Behold The Ancient Krell
I’ve added some Krell derived patches.
Nothing amazing, but they’re good jumping off points.
The Krell patch is named after the advanced alien race from the 1956 sci-fi classic Forbidden Planet. The film's groundbreaking score, composed by Bebe and Louis Barron, was the first to be entirely electronic. Louis Barron built intricate circuits and valve-driven oscillators, while Bebe Barron manipulated hundreds of raw tape clips using musique concrète techniques to craft the film’s surreal and futuristic soundscapes.
In 2012, Todd Barton was inspired by a scene in Forbidden Planet where characters listen to the music of ‘the ancient Krell people.’ He used a Buchla 200e system to create his self-playing interpretation, resulting in the development of what is now known as the "Krell patch."
The core of the Krell patch is randomizing a looping function generator’s attack and decay times, creating an evolving rhythm. This results in a unique musical texture characterized by a rhythm of slow, sustained notes interspersed with fast bursts of bleeps. Most Krell music doesn’t sound anything like the ‘Krell Music’ of Forbidden Planet. That doesn’t matter. The beauty of the Krell patch lies in its adaptability and expansiveness, allowing it to be translated across various modular and semi-modular synths. Start simple and gradually explore the patch’s potential.
If the patch is too random try either quantizing the S&H output to a scale, or sending the S&H to control a sequencer that uses voltage to address stage selection.
Todd Barton’s Krell patch.
1: Fluctuating Random A modulates Envelope A decay time.
2: Envelope A modulates Envelope C Attack time.
3: A Fluctuating Random B modulates Envelope B decay time.
4: Envelope B modulates Envelope C Decay time.
5: Envelope C modulates the output VCA CV.
6: Envelope C’s End of Cycle gate triggers the sample and hold.
7: The sample and hold goes to the oscillator’s V/Oct input, then the oscillator goes through a wave folder and into the VCA.
A simplified Krell patch.
This uses a single looping envelope.
On the Cascadia you can get a fluctuating random by using the Config app to set the MIDI LFO to ‘Random Notes,’ and running the MIDI LFO through the slew.
A more simplified version of the Krell patch.
The S&H could be multed to the envelope’s attack and decay.
You can get more variation on the Cascadia by running the S&H to the LFO CV, then switch LFO Y and Z to different divisions, and patching the different LFOs to attack and decay.
Set VCO-B to LFO, and try patching that to the LFO CV instead.
Try different combinations of things.
