This is a collection of creative patches which is less focused on demonstrating individual features or techniques and more on creative explorations of new sonic landscapes, without disregarding external devices, effects, and unconventional patching. An introduction explains the reasons behind any “idea”, and a video contains a short “performance” in order to inspire new thoughts to the musician.

  • All
  • 321
  • 333
  • brenso
  • CGM
  • cunsa
  • FALISTRI
  • FUMANA
  • sapèl
  • usta

Let’s make a modular synth patch in the style of Ryoji Ikeda

Ikeda’s style is famous for its austere structure and meticulously carved sounds. Such precision is achievable in the digital domain, so it may thus sound a bit odd to emulate it with a modular synthesizer, which by definition is “less reliable” than a computer.

Antonio’s hidden random clock trick for SAPÈL!

Let’s extract a secret random clock output that plays only when the actual random clock is silent. The trick is simple but insanely effective!

Six interesting timbres with one FALISTRI (a patch-saving hack)

It happened to all of us: we’re in the middle of a patch, and we ran out of complex sound sources. Luckily we have a spare Falistri, so here are six ways to get interesting timbres out of it!

At last: the Krell Patch on a Frap Tools modular system!

It’s time to confront ourselves with a pinnacle of modular synth techniques: Todd Barton’s Krell Patch.

How to make vowel-like formant filtering with the CUNSA

Time for some serious formant filtering with the CUNSA and USTA dream combo!

Audio, modulation, or both? Let’s make a sample-and-hold feedback patch à la Rob Hordijk.

Let’s make some serious SAPÈL feedback patching! Today we draw inspiration from Rob Hordijk’s talks about sample-and-hold circuits and chaos theory.

Let’s use CUNSA as a formant filter (but not the one you expect)

There is this lovely paragraph in Allen Strange's Electronic Music where he discusses formant frequencies of rooms and equipments. However, they are not exactly what we may think of today!

The bass sound of Pet Shop Boy’s West End Girls on a Frap setup is a tough challenge (but we did it)

The bass sound of Pet Shop Boy’s West End Girls on a Frap setup is a tough challenge (but we did it)

A patch inspired by sympathetic strings with FUMANA

This FUMANA patch draws inspiration straight from sympathetic strings, a device that can be found on many instruments like the European nyckelharpa or the Indian sitar.

Bird-like sequences with bizarre clocks thanks to USTA and FALISTRI

Time to explore more quirky interactions between USTA and FALISTRI!

Programming sequences with Nicolas Slonimsky’s Thesaurus of Scales and Melodic Patterns

Slonimsky’s Thesaurus is quite a strange music book, but its impact on Jazz and experimental musicians has been enormous. Today we tiptoe into this extravagant world to see if there’s anything interesting for our USTA sequencer!

Recreating Prodigy’s “Smack My Bitch Up” lead sounds with a Frap Tools system

Originally made on a Korg Prophecy, this acid-303-inspired sound became famous thanks to Prodigy's Smack my Bitch Up. Today we will try to replicate it on our Frap Tools system! The idea for this video comes from this excellent tutorial by Alex Ball, thanks a lot!

We used our CUNSA quad multimode filter as a phaser.

Is it a phaser? No! Will this stop us from using it as a phaser? Also no!

How to shift gates to spice up a boring sequence on the USTA

This patch came up during a past live workshop on the USTA sequencer. It was an advanced session and one of the main questions was: “how can I get enough variation on a repetitive loop?”

Analog drum machine sounds with the CUNSA filter!

Today we want to create some percussive sounds with the CUNSA, starting from a classic 808 kick. Check out the power of the pinging circuit and some cross-patching for a nasty drive!

FALISTRI Workout ep. 3: Retrigs

Today’s workout focuses on the different retriggering options that we can find on FALISTRI. Let’s see how much we can get out of them!

Clock processing with USTA and FALISTRI

Today we’ll see how to use FALISTRI as a clock divid… Dela… Multipl… Well let’s say clock PROCESSOR. Check out this cross-patching technique with the USTA sequencer!

Recreating the pitch and phase shift patch on the USTA sequencer

Today we dive more into a recently published short patch where we used the pitch shift and phase shift functions of the USTA sequencer. We then proceeded to expand it thanks to the larger system here!

Let’s build a patch around the 3:2 ratio with the USTA sequencer (and perform in pythagorean tuning)

We had this wild idea and we want to check it out with the USTA sequencer. We set three sequences a fifth apart from one another. Since the fifth is a ratio of 3:2, we also wanted their respective tempos to be 3:2! Here’s how we did it.

