Patch recipes.
Starting points, not presets. A recipe on this page tells you the signal path, the initial settings, and the reason the patch works, then gets out of the way. Every recipe is documented from a real bench session and none of them requires more modules than the catalog.
RECIPE 01 / DRIFT PAD
The warm chord that never repeats
- Modules
- HELIOS-8, MERIDIAN, FLUX CORE
- Signal path
- HELIOS-8 stereo out → FLUX CORE stereo in → output
- HELIOS-8
- Poly 8, drift mode gentle, VCO B detune at 9 o'clock, shaper fold at 11 o'clock, filter cutoff low
- MERIDIAN
- Ch 1 to filter cutoff, Ch 2 to fold depth, both slow, phase-sync on
- FLUX CORE
- Diffuse send moderate, feedback path from return to delay input, wet/dry 60/40
Why it works: the drifting voices keep the harmonic beat pattern moving, and the diffuse send smears that motion across the stereo field. The fold CV from MERIDIAN makes the chord's brightness breathe on a different clock than its filter, which is what keeps it alive past the two-minute mark.
RECIPE 02 / TERRAIN DRONE
One sample, one hour, no repetition
- Modules
- TESSERA, PHANTOM GRID, OBSIDIAN MIX
- Signal path
- TESSERA stereo out → OBSIDIAN MIX ch 1-2 → output
- TESSERA
- Scrub X from PHANTOM GRID output 2, scrub Y from output 4, grain length short, freeze off
- PHANTOM GRID
- Output 2 divided /8, output 4 divided /13, swing 61%
- OBSIDIAN MIX
- Channels 1-2 drive just before the measured knee, printed on the batch sheet
Why it works: the /8 and /13 divisions drift out of phase on a long cycle, so the terrain scan repeats every 104 beats while the window scan repeats every 117. The drone you hear is the interference pattern of two cycles that will not meet again for a long time.
RECIPE 03 / RATCHET PERCUSSION
Fills that program themselves
- Modules
- ARRAY-16, PHANTOM GRID, KILN, OBSIDIAN MIX
- Signal path
- ARRAY-16 gate → KILN drive stage → OBSIDIAN MIX ch 3
- ARRAY-16
- Probability on stages 7, 11, 15; ratchet 3 on stage 15; skip engine beat-following
- KILN
- Cutoff mid, resonance high but before self-oscillation, drive after warm-up
Why it works: the skip engine follows the musical beat instead of erasing it, so probability fills land on the grid's seams rather than against them. The KILN's warm knee turns the ratcheted hits from clicks into a shape.
RECIPE 04 / FEEDBACK CHOIR
Use the routing matrix wrong
- Modules
- HELIOS-8 (mono), FLUX CORE, MERIDIAN
- Signal path
- HELIOS-8 out → FLUX CORE in; FLUX CORE return 2 patched to send 1 (the "wrong" way)
- FLUX CORE
- Foldback high, delay time synced to MERIDIAN ch 3, feedback damping low
- MERIDIAN
- Ch 3 slow ramp to delay time, giving the feedback loop a rising pitch
Why it works: the normalized feedback matrix assumes you will use it sensibly. Patching a return into a send makes the loop re-enter the effect, and with the ramp pulling the delay time, the choir moves. It stays musical below roughly 70% feedback and stops being a choir above it, which is also a legitimate outcome.
RECIPE 05 / CERTIFIED BASS
Bass you can graph
- Modules
- HELIOS-8 (mono legato), KILN, OBSIDIAN MIX
- Signal path
- HELIOS-8 sub out → KILN → OBSIDIAN MIX ch 6
- HELIOS-8
- Mono legato, sub level full, VCO A only, drift mode locked
- KILN
- Cutoff low, resonance low, drive at the printed knee, warmed up
- OBSIDIAN MIX
- Channel 6, headroom printed on the batch sheet, drive off
Why it works: a bass patch is the one place where locked tuning beats drift, because the argument you want is between the note and the filter, not between two oscillators. The drive stage at its printed knee adds harmonics that stop exactly where the sheet says they stop.