Berlin-based Manifest Audio are giving away Mod Squad: a free pack of six modulation tools for Live 10 Suite or higher.
Following Chance Engine, Subtraction Engine, Note Raum, and Cheat Code, Manifest Audio continue their run of innovative creative tools with this fresh bundle including two MIDI effects and four audio effects: three Sample & Hold generators to produce random values depending on input, and three “Autodubbers” to produce intermittent yet irregular full-scale dub-style send throws.
Map Time
All Mod Squad devices use the same eight-parameter mapping convention familiar to anyone who has used Live’s LFO device: output values can be mapped to up to eight eligible parameters on any device throughout a Live set, with each mapping independently constrainable to its own range.
So Random
Sample & Hold, or S&H, is a classic method for generating assignable random values at specific intervals. Rather than produce values on a cyclic LFO cycle, the S&H devices included here trigger new random values in a variety of ways.
First up, MIDI S&H produces random values with MIDI note on messages, within the constrainable note and velocity ranges; by constraining these input ranges, you could specify that only a particular MIDI note at a particular velocity, for example, would trigger new random values.
There’s also a Chance control: at values below 100%, not every note will reliably produce a random value – so essentially there’s another level of randomization at play. It also comes with a built-in host-synchronizable delay to stagger the values, and three modes of random value generation: Luck for pure randomness, Drunk for an adjacent random walk style, and Fluid, based on the motion of quantum particles in a fluid state.
Audio S&H includes all the features of the MIDI S&H including probability, delay, and random modes, along with Sensitivity and Length dials to hone the level of audio input signal that triggers new random values.
Manual S&H provides a seemingly simplistic yet highly useful S&H that only produces random values whenever the Dice button is clicked. The button is MIDI-mappable and available for automation, meaning you can use it on stage to instantly transform multiple parameters with a dramatic gesture – or automate it to induce random values in rhythmic yet unusual patterns that an LFO couldn’t quite provide.
Infinity Dub
In contrast to a Bins-style LFO, which has an equal chance of outputting a minimum or maximum value, all three Dubber devices reside at the minimum value – zero, unless otherwise offset. They then jump up to a maximum value for specified time periods at randomized or triggered intervals before going back to the minimum. Combined with their probability, governed by a Chance control, this provides the ability to create dub-throw send effects at conveniently spaced yet unpredictable distances with minimal effort.
Three Dubber devices allow different methods of control. The primary Autodubber simply runs on its own with a variety of timing controls and interval modes to set roughly how often they might occur, and for how long.
Audiodubber produces throws when audio exceeds a certain threshold according to Sensitivity and Gain, with probability control to make it less predictable and an optional delay for offset.
The MIDI Autodubber works much the same as the Audiodubber, responding instead to MIDI input within selectable note and velocity ranges, much like the MIDI S&H. The same probability option and delay modes apply, along with a variety of keytracking modes to attenuate or intensify dub output based on MIDI note.
Mapping new relationships between disparate musical elements within a set is easy as ever with this handy squad of inventive modulation utilities. Between the novel Dubber modulation model and unique S&H features, there’s plenty of unique modulation options on offer here – for free.
Mod Squad features
- Two Max MIDI effects: MIDI S&H and MIDI Autodubber
- Four Max Audio effects: Audio S&H, Manual S&H, Audiodubber, and Autodubber
- All mappable to eight independently constrainable destination parameters anywhere in a set
- Seamless delay time takeover when switching between sync and millisecond modes
- Depth, Offset, and Phase where applicable
- Luck, Drunk, and Fluid randomization types
- Freeze, Chance, Jitter, and Smoothing
- Full Info View annotations
- Optimized for Push
Requires Live 10.1 Suite or higher running Max 8.1 or above.
For more information and free download visit the Manifest Audio website.