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The new keyboard is here, and the 2.4G dongle doesn’t work with Teletype anyway, so I could have kept the cheaper open-box unit and saved some hassle.

But as it turns out, I prefer Akko’s Jelly Pink switches in this one over the Jelly Purple. The feel is a little smoother and the keys are a little bit quieter. With o-rings it should be fine.

Like I said, the wired connection will work with Teletype just fine, and all connection types work great with the PC. As long as I occasionally plug the USB cable into the PC to keep the keyboard charged, it should be fine.

Typing on it does take a little getting used to, after years with the old one. The keys are the same standard size, but the old one had the Fn key to the left of the spacebar while this one has it on the right — and somehow that makes me want to line my hands up differently on the home row, and makes it feel like Enter and Backspace are a bigger reach for my pinky (they aren’t). I expect I’ll get used to it quickly though.

I read, and will heartily recommend, Light From Uncommon Stars. I don’t want to spoil the plot, but… it reminded me of Steven Universe for a couple of reasons, though the cover blurb calls it “Good Omens meets A Long Way To A Small Angry Planet.” I’m not sure about that description. It does somewhat fit in “cozy SF” territory, while at the same time getting uncomfortably real with the traumatic stuff the main character deals with.

It’s beautiful though, in its take on musical performance and on food. I cried, I sighed, I grinned. I had borrowed the ebook from the library, but I’m going to buy it because I want to read it again and I want to support the author.

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I’ve been using a Logitech K780 keyboard at home for several years. It’s compact, wireless and can switch between two Bluetooth devices and one using their (proprietary but ironically named) Unifying wireless dongle. That way, a single keyboard can control my PC and my Monome Teletype, saving a lot of desk space.

But I’ve never loved the layout or the feel of that keyboard. With the letters starting to wear off, and increasing frustration with accidental switching between devices, and several other options available, it was time to look elsewhere.

I settled on an Akko mechanical keyboard. Even narrowing it down to those that support multiple devices, there were many options. I chose the 3084B Plus for its relatively complete but compact layout, and because someone was selling an open box unit. Turns out its 2.4G wireless dongle (needed for Teletype) was missing, so I returned it and ordered a new one.

The feel was pretty great. The sound of keys bottoming out, and also springing back, was fairly loud though — so on the new one I decided to go for linear “Jelly Pink” switches rather than the tactile “Jelly Purple” switches. I’ve also ordered some o-rings to soften the bottom-out impact, like I’ve done to the G710+ at work that has Kailh Brown switches. Hopefully that’ll make a difference. I want a nice feel, but I’m not looking for “clack” or “thock” like a lot of mechanical keyboard (aka “keeb”, ugh) enthusiasts. There’s a lot of lubing, taping, modding etc. one can get into, as well as replacing switches and keycaps and such, and there are people who spend thousands building and modding multiple mechanical keyboards. It makes me feel better about my main hobby!

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I had the odd notion to start every track on this next album with a “choir” sort of sound. In the first track it’s Waldorf Streichfett, in the second there are multiple instances of Plogue Chipspeech, but also Akemie’s Castle sounding very choir-ish due to its treatment. I was planning on Mellotron and some Kontakt samples as well. (For the odd chain of history behind an iconic Mellotron choir sound, watch this. BRB, listening to Kraftwerk now.)

The second track had a sort of psuedo-arpeggio with 0-Ctrl that just didn’t sit right with the rest of things. To rescue it I wound up sandblasting the whole mix in that section with super heavy reverb and adding a couple of Akemie’s Castle parts over it, and I’m pleased at how well that worked.

That thing about the next album being comforting? I recorded a first track last night and it turned out spooky and tense. But nice.

My spouse was listening to a Dracula Daily podcast. The story begins on May 3, but on May 4 (*) Jonathan Harker is warned about it being St. George’s Eve and spooky stuff goes down at midnight. And, well, this recording sounds like spooky stuff is about to go down.

(There’s some conflicts about Harker’s Gregorian vs. local Julian calendar having an 11 day difference, which Stoker seems to have simply ignored, and the year is non-specific in the text. There are good arguments for it being 1893, other arguments for it being 1897 when the book was published, and another for the late 1880s. This only matters to me because I was going to use the date for a title.)

