Clavia Nord Modular G2 User Manual

The Patch Mutator and the Patch Adjustor

Since the OS version 1.4, the Nord Modular G2 Editor provides two new tools for
patch modification, the Patch Adjustor for quick patch changes on a global level, and
the Patch Mutator for extensive sonic exploration based on interactive evolution.

Together these tools greatly simplify the sound design process, and allow you to get
interesting results even without knowledge of the inner workings of a specific patch.

The Patch Adjustor

The Patch Adjustor contains a number of knobs for quick adjustment of all parameters
of a certain category, such as all attack times or all resonances. In this way, you can
quickly shape a sound in a more general way, without knowing the specifics of the
patch.

For example, turning the Attack knob to the left will decrease all attack times in the
patch, relative to their current position. Turning the Timbre knob will adjust filter
frequencies, FM amounts, shapers and some other parameters that affect the timbre of
the sound. If the result is not what you expected, just turn the knob back to its middle
position, or click the centre marker. As soon as you move the focus to another
variation or add or remove a module, the changes will be permanently applied, and
the knobs will return to their middle positions.

When browsing a large number of patches, or when evolving new patch variations
with the Patch Mutator (see the following section), this kind of quick changes can be
very useful. A patch may be promising, but not exactly what you want. Then you can
apply that last touch with the Patch Adjustor knobs. You do not need to track down
where the specific parameters are situated in a complex patch.

Patch Adjustor knob Description

Attack All envelope Attack parameters, as well as

compressor, noise gate and envelope
follower Attack parameters.

Decay All envelope Decay parameters, as well as

some Time parameters in the multi-stage
envelopes.

Sustain All envelope Sustain parameters, and some

Level parameters of the multi-stage
envelopes.

Release All envelope Release parameters, as well

as compressor, noise gate and envelope
follower Release parameters.

Mod. Rate All LFO and Random rates, and the rates of

all effect modules incorporating an internal
LFO, such as Chorus, Phaser and Flanger.

Timbre Filter cutoff frequencies, FM modulation

amounts, various waveshape parameters in
oscillators and shapers, as well as various
FX parameters affecting the timbre of the
sound.

Resonance All filter resonances, and Phaser and

Flanger feedback.

Effects Dry/wet effect parameters.

The Patch Adjustor lives as a floater on top of the editor window, like the Patch
Browser, the Parameter Pages and the other tools of the G2 Editor. The Patch
Adjustor is only available in the G2 Editor, not in the hardware synth itself.

It is important to understand how the Patch Adjustor knobs work. They are not to be
considered as additional parameters in the patch or as additional Morph categories.
They rather act as remote, relative editing tools for all parameters of a specific
category, wherever they are located in the patch. Because of their different nature,
these knobs cannot be assigned to MIDI Controllers or to physical knobs on the synth.

The Patch Mutator

Introduction

The Patch Mutator is a toolbox for creating new patch variations guided by your ear.
It will help you explore different knob settings within a certain patch by simply
listening and selecting the sounds you like. Most patches can generate a vast range of
different sounds, but it is tedious and difficult to explore them manually, because of
the sheer number of parameters in a patch, and because of the difficulty to predict the
sonic results. Also, with the extreme flexibility of the Nord Modular G2, it is tempting
to always look for new patches, and neglect the fact that one single patch often
equates a full hardware synthesizer, with vast possibilities waiting to be explored.

In an interactive process inspired by natural evolution, the Patch Mutator creates a
number of variations for you, based on one Mother sound, or based on a Mother and a
Father, or more or less random. You listen to these new Children sounds one at a
time, and select which one will be the parent of the next generation of children. This
process can be repeated any number of generations, until you find the sounds you
want. Usually you find lots of interesting sounds in the process.

The Patch Mutator is designed for speed and ease of use, with great care put into the
interface design. In a few minutes you can create whole sets of new sounds, or series
of interesting variations on existing sounds. The evolutionary approach makes it very
different from simple patch randomizers available in some synthesizer editors. You

always work with a “family” of related sounds, comparing and selecting the best from
each generation.

At any moment, a Child sound can be saved for future use in a Temporary Storage.
Also, any sound from the Temporary Storage can be brought back into the breeding
process as a parent. The G2 architecture allows eight variations to be stored with the
patch, and any sounds from the temporary storage can easily be transferred to the
eight variation buffers, and be saved as a patch in flash memory or on disc.

