Yet he used lots of different sequencers and big modular systems like; 2600 & Kobol as well as the Fairlight & Oberheim. You're not going to create the same vibe without some of the original gear and the fx had their own timbre too. But I agree about having limitations all the same.
This is just a miracle! Never heard a better patch from other synth guys. At first I suspected it was the original. You have a wonderful ear ... I respect! With love from Russia.
I love your sense of humor! Its great to see so much love for the Blofeld. It is such a powerful synth! I dont have a Blofeld currently but i have a microQ which has a lot of similar functionality. Ive used the the multi mode and arp to turn them into a drum machine, i dont know why it didnt cross my to use it as a sequencer! with all the different arp otions you could makes some really interesting generative sequences. Im going to have to play around with this later
Thanks a lot for the explanation. Definitely a great learning to know the basic sequencing can be achieved with copying patches and changing the trigger step of the arpeggiator. I was wondering if you could recommend any midi sequencer that can take advantage of Blofeld multi-mode (ideally up to 16 midi channels) for arrangements and sequencing especially if it has song mode and basically like an arranger, you can program to change the sequence patterns, etc. along the song. Basically if you can do the whole song with up to 16 tracks of instruments all played from Blofeld. This way you don't have to use a computer / DAW to do so. I've been using DAW in past more than a decade and I'm tired of many distractions and complications that come with the computer use so I'm trying to find a hardware only solution and I'm hoping to not make it too expensive. Thanks a lot.
I think you would really like the Modwave. Remember when you had to use all the mod slots to try to create a random patch. On the Mod wave in the AMP section, just press the random pan button and you get a random stereo spread pan per note. done.
Hey, thanks for your recommendation :) I really like the engines of these "new" small Korg synths. But their keybed is so incredibly bad, sadly. And in the end, I already have so many awesome synths and not enough time ^^
Your video is very good and the arrangement but the sounds of the old machines cannot be replicated. Plus the sequencer had a unique time signature. Cool video all the same.
Thanks for your videos! They've really improved my programming and understanding of the blofeld. Is it true that if you bypass the effects, more unisono voices will be available?
It's hard to predict. The Blofeld has a dynamic voice allocation. That means that the actual number of voices depends on the complexity of the patch. The more things you turn off, the more voices you have. By turning off functions, you reduce the processing load for the chip so that the Blofeld can process more voices instead.
Very good sound and cover. Congratulations. I've got a question though : in order to get closer to analog sound, is it possible to apply a random modifier to OSC start phase (simulation of free running OSC) Thank you for answer.
Unfortunately, the Blofeld does not provide the option to change or modulate the phase of the audio oscillators. But I doubt that it would make a noticeable difference because the unisono detune parameter would be more dominant in this case. So the oscillators are already quite "out of sync" short time after the attack.
Nice idea about the arpegiator, how hard was it to configure the pattern once you had all parts? I had to rewind a couple of times to understand what you did since you did not show explicitly what was configured. BTW I know you're kinda the Blofeld guy since it's a widely available, affordable and flexible synth. I think you should look at the Surge XT synth, it's pretty much in the same vain, opensource and it's so good Roger Linn officially appointed it as the synth to use for the Linnstrument. It'd be great seeing you program that one.
I thought it would be boring to show the configuration of six arp patterns so I simply showed the patterns on a slide. I also planned the patterns on a sheet of paper like that - sometimes you have to construct a sound like a building ;) Surge XT is an interesting concept! However, I'm kind of a hardware guy. But I hope that my tutorials help others to master patch programming in general.
So talented ! I want to ask you something, as an electronic music expert, how many tracks were recorded in every song ( adding delays etc) by the pioneers of the 70's and early 80's like Vangelis, Jarre, Tengerine Dream etc and were they mostly in mono? I say this because I think there weren't many, about 6 tracks maximum, which is very curious!
