I had Beads in my main rack, and was kinda: "meh". Then I moved it into it's own small case with a Benjolin and I gave it a lot more attention. This meant I actually learned how to play it, and now I think it is a wonderful module. However it requires attention, and if you just rotate every knob in sight you don't get much in the way of usable results. You need to tweak each knob quite deliberately. My conclusion is that it is not an instant gratification module, and that does not help with the crowd that always chases the latest gear.
Beads differentiates itself as a complete voice due to its ability to be triggered, clocked, and pitched (via v/oct). It also works exceptionally with field recordings (via Rample). It is so much more than an effect; it is a very deep instrument if you approach it as one.
I bought beads because I thought it was going to be a cool granular module. For that, I was disappointed with it and didn't really put much into it. I started putting more time into it recently and found that it was actually a phenomenal module as a standalone voice. There are a few things I would like with it, like being able to use the reverb for external audio while also using its internal wavetable oscillator as well, but just being able to create some textured soundscapes, this thing is brilliant! There is a ton of sound design potential with this thing if you put the time in.
I had no idea anyone felt beads was a letdown. Ever since I switched to it from clouds I fell in love. I still learn so much new stuff from it from jam sessions, performing live, to writing tracks, it truly has so much flexibility. I'm not actually sure I would ever design a case without it. One thing I like is to add a percussive layer to a pad using a clock signal on the seed, especially if you have room in the lower/upper frequencies, it can be an easy way to build up tension in a loop. Not to mention dialing in the 100% wet, while clocking the seed input, can be another easy way to get a smooth transition to another sequence.
All these cool sounds without even using the seed (clocked granular delays) and/or freeze inputs (granular sampling/scanning). Excellent! Got my Beads from the 2nd batch, had to wait for about 10 months. Still in my main mixing case and not going anywhere. It's simplty awesome!
I fell into that trap, for a long time kept trying to make it be Clouds and hated it, once I approached it as something different then I unlocked the power of it and it's my favorite module, bonus to that after about a year I am now actually able to make it sound like Clouds
Beads on the samples were really fun! Great video! I agree, there seems to be something going on with Beads. I don’t have one and really try to approach all modules with having strengths and great applications. Certain things may make the way you want them to work not possible but if you embrace what’s there you can often find lots to work with. I guess part of that is being a person dabbling in music vs requiring it to score films or earn a living. Would love to get a beads on a side mission at some point haha!
The “can I get uh” literally had me cracking up so hard, which is why it’s the longest demo 🤣 Good point about dabbling vs pros! Dude I love your thumbnails!
@@NoiseToMost yeah! The dabbling is definitely a tension I keep in my mind. I don’t know enough about mixing things sonically or any number of technical musical things but I share my perspective as a user of this amazing modular tech. I imagine if I were in a space of having the pressure of timelines or needing a perfectly quiet noisefloor, I might get irked about imperfections. But from my seat the more I embrace those amd just learn the depth of what is there in the modules, there’s so much that opens up. I often find the limitations to be quite inspiring if not too restrictive of course. Thanks re the thumbnails. I figured out at some point that it would be helpful so it’s always something I consider. Thumbnails take so long though compared to some of the other aspects of making videos. Then again, by the time I’m making a thumbnail, it’s usually because a new video is coming out soon so excitement can drive that one quite well.
Did you actually demo the delay? I'm wondering if you used the wrong footage since the module isn't clocked and size is supposed to be turned fully clockwise to ∞
@@NoiseToMost Beads had a Delay Mode, outlined by Emile in the manual. You have to turn size all the way clockwise, and you enter delay mode. If you clock it, the density sets a master division/multiplication, and the time knob works as a sort of fine tune of the delay time. Give it a try!
@@NoiseToMost Yeah that was done without any understanding at all lol. Unclocked delay has pronounced analog-style pitch shifts when turning the time knob. Also, both clocked and free-running delay repurpose Size attennurandomizer for a dj-style filter. What you were doing was just seeding grains at regular interwals. Also, it has literally a beat-slicer mode (instead of what you've shown). RTFM [facepalm]
Excellent video my friend! Love this format. You are a natural. Man, too bad Mutable had to shut down. I remember when Beads came out…people were thru the roof about it…..glad to see your vids man…You seem well!! ⚡️⚡️🎛️🎚️🎛️
Thank you so much! I’m pushing thru! Yeah it’s weird I suppose the criticism of Beads sticks out to me more than the praise. I think most modules don’t really receive much criticism so when one does it’s more noticeable? 🤔
@@NoiseToMostcriticism has a funny way of sticking in our minds. The more harsh, the more it sticks. I will never ever forget my photography teacher saying my art looked like a postcard. 😂
Another reminder about how expectations can really skew people's view. If people expect something known and get something knew, they can misinterpret that new thing as being a mistake.
