It was more than a decade ago that I sold my MPC2500 to focus on other things and since then, although being a huge appreciator of music, I didn't get any closer to making an actual song than occasionally blowing raspberries into a didgeridoo.
What's worse is that in the time since I sold my MPC, I had a hard drive fall off a shelf and break into a million pieces. This was my "backup" drive, and was a mirrored raid array, but a mirrored drive is only useful if you have a working mirror, and when 6TBs of your precious data falls 16ft onto a concrete floor, there's not much of anything left.
That is all to say that I have no record of my previous musical experimentation, so as much as it irked me being hassled to share what I'd made on my new Zynthian, it was actually a blessing in disguise, as not only did it force me to get over my perfectionism in order to have something to share in a timely manner, it also forced me to share and therefor archive it.
I do try to be careful with my archives, and these days I try not to have so many eggs in one basket, but I do still know that accidents happen, credit cards expire, accounts lapse, things get lost, and occasionally a shelf might vibrate itself off the wall and turn all of your virtual property into ugly maracas.
Not only that, but having been so long without an accessible creative outlet I cared anything about, and being overworked and underpaid like the rest of us, I've struggled to find a great deal of satisfaction in anything. Being forced to share forced me to record my creations, and seeing and hearing a "finished" result was actually really satisfying. A pleasant, but at least of late unfamiliar feeling.
Being forced to share was the catalyst for organising sample challenges with my friends, was the reason I created this site in the first place, and was the reason why I have added a music section.
I will warn you tho, these are not masterpieces, but sketches at best. The primary purpose of my publishing them is to have a record of my creations, not to impress anyone else.
Making these videos was fun too, and something I'd been thinking about for a while. Everything was done in Kdenlive, which although not the most intuitive app in the world, is incredibly capable, and with a bit of elbow grease I was able to realise a fairly accurate version of my initial concept.
These are not uploaded to YouTube because Google are absolute fucking scum who are trying to tell me how to operate online by no longer allow you to create multiple accounts. No problems, I'm not going to fight them. I'm using Vimeo for now, tho I'll need to find a better compression algorithm as I have already maxed out the free account limit this week.
If you would like to re-post them on YouTube or elsewhere, please do, just provide credit and link if possible, and drop me a line to let me know.
]]>Coming from and MPC background means that I'm used to working with samples, but part of the reason I wanted the Zynthian was to have the ability to play with synthesizers off the computer.
Given the limitations of my current setup, I'm working towards a kind of hybrid workflow that involves the computer for precision work like cutting up samples, but otherwise leaves the rest to the Zynthian and a MIDI controller.
I've gone on before about how perfect the MPD is for the Zynthian, so I'll try not to repeat myself, but for my own records I will note how I'm using it.
The sliders that run across the top of the MPD are obviously begging to be used as volume controls, with the toggles underneath being used for track mute or pattern selection.
I've mapped the pads to cover MIDI notes 36-99, or C2 to D#7, with note-repeat set to momentary, and the MIDI clock to external. I've set up a host synced MIDI clock generator on the Zynthian to control this.
I'm not yet using the transport controls, this will be the next task. Hopefully I can assign them to record / stop record audio. I'm still pondering on the previous / next and play buttons, perhaps flipping between ZynStep (previously ZynSeq) and the control screen, or flipping between instruments.
I currently have way more rotary encoders than I need, with only four being used in most tracks, usually to control the filter cutoff and resonance of my lead and basslines. I have also been playing with program changes to have quick access to favourite synthesizer parameters.
Instrument wise I've settled with FluidSynth, LinuxSampler, and TAL NoiseMaker. For effects, I'm mostly relying on Shiroverb, TAL Filter, Calf Vintage Delay, x42 Compressor, and a MIDI Note Velocity randomiser.
Aside from EQ and occasional x-runs, the biggest issue I have right now is getting lost with MIDI channel / layer numbers, toggle / volume controls, and ZynStep pads. ZynStep works in columns, but I'd much prefer to work in rows to better reflect the physical buttons on my controller. It's a minor thing tho, and with practice I'm already much improved.
I have been tempted by an MPD232 so I can get visual feedback for toggling tracks, but I'm going to wait a while. Hopefully I can figure out a way to keep ZynStep and my MPD visually in sync without having to upgrade. For me, it really is the only thing missing from the MPD32.
]]>It's been a productive couple of weeks getting to know the Zynthian. Thanks largely to some incredible work from @riban on ZynSeq, I'm actually further ahead than I thought I would be.
