Did you get rid of some OSCs after getting the ER-301?

Very interesting. Thanks for sharing.

These are my OSCs/Sound Sources:

2x Dixie 2+
2x Instruo Ts-L
2x Mangrove
1x Just Friends (not always used for audio)
1x Verbos HO
2x Rings

I haven’t ditched any of mine (and I have a ton) as they’re just a different colour option. But, I use them all less as it’s easier (and more fun!) to create great textures with the grains, slicers and loopers.

Actually - what I tend to do frequently is record waveforms from many an oscillator in my system into the 301… and it’s more fodder for the internal tools.

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This is exactly what I had in mind.

I have found the Galbanum Architecture Waveforms far more convenient than recording my own, not that it’s that hard, it is a little fiddly but… 25,000 just sat there already waiting to be used:

https://www.galbanum.com/products/architecturewaveforms2010/

I know I said it before, but I really am very keen on the wavetable unit coming out… :smiley:

Patience, I know… :wink:

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so confused, “OSC” is http://opensoundcontrol.org/introduction-osc

But it seems like the OP is talking about oscillators?
Why would it be abbreviated that way, and in all caps?

My preference is to use the ER-301 to handle things surrounding playing back audiofiles, looping, and recording. This may change if a wavetable oscillator surfaces, as I don’t have anything like that currently. I’ve thought about getting a Piston Honda though, especially since you can process audio with it. Currently using 2 Mangroves for the main voices in my system (and have thought about adding a third).

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yep - OSC for Oscillator. This abbreviation (one of many) has been used for eons, long before Open Sound Control came into existence.

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i didn’t ditch any of my oscillators either. on the contrary, i’ve recently bought a Verbos Harmonic Osc that i’ve tried to ‘clone’ a while ago in this thread and i couldn’t be happier. i got rid of the Morphagene though and i miss it sometimes.

so, currently i’ve got:

  • DPO
  • E352
  • Shapeshifter
  • Piston Honda II
  • Waldorf NW1 (on the verge of getting rid of this one, but reluctant)
  • telharmonic
  • benjolin
  • Verbos HO
  • Folktek Conduit (osc is not everything it can do but still)
  • Folktek Matter
  • just friends (i mostly use it for modulation though, not audio)
  • mysteron
  • plonk
  • akemie’s taiko
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I haven’t ditched any either, though I don’t exactly have a huge modular rig to start with. Interesting to read that no one who has responded really has either.

In my system it allows me to do more with the oscillators I do have. For example if I dial in a good sound on the Shapeshifter, I can sample the waveform and play it using one of the sample players in the 301, and then free the Shapeshifter back up to create a new sound.

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(I’m also a hoarder)

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So to the ones with quite a few Oscillators, how is your workflow when recording a track? Do you also use the 301 to free up your modules for additional voices like the guys with smaller setups? Or do you at some point focus on the 301?

I image there would be a lot of stuff going on.

I focus mostly on something other modules I have can’t do — sample playback / mangling, recording, effects, extending sound palette with things unique to the 301. i can’t recall using it to free up voices. i also put my 301 into my new 12U/104HP portable case for live performances and traveling, and it’s going to be busy there, including recording everything (:

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How do you like these compared to the Adventure Kid single cycle waveforms? Worth the money? Having a large amount of waveforms that well organized seem worthwhile in of itself.

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I really like them a lot, they are a little different, but I am not sure I could quantify that exactly, at least not without considerable work - it’s just a gut feeling.

Yes, the organisation of them is worth a lot, and just the sheer comprehensiveness, there’s pretty much everything you can imagine in there. The possibilities explode when you realise you can combine them in interesting ways, e.g. FM, sort of additive, etc…

I bought them in a sale so even more good value for money.

Also, the AKWF are tuned to D+2c - which isn’t exactly a problem per se, especially in the ER-301, but it is a little odd. I don’t want to put them down though, they are still a great resource.

