Single Cell Software

Rhythm is a fundamental consideration in not just music but in soundscapes, atmospheres, life itself. Rhythm is equally as important as note choice when making music.

It often seems that, if you listen, a sound or texture can inspire us not just in tonality but in it's own inherent rhythms.

This caustic file is just a simple mod of the AZ RANDOM ModSynth preset which I think came included with Caustic.

You don't have to understand every wire or the function of each component to modify something to suit you if you gain some basic knowledge of how the ModSynth works.

First obstacle - AZ RANDOM just starts making sound when you load it, liked a perpetual motion machine. OK, add a DADSR and connect its OUT to the available Volume Mod. Now it only emits sound when you play something.

If you play Pattern 1 you hear the Ghost in the Machine (keep the Beatbox muted) - it's pretty apparent thanks to the MiniLFO in this case and part of the reason I chose it.

There is clearly an inherent rhythm in the texture ... but how to use it? Well they're is no right or wrong here if you like the effect.

If you turn on the Metronome it gives an idea of how it matches up with 4/4. You can also use the Rate of the LFO to adjust it. In this case although the inherent Ghost isn't moving strictly in sync at 4/4 it still sounds rhythmically cool (at this tempo its actually a 12 beat pattern).

Adding the Metronome or Beatbox song straight 4 creates a new and contrasting rhythm. Every three bars the rhythms re-sync. When sounds are too locked in sync it can become monotonous quickly or just seen uninteresting depending on context.

One goal is to ultimately take advantage of the rhythmic qualities already inherent in a synth and to juxtapose it in different ways to see how it reacts.

Try playing Patterns 1 and 2 with the Beatbox on.

Sometimes, unfortunately it's not so easy as a synth sound may not be simply modified by an LFO rate, a great example is the 8 Bit synth, and sometimes a sound has its own "pulse" due to other factors (tuning etc.). More on that later.