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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 25 ส.ค. 2024
- Fan of FM? Then look no further than this sooooped up mega module of FM goodness. Akemie's Castle from ALM Busy Circuits brings original NOS chip Yamaha FM to modular and breaks out all the control. Unleashing the power of multi-operator digital FM without hiding it behind modules. But enough of the press release style blurb ... this thing is KILLER! An absolute machine for filthy bass, noisy percussive, softly moving chord tones and more. It's a big modules, but all those controls are great fun with manual wiggling or powerful under voltage control. Dual oscillator, 4 FM operators, chords, feedback, loads of CV input what's not to like?
Check out the Dinky's Taiko (I mention it in the video) HERE -
• ALM - Dinky's Taiko
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The use of the two outputs to create two separate sounds - so cool.
Yeah that's a nice touch.
I've had Akemie's castle for a year now, love what it does when I poke around but seriously learned some details in this video.
I know it's an old video, but I caught something there... you said Feedback affects the "final" operator, the manual says it affects the "initial" operator. But really, it always effects op 1, and on the top two algos it also affects op 3.
Anyway, I love this thing. It's big and it needs kind of a lot of power, but I love it. Nothing else has FM character like this and it can be a real drone beast.
I love FM synthesis. I really want this!
thanks again ben! watched this when i got the module and it was brain tumbleweed but it really really helped all these years later. it was an inspired take on how to unleash the possibilities
I already own ALM DInky's Taiko and ALM Akemie's Taiko and can vouch for how amazing they are. I *thought* I didn't need the Castle but damn you Ben...!
YOU NEED THE CASTLE! haha
As always, thank you. Finally time for me to stop brushing off FM synthesis and taking a serious look at it.
It's definitely a great synthesis method to explore for a huge range of tones.
This has a fantastic Autechre-like sound to it. Would love one of these, if I had room in my case!
This thing is a tonal monster, it's next on my list! There should be a warning that your videos are dangerous to your wealth!
"MY VIDEOS ARE DANGEROUS TO YOUR WEALTH" there's a T shirt in that somewhere.
Every time I hear this module I want it more...
I guess that poses the question ... how much more until you get one? :)
Yes I'm definitely getting the castle and an octocontroller
Awsome Module, and well done demo. I yust look out to buy it. I love Modules, who make such great harmonics. Thx für demonstrate it.
This damn thing is huge. Won't fit in my 32hp mini case, my four 84hp racks are full aside from a 2hp space I'm going to fill with a mixer someday. They make 40hp powered mini-cases, but they cost more than an 84hp rack! But if I get another 84hp for this, I'd need a new rack, and I'd be tempted to fill the rest of it, which I shouldn't do. So I probably have no choice. Didn't know about this puppy until I got my stuff sorted. Now I'm feeling like there's a major missing piece. This thing is gorgeous and swampy and delightfully digital and just so great.
God damn, what an awesome module. Must haaaave.
Hey Matt, a great module worthy of any system.
Akemie's Castle is honestly the most vertasile and at the same time usable synth I've owned so far. Yeah, my braids does a wider range of sounds but the Akemie, along with it's huge range of CV inputs is truly such an intuitive way of live synthesizing. For example, move one of your multipliers from 4x to 1x and you switch from a lead to a bass. Instantly. And the character... just wow
It's a powerful module that is really controllable by hand or CV it's great. Loads of character, I love the aliasing and artefacts from those original chips too.
So freaking sick
Absolutely
What a filthy oscillator!
absolutely
Instant Mark Fell & SND machine.
Cool sounds Divkid! But £445 is a lot of cash for the digital FM sound, even if it has lots of knobs.
I’m covered for FM myself, I have a TG77 with a new screen (not bad to edit at all) and a Nord Modular G1 which has lots of modulation/sequencers etc.
It’s always cool to have more options though. It’s a great time to be a synthesist.
Yeah you could compare the price of a module to anything else and say it's expensive really. They're made in much lower numbers, often with some hand and sometimes all hand assembly and one person developing this stuff takes time. There's a lot of "want" for the Nord Modular to be re-issued I think at the minute.
Good introduction, thanks. I've seen a lot of videos about FM but none that cover the use of envelopes. I'd like to see examples of modulators being shaped by envelopes which is a big part of creating voices on synths like the DX7 (and very difficult to do with the awful numeric slider and small LCD).
Hi Kevin, thats key to nailing that sound, it's the same with the phase distortion synths like the CZ series from Casio. Multipart envelopes beyond the ADSRs we usually see. Coupling this with a few envelopes and VCAs can get really complex and still incredibly musical. Just no time to try and cover everything beyond the sonic footprint unfortunately.
