I have talked about this filter before in the older reviews I did of this modular. But I found something else that I really like about the SSM a-105 filter. It self resonates very well, and can do a great kick drum that sounds different than a lot of the run of the mill kicks I hear out there.. Not only can this filter give me that glassy 80s poly synth kind of sound ala monopoly and polysix. It can also give me a wicked kick drum. I used a moog freq box saw as the audio source. Lfo on square triggering the gate in on the a-140 doepfer envelope. A-140 env into the SSM a-105 filter cv. If you have a sub woofer, all the better, this thing spits out a ton of bass when the filter self resonates and you close it down. Click Here to Listen to the Kick Drum from the SSM a-105.
Now, an updated review of the Livewire Frequensteiner. This thing kicks major booty! I mean, it can rip, and sound really mean. The best multimode filter in the eurorack format easily. I figured i would show it off a little more. It gets so crunchy and alive and mean. Rips some skin off.. Like a rusty razor. The doepfer A-140 envs are so tight and snappy, i love them in H or M mode to make this acid stuff. The future retro is an awesome CV and Gate Sequencer. I like it for that more than anything else. I pissed off my lizzard with the camera, he wasn’t happy, but it made great video. LOL… any how enjoy this clip! LONG LIVE ANALOG! LONG LIVE LSD(ACID).
Moog Freqbox: Okay, let me start first with the moog. When I first got it, it didn’t scale worth a damn, I had to open it up and calibrate it, even then i only could get about 2 and a half octaves of stable tuning. The plan b was better, but would lose its calibration all together after a few hours. Not the case here, the moog holds it’s calibration. 2 and half octaves is awful. But what makes me forgive it? This thing is huge, big bass, big sound. even if it gets sour, I still love it, its so fat. The plan b and mfb only wish it could sound as fat as this oscillator does. This is not stable enough or musical enough to really hold the fort. To me this is the perfect add on to something more stable to fatten up bass lines and kicks. I have not used it as an FX processor, but man this thing can crazy modulate other stuff great, and a nice big frequency knob to boot, something most of these modular modules do not have.. I like the moog a lot, but i sure wish it tracked a little better. A great addition to a stable modular system.
Okay now onto the Harvestman Polivoks filter. Wow. The resonance on this thing is great, it can rip your face off. I love it for aggressive acid sounds, a new flavor. Its not moog, its not roland, and its not korg. It’s something new, even though it’s old. I’ve never even heard a filter that sounds like this before. The sound still stays big, even with a lot of resonance. This is what the original minimoog did well too, but its smooth, this is mean, and rough, and aggressive, much different. The bandpass is ok, but i prefer the bandpass in the livewire frequenseiner. This is the perfect addition to my ssm and livewire filters. I highly recomend this!
I am set on filters. This gives me evil acid. SSM gives me the girthy glass 80s chip sound. And the frequensteiner gives me a great band and high pass, bland if you don’t saturate the inputs, but if you push the filter with a big sound and drive it hard, nothing beats that high pass. On the oscilator front, if and when the livewire AFG comes out, i will probably pick one of those up and an analog systems r95. This will get me by for now. Its big, and the demo I made shows that off.. Hope you enjoyed this video and review. Peace out.. A fellow gear whore.. hexfix93
Updated, high res hifi divx version of the sh2 futile demo..
Ok, i made a video of the sh-2 using the riffs from futile to show off the sh2., i love this synth! I don’t need a moog, when you have a sh-2, you will never need one. Rolands are the heart and soul of VAC. I HEART ROLAND! well, old roland..
What is new? I had to fix my modular. The plan b oscillators would not old scaling calibration in my modular set up. So i traded them in for the MFB OSC-01 triple dco for super stable osc. And a moog freqbox for a wild heavily fat drifty osc that have way more beef than any modular osc on the market today. I also picked up the Polivoks filter, didn’t like it at first, but learned what it was good at, resonant bass. I will write reviews of this stuff soon so look for it. This held up production. I think i like my gear setup now, but i really miss having an analog poly synth. I have my SH-2, and my modular, and my FR Revolution for analogs. But it’s not enough. I really want a polysix for strings. But those are a pain in the ass, I need midi hahhahaha. I might sell some more stuff.
I have no idea what musical direction I am going into. I am noticing that lately I am a huge fan of death in june, new young pony club, mstrkrft, the knife, LCD Soundsystem, Digitalism, The Horrors, Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Ladytron and the 80s new wave and goth. Lust for blood was good, but dark, and i think vac needs to lighten up a little and make catchier songs. FWK worked that way. I don’t want to just do techno or industrial. I want to make timeless songs that don’t always fit into one genre. I’m running out of time. I’m looking in other directions for inspiration now, because I feel the goth industrial ebm thing is way over played out and over saturated with home studio acts. I’m really not into clubbing anymore because of it. Who knows. I hope i can still progress and have an edge that is not just industrial and techno. I want more than this for my project. I dont want to make complete gloomy records anymore. I want a balance of songs that touch on all moods and ideas and emotions. VAC may drastically change.. who knows. If I don’t pick up production on the new LP soon, there wont be any live shows, so i had better figure this out quick..
February 27th, 2008 by Hexfix93
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