That's a very tricky question. Yes, the music at that time was recorded mostly on six to eight mono tracks. But if you wanted to create a stereo effect, there have been many different strategies: If you just wanted to create a wider and spacier sound, you simply added a fixed delay with only one repetition to one side and the original sources to the other side. This way, if something didn't require complicated mixing and only a static level, the whole delay needed only one track. For example, you want to make the strings wider and add an interesting effect to one sound of your rhythm. Then you need one track for strings, one for this other sound and you're routing both to the delay on the third track. Later in mixing, tracks one and two are hard left and the delay track is hard right routed. Check out the beginning of Jarre's Rendez-Vous 4. Other than that, in the early time of electronic music, many instruments were only panned statically during the mix-down by hand. Sometimes, they were even tweaked live manually during mixing. Check out Jarre's Oxygene 5 were you can hear very strangely panned sounds in the beginning of the second part. Later, in the 80s, especially the first row of electronic musicians started to use digital systems. Klaus Schulze, Jarre and Mike Oldfield had Fairlight CMIs, Tangerine Dream used PPG systems and Vangelis was also always an early adopter of digital keyboards. The Fairlight was actually a whole DAW in a box, with several audio tracks, midi recording and sampling. By using these in-box multitrack systems, in combination with midi sequencers, midi recorders and sampling of complex elements you had actually a lot of tracks. Then you could record (and mix) your song on the fly by synchronizing all instruments and pressing play. Magnetic Fields is the perfect example for the Fairlight CMI!
I am watching for your insight into how to recreate something special that I haven’t been able to invest my time in. I am delighted by your knowledge. The gimmick scenes are a little Eurotrash and frankly detract from your knowledge. Be an educator or a comedian.
Check out my "Lento Violento" version of Magnetic Fields 1: th-cam.com/video/PwgsJt_s5hs/w-d-xo.html
And thanks for watching :)
Thanks!
Thank you for your support, Gary! Much appreciated 👍
Bravo
This is a classic example of limitations boosting creativity, which is a thing that Jarre himself has mentioned in interviews a lot.
Yet he used lots of different sequencers and big modular systems like; 2600 & Kobol as well as the Fairlight & Oberheim. You're not going to create the same vibe without some of the original gear and the fx had their own timbre too. But I agree about having limitations all the same.
Jarre was also my introduction to electronic music, with Concerts in China. and MF1 is one of my favourites too :)
This is just a miracle! Never heard a better patch from other synth guys. At first I suspected it was the original. You have a wonderful ear ... I respect!
With love from Russia.
Great stuff! Thank you. I also have been a fan of JMJ since 1986. I love the Magnetic fields album.
Very tricky, to use the multimode! Respect!
I find your attempted dry Teutonic humour exquisite!🦯🎭😘
Great instructional video.👍
Absolutely brilliant! Thanks 🙏
Thank you for this video. Very clever way to work around the limitations of the Blofeld.
Brilliant!
I love your sense of humor! Its great to see so much love for the Blofeld. It is such a powerful synth! I dont have a Blofeld currently but i have a microQ which has a lot of similar functionality. Ive used the the multi mode and arp to turn them into a drum machine, i dont know why it didnt cross my to use it as a sequencer! with all the different arp otions you could makes some really interesting generative sequences. Im going to have to play around with this later
Always fantastic. There's always a new and interesting idea (or more) in every one of your videos.
You nailed it 👌
BTW: Magnetic fields is a great work of Jarre!
Thanks a lot for the explanation. Definitely a great learning to know the basic sequencing can be achieved with copying patches and changing the trigger step of the arpeggiator. I was wondering if you could recommend any midi sequencer that can take advantage of Blofeld multi-mode (ideally up to 16 midi channels) for arrangements and sequencing especially if it has song mode and basically like an arranger, you can program to change the sequence patterns, etc. along the song. Basically if you can do the whole song with up to 16 tracks of instruments all played from Blofeld. This way you don't have to use a computer / DAW to do so. I've been using DAW in past more than a decade and I'm tired of many distractions and complications that come with the computer use so I'm trying to find a hardware only solution and I'm hoping to not make it too expensive. Thanks a lot.
I think you would really like the Modwave.
Remember when you had to use all the mod slots to try to create a random patch.
On the Mod wave in the AMP section, just press the random pan button and you get a random stereo spread pan per note.
done.
Hey, thanks for your recommendation :)
I really like the engines of these "new" small Korg synths. But their keybed is so incredibly bad, sadly. And in the end, I already have so many awesome synths and not enough time ^^
@@SynthesizerVideo They also make a Modwave VST with the same functionality as the hardware.
I know but I'm such a hardware slu... guy.
Thanks, my dear! It's amazing! May I dare to request U for a MIDI file only the arpeggiator part? Thanks and congrats!