The ZynSeq updates aside, a friend has loaned me an Akai MPD32, which at first I thought might be superfluous given I already had an MPK Mini MK2. How wrong I was.
There's so many benefits to the MPD that it has completely revolutionised my workflow, and made it possible to be as productive as I have been.
Not only does the MPD allow you to map the device in real-time, without having to go back to a computer, it also has DIN MIDI in and out. The whole device is configurable, and of course the configurations can be saved and recalled as required.
Being based on the MPC means I feel at home with the MPD, and with 8 level sliders and nearby toggle buttons, a full set of sixty four pads spread over four banks, and twenty four assignable rotary controllers, it makes the perfect companion to the Zynthian.
Probably due to my familiarity with the MPC, getting the MPD opened up a pathway to a totally workable workflow that, while still being tweaked and perfected, has already enabled me to be productive, and produce sounds that could almost be mistaken for a song.
There's other parts of my workflow that I'm slowly getting used to, including creating soundfonts, and narrowing down my instrument and effect selection to a core few that I can get to know well over the next few months.
None of this sounds terribly sexy, but I can tell you that I have been having a ball, and am even quietly proud what I've been able to produce so far.
I will write a more detailed post about my workflow, mostly for my own reference. I'm still forgetting simple things, and making basic mistakes, but I'm having a blast.
]]>If you've spent any time on the Zynthian forum, you will have come across the monocled frown. The peeps over there have devised a use for this emoji I've not seen anywhere else.
I'm a little slow on the uptake, and after encountering it for the first time, my too-brief-a-read of the associated wiki article had me thinking that recordings were only required when asking for help troubleshooting an issue. However, after sharing a version of my Tips and Tricks post, I was once again presented with the monocled frown. Cheeky!!
I had no intention of sharing anything musical for a very, very, long time. I've been out of the game a decade or so, and was hardly what you'd call accomplished when I hung up my headphones, so to speak.
Nevertheless, I have been on the other end of this equation before, whereby you spend thousands of hours on a labour of love, release it to the world asking nothing in return, but instead of thanks or praise or nothing, you're quickly overrun by thankless complaints about missing features that have nothing to do with intended use cases, or edge-case bugs that are impossible to pre-empt, and nearly as impossible to fix. Giving something away and supporting it after the fact can be frustrating, demotivating, and will likely be responsible for you losing all hope in humanity.
So of course, having posted some tips and tricks, learning from other Zynthian users who shared theirs, and waxing lyrically about a brainwave that occurred as a result, it shouldn't have been a surprise to see the monocled frown pop up, implying unsubtly that the Zynthian is a musical instrument, and as wonderful as those words about it may be, have you, perchance, made any music with it?
Fair call, but what am I to do? I'm new to the Zynthian, and very much still finding my sea legs again as far as music generally. There's nothing I'm particularly proud of. What could I share?
Starting with a new track I created a simple synth loop, a bass line, and added some drums. I then created five MIDI effect layers so I could demonstrate the pattern layering I was hoping they would make possible. Thankfully my inkling was correct, and before long I had five drum patterns I could layer, all using the same instrument.
And then finally, after getting something that sounded almost acceptable, and spending some time tweaking and experimenting, I recorded a few minutes of sound that might pass as musical, and posted my reply.
There's lots wrong with it. It's recorded in the Zynthian in stereo, but I had previously tracked everything out in mono, so the mixing leaves a lot to be desired. There's some intentionally distortion, and some unintentionally introduced as a result. There's much, much more I could and want to do, and if I get time I might track it out properly and polish it up. We'll see.
Despite not usually enjoying feeling obliged, I'm actually really pleased the Zynthian community works this way. Not only does it mean the developers and contributors get feedback from people when things are working and going well instead of just when things are going wrong, it also forced me into producing and finishing something very quickly, to the point of having something worthwhile in just one session, when I might have otherwise spent all evening endlessly tweaking encoders trying to get that illusive perfect sound.
]]>It's been less than a week since I received the hardware for my Zynthian, and I've spent every spare minute playing and exploring, troubleshooting, writing bug reports and articles, and generally learning as much as I can.
The following are some tips and tricks I've discovered along the way. Although they relate specifically to the Zynthian, there's some generic advice that might apply to any music production tool or environment.
These tips and tricks are all possible using the ZynSeq feature branch of Zynthian OS. If you are missing a feature or menu item described here, make sure you are using the 'feature/zynseq' branch, and have recently updated your Zynthian.