Yeah sorry the selfie camera on my phone was set to mirror and the front facing was not, so all the ones with me were mirrored. I noticed that too and am not going to use the selfie in mirror anymore, thanks!🙏
@@NoiseToMost Ah, I see. You can tell I've not tried making such videos myself. Thanks for the video. It's interesting how perspectives on what a module is “for” can differ!
Cool, I didn't have Beads on my radar, really until now. How do you guys think about Typhoon? I already have it and wonder if beads would give me additional functionality...
I have not used clouds clones, but as I understand it Beads in theory does everything clouds does but imo appears to have a little more straight forward layout, seems to handle granular differently, multi sample rates, and it has the 9 wave table oscillators.
Typhoon is the APEX clouds clone, based on Parasite firmware. It combines all goods from the original, the Supercell (more CV) and the Monsoon (sliders). As for Beads, it's a totally different experience but definitely a Clouds 2.0. The 'issue' here is, is that there are no easter-egg modes and it's doing what the original did, but much better. The only additional functionality is the wavetable mode (which is actually super useful). Auto-levelling doesn't always work, but there's a manual override. Personally I feel there's one exception, Clouds' ol' reverb sounds better to me. I also feel Typhoon starts clipping in the digital domain when pushed hard. It's not terrible, but you can hear some crackle. I have Clouds, Beads and Typhoon and if I could keep only one, it would be Typhoon. But I don't, so I'll definitely keep all of them!
I love Clouds (clone) and would like to test Beads but since the code is not free to use there are no diy options and the prices for the original mutable are much to high these days
Yeah the mutable stuff is prob going to experience this for a while. I would like an OG Rings one day but the prices are a little much on those as well, totally understand
Pulsar synthesis. (Almost, not single cycle.) With a fixed buffer or the wavetable, triggered at audio/subaudio rates. Or triggered rhythmically, feed it into Rings. No rings into beads. Beads into Rings.
Good video but you did sound better before the microphone. The mic seemed to roll a lot off the top end of your voice, making it sound a bit muffled. Apologies if you usually sound like that.
I still have Beads (which is in fact Clouds V2) in my rack with the idea to give it another chance someday, but sofar it didn't gel with me while Clouds got me down the rabbit hole. For me personally I think it has to do with the intuitiveness and instant sweetspots with Clouds, while Beads wanted to be too much, an issue Émilie apparantly ran into while developing Clouds.
Good observation, I like the versatility of beads, and but I can see what you mean, sometimes a module just doesn’t do it for you, I have had a few like that as well!
The only thing I have some issues with is the weird auto gain. It starts gaining like crazy when I stop a sequence and just turning up the noise floor. That said im not going to sell mine, it is such a nice thing (when it behaves xD)
Obliquely related but potentially relevant. As someone fairly new to the modular scene and therefore looking at a Make Noise Maths with the same bewilderment and amazement as some other highly specialised, magical esoteric module, I've noticed a reasonable about of snobbery aimed towards modules that can be considered "main stream" (which to me is a laughable concept considering the niche nature of modular!). This phenomenon isn't unique to the modular synth community. It often happens across various hobbies and interests: when something gains popularity, it paradoxically loses some of its allure for certain enthusiasts. To me this attitude seems counterintuitive, especially given that a product's widespread acceptance and popularity oftentimes reflects its reliability and quality etc. I myself initially saw the popularity of modules like Beads and Plaits (and others) and looked past them at first, thinking I would try to be more "unique" in my rack, however, the idea of achieving a "unique" sound depends far more heavily on HOW you use these modules, rather than the modules themselves imparting uniqueness. These are all EXCELLENT modules and have brought me immense joy, I wish that more hobbyists would put aside this attitude of mainstream/entry level = bad and just enjoy them for what they are.
Amen well said! Could not agree more, it is def interesting to see something be darling when it first comes out and then get slowly dropped by certain types of users as it gets more popular. Heck we see this with new bands and artists all the time!
I think the main problem I have with beads is that I don't click with it and I do think my module is busted. I've followed div kids tutorial and I can't replicate the same things he does. I put in clouds and I get grains... beads however... sometimes the seed will create grains, most times it does absolutely nothing. I'm sure my module is busted, so I just took it out of my rack. fuck it. Mojave sounds 1000x better and is way more user friendly. So no beef with Mutable as I love everything else... but for me Beads is the one module that I can't not get to work consistently. I do think there is something to people complaining about it and not that it's just difficult and you need to spend time to work it. I've done that. Mine's busted. Glad you like yours though!