Your video is very good and the arrangement but the sounds of the old machines cannot be replicated. Plus the sequencer had a unique time signature. Cool video all the same.
Thanks for your videos! They've really improved my programming and understanding of the blofeld. Is it true that if you bypass the effects, more unisono voices will be available?
It's hard to predict. The Blofeld has a dynamic voice allocation. That means that the actual number of voices depends on the complexity of the patch. The more things you turn off, the more voices you have. By turning off functions, you reduce the processing load for the chip so that the Blofeld can process more voices instead.
@@SynthesizerVideo Wow! Thank you so much for the great response!
Very good sound and cover. Congratulations.
I've got a question though : in order to get closer to analog sound, is it possible to apply a random modifier to OSC start phase (simulation of free running OSC)
Thank you for answer.
Unfortunately, the Blofeld does not provide the option to change or modulate the phase of the audio oscillators. But I doubt that it would make a noticeable difference because the unisono detune parameter would be more dominant in this case. So the oscillators are already quite "out of sync" short time after the attack.
@@SynthesizerVideo Thank you for your answer.
Whoooooaa ❤🔥🎹🎼
Nice idea about the arpegiator, how hard was it to configure the pattern once you had all parts? I had to rewind a couple of times to understand what you did since you did not show explicitly what was configured.
BTW I know you're kinda the Blofeld guy since it's a widely available, affordable and flexible synth. I think you should look at the Surge XT synth, it's pretty much in the same vain, opensource and it's so good Roger Linn officially appointed it as the synth to use for the Linnstrument. It'd be great seeing you program that one.
I thought it would be boring to show the configuration of six arp patterns so I simply showed the patterns on a slide. I also planned the patterns on a sheet of paper like that - sometimes you have to construct a sound like a building ;)
Surge XT is an interesting concept! However, I'm kind of a hardware guy. But I hope that my tutorials help others to master patch programming in general.
So talented ! I want to ask you something, as an electronic music expert, how many tracks were recorded in every song ( adding delays etc) by the pioneers of the 70's and early 80's like Vangelis, Jarre, Tengerine Dream etc and were they mostly in mono? I say this because I think there weren't many, about 6 tracks maximum, which is very curious!
That's a very tricky question. Yes, the music at that time was recorded mostly on six to eight mono tracks. But if you wanted to create a stereo effect, there have been many different strategies:
If you just wanted to create a wider and spacier sound, you simply added a fixed delay with only one repetition to one side and the original sources to the other side. This way, if something didn't require complicated mixing and only a static level, the whole delay needed only one track. For example, you want to make the strings wider and add an interesting effect to one sound of your rhythm. Then you need one track for strings, one for this other sound and you're routing both to the delay on the third track. Later in mixing, tracks one and two are hard left and the delay track is hard right routed. Check out the beginning of Jarre's Rendez-Vous 4.
Other than that, in the early time of electronic music, many instruments were only panned statically during the mix-down by hand. Sometimes, they were even tweaked live manually during mixing. Check out Jarre's Oxygene 5 were you can hear very strangely panned sounds in the beginning of the second part.
Later, in the 80s, especially the first row of electronic musicians started to use digital systems. Klaus Schulze, Jarre and Mike Oldfield had Fairlight CMIs, Tangerine Dream used PPG systems and Vangelis was also always an early adopter of digital keyboards. The Fairlight was actually a whole DAW in a box, with several audio tracks, midi recording and sampling. By using these in-box multitrack systems, in combination with midi sequencers, midi recorders and sampling of complex elements you had actually a lot of tracks. Then you could record (and mix) your song on the fly by synchronizing all instruments and pressing play. Magnetic Fields is the perfect example for the Fairlight CMI!
@@SynthesizerVideo excelent answer ! Thank you very much !
I am watching for your insight into how to recreate something special that I haven’t been able to invest my time in. I am delighted by your knowledge. The gimmick scenes are a little Eurotrash and frankly detract from your knowledge. Be an educator or a comedian.
Great Intro! Jean-Michel is your first name?
Sorry, what is the song at the end of your explanations? Thanks...
It's the first track of my latest album:
curiouselectric.bandcamp.com/album/rest
th-cam.com/video/v-eajpXtFG8/w-d-xo.html