Maybe a generic FM - Beyond the Basics video when you have some time? Like most of us have much free time eh? :) Incidentally, I lived in Bradford for most of the '80s - often think I should go back! Keep up the good work mate, I've learnt more about modular from your stuff than probably any other source - thanks again.
If only modular paid the bills I'd be taking users requests left right and centre! Interesting you lived in Bradford, where abouts? There's not much to come back to really, I imagine most of it looks very much the same bar a few things.
Gt Horton and Manningham mainly. I did visit a couple of years back, was shocked by how many pubs had closed in the city centre! Met my wife, life-long friends and had the time of my life in the 9 years I was there. But you can never go back...
Anybody here maybe wish the operator algorithm was voltage controlled? I don’t own it but whenever I see a button or knob that can’t be modulated or programmed, I get bummed.
Ben, did you ask ALM how they got hold of their vintage Yamaha chips? Did they find them on ebay? :)
is that noise coming from the module or from bad recording?
which bit of the video?
@@DivKidStarting at 16:32 you can hear all sorts of different undesirable noise. There's clipping noise as the volume swells up, as well as a constant very high pitch tone. I want to know the answer to this question too, because this could be coming from the module itself or from somewhere else in the recording process.
@@dasilvasoundstudio that would be the aliasing, it's an intentional byproduct of using old chips
Fantástico! 👍
:)
I am really inspired by the way you used these three modules, would you reccomend these for a beginner?
I think for a beginner you just need SOUND SOURCE - MODIFIER - LEVEL CONTROL. Olivier at Mutable Instruments broke it down that way nicely. It doesn't need to be VCO, VCF and VCA (with envelopes and LFOs to control) it could be SAMPLER, DISTORTION, LOW PASS GATE. So if this speaks to you as a sound source give it a go. There's lots to explore and plenty to expand with more modulation.
Cool thing🤗🤗🤗
I hate you. Now I want an Akemie's Castle. :D
Feelings mutual ... kidding of course. Grab one though it's ace.
I can tell. Love the Sound!
:)
Ben can you make a Lately / Solid bass patch with this module?
Hey Sunil, yeah it'll do FM basses really well.
Good demo but a bit disappointing for how big it is. I was hoping for some castle sounds too, like clanking swords and dragon roars.
haha that made me laugh Kelly. Clanging swords and fire breathing. Sorry I didn't deliver.
false advertising.
I'm hearing constantly a little noise just when moving the knobs.... Is this normal??? Clipped output?? Knobs problem? Or just a natural thing?
Deciding between this and a shapeshifter... I know they're incredibly different and they'll take my rack in two very different directions but I think the striped down FM osc here is a dealbreaker...
I have a Shapeshifter, and it's amazing. Yet I wish I also had this. I would assumedly feel the same if it was reversed, but the Shapeshifter is much WEIRDER than this. Together, they could be a powerful duo. Modulating an already fried wave on the Shapeshifter with the most complex output this one can put out? Must have wants. Wavetables mix well with FM because you can get so many sounds out of just the basic waves in FM, that when you throw wavetables in, the modulating effect is multiplicative instead of merely additive. MUCHO movement. I'm hoping you enjoy whichever one you get!
You didn't demo the feedback feature
Wish there was v/o and tuners for the operators, instead of just staying synched to A and B... or am I missing something? It's missing out on much of the FM character and sound design it seems, not giving access to any of the non-harmonic ratios
@ry jo it seems like the operators can only be stepped in specific ratios of the main OSCs pitch, not freely tuned. But again, maybe i'm missing something. I mean, operators are essentially just oscillators, right? And these apparently can't be tuned, just multiplied. They're linked to the A and B oscillators. Not that most people want to use non-harmonic intervals for FM, but you know. Noise and detune can be useful.
I've used Dexed, which is a VST DX7 emulator, and pretty sure you can tune the operators a lot more freely than just certain stepped values. And you have a lot more routing algorithms than just 6. But I mean, its eurorack, sqeezing that much functionality might be pretty difficult. It's still way more fun and accessible I'm sure than fiddling around in Dexed or an original DX
Another example- the pittsburgh lifeforms sv1 offers a main osc with an fm cv input that is not stepped, and a second osc that is freely tuned. And both oscs have v/o inputs, so you can mult your pitch signal into both to keep them in sync. Plus, there's even a sync input. Anyway
But again, maybe i'm missing something. It could also be just a quirk of the original chips, which I assume are digital and not analog. I don't know. It's still super, super cool and I will probably get it. I love FM, I have a generate 3 and several others oscillators I feed into it, and am looking for other voices to make chords, etc. And so far my experience with ALM stuff is great
That moment when you realize 33u of space is still not enough to fit everything you want.
