днів тому

Great video. Try an Expert Sleepers Disting Mk4. So many great algorithms. It does just about everything.

@turbotambourine 14 днів тому

Thanks so much! Yeah! I almost picked up a Disting so many times! I have an ALA Baker which is a Peaks clone. I originally bought it for FM drums and now it’s mostly envelopes or LFOs. I love that it’s continued to be so useful (to the point that I haven’t bought another envelope quite yet) but sometimes the multifunction element of it made me feel like I wasn’t utilizing it to the most of it’s ability. In the end, I think multifunction modules are less my cup of tea. One exception would maybe be a Pams because of the options presented all work well together and aren’t completely different algorithms. It’s probably just that my brain likes to group functions. Undoubtedly though, the Disting platform is incredible! The sample recorder and player are not only so responsive, they’re so deep! Also brilliant the way they have the screen expander to the DX. So smart. And it uses that communication protocol from the back of the module too right! Who knows though, I will at some point need a small FX unit. Right now it’s a competition between Disting and FX Aid.

@DougFromTheBayou 14 днів тому

Looks like a fun module :) I definetly need a dedicated sequencer module.

@turbotambourine 14 днів тому

I highly suggest giving a sequencer a try if you haven’t as of yet! I had a Beatstep Pro for a while and that was fun but the flexibility of being able to move things around more freely was an amazing thing. Having a separate sequence to advance the sequencer and trigger and envelope and filter is just so much fun. Six Eyes is really great! If you don’t already have a quantizer though, I’d highly suggest that! It opens up a lot of options for simpler non-quantized sequencers. Then again, sequencers like Oct Tone, do both and can serve as a gate and pitch sequencer or just one at a time. Do you think you’d go with a larger or more compact sequencer?

@DougFromTheBayou 14 днів тому

@@turbotambourine A quantizer is also on my shopping list! (Along with more attenuators and filters!) I quite like the idea of a compact sequencer and I love the concepts behind Six Eyes where its less about plotting the specific notes and intervals and more about just entering some simple parameters and letting it produce the melodies for you. I bought Coherence by Metabolic Devices in the hopes it would satisfy those criteria, but I havent been able to make much sense out of it.

@turbotambourine 14 днів тому

@@DougFromTheBayou That’s great! Ah the shopping list haha. I have one too that is ever changing. I agree! I like the way Six Eyes algorithm is pretty musical. I think part of it is strategy too around sequencing perhaps. Before I had a quantizer, things were much trickier but with a quantizer, it pulls a lot of things in line. Coherence seems like a module I’d love to see some demos of and will look them up. Seems pretty interesting for sure! I’m with you though, the more that’s sort of under the hood of something that you can’t get to makes it harder for my brain to make sense of. But if you did have a quantizer to stick after it, you could always take the pitch output from it and attenuate and offset it to different ranges which may help dial things into taste. When you get to that spot, feel free to drop another line. I’m down to help with that kinda stuff and get into stuff.

@DougFromTheBayou 14 днів тому

@@turbotambourine Thanks TT I will do, I'll follow you on insta now! Yeah I think a quantizer is biggest priority atm. Metabolic are an interesting company and worth following, I met them at superbooth a couple years back and theyre really friendly guys. Keep up the great videos :)

@coopert4852 14 днів тому

Was going for water + dual quantizer to complement hermod and use hermod only for gating drums, but youre making me thinks again… kinda like the idea of sesuencing both my main voice and my bass in the water in one module

@turbotambourine 14 днів тому

Yeah! There’s so many ways to slice it! I know someone else who had just got a Hermod+, got a quad quantizer and then ended up getting back to Hermod+ as the brain of things. So curious how you’ll find it. Mind you, if it’s the original you have, it’s a bit less feature rich so maybe could use the extra help from external modules. I don’t have experience with Hermod but the + definitely has some features that are pretty sweet. That CV recording that can be played back as quantized pitch, or just modulation is suuuper cool. Mainly cause a lot of CV recorders you always have to have external scopes. Water is definitely an interesting way at it because you have differently phased cv of the same cv sequence right? With some sample and hold to have the notes change at different times, that could be really interesting especially depending on what you want and how you’re going about sequencing gates on Hermod. Add a switch, so much fun I bet. Not super deterministic mind you. Do you already have Water? So curious how this will work out and how you find it. If you ever want to chat options, I’m pretty much always down to nerd out haha.

@coopert4852 14 днів тому

@@turbotambourine i have the og hermod and I have struggle to get good melodies with it (even tho I think it’s a really great drum sequencer), and i’m not really a keyboard guy, and I want to use ableton less (no midi). So yeah using two chanels from water to sequence my two voices on the fly with the a156 from doepfer for quantization with some quick option to change the quantization really appeal me. I think I’m gonna stick with this plan when I get some money haha and I’d make an update in few months ! But this module really seems great for one voice, maybe in the future who knows ! Too much possibilities haha And definitively hermod + is something, I tried it on a friend’s system and it’s really good, but once again, money… probably will upgrade it in the future !

@turbotambourine 14 днів тому

@@coopert4852 Oh yeah! I fully understand the slow changes. Money and patience haha. I like your plan a lot! It’ll offer up a pretty different workflow and a lot to play around with all together. You could also perceivably use your quantizer with sample and hold from hermod as an option to Water as well. I don’t know enough about how Hermod sequences melodies but imagine it could be worth a look. I’ve used strange workflows like sending an arp out of Bard Quartet and then passing it through attenuation and offset then putting it back into the quantizer to requantize it. Also, there’s always very simple 4 step sequencers that might be well suited to sequencing things like bass. Either way, hope you’re having fun and in the meantime, I hope you get a kick out of some stuff from hermod. I think I remember seeing an Ann Annie video with Hermod and Rings which was pretty fun.