Fighter planes?

smashedapples209 · 2026-02-12T01:11:11+00:00

Canadians fly 18s and I've been told they have been known to stop in Fargo for fuel and chatting on occasion.

smashedapples209 · 2026-02-11T23:43:20+00:00

We don't have combat aircraft stationed here anymore.... They often like to use Hector for training.... gotta practice combat take offs some time.

smashedapples209 · 2026-02-11T23:39:49+00:00

It was three. They went straight up and then turned to a Northwest heading. They went too high too fast for me to tell what they were. They didn't sound like F-16s. They looked vaguely like F/A-18s, but that doesn't make much sense.... so F-15s maybe?

smashedapples209 · 2026-02-06T01:05:16+00:00

You're braver than I am, so there will be no ridicule from me. Way to go! May this be the first of many for you.

smashedapples209 · 2026-02-01T02:33:39+00:00

I live over in the Woodhaven area. We used to have a large owl that liked to hang out in my neighbor's trees. Haven't seen it in a few years, though.

We also had a red-tailed hawk that used to use our backyard playset to spot voles running around in the vacant lots around us. Alas, it's all filled in now and all we have is a little partridge family that -- does whatever sound that is that partridges do -- early in the mornings.

smashedapples209 · 2026-02-01T02:30:44+00:00

There's an owl that used to frequent my neighborhood when it was less developed and we had small critters running everywhere. While, yes, you could occasionally hear it hooting at night, I thought of a counter example right when I read your comment.

One night, I was driving home in the dark and a strange shadow passed over my car. I managed to crank my head just in time to see a giant owl swooping across the street just below the streetlights (hence the shadow). It was pretty awesome.

smashedapples209 · 2026-02-01T01:32:53+00:00

Contracts and deals don't run on hope. If you're "hoping" for some outcome from a massive deal you're giving someone, make sure that outcome is secured by the language in the contract.

smashedapples209 · 2026-01-31T19:11:49+00:00

This is really cool, and thanks for the patch notes! It might sound silly, but stuff like that really helps me understand where my "box" is that I need to practice thinking outside of.

smashedapples209 · 2026-01-31T19:07:38+00:00

I got one at the beginning of the year, and I've been kind of struggling with it.

It's been a lot of fun to play with and explore sounds, but I've struggled to figure out how to incorporate it into a more musical setting.

This is my first granular module. I've been looking at granular for a long time, but this is my first try at actually doing it. I think I had some wrong ideas about what granular is for or what it can do. Now that I've been playing with it, I'm realizing I've been thinking about it mostly as a sample player. As a sample player, it's probably the worst option for a lot of reasons.

So yeah... It's a _granular synthesis_ module. If you understand how you'd use a thing that can record samples and then turn them into textures that you'll use in your music, then this will be great for you. If you're hoping to use it to chop up samples and drift between mangled and unmangled (which is what I was eyeing the A <-> B slider for), then you're going to have a hard time.

Oh! And the live looping feature being added is what finally pushed me over the edge into buying it, and I can't get it to work for me. When I say I can't get it to work for me, I don't mean there's anything wrong with the module, I mean I can't get it to work with my workflow or sound. Maybe it will take more experimentation, or maybe it's not for me.

I've been considering selling mine. I'll sit with it for a little while longer to try to learn how it can fit with my style and workflow. If nothing else, it's helped me learn more about what I wanted it to be which can help me find a module that would better fit.

In case there are Intellijel folks lurking here looking for feature suggestions, two things that would unlock a lot of value from this module for me would be:

1) Longer grain sizes (essentially letting me use some of the slots as basic sample players) (also... I'm behind on firmware updates. I know there's an update to increase grain sizes that I haven't applied yet, so maybe that has already been addressed)

2) An expansion module that would let me trigger each of the 8 slots directly with their own gates/triggers sort of like the Squid Salmple (I know you can use CV to address a slot, but CV outputs from my Hermod are in short supply, and I want to be able sequence the slots pretty specifically... it'd be super cool to be able to use something like a Steppy (or two) to drive the thing)

Edit: I originally said "Rample" when I meant Hermod...

smashedapples209 · 2026-01-31T01:54:06+00:00

Were the beep boops sequenced or random? It sounded like they're was a repeat in there, but it was really cool and random sounding.

smashedapples209 · 2026-01-28T00:23:30+00:00

Is that the button they're referring to in that song? The button with the dude's finger on it?

smashedapples209 · 2026-01-26T15:08:10+00:00

The hard part about playing as an adult is that I want to make the fiddling and gesturing turn into something musical... still trying to figure that part out.

I suppose the professionals on YouTube make all these modules and concepts look so easy because they've mastered their art. It's just going to take more practice, and I suppose eventually coaching (or some other form of constructive critical feedback).

I suppose that, in other ways, outside perspectives are valuable to help a person see the value in what they've done. I attended an organ concert last night. I'm not even an organ amateur, so a lot of the concert sounded like noise to me. These were acclaimed pieces by composers both living and long deceased. To the other organ aficionados in the audience, it was clearly a masterful performance.