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Superbooth, by far the world’s biggest and most important modular synth convention for the past few years, is next week and the product teasers and pre-announcements have been flying. Of interest to me:

• Make Noise is up to something and have been teasing it heavily. There’s a lot of speculation about what it could be, and I’ve personally picked several likely possibilities — nowhere have they specified it’s just one new product they’re announcing. Some intriguing sounds for sure, and they have my attention.
• Xaoc Devices has previously said they’ve got 6 modules to be released this year, and teased the blank backs of panels. They make some cool stuff and are one of my favorite brands, so the chances that something will be of interest are pretty decent.
• Noise Engineering, another favorite brand, vaguely teased something new in their “meet us at Superbooth” post. But before that, they showed a photo of a circuit board about the size of a small desktop unit, or else it’s a quite large module. Color me curious…
• A few other scattered things, and no doubt a couple of items that haven’t been hinted at yet.

Obviously, the modular case is full, and there’s not really a good place for another desktop synth; we’re back on the “anything new has to replace something old” thing. So far, though I hear nice stuff in the Make Noise videos, a lot of the best of it sounds like a cleaner Akemie’s Castle. I just need to remind myself that however cool the new stuff is, my “old” stuff is absolutely great. Maybe I can find inspiration in the new stuff without actually buying anything else. Or maybe it’ll be time to make changes. Either way… that’s fine.

I signed up for Knobcon this coming September. I haven’t been since 2019 and I figure it’s about time.

Registration is still the same price, which is kind of amazing to me. But the banquet/keynote is a whopping $75 this time. Last time I was unimpressed with the (buffet-style) food, the wait for the food, the relatively good stuff running out quickly, got much more out of Dr. John Chowning’s separate presentation on FM much more than his keynote speech, and missed an invite to hang out elsewhere with people who’d probably have been more fun. So, I’ll skip that part.

There was no signup for DIY woskhops. I was kind of hoping to get in on one this time, something with basic soldering and assembly. But either they’re just not doing those anymore, or that registration will be first-come-first-served at the con itself.

There’s still the Friday night performances (and Saturday too if I’m not too tired, which usually I am), ton of exhibitors, and some interesting talks.

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My second Stephen Baxter novel has been Manifold: Time, and I have mixed feelings about it. At the time it was written, Termination Shock had not been, Elon Skum was not yet a household name, Virgin Galactic wasn’t a thing yet, and the Space Shuttle program was still active. So the idea of a reckless libertarian billionaire space cadet who wants to save the world and get all the profit/credit from it, was probably a novel thing and not so tiresome as it is now.

The science is weird, to say the least — really pretty neat for a while, but then it gets to a point where it requires suspending a lot of disbelief, and then it sprints right past the breaking point into utterly absurd “oh, come on” territory. And the way our sympathies are bounced around is pretty fast and loose too.

There were some moments where I thought, whoa, this is a fun and neat book, and I’m afraid those moments have passed. There is still a clever twist that I thought of and am waiting for, but I’m afraid the book just didn’t live up to my hopes. I’ll probably skip the rest of this particular series and try a different one.

I have been poking at Akemie’s Castle a bit, patching it up and mostly just chilling and enjoying the sounds, but I don’t feel like I have a lot to write about.

As far as I’m concerned there are no “tricks” to using Akemie’s Castle, except:

• to me, it sounds best when osc A and osc B are working together as mid/side channels, for big thick unison, chords or clusters. (But it’s not bad to pretend it’s two separate VCOs, either — nor to compromise in the middle with different rhythmic pulses, call/response, etc.)
• Izotope RX Declick works wonders on the inevitably steppy transitions in operator level when you modulate them.
• Modulate a lot of stuff. LFOs, envelopes, sequences, whatever. It sounds best in motion IMHO.

I was patching it last night and found I had to go ahead and record it to layer in with something else later. Which I guess breaks me out of the “study” thing and puts me back into music-making mode.