I never had a use for Clouds but i love Beads without doubt their best module, really would love to get another one hoped for a clone but looks like this won't happen. Can't understand that they just let it die after a small inital production.
Yeah I’m not sure if it was the backlash or what. The module is so thoughtful so I could also see how they would want to keep it to themselves for a while before going open source.
I mean there is def some criticism of beads just in this videos comments, but also look around the forums and discord channel, it’s out there, thanks for stopping by!
That’s interesting, I’ve only ever used it with Rample, so I’m not sure if there is some sampler output stuff going on too. But with Rample it always worked in a workable way.
I had Beads in my main rack, and was kinda: "meh". Then I moved it into it's own small case with a Benjolin and I gave it a lot more attention. This meant I actually learned how to play it, and now I think it is a wonderful module. However it requires attention, and if you just rotate every knob in sight you don't get much in the way of usable results. You need to tweak each knob quite deliberately.
My conclusion is that it is not an instant gratification module, and that does not help with the crowd that always chases the latest gear.
It’s an interesting point! I think you’re totally right in that it does require more attention than it would appear at first glance!
Thanks for that beat slicing and percussion patch idea!!
You’re welcome! It’s a fun way to use beads!
Beads differentiates itself as a complete voice due to its ability to be triggered, clocked, and pitched (via v/oct). It also works exceptionally with field recordings (via Rample). It is so much more than an effect; it is a very deep instrument if you approach it as one.
Agree on all fronts, I’ve been using its voices a lot lately
I bought beads because I thought it was going to be a cool granular module. For that, I was disappointed with it and didn't really put much into it. I started putting more time into it recently and found that it was actually a phenomenal module as a standalone voice. There are a few things I would like with it, like being able to use the reverb for external audio while also using its internal wavetable oscillator as well, but just being able to create some textured soundscapes, this thing is brilliant! There is a ton of sound design potential with this thing if you put the time in.
I actually was thinking the same thing about Beads in my last patch about the reverb and Voice! Glad it’s coming around for you!
Excellent demo and you really make it sounds like Beads!
Thank you! 😁
I had no idea anyone felt beads was a letdown. Ever since I switched to it from clouds I fell in love. I still learn so much new stuff from it from jam sessions, performing live, to writing tracks, it truly has so much flexibility. I'm not actually sure I would ever design a case without it. One thing I like is to add a percussive layer to a pad using a clock signal on the seed, especially if you have room in the lower/upper frequencies, it can be an easy way to build up tension in a loop. Not to mention dialing in the 100% wet, while clocking the seed input, can be another easy way to get a smooth transition to another sequence.
Yes!!🙌 💯 agree! It was one of my first eurorack modules and I’m so glad it survived the purge!
Thanks for informing me with Beads content! I hope to have one too next week.
It’s one of my favs! So versatile!
All these cool sounds without even using the seed (clocked granular delays) and/or freeze inputs (granular sampling/scanning). Excellent!
Got my Beads from the 2nd batch, had to wait for about 10 months. Still in my main mixing case and not going anywhere. It's simplty awesome!
Amen! 🙏
I have two Beads inside one system. It's probably my favourite module for textured effects.
Awesome! I love that!
the clouds purist who hate beads need to stop comparing the two, beads is its own thing
absolutely! I can totally see why clouds would have its fans but agree they are different!
I fell into that trap, for a long time kept trying to make it be Clouds and hated it, once I approached it as something different then I unlocked the power of it and it's my favorite module, bonus to that after about a year I am now actually able to make it sound like Clouds
I agree with the "percussive", no problem. Coll video, thanks!
Thank you so much!
Beads on the samples were really fun! Great video! I agree, there seems to be something going on with Beads. I don’t have one and really try to approach all modules with having strengths and great applications. Certain things may make the way you want them to work not possible but if you embrace what’s there you can often find lots to work with. I guess part of that is being a person dabbling in music vs requiring it to score films or earn a living. Would love to get a beads on a side mission at some point haha!
The “can I get uh” literally had me cracking up so hard, which is why it’s the longest demo 🤣
Good point about dabbling vs pros! Dude I love your thumbnails!