Remaking a through-zero FM patch with some extra undertones

While archiving some footage, we stumbled across a very cool patch, so we chose to recreate it on this larger system here!

The heaviest distortions we can get so far (with no distortion modules)

Time for some heavy riffs today! We tried to bend our system to achieve the heaviest distortion ever. Which, since we don’t have a distortion unit, was quite a challenge!

FALISTRI Workout ep. 2: Gates

Another HIIT session with two FALISTRI, this time we even managed to get some dynamic timbre modulation! Wanna see how? Join the workout, drink a lot of water and follow a healthy diet.

FALISTRI Workout ep. 1: Four-Quadrant Multipliers

Wanna get the most out of your FALISTRI? Join today’s workout on four-quadrant multipliers! No other modules allowed for extreme FALISTRI focus. Drink a lot of water and join us for this HIIT training!

Tips for using SAPÈL as… An oscillator

There’s this unwritten rule of modular synthesizers that says: if it goes fast enough, then it’s an oscillator. We just made it up, but it pretty much describes this video. We threw SAPÈL as fast as it could go and saw if it can handle the oscillator’s job! Check out the results.

Adding depth to a sound through FUMANA and FALISTRI’s quadrature | Live Patching 21

Quadrature mode is something that we tend to overlook and we’re glad to have had to incorporate it in a patch. Pairing it with FUMANA adds an exceptional depth to the sound and makes a simple sequence really gain complexity.

FALISTRI Double Formant Chords

We’re quite familiar now with the concept of formant oscillators and the sub-harmonic series. But what if we chain together two oscillators? Well, we can create some interesting chords.

Four tips to make random clocks and clock bursts with SAPÈL

SAPÈL has two built-in clocks that run independently. (Un)fortunately, a clock runs steadily, but sometimes we might want unpredictable timing. Today we see how to do it!

We used USTA as an oscillator (and as two separate sequencers)

Today we used the USTA sequencer in two ways: as a sequencer, and as an oscillator!

We brute forced FALISTRI’s LFOs into USTA’s polyrhythm

Another live patching session where we improvise a patch from scratch based on three random techniques from our website!

We made some wobble bass with USTA and BRENSO even if it’s no longer 2010

Let’s face it, the wobble bass changed the soundscape of electronic music, whether we like it or not. In this video, we approached this technique in a modular fashion, using BRENSO’s dense modulation routing and USTA’s flexible gate modes.

Another trip to the East Coast, but this time with FUMANA and FALISTRI!

We have neither a VCF nor an ADSR, but we have FUMANA and FALISTRI. While not being specifically designed for this purpose, they can get very close. Let’s take a look!

Four-and-a-half advanced FM techniques for the BRENSO complex oscillator

FM synthesis is more precise in the digital world, but more fun in the analog one! Today we pushed BRENSO’s FM a little further with these four-and-a-half exotic FM patches. Check them out and let us know what you think!

Arabesques

Usually, the “arabesque” technique requires an analog shift register. Which makes sense: it’s the whole point of the game. However, with the USTA sequencer, we’ve been able to create something similar, albeit limited to 16 notes.

3 filter bank tips for FUMANA’s Individual Outputs!

We got a request for diving more into the individual outputs of both FUMANA’s bandpass filter arrays.

Programming FM sounds with the BRENSO oscillator

Here’s some sound design with BRENSO’s FM circuit! Its through-zero linear FM capabilities play well with sounds like glasses, bells, plucked bass, and more.

Four ideas for using the USTA sequencer with random clocks

As per request here’s a video where we explore USTA’s behavior in a bunch of random-clock scenarios.

Pulse-Width Modulation and Sync with BRENSO | East Coast Sounds 1

We’re exploring some east coast sounds on the BRENSO.

How to create a techno rumble with FUMANA (sort of)

FUMANA is great for processing the audio sources, but also the effect return! In this patch, we used it to filter a reverb and create a sort of techno rumble in the modular synthesizer. You can patch FUMANA straight to the CGM return, too!

Sidechain bass with the USTA sequencer!

You might already be familiar with the FALISTRI+321 sidechain technique, but sometimes it may happen that you just ran out of envelopes. That’s what happened to us, so we tried this workaround using USTA’s CVB and… It works great!

Polyrhythmic Patterns with USTA and FALISTRI

Today’s challenge taught us an excellent way to enhance a polyrhythmic experience: use two streams of gates to create a fake analog AND through FALISTRI’s four-quadrant multiplier!

Fake 808!

