Folktek Mescaline

[lumena]

Has anyone found a good use for the Vactrol?
Even better question how to best make patch charts...

[Jwar]

I'd say I'm mostly disappointed by Folktek offering new users zero starting point or even suggested patches. I had to email Folktek to ask how to get the triggers to work correctly, which I had kind of done but now I understand it way more than I did. It's a vast system but overall, I'm not sure if it's worth the money I paid. I mean, I just don't know enough about modular shit. However I've been told by a good friend who does know a ton that it's architecture is not intelligent compared to other modular systems. I have no clue obviously, that's just what I've been told. Dudes been using modular shit for over 20 years, so I'm sure he knows better than me.

I have found some interesting things, but I'd like more control than it allows. I'm thinking of selling mine still.

[PeteeBee]

I'd say I'm mostly disappointed by Folktek offering new users zero starting point or even suggested patches. I had to email Folktek to ask how to get the triggers to work correctly, which I had kind of done but now I understand it way more than I did. It's a vast system but overall, I'm not sure if it's worth the money I paid. I mean, I just don't know enough about modular shit. However I've been told by a good friend who does know a ton that it's architecture is not intelligent compared to other modular systems. I have no clue obviously, that's just what I've been told. Dudes been using modular shit for over 20 years, so I'm sure he knows better than me.

I have found some interesting things, but I'd like more control than it allows. I'm thinking of selling mine still.

I think this is what folktek was getting at when they talked about having a new approach that will force people to make sounds differently than they are used to. Like, if we were familiar with modular or even synths at all, the unorthodox layout would help us get a fresh look at what we're doing, akin to when people suggest trying new tunings on guitar. Not defending the layout, I sold mine off to Lumena before they were even produced because I knew it just wasn't for me, as much as I love the sounds and the idea of it. I'm slowly and painfully coming to grips with the idea that lots of music I love is just better left to other people to create

[oscillateur]

I'd say I'm mostly disappointed by Folktek offering new users zero starting point or even suggested patches. I had to email Folktek to ask how to get the triggers to work correctly, which I had kind of done but now I understand it way more than I did. It's a vast system but overall, I'm not sure if it's worth the money I paid. I mean, I just don't know enough about modular shit. However I've been told by a good friend who does know a ton that it's architecture is not intelligent compared to other modular systems. I have no clue obviously, that's just what I've been told. Dudes been using modular shit for over 20 years, so I'm sure he knows better than me.

I have found some interesting things, but I'd like more control than it allows. I'm thinking of selling mine still.

It's a quite obscure/unique synth even when compared to normal modulars. This is not a surprise, given who made it and what it contains.

I really don't think this was intended as a "first modular", as it actually behaves in a very different way. Compared to a typical modular it's a somehow more limited thing that excels at what it does but has a very strong personality. Also, small flimsy connectors but that's because the price and size would not have been the same otherwise.

I really think it's worth the price but not necessarily for everybody. It's also much deeper than a pedal, and getting used to it will take more time.

And I think your friend's remark is quite stupid, it's actually a very smartly designed system, though obviously differrent from a typical modular (more viable as a small closed system and definitely not vanilla stuff in there). I've also been using modular shit for a while, for what it's worth .

And for the record I like mine but I prefer my eurorack because I have more control over what I do. The Mescaline sounds awesome, but might have a bit too much personality just by itself (i.e. it sounds like a Mescaline). I'm keeping it anyway .

[lumena]

Still plugging away.
One more from the recordings I did so far. The more I look at the patchpoints the more I am understanding it.
Next up channel vs motion. I really want to get Motion to control channel in eight steps and use the vactrols to shape the envelope. I also just noticed there are 2 LFO's on motion and they only work somewhat as expected, there is more there, there.
I am trying to imagine if I had been given a buchla system, there are lots of ideas there in buchla that I do not understand, it certainly doesn't let me just think oscillator, filter,envelope -VOILA!.
The Mescaline Rig is like that, kinda what I expected, I expected it to be unusual. Just look at the name it doesn't say blues box .
Thinking to the my first psychedelic experiences - they were nothing like what I expected. Same here, well ok.


I will probably make a patch sheet for mescaline- a general layout so I can easily mark up what I am doing with a pencil - this week and post, depends on my workload. Somehow clients get really busy this time of year and they often suck my time away at the last minute. Hopefully sharing patch sheets will speed the process. Even if no one wants to share it will force me to learn. There are a lot of sounds in this little rig and although I am thinking of adding some modules to it and maybe even putting it in a box, I will be waiting a bit just to really find out what is there. I have watched tons of youtube modular things and thought why is that such a complex patch with such little result, I am trying to look at this rig as a set of limitations that tends toward successful experiences., not an endless purchase project.
BTW thanks again Pete.