And I think I need it. I’ve noticed some depression creeping in — not super crushing stuff but I’ve been feeling unmotivated and generally down. Feeling a bit overwhelmed by stuff but plodding through it. Wanting to eat more, not from actual hunger. Being disappointed that caffeine and energy drinks and lots of hydration aren’t perking me up more. Wanting to try new, or re-enjoy old video games and not quite finding what I want from it. Not sleeping all that well, and wanting to blame the cat’s antics but knowing I could sleep through / not be bothered by some of his usual bullshit if it weren’t some other factor. Weird-ass dreams, maybe related? It’s all quite possibly seasonal, with longer days and more sun and sometimes warmer weather (temperature has been all over the place). But I know music can bring me to a happier place.

This morning I’ve already listened to two Cocteau Twins albums and have started in on my own Float. I may have to put Vivaldi’s Four Seasons concerto in the rotation too. It’s time for comforting the disturbed, not disturbing the comfortable. I expect that’s the direction I will be taking my next album.

Maybe I’ll sneak some mini-studies in there as I go? We’ll see. My thoughts about gear right now are that I have a lot of it, it’s awesome and a little overwhelming. I could very easily make an album with just Shapeshifter and a few support modules and FX, likewise with Castle, or Kult, or Aalto, or the BrutePest setup. But I feel oddly like that would be betraying my other gear, which probably isn’t a great way to think of things.

I no longer care about Serge GTO or Klavis Grainity or Rossum Morpheus, or any oscillators that I don’t already have. But Blukac Endless Processor is intriguing again. Too bad the “modules in reserve” thing I tried before didn’t work well for me. I still do have some space to spare in the Pod 60 if I can work out some kind of arrangement that makes sense. The cycle never ends…

After Synchrodyne and Shapeshifter, I had planned to dig into Akemie’s Castle next. My issue with it has always been:

• It’s big. Not too big for what it does, but big enough that I could fit plenty of other options in there. (Or put another way: FOMO.)
• It’s very much an FM specialist, and I have lots of other hardware and software that can do FM extremely well.

Every time I patch it, I love what I hear, and I keep it around. I even made a whole album to prove it to myself… but it seems I have to keep proving it.

If I just compare 2-op FM on it vs. the FM in other modules or in software, it’s a little quirky but not impressive:

• Most notably, the amplitude for each operator is quantized to a few levels so modulating it is steppy rather than smoothed — something I can imitate in other modules if I choose to.
• There’s a certain fizzy/dusty quality to it which is probably mostly due to the resolution of the phase accumulator, but possibly also the sample rate, resolution of the sine lookup table, etc. To a lesser extent that’s also audible in other modules, except Shapeshifter since it’s such a high-specced beast in that department. I can hear it in the SynPrezFM app for Android too, and it’s more obvious at lower pitches.
• The maximum depth of modulation is pretty darned strong.
• The frequency ratios are locked to multiples of a common frequency, so you can’t do the slight detuning that I like, nor super-clangorous stuff, or separate sequencing of carrier and modulator. Which is fine, because it allows easy sequencing/modulation of the multiplier, and I have plenty of other opportunities elsewhere for freely tuned ratios.

But Akemie’s Castle has 4 operators, not 2. That’s much less common in Eurorack, though I suppose I could patch it with Just Friends and Shapeshifter in a pinch. It’s considerably easier in software, and I feel like maybe its closest competitor in my setup is Bitwig FM4, or a Grid patch. (Plogue OPS7 is a lovely DX7 emulation, but you can’t just hold a droning note and modulate the operator amplitudes, which is a shame IMHO.) So I guess that’s what I need to compare it to.

[UPDATE]: no, FM4 sounds nothing at all like it.

AC’s operator levels are never exactly 0, and that’s more obvious when using the 4-op serial algorithm. How you set the multipliers and waves matters, and that not-quite-subtle influence coloring the output honestly just adds to the module’s charm.

AC is also duophonic — the A and B outputs can have separate pitches but share a common set of operator controls. B also has a chord mode. There are all kinds of ways to combine the two outputs, especially with the more “parallel” algorithms and different multiplier settings, for really thick chords and clusters, super nice stereo or mid-side sound, or using them with different envelopes/filters/etc.

I’m not sure if I’m going to write up Akemie’s Castle any beyond what’s in this post. Its complexity is more of an intuitive thing than Synchrodyne’s eccentricities or Shapeshifter’s many forms. But I guess I’ll do a quick AC vs. FM4 test, even though I expect I’m going to want to keep AC.

