Gradient

Gradient is a piece that I've been developing, in one form or another, for the past year or so. I stumbled upon its central idea while trying to make my own version of Mutable Instruments's incredible Eurorack module Marbles, and it sort of took on a life of its own. After a while I realized that it answers a question I never thought to ask: what if you applied Steve Reich's phasing experiments to pitch instead of rhythm? In Gradient, two pinged filters play an arpeggiated C minor seventh chord, and the phase of the arpeggiation slowly changes in one. Aside from a couple of production things—having a little bit of reverb and delay underneath, and constructing a way to have the patch (made in VCV Rack) record itself—it doesn't get much more complicated than that. But it's that beating heart that has fascinated me. Basically, this process comes from two LFOs, and a third modulation source. The LFOs don't need to be identical (more on that below) but they do need to maintain the same phase relationship, which, given that this is software, isn't too hard to do. These two LFOs are put into an arithmetical logic function (in Gradient it was a maximum function), and the output is then quantized. The modulation source slowly shifts the phase of one LFO. You quantize the control (i.e. the unmoving) LFO as one melodic line, and let both modulate the pitch of two voices, and, well, that's really it. Sometimes complexity necessarily emerges from simplicity.

That being said, I had a few small takeaways and notes—mental doodads, really—that I'd also like to share for those wanting to maybe use this idea for themselves:

As stated, the LFOs need to have the same phase relationship, which means you don't necessarily need to have them tempo-locked, or oscillating at the same rate (although I do both here). In fact, having different divisions (odd divisions, by the way, as a constant 4/4 pulse will just go up and down in pitch when quantized), creates a cool complex sequence from very little. It's a nifty way to create a melodic line if you don't have a dedicated sequencer or don't want one. It's also very performative, since all you need to do is just turn a knob (controlling rate or phase) and instantly change the sequence in sprawling ways.
Your modulation source is very important. I found the best results in VCV came from modules with long rates of change, in particular the Frozen Wasteland Seriously Slow LFO and envelope generator. (Also shoutout to FW's BPM LFO module too—I use that on almost every patch I make nowadays.) You can use something faster but I think gradual change makes this piece bloom into something special; it becomes weirdly meditative, with the slightest hint of its metamorphosis making these wonderful ripples. (That joke David Foster Wallace uses in This is Water comes to mind: slow modulation makes fish aware of water, if you will.)
Similarly, your choice of arithmetical function is important. It's best to do something with less drastic changes; differences, divisions, averages, multiplications, square laws, exponentiation, etc. often feel chaotic. Chaos can work really well sometimes—I have had great results using this whole idea of two LFOs plus arithmetical logic to process drum beats and the like—but not always.
VCV's Rescale module is such a help. Attenuation is perhaps the most undervalued, yet much-needed, tool in modular synthesis, and for some reason it never gets properly addressed in VCV (I suppose because it aims to simulate a Eurorack setup, where exact voltage values can be hard to dial in), with the exception of this module.
I realize how kind of nuts it is to try to make a system that will record itself; the term "enantiodromia" very much comes to mind, as my intention was to simplify, not complexify, the recording process. I've included it in the patch I uploaded, but I don't recommend bothering with its jankiness, if possible.

That's kind of it. You can listen on Bandcamp if you want, and If you're curious, the patch is available on PatchStorage, with relevant notes (i.e. required modules) there. Thanks for reading/listening.