We faked a 808-type bassline with USTA, FALISTRI, BRENSO, and the CGM

FUMANA Beats and FALISTRI Formant Riffs

A formant filter usually has three resonant bandpass filters with adjustable frequencies. FUMANA does not resonate and its filters have fixed frequencies. But it doesn’t know! Let’s try to see where we can push it.

Fake 303!

We faked a 303 acid sound with USTA, BRENSO, FALISTRI and the CGM mixer

FUMANA Feedback Techniques #2

Things are getting serious! This time we will see how to take a feedback loop to the next level with the QSC – Quad Stereo Channel and a little bit of USTA as well. With a Eurorack mixer and sequencer, there is much to uncover, and we can even use FUMANA… As a voice.

FUMANA Feedback Techniques #1

Want to push your FUMANA beyond its design? We’re here to help! One of the core features of FUMANA is that its capabilities are way more than the sum of its parts. In this video, we cover the most fun among the exotic uses of a filter bank: the feedback. We will see how to create a feedback loop with many tools: 333, 321, CGM, and more.

Switched-On Bach! Let’s write a four-part fugue on the USTA sequencer.

When we were testing the USTA sequencer, we used one of Bach’s counterpoints to test its capabilities, and we also released it as a teasing video. Someone asked us to show how to program the USTA in such a way, so here we go!

Glitchy Techno Drums with USTA and BRENSO!

As requested, here’s a step-by-step guide to transforming your BRENSO into a sort of Techno-ish drum machine.

A polyphonic and polyrhythmic patch with USTA, FUMANA and FALISTRI

Today’s random picks forced us to build a patch on FALISTRI’s quadrature mode. It is a special envelope chain where an envelope’s stage trigs another envelope’s stage when it ends.

We used FUMANA’s Unvoiced Input to add some extra vibes

We picked three more random Techniques and improvised a patch from scratch! This time, they lead us to the Unvoiced Input, which is something that we tend to overlook on the FUMANA.

Melodic FUMANA Feedback!

Who says that feedback is just noise? Today we picked three random Techniques from our website that lead us to a nice and groovy patch – with a lot of FUMANA feedback and an odd sequence on the USTA!

Varishift and TZFM with USTA and BRENSO

This took a lot! The random Techniques that we pick today brought us back to FALISTRI’s release in 2019, but the toughest part was integrating the Varishift parameter in a meaningful way.

Ignoring BRENSO for 20 minutes (Sidechain Kick and Sync Lead with FALISTRI)

The random Techniques that we picked today forced us to create a patch with a lot of FALISTRI, but no BRENSO! At the very end of the video, we managed to use it, but not for what you think…

FUMANA Percussions and Weird FALISTRI Oscillators

We had a hard time fitting TWO percussive patches into ONE FUMANA, but we made it! The most satisfying thing about this patch, though, was FALISTRI’s Force Loop input driven at audio rate. It creates a truly WILD sound! It sounded nice even without a sequencer driving it.

Clock Madness with FALISTRI

Quite an heterodox use of FALISTRI! We routed USTA’s clock through the green generator and used it as a clock delay. However, since it resets on rest, once it passes a certain rate it becomes a clock divider! We paired it with BRENSO’s integrator and pulse shaper for a vintage arpeggiating patch.

Live Patching 9: Noise Oscillators and Polyrhythms with BRENSO, SAPÈL, and USTA

This episode is VERY relaxing! We used SAPÈL’s blue noise to modulate BRENSO’s frequency and add a very soothing lo-fi vibe to our sequence. Then, we blended it with some gates to create a gentle polyrhythm.

Live Patching 8: Quantized Envelopes with USTA, FALISTRI and BRENSO

We improvised a patch where we used USTA as a quantizer to transform a complex envelope into a rollercoaster of ascending and descending swirls of notes!

Live Patching 7: Kick & Reverb Sidechain with USTA, FUMANA, BRENSO, FALISTRI and 321

This time we came up with a nice glitchy drum sound and an eerie pad! We patched the reverb through FUMANA back into the Stereo Channel to create a dissonant feedback that we further tamed with FALISTRI and 321’s combined side chain capabilities.

Live Patching 6: Sub-Harmonics with FALISTRI, BRENSO, and USTA!

This live improvisation incorporates FALISTRI as a sub-harmonic generator (or formant oscillator, as you prefer).

Live Patching 5: Double Drones with BRENSO, FUMANA and SAPÈL!