ಠ益ಠ 凸
precarious333 gha, I will be happy to just pay off my 9u..
Well I didn't say mine was paid off! Someday... Hopefully before my 0% interest runs out.
it's never enough.
I'm looking at my Mantis case like, "ok... what do I have to move around?"
Oh - by the way: try to imagine, to play this module with a Trautonium Ribbon-Controller - I will do it.
I really want to like these type of modules since they're obviously so flexible but the tone/timbres just really don't do it for me..from one AJH lover to another..btw here in N America I hear so little about them..people are missing out!
Totally fair enough, if you're not into the sonic footprint of a module it's not really gonna work for you. There's a lot to explore in this though so maybe worth trying if you get the chance. AJH is stunning and covers all the classic subtractive stuff really well and then some. Interest to hear that AJH isn't mentioned so much in the US, I'll ask Allan what the sales are like ('cos I'm a nosy fucker) :)
Yeah; mirroring the history of electronic music in US vs Europe, I would say in eurorack the American-experimental manufacturers have disproportionate popularity and influence (Make Noise, Mannequins), as well as the longtime mainstays (Intellijel, etc.). Between AJH, ADDAC, and others, I think my system is at least 1/2 European right now, which is pretty unusual here, I think, especially since the majority of manufacturers are still American...what can I say, people are conformist. I've also gotten all my AJH stuff at excellent prices btw because great $-GBP exchange rate and no duty fees, even with shipping..I've bought a lot from Juno and Schneiders..but when I mention this to people here it seems to have never occurred to them quite often..
Yeah well worth mentioning the great deals to be had and seemingly lack of import duty going from the UK to the US. We get hit with everything this end, not moaning just speaking from experience. Everything from the US I have sent comes through customs charges and parcels getting held up etc.
Upside of living in a giant corporate state and economy of scale, downside is..everything else about society IMO. Actually I am in the process of moving to Canada so I'll soon feel your pain, hence why I've tried to buy everything I've needed now :)
DivKidVideo also I am uploading my first Eurorack tutorial video within the next day, so take a look if you have a chance, you were an inspiration, but sorry, no tripod yet :()
'ripe fruit and noise' \m/
:)
I really want to hear this going through the Doepfer SEM A-106-5 (how do they come up with those snappy names?). Been waiting for my tax rebate to finally come through and now it has the local modular shop is sold out of the Castle......nooooooo....
Anyway - amazing vid as usual!
thank you, appreciate that! :) The comments and interaction is always great so feel free to keep asking stuff and chatting. What's your local music shop (out of curiosity)? Akemie's through a filter is a beautiful thing. Analogue filters and distortions / folders etc over digital really does give a best of both situation.
Seems very difficult to get anything musically useful from this. It certainly doesn't remind me of the beautiful presents of the DX7
Well it's not played like a DX7 so it's not going to sound musically like it. the DX was also more operators so more acoustic/real sounds were closer than with this particular NOS Yamaha chip. Great for pads, basses, leads, percussion synthesis etc. It's all in the programming, maybe I just didn't make anything you liked in this one :/
It's interesting - I like some of the strange sounds I hear people making with it but I was kind of hoping for an FM module that made it relatively easy to program those classic digital sounds and make all kinds of derivatives from rather that just being able to do the experimental glitchy atonal type stuff. No demos i've seen so far manage to do that though. Maybe that's unrealistic though and FM is just too technical to get things that sound 'realistic' or 'traditional' without spending hours and hours programming, working out equations, or just through pure luck.
"Musically useful" sounds kind of fascist to me
@@MadelnMachines Sounds like you want to learn how to play the piano. Are you still into modular?
I want to love this. But I think my Assimil8or and a genuine Yamaha FM keyboard will have to do for useful musical tones. A hundred times more musical and useful. The Castle looks beautiful but looks to be a boat anchor of time and energy to get a useful chord out of. I gotta pass. The next revision should have digital presets and allow well known FM sysex voices to be imported into the unit and keep all the CV and control like a DX100 modular. Keep dreaming... I know.
I very much see the chord mode as a bit of a bonus. As a complex mono voice its capable of some incredible tonal exploration and a wide range of musical tones. For playing chords of course there's other things more suited.