Anyway, these are the main ones I noticed as I flipped through my notes from the last few days. Hopefully they are useful to someone else too.
I still haven't dug into the Zynthian repositories, but when I get the chance, I will add some more bug reports and feature requests. Certainly a confirmation dialogue before deleting all instruments is essential, getting live input working in the pattern editor would save a couple of steps, and a lot of time, and I'd love to see some consistency with regards to placement of common instrument controls.
I'm loving the Zynthian right now, and the fact it's being actively developed means it will only get better. Every device has its idiosyncrasies, but given how robust and considered this device already is, and the enthusiastic community who help develop it, I imagine anything considered a bug will be ironed out before long.
]]>Coming from MPC land, one of the limitations I found with the Zynthian was there being no obvious way to capture a sample, and easily pitch it out across a keyboard or set of pads.
Although it requires an extra step on the computer, I found a solution in Polyphone, an opensource soundfont editor that allows you to create SF2 files that can be used as sample banks in FluidSynth.
As is often the case the documentation was lacking essential details, and the apps interface isn't particularly intuitive. Nevertheless, I managed to import a sample, create an instrument, and bind the sample to the instrument. Trying to use my newly created SF2 file on my Zynthian however, resulted in silence.
Thankfully I stumbled across this thread on the Zynthian forums, with an outdated but nevertheless detailed and straightforward rundown on using Polyphone to create a soundfont. Although the screenshots no longer resemble the apps current interface, the guide is easy to follow, and explains the necessity of creating a preset for your instrument. Ahah!
At first I was a little disappointed in needing to return to my computer at all, but I'm now considering it a net benefit. I'll be building a small library of SF2 files from my own samples that will hopefully become a kind of default palette for any future tracks.
]]>A large part of the appeal of the Zynthian is being able to work off my main computer, and more-or-less standalone. For me, this is only possible because of the Zynthian's built in sequencer, ZynSeq.
There's a comprehensive user guide to ZynSeq, but if you're new to Zynthian like I am, you may find yourself confused as to why, if the sequencer works at all, the user guide refers to features you seem to be missing.
It isn't (yet) mentioned in the manual, but the current stable build of Zynthian OS (2020-09-05 at the time of writing) does not include the latest version of ZynSeq. To use it, you're going to need to swap to the ZynSeq branch of Zynthian OS. To do that, you'll want to:
Once your Zynthian is back online, long push on the learn/snapshot button. All being well, you should see the sequencer's pad screen.
Give the user guide a once over and have a click around. It doesn't take long to get the hang of things, with most operations possible using a touch screen if you haven't built a Zynthian kit, or mapped your own controller.
]]>I'm fairly new to Zynthian, having played with a custom build (3B+ with a $10 soundcard) before deciding to dive in and buy the official V4.1 kit.
The Zynthian team were amazing, responding to my pesky emails, and going above and beyond to make sure that my kit arrived in one piece. (Where I live, even with couriers, it's a miracle when any parcel arrives when or as expected, if it arrives at all!)
The kit came together easily, with the instructions on the wiki being clear and easy to follow. I tripped myself up by inadvertently using a nightly build on first boot and ran into some issues, but the stable from September 2020 fixed most issues as soon as I'd realised my error.
I've already had a bit of a play, and using the official Zynthian kit is an absolute joy compared to the caseless, hacked together, touch-screen only version I was using previously. The official unit is nice and solid when fully assembled, and the rotary controllers quickly became second nature, with lots of convenient shortcuts to help move around the system.
If I had one niggle, it would just be my preference for hard MPC style clicky buttons for S1-4 over the gel buttons in the kit, but having these buttons at all is a huge improvement over what I've seen of previous generations, and my guess is that hard buttons would either add significantly to the cost, or the delicacy of the LCD screen prevents this style of button. This is a preference anyway, and is at most a minor detail.
While I'm at it, here's a couple of tips for beginners like myself:
There's so much to love about Zynthian! Not only is it an amazing piece of gear, but the Zynthian team are friendly, helpful, and responsive. No regrets on splashing out, even tho it was for me quite a lot a money.
I hope to use this blog to document my journey, as I was surprised by the lack of Zynthian related material whilst I was researching before buying.
This is a ridiculously flexible and capable machine, and it's already making me rethink my workflows. I'm once again enjoying something that had become fairly tedious and unproductive.
The software itself is freely available, and easy to install and use on any recent Raspberry Pi. If you're into music and have one lying around I highly recommend spending an afternoon playing around.
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