Making some kind of “music” without a sequencer wasn’t an easy task. But it was fun indeed! We managed to make two flip sync sounds and create a resonant drone, shaped by FUMANA and SAPÈL.

Live Patching 4: Complex Envelopes and Polymeters with USTA and FALISTRI

Today we stumbled upon a classic of our patch archive, the Complex Envelope Technique with FALISTRI. We mixed it with a polymetric patch on the USTA sequencer, as well as some ratcheting gates sent straight into BRENSO’s ping circuit.

Live Patching 3: USTA and FALISTRI’s force loop

By combining USTA’s ratcheting effect, BRENSO’s LFO, and FALISTRI’s Force Loop input, we created this unpredictable patch where each pattern repetition bears different rhythms.

FUMANA Four on the Floor (AKA Filterbank Techno Vibes)

Today we’re going to do an experiment! We try to recreate a popular reel we uploaded on IG. We patched as many Techno staples as we could with just FUMANA, USTA, and BRENSO (ok, also a little bit of FALISTRI): kick drums, acid lines, squelchy filters, and some ambient layers in the background.

Live Patching 2: BRENSO and FUMANA

This patch uses BRENSO, FUMANA, and the USTA sequencer to create a dreamy soundscape with a gentle creaking background.

Fake Formant Patch

IDEA A formant filter usually has three resonant bandpass filters with adjustable frequencies. FUMANA does not resonate and its filters have fixed frequencies. But it doesn’t know! Let’s try to see where we can push it. INGREDIENTS FALISTRI FUMANA BRENSO CGM

Live Patching: USTA and FALISTRI

IDEA Today we'll create a patch from scratch according to these three Techniques picked at random: 1. Octave Blends; 2. USTA Polymeter 1; 3. Fake Analog AND. INGREDIENTS USTA FALISTRI FUMANA BRENSO CGM SAPÈL

Study for BRENSO and FALISTRI #1

IDEA During one of our last Workshops, a participant asked for a patch with a deep interconnection of BRENSO and FALISTRI. This is what we came up with during a free, interactive improvisation! We chose to split in half BRENSO and FALISTRI and use their yellow sections as oscillators and their green sections as LFO.…

Fumana Feedback Fest

IDEA A feedback loop is something beautiful and dangerous. It is a delicate ecosystem that is always on the verge of collapse. Once we can keep it balanced, it becomes an excellent tool for making music. Fumana is a non-resonant filterbank. However, we can create a feedback loop with a couple of extra modules and…

FUMANA Vocoding

IDEA The sixteen filters of FUMANA are well laid out on the front panel. What may not be obvious at first glance, however, is that sixteen more filters are laying under the hood, right at the heart of the module. These other filters do not output any sound. Instead, their job is to process another…

Interacting Oscillators

IDEA There are many ways in which a musician can combine two audio sources to get new sounds that are widely different than the original ones. FALISTRI wasn’t born as an oscillator; nonetheless, it allows this kind of experiment, and much more. In this patch, we cross-modulate the two generators to achieve rich timbres that…

Glass Columns

IDEA Having narrow boundaries often fosters creativity. FALISTRI’s sonic pallette may sound quite limited at first sight, but the raw material can give birth to a lot of unexpected sounds through some tight cross-patching. In this Idea, we’ll use amplitude modulation (through the four-quadrant multiplier) and sub-octave generation (through the frequency divider) to feed FUMANA…

Wobble Bass Effect

IDEA ‘Why two gates per track?’ We’ve been asked this question quite often, and here’s one of the possible answers! In this patch, Gate A is in ‘Blue’ mode and trigs the main VCA envelope. Gate B, on the other hand, is in ‘Green’ mode, and, through its ratchets, it trigs a second envelope, which…

Industrial Noise and Massive Rhythms

IDEA This industrial groove is created with distorted sounds, metallic noises and massive rhythms coming from the interactions of two Falistri. A cycling envelope is gated by its own division by 16 and then controls the (only) oscillator’s amplitude: for this purpose, both four-quadrant multipliers are used in series as VCA. The main voice is…

Arpeggios Without Arpeggiator

IDEA One of the best ways to foster creativity is to constrain yourself into a small environment and try to get the most out of it: in this case, we show you how to get arpeggios without having an arpeggiator. We used just two FALISTRI and we took advantage of the selectable behavior of the…

Spectral Transfer with Interferences

IDEA Sometimes it is nice to have control over your sound; some others, it is better to just let the instrument follow its own path. In this patch, we wanted to do both. We set up a simple FM drone sound with FALISTRI and we filtered it with the extremely precise filter array of FUMANA.…