Subharmonicon pro tip: Don’t start with the pitch sequencer values at the 12 o’clock position, start with them all turned to the far left instead (and use that as your root note). If you adjust a pitch step and it sounds bad, flick the step all the way back to the left, and you’re sounding good again. If you’re basing the sequences around the 12 o’clock position, you’re going to have a bad day :)
I absolutely love this machine. It helps if you don't try to make it do things and just let it lead you. Slow the tempo down. Put a /4 on seq 2 and a mix on seq 1. Find the good divisions for suboscillators. Start with cutoff midway and then open up the VCF EG. I almost didn't do a jam yesterday and then I turned some knobs on my subharmonicon sequence and clocks and it made magic! Such a little inspiration machine.
Hilarious! In the beginning I also had the hardest time with Subharmonicon. The Mario Bros soundtrack gone wrong is the PERFECT description. I was like this thing is just a bad 8-bit Video game soundtrack machine! But i stuck with it, determined to find the gold that I know is buried in there, and after 2 years I ahve finally growm to love this box. Its all about "less is more" and subtle manipulation. Great video!
Like you've read my mind! 😆 I've been experimenting lately with my Sub and Strega in my small case and I've been trying to follow your advice. Veeeeeery slow, short plucks on the Sub and lots of atmosphere from Strega, going through my shiny new Doepfer A-121s and my Electus Version. Very, very nice. Well, your video of course. 😉
Thanks for sharing! I have to confess I did not know what an A121s was, looked it up and noticed I already own one. Gear Aquisition Syndrome also makes you forget, which makes it even more dangerous.
Hey Robert, .. good presentation .. it is interesting looking over your shoulder, at devices that I may never own, .. but it sure is interesting, anyway. And what I'm coming up with, from this, and other videos of yours .. is that many of these gadgets have the same problems .. and that they can be solved. .. :)
The sub really is like the problematic child. I usually struggle with it and get easily frustrated but there are techniques i've been learning and god it's so much worth it and not only for ambient, i've been playing with it + a DFAM and you can create real bangers. I needs a little more time getting adapted to it in comparison to mother32 and DFAM but if you're reading this and struggling keep going, you'll see its worth every second of your time.
You can get great ambient moods by turning the attack way up while also slowing the tempo down. For tuning, it’s pretty tough to use all six voices and have it not be simple octaves or very microtonal sounding and dissonant.
I have only barely touched it, but I always feel happy I have one. My personal attempts to cook something up always turned out well. But you'll need to take the deep dive sooner or later. Or never. There's always an Eventide H90....
@@CinematicLaboratory yes or a meris mercury x.. I emailed them asking if they are going to make a eurorack module 😊 I wonder why evantide havent made a rack mount h9 or h90. "The godfather" is also on my radar theyre supposed to update with some new algorithms supposedly
The Mother is a bit like a Moog 0-Coast and I think it's a beautiful way to get that genuine moog sound into your case. You can also use the ext input to run anything through the filter and the sequencer is also a great keyboard to play something else. The sub is more designed to complement the Mother's lead with a pad or chord progression, and DFAM would provide the beats. So the three make a fine modular ecosystem with tons of possibilities in any 'coast'. It's like a mini model 55 modular giant. Honestly I gave up on Instruo support. They're fine people and always willing to help, but my problems are never solved in a satisfactory manner. But that could be more about me than about support. I always seem to have a problem describing my problems because they're usually something like 'this can't happen but it does'. I'll be able to fix it myself when I have the time, using Mordax Data and a screwdriver to recalibrate it. I have two Arbhar's and my old revision always works. The second revision always gives me headaches. Also, the V2 firmware has/had problems with the gate engine that can be solved by changing the parameters on the USB drive (gate latency) but my Arbhar V2 didn't have the thumb drive in so it was on factory defaults. I'll figure it out....
Subharmonicon pro tip: Don’t start with the pitch sequencer values at the 12 o’clock position, start with them all turned to the far left instead (and use that as your root note).
If you adjust a pitch step and it sounds bad, flick the step all the way back to the left, and you’re sounding good again.
If you’re basing the sequences around the 12 o’clock position, you’re going to have a bad day :)
I absolutely love this machine. It helps if you don't try to make it do things and just let it lead you. Slow the tempo down. Put a /4 on seq 2 and a mix on seq 1. Find the good divisions for suboscillators. Start with cutoff midway and then open up the VCF EG. I almost didn't do a jam yesterday and then I turned some knobs on my subharmonicon sequence and clocks and it made magic! Such a little inspiration machine.
Hilarious! In the beginning I also had the hardest time with Subharmonicon. The Mario Bros soundtrack gone wrong is the PERFECT description. I was like this thing is just a bad 8-bit Video game soundtrack machine! But i stuck with it, determined to find the gold that I know is buried in there, and after 2 years I ahve finally growm to love this box. Its all about "less is more" and subtle manipulation. Great video!
