Echo Vocation - "First Light" (Hexaphonic Guitar + Eurorack Track for ‪@ModularWorld‬ Episode 49)

Adrian writes:

In this version of "First Light" I'm using Eurorack modules to process the hexaphonic output from a Godin LGX-SA guitar (w/RMC preamp) and provide the backing instruments. This video originally aired as part of Episode 49 of Modular World -    • EP49 - Echo Vocation (U.S.) / Jon Gee...   - big thanks to ‪@jon_gee‬  who was the other performer on the show, and our gracious host ‪@JohnoWells‬

I called this track "First Light" to allude to the first use of a telescope or other instrument in astronomy; for me this track meant starting to approach guitar through a different aperture.

My father built some custom hexaphonic pickups for a guitar decades ago and I was intrigued with that path. I had been using my ‪@GodinGuitarsOfficial‬  LGX-SA via a Boss SY-1000 pitch-to-MIDI converter and thought it might be fun to skip the MIDI conversion altogether (and the associated challenges of note tracking and latency).

Eurorack setup details on Modular Grid: https://modulargrid.net/e/racks/view/...

The SynQuaNon 13-pin breakout module allows the 6 per-string channels from the guitar's piezo saddles to each be processed separately; the guitar's humbucker output and GK volume knob are also exposed by that module. I have WMD MSCL compressors on the top 4 strings to help tame any shrill notes coming from the piezos, then all 6 piezo outputs go to a stereo mixer (Blue Lantern Sir Mix Alot) so I can pan the strings across the stereo field. The piezos are routed to ‪@QuBitElectronix‬  Nautilus for interesting and sometimes chaotic / glitchy delays.

The humbucker pickup is routed to ‪@NoiseEngineering‬  Terci Ruina for distortion, Mosaic Variable Delay, and Erica Synths Pico DSP for reverb. It's panned to the center to help "glue" the guitar's stereo field a bit.

A goal of this patch was to control the modules via conventional interfaces (like an expression pedal and the GK volume knob) and less conventional ways (triggers and envelopes generated by individual strings using the ‪@synquanon2987‬  Hex EF-Gate-Trigger). The GK volume goes to a clock divider to change the clock signal going into Nautilus. The freeze function on Nautilus is triggered by the G string and the purge CV is triggered by the A string. Nautilus reversal and feedback are controlled by the expression pedal (using Doepfer A-177-2). An envelope from the A string affects the frequency on the Doepfer Wasp filter that a backing voice is routed through.

The humbucker output is routed through a sequential switch that acts as sort of a tremolo effect; this is active when a footswitch control is active (Doepfer A-177-2 again). The B string generates an envelope that speeds up the clock signal that toggles the tremolo, and the G string slows the tremolo.

‪@Polyend‬  Preset allows toggling between different Nautilus configurations (changing the chroma, resolution, dispersal, sensors, and mix settings).

Backing voices are ‪@EricaSynths‬  Pico Drums, ‪@2hpmodular913‬  Pluck, and ‪@intellijel‬  Plonk. These are sequenced with the venerable ‪@ArturiaOfficial‬  BeatStep Pro. ‪@Endorphines‬  Golden Master and reverb from Intellijel Multi-FX help unify the guitar and backing tracks. Another version of this track:   / first-light-2023-05-25-21c-version  

Special thanks to Peter Knoot of SynQuaNon for helping me and my father investigate some LR Baggs / RMC preamp differences between several Godin guitar models. Much appreciated! #guitarist #modularsynth #hexaphonicguitar #eurorack #synquanon #bluelantern #doepfer #mosaic1u #krautrock #electronicmusic #godinguitars ‪@ColoradoModularSynthSociety‬ #midiguitar #looping #guitarhacks #improvisation #guitarimprovisation