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This phase of studying one module at a time in depth is about a month old now, and honestly it feels kind of weird. I’ll think about another module or plugin or the BrutePest setup and catch myself wondering why I haven’t used it recently.

I also feel a little overwhelmed, like I have too much stuff and it’s too powerful and I’m staring into the abyss. I think that’s anxiety talking. To compare synth gear is to compare different infinite sets, and how they overlap both in a general sense and in the specifics of their possible sounds. In the end you just have to pick something that appeals to you and run with it.

And I also wonder how this kind of study is going to apply to actual music-making. I went through the process with Beads, wrote up a bunch of patch ideas and then kept to my old, comfortable, limited habits with it anyway. Going back over those notes and revisiting those patches to see if that shakes something loose is on my list.

Honestly though, what matters is that the gear serves my musical needs, not that I’m taking full advantage of all the possibilities each piece of gear can offer me. Beads’ usefulness to me was never in doubt. Nor was Shapeshifter’s, but I thought its indispensability might be. Synchrodyne’s usefulness was in doubt, but now that I understand its usage and character better, it’s now more a question of will I than can I.

I kind of want to go back to music making again, but I feel there’s plenty more I could learn about my hardware, and also several plugins. I don’t know if I want to plow forward with the studying or return to it at another time.

To be honest I haven’t gotten in a lot of bass practice, either. I kind of feel like, not recording means not feeling the limits of my skill so much, therefore I’m not as motivated to practice. Maybe I need to dedicate some time specifically to bass practice, not try to split it between module studies and bass practice.

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My parents got me a Rokr 3D wooden puzzle for Christmas — a steam locomotive model, with a wind-up spring and lots of wooden gears. It’s all laser-cut plywood (plus the metal spring coil and a few rods) and IKEA-like assembly instructions. Everything fits together without glue or additional tools. I finally started working on it over the weekend and am most of the way done. Building it has been enjoyable minus a couple of slightly frustrating moments — the difficulty is rated 5/6 after all. I don’t know what I’m going to do with a somewhat delicate wind-up model train when it’s done, though.

I see they also make marble runs, music boxes, an orrery, clocks, a gramophone, etc. I may have to keep those in mind when considering what I can put on my wish list.

That cool SSI 2130 oscillator chip that many different synth builders have been using lately lists thru-zero linear FM and phase modulation among its features.

Linear FM changes the core frequency up and down equally by some number hertz per volt. So if the modulation signal has a +/-1V range a 200 Hz carrier might swing from 100 to 300 Hz, which averages out to 200. At +/-2V, it will swing from 0 to 400 Hz, which is still in tune, no problem! But at +/-3V, it’ll try to go from -100Hz to 500Hz.

If the carrier oscillator doesn’t support thru-zero, it’s going to have a minimum rate of 0Hz. So the average will be 250Hz, which means it goes sharp. The FM sidebands are “wrong” too.

If it does support thru-zero, “-100 Hz” is just 100 Hz with a reversed phase — so it starts going backwards at 100Hz, and the average frequency works out to 400Hz and it sounds right. The SSI2130 does this using a simple external circuit that feeds a “Time Reverse” input.

But their literature also claims it does phase modulation… and then shows simply using the TZFM with a DC-blocking capacitor (aka a highpass filter) in front. That’s cheating.

*If* you have a sine wave for the modulation signal, and it’s above the cutoff frequency, you’ll get the same results with TZFM and PM. (Except that PM is less strong than TZFM given an equivalent amplitude.)

But there are uses for phase modulation at less than audio rates. For instance, controlling the relative phase of two different oscillators, because you’re going to mix them in some way. Or simply using a slow LFO for gentle modulation.

And if your modulation signal isn’t a sine, you get serious differences.

This is Shapeshifter, with the carrier as a sine wave and the modulator at a 2:1 ratio. First we hear a sine wave as the modulator, using TZFM and then PM. Very similar (aside from the PM having to go through conversion at a lower rate and resolution than the internal workings of the module).

