I haven’t used the ModMatrix yet, but it seems like it has a lot of potential, and I’m very curious to hear from others what they’ve done with it!
So, how do you use the ModMatrix?
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It’s a very powerful feature but requires external offset & attenuator modules to get the best out of it (ie: provide fine tuned control of the modulation).
Here are some simple applications…
Send a gate / cv source into the ModMatrix and have it increase the amount of active steps in the Euclidean effect. When applied to multiple tracks this can really change up the beats & provide a kind of ‘fill’ vibe.
Another idea is to have a gate control the transposition or scale of a melody. Again, control of this via an attenuator is essential.
You could also control the rate or depth (or both) of an LFO with external CV. Thinking further you could then send the output of this modulation back into the ModMatrix and have that control something like the Euclidean effect above to enable more interesting / fluctuating fill effects.
Mmmmmmmm.
The final frontier is to send Hermod’s Midi out back into it’s Midi in. This means you can program modulation tracks in Hermod and send them out via Midi and back into the ModMatrix. This gives you a lot of control as you can set Modulation values accurately, but it isn’t great for beat / step accurate modulation. Ie: a stepped LFO out via Midi would be delayed just too late to affect a gate on another track even though they should technically be hitting at the same time. I’m hoping the new OS might fix this as things have been tightened up… but I am not getting my hopes up.
A possible firmware solution would be to allow the output of a Track to be a cable free internal input source for the ModMatrix. This would (hopefully) stop issues caused by any latency. And it would also free up one of the Matrix inputs. Might be worth sending a feature request to Squarp. The fact they’re adding new features means they might consider such an idea.
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It’s a bit odd that there’s no scale + off set for this in the hermod. During a set you’d have to rely on modulators sending in the same range, and then it makes the most sense that the interpreter (hermod in this case) handle scaling and off set.
I agree and have messaged Squarp multiple times about being able to control the CV internally.
The real issue for me however which seriously limits the ModMatrix is that every effect on every track is affected with the exact same CV values. In an ideal world, each effect in each track would interpret the CV inputs in their own way. To do this, I think the ModMatrix UI would need a complete redesign.
I always think the way Pamela’s New Workout handles this is really clever. On that module CV in modulation is assigned at the destination level. All done with a similar size screen and a single knob.
Thinking about how something similar could work for the Hermod… Inside each effect parameter there could be the option to select one of the 4 CV inputs. Once selected, a long press on the knob could take you to a sub menu where you could scale & offset the CV going in to taste. Essentially, every parameter in every effect could be tailored individually.
Maybe this would be too much for the processor to handle - who knows… you could cap the number of parameters that could be assigned if that was the case though.
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this is one of the things that often makes me give up on programming complex modulation: each effect has it’s way of handling cv inputs or cc, and it’s basically a trial and error to figure out what value would return a corresponding value of the fx. even cv sequence change is a nightmare to program, as there’s no way to know which value would correspond to which sequence, an endless trial and error that really takes too much away from composing and music
Yeah, pretty much everything I’ve tried with the ModMatrix has frustrated me. I just don’t know how to actually do anything musical with it.
The final frontier is to send Hermod’s Midi out back into it’s Midi in.
I’ve actually asked Squarp over email if it’s possible for them to add a way to route one track’s MIDI into another track via the Output FX. That way, you could easily “duplicate” a track to another track, for crazy unison lines, or send arbitrary output to another track.
Example one:
Track 1 and 2 are both connected to different synths via CV + Gate
Set Track 1’s FX to be:
- MIDI
- Output: Loopback = enabled, Track = 2 (these features don’t exist yet)
Result: Whatever you play on Track 1 is doubled onto Track 2, for a fat unison sound!
Example two:
Track 1 is connected to a MIDI controller keyboard like Novation Summit, and Track 2 is connected to a eurorack synth via CV + Gate.
Then, set Track 1’s FX to be:
- MIDI
- Output: Port + Channel = back to the Summit to play the chords
- Arpeggio
- Output: Loopback = enabled, Track = 2 (these features don’t exist yet)
Result: If you play chords on Track 1, you hear them on the Summit along with simultaneous arpeggios on the Track 2 synth! And you could also just disable the 2nd Output FX on Track 1, and use Track 2 normally.
This wouldn’t work for Example 2 but a simple buffered multiple could achieve this - but yeah, another external module which could be used for something else.
Hermod has so much potential power but feels like it limits itself via a clunky UI. When I compare it with something like Pamela’s New Workout - both use a single knob and a similar sized screen but the overall UI of PNW feels more open ended and scalable.
my main use for the mod matrix is mapping fx parameter on an external usb controller( djtt midi fighter twister) so i have most of the thing i need on a corresponding knob without having to menu dive too much
Something exciting is brewing… 
Shhhh… 
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what does that mean!!??
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