After making the prototype eurorack module The Bells I messed around for a bit with Daisy Seed to see if I could get the canon module working better (it was built variously on an Arduino Nano Every and Teensy 4.0 while developing). But then I bought the kit of Tom Whitwell’s Music Thing Modular Workshop System which is properly amazing. I love a self-build kit, although soldering while the temperature was 34 degrees was probably not a good idea. I started messing around wiht the cards for the computer part of the system and found that The Bells transferred really well. So there is now a working version as part of the 100 initial cards for the WS. There are some recordings of some examples here, and I made a recording of the bells in my local tower with tower captain Will Rogers which are also available. I’ve been ringing for about 18 months now, and it’s kind of a growing obsession.
So then I got thinking, and made another card. The other one is called GradualProcess which is a CV generator that models Philip Glass’s additive patterns, Steve Reich’s gradual and step phasing, and Arvo Pärt’s tintinnabuli. The Glass generates sequences in groups of two and three which can add or remove units by triggering the module. A second voice creates contrary motion, or it can just double the first at a fifth for the full 1969 experience. The Reich generates a looping pattern with units between 1-3 beats, separated by a rest. A trigger then advances or retreats a second voice, either by gradual phase (1965-73) or step (1972-). The Pärt process creates a melodic line which occasionally pauses, with a second voice harmonising each pitch using his tintinnabulation process. With all the models, the speed and scale can be varied. I’m going to add some other processes soon, but now need to play with the WS to have some fun.
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