Patch 016 - Noughty Coast

In the six years or so since I last wrote this blog I have bought (and subsequently sold!) a lot of synths, the virtual analogues such as the Novation trio of the Mininova, Circuit and KS4, analogue monosynths such as the Microbrute, Volca Keys (which is paraphonic) and Volca Bass and some other synths which are harder to classify such as the Bastl Kastle and my eurorack modular. One synth however that has a vey special place in my heart is the Make Noise 0-Coast, a quite wonderful mixture of west coast and east coast synthesis. And I am very annoyed with myself for selling this semi-modular beast of a synth!

I won't go into a great deal of detail on what the 0-Coast is and sounds like (that is what YouTube, and in particular MylarMelodies is for!) but I can tell you what I loved about it.... an organic metallic, complex tone which was very reactive to modulation.... and it was so different and exciting compared to the standard subtractive method of synthesis I was used to.

Of course, the microKORG doesn't have FM, doesn't have wavefolding as such, nor function generators or low pass gates, but it what it does have (and I am ashamed to admit I hadn't messed with before this week), is a hidden gem in the form of the sine wave in the oscillator 1 slot which can be cross modulated by oscillator 2 to give complex overtones and rich harmonics. Modulation of Control 1 by LFO1 is hardwired using the Control 2 knob, saving you patch slots for other sources of modulation. From the manual:

So yes, this week's patch is a single oscillator sine-wave patch but just listen to these wonderfully rich, dare I say it organic sounds! Modulation comes from the filter envelope, LFO1 and velocity as well as portamento and I've left vibrato mapped to the mod wheel (the LFO rate for which is itself modulated by the other LFO). Have fun and try changing the envelopes, LFO shapes and so on. I've left the Patch 4 slot empty so add another source of modulation (keytracking for example)?

And for some more out there experimental tone whack a tone of reverb on top and rock it like Buchla! (reverb from just over a minute in).

Here are the patch settings (starting from init, shift+3), amended values highlighted yellow:

Voice: SYT, SGL, PLY, ---, --- (unchanged)
Pitch: 0, 0, 53, 2, 5
Osc 1: SIN, 2, 32, ---, ---
Osc 2: TRI, OFF, 0, 2, ---
Mixer: 127, 0, 0, ---, --- (unchanged)
Filter: 12L, 48, 49, 0, 0
Filter EG: 6, 2, 118, 0, ON
Amp: 127, CNT, OFF, 0, --- (unchanged)
Amp EG: 69, 70, 66, 81, ON
LFO 1: TRI, OFF, OFF, 6, ---
LFO 2: SIN, OFF, OFF, 29, --- (unchanged)

Patch 1: FEG, 1CT, +38, ---, ---
Patch 2: LF1, LF2, 44, ---, ---
Patch 3: VEL, 2TN, 59, ---, ---
Patch 4: LF2, CUT, 0, ---, --- (unchanged)
Mod FX: FLG, 20, 0, ---, --- (unchanged)
Delay: STR, OFF, 89, 72, ---
EQ: 320, 0, 6.0, 0, --- (unchanged)
Arpeg. A: 120, 1.16, 80, UP, 1 (unchanged)
Arpeg. B: OFF, 0, ON, 8, --- (unchanged)