@@NoiseToMost yeah! The dabbling is definitely a tension I keep in my mind. I don’t know enough about mixing things sonically or any number of technical musical things but I share my perspective as a user of this amazing modular tech. I imagine if I were in a space of having the pressure of timelines or needing a perfectly quiet noisefloor, I might get irked about imperfections. But from my seat the more I embrace those amd just learn the depth of what is there in the modules, there’s so much that opens up. I often find the limitations to be quite inspiring if not too restrictive of course.
Thanks re the thumbnails. I figured out at some point that it would be helpful so it’s always something I consider. Thumbnails take so long though compared to some of the other aspects of making videos. Then again, by the time I’m making a thumbnail, it’s usually because a new video is coming out soon so excitement can drive that one quite well.
Subscribing out of respect for the sublime perfection of your clickbait thumbnail 👏
Haha thanks! 😁
Totally, me too
Did you actually demo the delay? I'm wondering if you used the wrong footage since the module isn't clocked and size is supposed to be turned fully clockwise to ∞
Hehe it sounds like delay to me 🤷🏻♂️ It’s modular dude, there are no rules.
@@NoiseToMost Beads had a Delay Mode, outlined by Emile in the manual. You have to turn size all the way clockwise, and you enter delay mode. If you clock it, the density sets a master division/multiplication, and the time knob works as a sort of fine tune of the delay time. Give it a try!
@@NoiseToMost Yeah that was done without any understanding at all lol. Unclocked delay has pronounced analog-style pitch shifts when turning the time knob. Also, both clocked and free-running delay repurpose Size attennurandomizer for a dj-style filter. What you were doing was just seeding grains at regular interwals. Also, it has literally a beat-slicer mode (instead of what you've shown). RTFM [facepalm]
@@hatecouture 😘
Excellent video my friend! Love this format. You are a natural. Man, too bad Mutable had to shut down. I remember when Beads came out…people were thru the roof about it…..glad to see your vids man…You seem well!! ⚡️⚡️🎛️🎚️🎛️
Thank you so much! I’m pushing thru! Yeah it’s weird I suppose the criticism of Beads sticks out to me more than the praise. I think most modules don’t really receive much criticism so when one does it’s more noticeable? 🤔
@@NoiseToMostcriticism has a funny way of sticking in our minds. The more harsh, the more it sticks. I will never ever forget my photography teacher saying my art looked like a postcard. 😂
Another reminder about how expectations can really skew people's view. If people expect something known and get something knew, they can misinterpret that new thing as being a mistake.
This is an excellent point, both can be good for different reasons! 🙏
Why did you mirror-reverse the video? Seeing familiar modules backwards is just so confusing. Edit: at 2:30, it gets better later, for some reason.
Yeah sorry the selfie camera on my phone was set to mirror and the front facing was not, so all the ones with me were mirrored. I noticed that too and am not going to use the selfie in mirror anymore, thanks!🙏
@@NoiseToMost Ah, I see. You can tell I've not tried making such videos myself. Thanks for the video. It's interesting how perspectives on what a module is “for” can differ!
Can't believe people who hate Beads exist. What a time to be alive.
What a time!
Cool, I didn't have Beads on my radar, really until now. How do you guys think about Typhoon? I already have it and wonder if beads would give me additional functionality...
I have not used clouds clones, but as I understand it Beads in theory does everything clouds does but imo appears to have a little more straight forward layout, seems to handle granular differently, multi sample rates, and it has the 9 wave table oscillators.
Typhoon is the APEX clouds clone, based on Parasite firmware. It combines all goods from the original, the Supercell (more CV) and the Monsoon (sliders). As for Beads, it's a totally different experience but definitely a Clouds 2.0. The 'issue' here is, is that there are no easter-egg modes and it's doing what the original did, but much better. The only additional functionality is the wavetable mode (which is actually super useful). Auto-levelling doesn't always work, but there's a manual override. Personally I feel there's one exception, Clouds' ol' reverb sounds better to me. I also feel Typhoon starts clipping in the digital domain when pushed hard. It's not terrible, but you can hear some crackle. I have Clouds, Beads and Typhoon and if I could keep only one, it would be Typhoon. But I don't, so I'll definitely keep all of them!
I love Clouds (clone) and would like to test Beads but since the code is not free to use there are no diy options and the prices for the original mutable are much to high these days
Yeah the mutable stuff is prob going to experience this for a while. I would like an OG Rings one day but the prices are a little much on those as well, totally understand
Pulsar synthesis. (Almost, not single cycle.) With a fixed buffer or the wavetable, triggered at audio/subaudio rates. Or triggered rhythmically, feed it into Rings. No rings into beads. Beads into Rings.