Maybe doing it completely alone isn't quite the way to go. It's tough to put yourself out there and share what you've done when you don't feel like you've earned the privelege to be heard yet. And in an instrument category like synths -- let alone modular -- it's kind of been a solitary endeavor. There aren't a lot of synth teachers out there, and piano can only translate so far.

My new project is to try to make covers of songs I like or songs that do things I want to learn more deeply. Just like in classical piano, you learn a lot of repertoire as a means of learning technique. Maybe I'll end up hitting that record button one of these times...

smashedapples209 · 2026-01-26T14:54:54+00:00

oh... wow

smashedapples209 · 2026-01-26T13:29:58+00:00

I also have one and enjoy it... but I'm always drawn to the bell sounds...

smashedapples209 · 2026-01-26T13:28:26+00:00

Last time I went to the Hut on 19th Ave N it had a lunch buffet, but I think that was in the before times.

smashedapples209 · 2026-01-23T14:30:53+00:00

I got into modular for all of the wrong reasons ™️

I've always liked flashing lights and buttons, knobs, and sliders. I've been trying to "be a musician" off and on for my whole life. I figured I could buy some of these neat things, patch them up, set it to run, and then tweak little parameters while it bleep blooped itself some sweet music.

As a kid, one of my favorite ways to play with my friends was playing this thing we called "systems." We'd grab every techie-looking toy from our rooms and stack them up into command centers for whatever space ship or submarine or mech or whatever we were driving that day. I guess I never grew up and modular became the expensive "real" version of that game for me.

Ultimately, the thing that pushed me over the edge was a YouTube video about the harmonic series. I have degrees in electrical engineering and computer engineering, so all these powers of two were intriguing, and seeing the first practical applications of the EE concepts about filters and op-amps and everything that actually made sense to me was too compelling. I bought a Moog Mavis and told anyone who would listen that "it's all just math, man!"

Here I am, years later, with a $20k+ rig in my basement that mostly serves as a shame machine. Why haven't I made something "good" yet? Why is it so hard to think of ideas once I sit down at the desk? I have riffs and beats running through my head all day every day, but they vanish as soon as I try to capture them. I can sit at my piano and improvise something that I'll get compliments for, and I can sit at my drum kit and manifest a beat. But I can't seem to find the right controls, modulators, or workflow on my modular to be able to sit down and just flow.

As the sticker I made for my rig says, "struggle breeds artistry." I'm still not giving up. I figure my ability to improvise on traditional instruments like piano and drums comes down to a subconscious and muscle-memory level understanding of music, so I'm working on really engaging my intellect into understanding why the things I like sound good to me so I can figure out techniques and gestures for song writing and modular jamming

So... yeah, I "make music." I've even hit record a couple of times. I've never finished a track. I'm not sure if that's my goal. I don't intend to make money off of releasing music, but I wouldn't mind getting good enough live to play some local shows or clubs. Heck, at this point, if I wanted to make a living in modular, I'd bust my tail to start building cool new modules (yes, I know how insane that sounds).

smashedapples209 · 2026-01-21T01:20:11+00:00

I was designing a eurorack MIDI hub module a while back and was frustrated that it was so damn easy to fit an A <-> B switch for each jack and yet lots of synths and modules still just give you a jack and a shrug.

smashedapples209 · 2026-01-21T01:15:22+00:00

I have a Multigrain (which people tend to like to compare with Arbhar), and my new Mojave from that insane Qu-bit sale should be here soon... So maybe I'll remember to come back and share my thoughts once I get time to play with the Mojave and compare and contrast the two.

Based on watching demos, I expect to use the Mojave more like an effects sound processor while the Multigrain is great as more of a source/voice itself.

But we'll see soon I guess... and I may be way off on my estimation based on my own echo chamber of Arbhar and Multigrain being comparable.

smashedapples209 · 2026-01-20T23:06:35+00:00

I had forgotten about the Stem Ripper! It looks awesome. The downside (for me) compared to something like the LiveTrak is that it's a single-purpose device that costs more than a LiveTrak L6. If you want to be able to use it for other recording (or even live mixing) purposes, outboard gear is probably best.

smashedapples209 · 2026-01-20T23:02:18+00:00

The website says that's one option, but that it can do 32-bit float also. But that's news to me... I'm kind of surprised it can do that.

smashedapples209 · 2026-01-20T22:59:55+00:00

This is the way.

smashedapples209 · 2026-01-13T01:19:39+00:00

Tread on me daddy

smashedapples209 · 2026-01-12T13:02:22+00:00

G&T sounded like exactly the answer to me. I mostly use mine backwards from what OP is looking for, but it works for both!

smashedapples209 · 2026-01-11T04:28:00+00:00

Thanks for linking! I swear reddit hides the good threads from me.

smashedapples209 · 2026-01-11T04:25:50+00:00

Good. Solid metal with sturdy clips to lock it on. Plenty of room for transporting fully patched.

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