Then at :09 I switch the modulator to a triangle and again, demonstrate TZFM and then PM. Very different sounds there, which is the math at work.

At :18 I switch the modulator to a square and repeat. Notice TZFM with a square sounds a lot like PM with a triangle? A steady linear increase in phase is the same as a static increase in freqeuncy, and a square wave is just flipping up and down between two levels, so this totally makes sense.

And then at :26 the modulator is a sawtooth. It’s pretty awesome sounding with TZFM and nasty with PM.

I realize that doesn’t argue that Sound Semiconductor is cheating people out of something great — the TZFM just sounds better anyway. But I don’t think they should have called it phase modulation.

The Shapeshifter page is up. My general impressions of the module, favorite wave banks, three handy presets to serve as starting points, and 16 patch recipes. Hopefully it’ll be as useful for a few other people as the process was for me. That module is a monster!

I finished The Frugal Wizard’s Handbook for Surviving Medieval England (it wasn’t super long and was a quick read). It was… hmm, a popcorn novel I guess? I wasn’t blown away, didn’t have any really huge laughs or big OMG moments, kind of felt like every part of it had been done before in some way or another, and it didn’t have the immense charm of the first Secret Projects book, Tress of the Emerald Sea. But I was entertained. 3.75 stars maybe? If it’s the weak point of this set of releases, that’s totally acceptable.

Now I’ve started on Exultant by Stephen Baxter, which I picked up at a library book sale ages ago and finally realized I haven’t read it yet. I could have sworn I’ve also read other novels by this author, but apparently not, I confused it for something else. So far it’s very much Big Weird Ideas science fiction, with characters that are compelling, and I’m probably going to thoroughly enjoy it and look for more of Baxter’s work.

A few things to catch up on:

• My parents’ visit to the area to look at real estate was a bit of a bust. They weren’t prepared for the paperwork to get pre-approved for a mortgage so the realtors wouldn’t show them properties. They did look at some manufactured homes, and actually came kind of close to deciding on one of them but then changed their minds after a second look. And they got a feel for the various neighborhoods in the area. And they got to visit with us a bit, and finally meet Lady and Yankee. Yankee was surprisingly accepting of them after the first few minutes, and even sat next to them and let them pet him about as much as he ever lets me. So next time, they’ll be able to stay with us instead of a motel, if they like.
• I finished reading the Allen Strange reprint (Electronic Music: System, Techniques and Controls). To be honest, given the book’s reputation, there weren’t that many new insights for me. There were a few things that I had learned myself after getting into modular synthesis which the book would have accelerated, but it was all basically review for me. I’d still recommend it to a beginner or perhaps to someone not as deep into modular as I am.
  I found a little bit of it was quaint — digital audio was in its infancy when the second edition of the book was written, and that has implications not just for control, oscillators, some synthesis methods, etc. but for delay lines and especially for recording and editing. But hey, some people even in 2023 are into tape.
• Currently reading Heir to Uncertain Magic, sequel to Keeper of Enchanted Rooms. I really enjoyed the first book, but this one isn’t quite as engaging. Next up is Brandon Sanderson’s Secret Project #2, The Frugal Wizard’s Handbook for Surviving Medieval England.
• The Shapeshifter deep dive is just about done. I have a couple more notes to check on, then I’m ready to write it up. I’ve discovered a few more wave banks that I have good use for, created a couple more useful presets, and noted several patch ideas. My opinion of the module has only increased.
  I think I’ll be covering Akemie’s Castle next. Whether that’ll just be simple confirmation that it’s worth its 38HP, or if this is the time I decide to sell it, or if I wind up documenting my findings as I have with Synchrodyne and Shapeshifter remains to be seen.
• Intellijel Cascadia was announced a few days ago. Just the name was teased months ago, but it was delayed due to supply chain issues. It turns to be a premium semi-modular synth of the “East Coast meets West Coast” variety. If the Minibrute 2S is the Honda Civic of that category, this is the BMW. It doesn’t make sense for my rig, but there will be people who enjoy it.

Here‘s what I’ve written up about my explorations of WMD Synchrodyne. No promises that my exploration of Shapeshifter or other modules will result in similar articles, but hopefully someone finds this useful. I know the process was very helpful for me 🙂