Improvisation #93 for Poly Evolver Keyboard

This patch shows a bit of the caustic side of the Poly Evolver.  With the filter mostly closed, even the most metallic-sounding digital wave shapes can seem fairly soft and sweet.  But when the filter is opened – regardless of whatever help the analog side might be offering the patch – the Evolver’s famous harshness is undeniable and its reputation is shown to be well-deserved.  I don’t often wander into this sonic range of the instrument, except to create an occasional tragic but text-less tone painting.

The patch makes use of all four oscillators, pulse width modulation, and a slight amount of slow LFO-generated filter modulation which, even in the softer sections, pushes the digital oscillators slightly into their discordant timbre.

The photograph is of the Alcott barn in Concord, Massachusetts, USA.

Instrumentation:
DSI Poly Evolver Keyboard
DSI Poly Evolver Rack

Bass:
DSI Prophet ’08 Module
Hammond XPK 200L Pedal Board

Effects:
Reverb from Lexicon MX300

Performed live and recorded directly to a Tascam DR-100 MKIII Linear PCM Recorder

ALL MUSIC PROPERTY OF SACRED SYNTHESIS 2019

+T+

Advertisement

Prophet ’08 Organ Patch

This piece showcases the Prophet ’08 performing in church organ mode – something it does extremely well.

The music is the accompaniment for the Easter Sequence, a beautiful chant called “Victimae Paschali Laudes,” which is sung before the Gospel at the Easter Vigil.

+T+

Instrumentation:
DSI Prophet ’08 Keyboard
DSI Prophet ’08 Module

Bass:
DSI Evolver Desktop
Hammond XPK 200L Pedal Board

Effects:
Lexicon MX300

Performed live and recorded directly to a Tascam CD-RW900 Mk II.

ALL MUSIC PROPERTY OF SACRED SYNTHESIS 2019

The Soul of the Betrayer

A musical glimpse into the mind of Judas Iscariot the betrayer – erratic, dissonant, tormented, lost.

This improvisation is 100% Evolver.  The nature of the subject demanded a harsh digital waveshape, and so it had to be performed on a Poly Evolver Keyboard.  The main pad uses an envelope having a slow attack and long release.  Nearly the entire piece is played as an elaborate series of steadily moving played arpeggios, with only the highest note sustained.  This is meant to give the music a confused restlessness.  The filter is opened by means of the modulation wheel.

A second Poly Evolver Keyboard is used for the eerie bending note.  A note or chord is sustained on the lower PEK by means of the VCA Level – a tremendously handy parameter for a one-man ensemble.  Meanwhile, on the upper PEK, a single note is held in which the filter is slowly opened and closed by means of keyboard pressure and the pitch is simultaneously bent using the pitch wheel.  At the point at which the filter is fully open, the tone is full of caustic digital aliasing.

+T+

Instrumentation:
DSI Poly Evolver Keyboard (2)
DSI Poly Evolver Rack

Bass:
DSI Evolver Desktop
Hammond XPK 200L Pedalboard

Effects:
Lexicon MX300

Performed live and recorded directly to a Tascam CD-RW900 Mk II.

ALL MUSIC PROPERTY OF SACRED SYNTHESIS 2019