Thanks you for this PSA! 🙏
Hate into Beads sounds ace 👍 😂
🤣 You win the comments on this video 🏆
Good video but you did sound better before the microphone. The mic seemed to roll a lot off the top end of your voice, making it sound a bit muffled. Apologies if you usually sound like that.
Thank for the feedback and stopping by!
I like my Beads.
Me too! 🤩
I love my Beads!
Me too! 🙏🙂
I still have Beads (which is in fact Clouds V2) in my rack with the idea to give it another chance someday, but sofar it didn't gel with me while Clouds got me down the rabbit hole. For me personally I think it has to do with the intuitiveness and instant sweetspots with Clouds, while Beads wanted to be too much, an issue Émilie apparantly ran into while developing Clouds.
Good observation, I like the versatility of beads, and but I can see what you mean, sometimes a module just doesn’t do it for you, I have had a few like that as well!
stop the hate, make some noise!
Yessss!!!!🤘
The only thing I have some issues with is the weird auto gain. It starts gaining like crazy when I stop a sequence and just turning up the noise floor. That said im not going to sell mine, it is such a nice thing (when it behaves xD)
I have not experienced that with mine yet but I could see how that could be an issue, hopefully it behaves more than it doesn’t!
I have the same issue. Read the manual. You can disable the automatic gain control.
@@MonkeyBeats-zl6tr Thank you, did not think off that being an option. Will definitely look through the manual :)
It’s definitely more interesting than Clouds.
I haven’t used clouds but it looks fun too!
I've not come across any hate.. Although I've never tried Clouds. I love Beads 😊. Nice video m'friend 👌
Thank you! 🙏
Obliquely related but potentially relevant. As someone fairly new to the modular scene and therefore looking at a Make Noise Maths with the same bewilderment and amazement as some other highly specialised, magical esoteric module, I've noticed a reasonable about of snobbery aimed towards modules that can be considered "main stream" (which to me is a laughable concept considering the niche nature of modular!).
This phenomenon isn't unique to the modular synth community. It often happens across various hobbies and interests: when something gains popularity, it paradoxically loses some of its allure for certain enthusiasts. To me this attitude seems counterintuitive, especially given that a product's widespread acceptance and popularity oftentimes reflects its reliability and quality etc.
I myself initially saw the popularity of modules like Beads and Plaits (and others) and looked past them at first, thinking I would try to be more "unique" in my rack, however, the idea of achieving a "unique" sound depends far more heavily on HOW you use these modules, rather than the modules themselves imparting uniqueness. These are all EXCELLENT modules and have brought me immense joy, I wish that more hobbyists would put aside this attitude of mainstream/entry level = bad and just enjoy them for what they are.
Amen well said! Could not agree more, it is def interesting to see something be darling when it first comes out and then get slowly dropped by certain types of users as it gets more popular. Heck we see this with new bands and artists all the time!
I like it and have it, but I'm not overly thrilled about it. Like I was with Clouds. I'm not selling it though.
Fair enough! Glad you like it!! ✊
I think the main problem I have with beads is that I don't click with it and I do think my module is busted. I've followed div kids tutorial and I can't replicate the same things he does. I put in clouds and I get grains... beads however... sometimes the seed will create grains, most times it does absolutely nothing. I'm sure my module is busted, so I just took it out of my rack. fuck it. Mojave sounds 1000x better and is way more user friendly. So no beef with Mutable as I love everything else... but for me Beads is the one module that I can't not get to work consistently. I do think there is something to people complaining about it and not that it's just difficult and you need to spend time to work it. I've done that. Mine's busted. Glad you like yours though!
I hear about the reliability a fair amount, I’m sorry yours doesn’t work but glad you found an alternative you are happy with!
I never had a use for Clouds but i love Beads without doubt their best module, really would love to get another one hoped for a clone but looks like this won't happen. Can't understand that they just let it die after a small inital production.
Yeah I’m not sure if it was the backlash or what. The module is so thoughtful so I could also see how they would want to keep it to themselves for a while before going open source.
Haven’t seen *any* beads hate…
I mean there is def some criticism of beads just in this videos comments, but also look around the forums and discord channel, it’s out there, thanks for stopping by!
@@NoiseToMost no chance I’m gonna go looking, love beads haha
I cant; most voices i put through distort and if its quiet for 10 seconds it starts screaming
That’s interesting, I’ve only ever used it with Rample, so I’m not sure if there is some sampler output stuff going on too. But with Rample it always worked in a workable way.
All these patches suck, you have no idea what you are doing.
🤣
Your comment sucks, you have no idea what you are doing.
😂😊