[UglyCasanova]

That was beautiful, lumena! Makes me want to stop sitting in front of my computer and go play with my system, haha! Can't ask for more!

[Jwar]

I'd say I'm mostly disappointed by Folktek offering new users zero starting point or even suggested patches. I had to email Folktek to ask how to get the triggers to work correctly, which I had kind of done but now I understand it way more than I did. It's a vast system but overall, I'm not sure if it's worth the money I paid. I mean, I just don't know enough about modular shit. However I've been told by a good friend who does know a ton that it's architecture is not intelligent compared to other modular systems. I have no clue obviously, that's just what I've been told. Dudes been using modular shit for over 20 years, so I'm sure he knows better than me.

I have found some interesting things, but I'd like more control than it allows. I'm thinking of selling mine still.

It's a quite obscure/unique synth even when compared to normal modulars. This is not a surprise, given who made it and what it contains.

I really don't think this was intended as a "first modular", as it actually behaves in a very different way. Compared to a typical modular it's a somehow more limited thing that excels at what it does but has a very strong personality. Also, small flimsy connectors but that's because the price and size would not have been the same otherwise.

I really think it's worth the price but not necessarily for everybody. It's also much deeper than a pedal, and getting used to it will take more time.

And I think your friend's remark is quite stupid, it's actually a very smartly designed system, though obviously differrent from a typical modular (more viable as a small closed system and definitely not vanilla stuff in there). I've also been using modular shit for a while, for what it's worth .

And for the record I like mine but I prefer my eurorack because I have more control over what I do. The Mescaline sounds awesome, but might have a bit too much personality just by itself (i.e. it sounds like a Mescaline). I'm keeping it anyway .

His remark may be off, I can agree with that. Maybe it's the different architecture that is throwing him off and I guess I have nothing to base my experience on as this is my first experience with something like this.

I don't hate the Mescaline but I will say I'm often frustrated with it.

For instance, last night I plugged in my cv controller, the same way I have before and it wasn't working at all with it. I have zero clue what I did, but obviously I fucked up the patching somehow in order to do that. I've gone through several times and re-patched everything just to get a fresh sound.

I guess to me I just don't understand how something works even though I've had them explained a hundred times. For instance, the pots on Mental. At first I somehow got them to work, then all of a sudden, nada. I changed my patches because the first time I went in blind. Now I'm getting more musical, percussive sounds but I cannot for the life of me figure those fucking things out. I've asked Arius, he explained, then I still get nothing. I even thought maybe it's broken, but the volume knob works and triggers and everything else, so I just don't get it.

I also don't understand the pots of Motion. Obviously I'm thinking the pots change the pitch of the sequencer, but I hear no changes. Weird, but it could be the way I have the whole system patched. I've noticed it's like that. Patch one thing different or odd and it throws the whole thing off. What is also weird is in the demos, when he presses add/subtract buttons, they react so much faster than they do on my actual system. Again, maybe patching? Who knows. lol.

It's unique that is for fucking sure and I guess I shouldn't say I hate it. I just wish it was a tad more controllable.

I also wish that Folktek had thought about offer some kind of starting patches for folks. I'm part of the user Facebook group and there are a fuck ton of people there that are equally as confused by it and most are really familiar with modular.

I feel as if I have a pretty good understanding of it for my limited knowledge base, I've messed with it every day since I got it, but I'll never fully understand.

Maybe I need something to compliment it. Like a better mixer. It makes an ENORMOUS difference to use a mixer with this. Just huge. I cannot imagine using it without one now. I need more channels on the mixer though. Mine only has 2. Any suggestions there would be mega appreciated.

[oscillateur]

Yeah, I get you. That thing (well, parts of it at least) confuses me too.
I think some people might have power issues that subtly alter the way the thing behaves, which does not help at all.

The CV sequencer's behaviour is not super obvious, it took me some time to get it to actually do something . The point is to start with almost nothing when trying something you're not sure of, as the whole system can become a bit unpredictable with lots of patching.

And yes, a mixer helps. What are you using ? There are small 4-6 inputs mixers that are quite cheap and are super useful for this kind of things (and with EQ, headphones out, etc.).