Well done on a tough beast to wrangle! People who master the subharmonicon are universally kind, patient and of fine taste. No exceptions
I always enjoy off-roading with you, good sir.
Like you've read my mind! 😆 I've been experimenting lately with my Sub and Strega in my small case and I've been trying to follow your advice. Veeeeeery slow, short plucks on the Sub and lots of atmosphere from Strega, going through my shiny new Doepfer A-121s and my Electus Version.
Very, very nice. Well, your video of course. 😉
Thanks for sharing! I have to confess I did not know what an A121s was, looked it up and noticed I already own one. Gear Aquisition Syndrome also makes you forget, which makes it even more dangerous.
@@CinematicLaboratory Haha! That's funny, because I bought the A-121s after watching your video about stereo filters. 😁
@@electricdawn2258 It's embarrasing :)
Right on, SubH and Strega are my go to combo as well. I can spend hours with just those two alone.
Thank you so much for showing the process from super mario to ambient! You could also record it to tape, sow it down and go on from there....
Hey Robert, .. good presentation .. it is interesting looking over your shoulder, at devices that I may never own, .. but it sure is interesting, anyway. And what I'm coming up with, from this, and other videos of yours .. is that many of these gadgets have the same problems .. and that they can be solved. .. :)
Nice work, subbed. Subh works great with Octatrack (midi LFO and arp, step by step envelope controls, efx scenarios you can slide between)
The sub really is like the problematic child. I usually struggle with it and get easily frustrated but there are techniques i've been learning and god it's so much worth it and not only for ambient, i've been playing with it + a DFAM and you can create real bangers. I needs a little more time getting adapted to it in comparison to mother32 and DFAM but if you're reading this and struggling keep going, you'll see its worth every second of your time.
Thanks for the encouragement!
I wholeheartedly second that !
This is cool man, loving this series of videos your doing
Thanks for the encouragement, just a few more to go till the end of January...
Fascinating😊 It's heartwarming to know that you mess up sometimes too!😊
Well actually it happens a lot, but rarely on a video. It's the charm of doing Jamuary and part of the deal.
@@CinematicLaboratory 😉
Nicely done
You can get great ambient moods by turning the attack way up while also slowing the tempo down.
For tuning, it’s pretty tough to use all six voices and have it not be simple octaves or very microtonal sounding and dissonant.
I agree! Having two voices and derived subharmonics is tough. It's much easier, and usually more gratifying to just use VCO1 and VCO2.
Very nice! I never got along with the zoia
I have only barely touched it, but I always feel happy I have one. My personal attempts to cook something up always turned out well. But you'll need to take the deep dive sooner or later. Or never. There's always an Eventide H90....
@@CinematicLaboratory yes or a meris mercury x.. I emailed them asking if they are going to make a eurorack module 😊 I wonder why evantide havent made a rack mount h9 or h90. "The godfather" is also on my radar theyre supposed to update with some new algorithms supposedly
0:34 😂
4:16 😮 You did it!
RedMeansRecording has a really great video on the subharmonicon called 'The Moog Subharmonicon Is Music and so Are You' - worth the watch
I've seen it and that was one of the reasons why I got one. But would I buy it again today? No.
How does Sub compare to Mother? What does Instruo say about the pitch tracking?
The Mother is a bit like a Moog 0-Coast and I think it's a beautiful way to get that genuine moog sound into your case. You can also use the ext input to run anything through the filter and the sequencer is also a great keyboard to play something else. The sub is more designed to complement the Mother's lead with a pad or chord progression, and DFAM would provide the beats. So the three make a fine modular ecosystem with tons of possibilities in any 'coast'. It's like a mini model 55 modular giant. Honestly I gave up on Instruo support. They're fine people and always willing to help, but my problems are never solved in a satisfactory manner. But that could be more about me than about support. I always seem to have a problem describing my problems because they're usually something like 'this can't happen but it does'. I'll be able to fix it myself when I have the time, using Mordax Data and a screwdriver to recalibrate it. I have two Arbhar's and my old revision always works. The second revision always gives me headaches. Also, the V2 firmware has/had problems with the gate engine that can be solved by changing the parameters on the USB drive (gate latency) but my Arbhar V2 didn't have the thumb drive in so it was on factory defaults. I'll figure it out....
@@CinematicLaboratory 1st world problems ;)
@@CinematicLaboratory Thanks for the comments on Moog. I guess AJH is another rabbit hole for Moog sound. Albeit a wayore expensive one.
ACE
Had one for a week and then sent it back. The sequencer part is cool but the synth part is super limited and uninspiring.
Subharmonicon is F-tier.
Well at least it's "working" and "not broken" so you could try to argue for D-tier.
You’re the expert!