1010Music BitBox Micro | feat. Monome Grid

This video started as a ‘starter kit video, but Grid is a bit too exotic to start with. BitBox Micro could be a great starting point for modular exploration, with a very high production value. This is a simple showcase of BitBox Micro and a few factory presets. But I discovered a cool feature I wasn’t aware of. In the Micro/MK2 you can just throw gates at all kinds of loops, and it stays in sync without a clock.

The old MK1 is also capable of this, but it would sound jagged and doesn’t always sync well. The new ARM processor is indeed very powerful! Amazing module.

Cinematic Laboratory on BandCamp

Monome TeleType

In this episode I’ve created another drum machine that creates simple patterns from random CV, triggers and LFO’s.

Here’s the script:

I Initalization script
M 125
X 0
Y 0
The initialization script only sets the metronome to 125 milliseconds, which adds up to 120 BPM. Every clock tick is a 16th note. It initializes two flags to zero.

M Metronome Script
EVERY 4: TR.PULSE 2
$ 3
$ 4
$ 5

The first line creates a kick trigger, a simple 4 on the Floor. Then it executes script 3, 4 and 5. See how easy it is to call scripts from other scripts. This keeps your code clean.

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1 – Script 1
X 1

This script executes when a trigger or any rising edge is detected. It simply sets the X flag to 1 so teletype knows a trigger should be fired at the next metronome tick (script 3 is handling it)

2 – Script 2
Y 1

This script executes when a trigger or any rising edge is detected. It simply sets the Y flag to 1 so teletype knows a different trigger should be fired at the next metronome tick (script 4 is handling it).

3 – Script 3 – handles the X flag.
IF GT IN PARAM: X 1
IF EQ X 1: TR.PULSE 1
X 0

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If IN (incoming cv) is greater than the knob position (PARAM), we’ll also set X to 1. If X = 1, we’ll fire a 100 msec trigger on trigger output 1
Then, we’ll set X back to 0.

4 – Script 4 – handles the Y flag.
IF EQ Y 1: TR.PULSE 3
Y 0

If Y = 1, we’ll fire a 100 msec trigger on trigger output 3
Then, we’ll set Y back to 0.

5 – Script 5 – generate some random voltage of 1, 2, 3, 4 or 5 volt.
CV 1 V RRND 1 5
CV 2 V RRND 1 5

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Rhythm by Code

The third episode in my Teletype series. This time, I will create a simple rhythm machine with a bit of Grids-like density control on the hat. Easy to learn, lots of fun!

Here’s the code with some explanations.

Intitialization Script I
PARAM.SCALE 0 100
M 2000

In plain English:
Set the parameter knob scale to a range between 0 and 100
Set the metronome to 2 seconds (2000 msec)

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Metronome Script M
This script executes every 2 seconds

CV 2 V RRND 1 8
CV 3 V RRND 1 8
CV 4 V RRND 1 8

So the metronome generates three random values between integer values between 1 and 8, kind of like octaves. They’re used for dramatic modulation of timbre and the modulation is not related to any clock.

SCRIPT 1
Script 1 is triggered by any clock, but expects 16th notes. So for every trigger, the following code gets executed:

EVERY 4: TR.PULSE 1
EVERY 8: TR.PULSE 2
DEL RRND 20 35: TR.PULSE 3
PROB PARAM: TR.PULSE 4
PROB PARAM: CV 1 V RRND 1 5
EVERY 13: TR.PULSE 1

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For every fourth trigger, fire a pulse to trigger 1 – the kick
For every eighth trigger, fire a pulse to trigger 2 – the snare
So these two lines are clock dividers creating a four on the floor.
Wait a few milliseconds. The number of milliseconds is random between 20 and 35. Then, fire trigger 3 – the ‘human’ hat.
The parameter knob can be read with the PARAM keyword. We’ll use it to set a probability between 0 and 100 for firing off Trigger 4.
We’ll use the same probability to send CV to CV output 1, a voltage of 1, 2, 3, 4 or 5 volt (integer values).
Every 13th trigger we’ll fire another kick, creating polyrhythmic variations in the kick pattern.