Description

OSCiLLOT by Max for Cats

Do-it-yourself fun

With OSCiLLOT, there is virtually no limit to the type of instrument, sound or effect device you can create once you start connecting modules. Overall, to name just a few of the possibilities, you can assemble your own FM, additive and subtractive synthesizers. Resonators, filters, envelopes, convolution reverbs, mixers. Then frequency shifters, sequencers, drum machines, logic modules, compressors and inverters. Working with a modular system is always an experiment to some extent, and happy accidents are part of what makes modular synthesis fun. So with a little trial and error, you'll get sounds you've never heard before.

Learning by doing

If you are not familiar with certain concepts or methods of modular synthesis, OSCiLLOT makes it easy to learn about them. Start by loading one of OSCILLOT's instrument presets and pressing the "Open Editor" button. In the editor window, you will see all the modules used in that particular preset and the connections between them. Activate the "Info" button and click on one of the modules. This will bring up a detailed description of the function, characteristics and types of signals of this module that it can send and receive.

Polyphony and more with OSCiLLOT by Max for Cats

While CV / gate / trigger based modular hardware systems are usually monophonic, OSCiLLOT offers up to six voices of polyphony. OSCiLLOT allows you to choose between straight or curved patch cords. You can also either hide them completely when they are in the way (try it with hardware). In addition, you can zoom in and out in the editor window. Then add annotations and labels, and of course, save your patches.

As mentioned, no programming knowledge is required to assemble the modules, but since OSCiLLOT is a Max for Live device, Max / MSP enthusiasts can create and modify their own modules. An SDK is available here. Of course, Max for Cats is also planning more modules! Be sure to stay in touch with maxforcats.com for the latest developments. And if you already have a modular system or other CV / Gate compatible instruments, OSCiLLOT can interact with your hardware, provided you have a CC coupled audio interface.

A brief history of modular synthesis

Modular synthesis has its roots in the experimental music departments and electroacoustic laboratories of the 1950s and 1960s. As composers and engineers began to interconnect oscillators, amplifiers, filters and other components, they used them to realize their new electronic music compositions.

Then, beginning in the mid-1960s, a few enterprising companies, including Moog, Buchla, and ARP, began marketing individual modules and entire systems. These systems were refined in the 1970s. But as analog gave way to digital in the 1980s, development in the field of modular synthesizers came to a virtual standstill.

Development

However, the last decade and a half has witnessed a strong resurgence of development and interest in modular synthesizer hardware. With the establishment of the relatively compact Eurorack format as the standard size for modules. A large number of small companies such as Doepfer, Analogue Systems, Make Noise, Intellijel and others started to reproduce. And then to develop classic module designs as well as building new and original ones. Modules that use previously unavailable technologies.

This creative explosion on the part of manufacturers has been accompanied by a rediscovery among electronic musicians of the possibilities of analog and modular synthesis. Now Ableton Live users can easily enter the world of modular synthesis with OSCiLLOT by Max for Cats.

Contents:

• 4 Max Devices, 114 Presets, 1 Live Sets

Size:

• installation: 47.27 MB
• download: 39.2 MB

Prerequisites:

• Live 9 Standard (version 9.5 or later)
• Max for Live (version 7.3.2 or higher)

See other Packs for Ableton Live