The main purpose if the Patch Mutator is encourage and simplify creative sound
design, but there are many variations on this theme. A few suggestions:

• Quickly modify a sound in a studio situation where you want a specific sound.

• Explore the potential of your patches beyond the default values and your first

tweaks.

• Explore other people’s patches without knowing exactly how they are
constructed.

• As a composition tool: Create a number of related but different sounds or
textures that can later be put together.

• Evolve complex sequences that control other equipment through MIDI.

• Evolve mappings from MIDI controllers to sound engines, to find new and

interesting ways of performing.

• Evolve new sounds, loops and textures live, as a way of improvisation.

There are probably as many ways to use it as there are users. Consider it a powerful
toolbox at your disposal for sonic exploration guided by your ears.

The Patch Mutator has been developed in collaboration with composer and researcher
Palle Dahlstedt, based on his research in computer-aided creativity. Read more about
the historical and theoretical background in the end of this chapter.

NOTE! The Patch Mutator will turn the knobs and push the buttons for you, but
it will not affect the connections between modules, and it will not add or delete
modules.

NOTE! The Patch Mutator only exists in the editor, and is not available in the
synth itself. Therefore, it can only be used when the G2 is connected to the
computer editor.

The Patch Mutator Window

The Patch Mutator is a floater in the editor, just like the Virtual Keyboard and the
Parameter Pages. It can be opened or closed by selecting Patch Mutator on the Tools
menu (Shortcut: Ctrl-2). With the Patch Mutator floater open, you can still edit the
patch as usual, add or delete modules or turn the knobs.

The Patch Mutator float consists of five different regions. From top to bottom:

• Various settings and action buttons for the different breeding operations that
generate new children: Mutate, Randomize, Interpolate and Cross. See the
Patch Mutator Reference section below for a detailed explanation.

• A row of boxes representing the parent and children sounds. Each box
contains a “chromosome” graph. The shape of this curvy line is derived from
the actual parameter values. The chromosomes show at a glance how different
the variations are. In the screenshot above, the children are clearly quite
similar, while the sounds in the temporary storage look completely different
from each other.

• The Temporary Storage, which serves as a scratch pad during the evolutionary
process. You can save sounds you like by dragging them to a box in the
storage, and later you can drag them from the storage to one of the parent
boxes in the row above, to continue breeding. A row from the Temporary
Storage can quickly be transferred to the eight patch variation buffers by
clicking on the “v” button to the right of the row. Click the “x” button to clear
the row. Right-click and select Delete to clear a box.

• A row of eight boxes representing the eight variation buffers of the G2.
Clicking on one of these boxes is the same as pushing a variation button on the
G2. The variations can be dragged to the parent boxes or copied to the
Temporary Storage.

• A row of Quick Lock buttons that are used to select which parameter
categories are temporarily excluded from the random changes caused by the
Mutate and Randomize operations. In many cases you want to vary certain
parameters, while leaving others unchanged. For example, you may not want
to affect the pitch of the oscillators in the patch. Then you uncheck this button,
and they will be left unchanged by these operations. By clicking the solo
button below a category, only one category is affected by the random changes.

Using the Patch Mutator

The Patch Mutator can be used with all patches, also with any patch from previous OS
versions. It works well with most patches straight out-of-the-box, while others may
need some slight modifications and tweaking. Experiment with the Quick Lock
buttons, and you will probably find a way to evolve interesting sounds with most
patches. After a while, you will understand how to create patches that are tailor-made
for evolutionary exploration.

You may want to exclude certain modules permanently from random changes, for
example a part of a patch that has been carefully worked out and should stay as it is.

• To exclude one or more modules from the Patch Mutator operations, select the
module(s), right click and check Exclude From Mutations.

When the Patch Mutator is visible, excluded modules are indicated by a thin red
frame. The Exclude From Mutations settings are saved with the patch.

To simplify the use of the Patch Mutator, some modules are excluded by default.
Most of these are modules that you probably wouldn’t want to change in a random
way, such as output modules, compressors, MIDI out modules or pitch trackers. If
you want, you can include them by simply right-clicking and unchecking the Exclude
From Mutations option.