[worra]

Yeah, I get you. That thing (well, parts of it at least) confuses me too.
I think some people might have power issues that subtly alter the way the thing behaves, which does not help at all.

The CV sequencer's behaviour is not super obvious, it took me some time to get it to actually do something . The point is to start with almost nothing when trying something you're not sure of, as the whole system can become a bit unpredictable with lots of patching.

And yes, a mixer helps. What are you using ? There are small 4-6 inputs mixers that are quite cheap and are super useful for this kind of things (and with EQ, headphones out, etc.).

I have a little Yamaha MG-06 and it's a great little desk mixer.

[lumena]

folktek mescaline template.pdf

(1.62 MiB) Downloaded 187 times

Monday, and here is the template.
Please look it over and let me know if I missed something or it needs something else. Should print on normal letter size. I found I like it a bit bigger due to all the text and not always using in brightly lit room. I use legal size.

[baremountain]

With my unit it makes noise straight out of the box when you have power jumped appropriately and audio cables inserted in the right spots. Right away Channel is usable as a synth and Mental produces a drone tone for me. I don't see a lot of utility in Folktek creating 'patches' for folks, especially since they'd all sound different based of the Trigger/CV sequence settings & the CV values if CV is involved.
I get the frustration, but part of the responsibility is on the user to learn. It could be easier, but that's the cost of an instrument like this. I think they did an exceptional job of creating a system with near-limitless possiblities, yet one that remains strongly identifiable as Osc was saying.

Jwar, I gave incorrect information on the pots earlier. After experimenting myself & then tracing the headers to the pots, I discovered that lug B (the central lug of a pot) is actually wired to the header on the right side of each pot. SO, instead of patching the central point to the center header, you patch it to the header on the right side of the pot you want it hooked up to. If you are only using the left two points of the pots you're basically jumping them together with a non-variable resistance between them (the value of the pot, so probably either 50K or 100K). Try hooking two points from mental to any one pot's leftmost and rightmost header. If the two points interact, you'll hear the characteristic shift over the pot travel.

Pretty bummed to see how many people are getting weirdly ruffled by this piece of gear tbh. I'd hope by now this thread would be mostly clips & tips, but it seems like 90% of the web content (on FB, Muff, and here) since its release has been people stuck on beginner level questions. I don't mean that in an offensive way, but after a month it stands to reason that most early recipients should have the system more figured out. Can't fault those of you with broken boards, etc, but the point stands. People seem obsessed with making it do a certain thing, and that's just not what this device is about for me

THAT SAID, I just wrapped up my third piece with the Mescaline. I'm going to release a 5-song EP/album of meditations with the Mescaline. The piece I finished last night is almost certianly going to close that release out. I made the most beautiful bassline/melody pair that gives me goosebumps when I hear it, and end the piece with the slow (over 2 minutes) introduction of a Shepard's Tone (using pitch FX at damn near unity Rate) that eventually overwhelms everything and then cuts off immediately when it reaches its pitch/volume plateau. Here's that little snippet for y'all's early enjoyment, before I get it mastered.
https://www.dropbox.com/s/m8hwjqc8zus2j ... 0.wav?dl=0

[lumena]

Ok after a while messing with this I got systematic and mapped it. Attached is crop of template with numbers added.
It shows exactly the mapping relationship between the cv sequencer and the cv sequencer indicators. It was not intuitive to me and perhaps is is not to others.
If you are moving faster with this please share.
btw if you want me to upload the updated template I can but since the pdf is a large file I think there is no reason if no one is using.
More demos coming as I am mixing and chopping tomorrow.

[Jwar]

I think most of my disappointment stems from the manual being so bad. LOL. It's literally been useless for me. Everything I learned was either from other users or Arius. Which I emailed him about the pots last night and he blew me off. Kind of disappointed in his response, but I understand at the same time. Dudes probably hella busy.

I like this thing. I just want to understand it a bit more.

I need better dupont cables for sure though. Those things are fucking terrible. lol

[lumena]

Let me know what you find as far as cables... i like how small they are but yeah got to be careful with them.

[Jwar]

Well I sold mine. Sold it for 635 shipped. Fair enough. I paid 550 and I'll get back everything and be able to pay Reverb for the listing.


I loved this thing but ultimately, I think if I go the modular route, it will be way different and more calculate. This was a fun learning experience but ultimately, I decided I just wouldn't use it nearly enough to hang onto it .

I probably kicked myself on this one as it might go for way more later, but it's all good.

Still going to follow this thread and the Facebook group to hear the noise.