When the wavetable unit is available, combined with the ability to chain individual samples into one big sample, it’s going to be off the charts!

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I did let my Qu-bit Nebulae go, and I became less interested in the Morphagene or 4ms sampler thingie. (I still have a Phonogene for nostalgia sake.)

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Me too! The moment grains dropped in 0.2!

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I’m a couple of weeks away from my ER-301 ship date, but I’ve been planning around it. It’s part of a pretty big shakeup to my modular system – I’m merging cases, and have let go of several modules that I feel are more situational and which the ER-301 can fill in for.

In terms of VCOs, I simply have too many given the minimal number of voices I tend to use in recordings. I kept them all for the sake of diversity but I think the ER-301 – as well as leaning a bit more on some software synths that I still love despite my modular fixation – is going to make letting go of some of them easier.

Plans change of course, but this is what I’m planning to keep:

  • SynthTech E370 (beta test unit; otherwise I would find the E352 more appropriate to my needs… except I love using a second oscillator as a source for phase modulation or expo FM of the first)
  • Plaits (extremely versatile)
  • Tides 2018 (shifting more to using it as a modulator than VCO)
  • 2x Rings (I use them as a sort of filter/effect more than “VCOs”)

And VCOs I plan to sell:

  • Warps (honestly, I shouldn’t have bought a second one after I sold my first one, but I was kind of nostalgic for it. A great module for a small case, it’s not as important when you’ve got analog wavefolders and better options for TZFM / PM)
  • Hertz Donut mk2 (it may come down to issues of “feel”)
  • Kermit (I don’t love working with it, but I love its fizzy sound character. I sold one, then had to buy a second one because I missed the sound. If I can imitate it with other modules I’d like to do so; I have some hope for the ER-301.)
  • Double Helix (I have mixed feelings on this one; I love its character but it does fall generally under the “too much stuff” umbrella.)

I’m also waiting to see if I’ll want to sell my Chronoblob or hang onto it – a question that will probably come down to the issue of open feedback loops. Or maybe I’ll trade it up to a Z-DSP :wink:

In my last several recordings I’ve been acting as if that gear is already sold, and have been doing fine – so I expect all of this will happen :slight_smile:

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I sold almost all my osc’s because of the er-301. Only plaits, Plonk and Erica Bassline are still in my case. I use them a lot. I bought back some modulators like Zadar, Planar, some random modules and sound sculpting modules and I am a very happy owner of a er-101. I plan to buy a tides some day. Also the mixer section in my case is a bit smaller then my previous set up. The Er-301 is a really good mixer as well. So since the ER-301 is in my case there has been a big shuffling around, the approach of my rack is very different to my pre 301 rack…

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So now that I’ve actually had my ER-301 for a few days and theory is becoming practice, I feel pretty comfortable about letting go of both Donut and Chronoblob, as much as I like them both, and have no regrets about the other 15 things I’ve sold during this transition :smiley: (Not all of those were due directly to the ER-301; for instance I replaced 3 modules with a Maths, etc. – but the 301 was the impetus for the change.)

I’ll hold onto Kermit, since it has some complex behavior that can’t easily be replicated. Not just basic low bit depth and aliasing, but also what I suspect is an algorithm that mixes in non-wavetable content based on the table position and phase (for the first VCO it’s noise; for the second it seems like a few bits of the phase accumulator of the first VCO). But if push comes to shove, I could sample it Mellotron-style :smiley:

I did actually get rid of some oscillators after getting familiar with the er-301 (I use two now). I sold a pair of Cwejman VCO-6s, a vco-2rm and a Rubicon 2. Obviously the er-301 doesn’t sound exactly the same as these but honestly it’s close enough. Mostly though it has inspired me to move away from synthesis and to start using my other instruments as sound sources. I’m finishing a record at the moment which is almost all er-301 and Wurlitzer 200a. I’m super inspired by the blank slate nature of this device.

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