pitch shifting a Grendel Drone Commander

[mengenlehre]

so, I have the aforementioned ammunition box and I'd like to actually play it - like, have it emit an exact C, then an exact F, then C again, then - guess what - a G, and so on
I obviously have no problems setting it to a specific frequency, but turning the osc knob and nailing a tone at a given interval is impossible

so, what I was thinking about was to take the signal from the Grendel and alter its pitch through some other device. Then, I could play that other device.
Any suggestion?
I'm sure I'm asking the right guys.

Peppe

(You'll want to excuse my English. I'm Italian, and having a hard time explaining myself in my own Language, go figure)
(also: total noob. Please, not too hard)

[Derelict78]

You prob. Could with a pitchfactor.

[Deltaphoenix]

Probably could with the PitchFactor but it will change some of the vibe of the Grendel. I tried to do that with a different drone synth and it works okay. The reality is that drone synths are drone synths. If you want one that changes pitches to the one you want, and it sounds great doing it, buy a normal synth. When you consider the cost of a PitchFactor that almost the cost of an Arturia Minibrute, a decent monophonic analog synth.

[sonidero]

People use Antares Autotune or you could see if Eric would mod it for CV input over pitch and you could use a Sequencer or CV Keyboard... The Drone Commander is like so anti that purpose though...

[mengenlehre]

thanks for the feedback

You prob. Could with a pitchfactor.

Probably could with the PitchFactor but it will change some of the vibe of the Grendel. I tried to do that with a different drone synth and it works okay.

Amazing piece of hardware. I didn't know about it, so thanks for pointing me to that.
It has, nonetheless, two major problems:
1. price. $500 (which magically translates into €500, when you look for it in Europe) is too much - I understand it's almost underpriced, given all the things it does, but I just need a very simple pitch shifter;
2. the frequency knob: it's just a knob without a scale on it - playing it "live", I'd still have to turn it the exact amount of degrees, with no visual reference whatsoever. Of course, the fact that it goes in half-tone discrete steps means that it's a different matter altogether, compared to the continuous osc of the Grendel, but still not convenient enough.

The reality is that drone synths are drone synths. If you want one that changes pitches to the one you want, and it sounds great doing it, buy a normal synth. When you consider the cost of a PitchFactor that almost the cost of an Arturia Minibrute, a decent monophonic analog synth.

I know, I know, and you're totally right. But I bought the Grendel just for fun - an expensive gift to myself - and found out it has music inside it. That thing can sing!

People use Antares Autotune or you could see if Eric would mod it for CV input over pitch and you could use a Sequencer or CV Keyboard... The Drone Commander is like so anti that purpose though...

I took a look at it - it looks like a piece of software. I'm looking for something that stands on its own. A pedal, or a mini-keyboard.


Ideally, it would be something like this:
a box with a two octaves keyboards - three C's
the signal goes in and comes out. If you don't touch anything, or press the central C, the signal is 100% dry.
If you press, for instance, the D above middle C, the signal is shifted 1 tone up, and so on.

Doing the same thing with a knob would be fine (and would allow for a much smaller piece of equipment), as long as it can be pointed directly to the right interval.

[kbit]

You could put the output of the Drone Commander through an ABY switcher with one of the outputs going to a tuner so you could monitor the pitch that's being created. Might be tricky if you were trying to change both oscillator pitches at once, though.

[steko]

Hi, I use the grendel with the Pitchfactor quite often. I don't find that it changes the grendel vibe and I am quite happy with it since it is very easy to tweak live. The price is steep though.

I recorded a couple of samples for my friends of alternative guitar gear (a french forum that you may enjoy if you can read french), I reckon that you should have a better idea after lending your ears to this:

[soundcloud]https://soundcloud.com/steko-1/grendel2[/soundcloud] and this:

[soundcloud]https://soundcloud.com/steko-1/grendel-01[/soundcloud]

[DarkAxel]

wow, those are glorious

[01010111]

You could use that ehx 8-step and the ring-thing. Using the ring-thing to shift the pitch where you want it and using the 8-step to control the exact amount of the pitch shift of on the ring thing, you could make the Grendel do whatever you want pitch-wise and it would be completely automated.

[Achtane]

Yeah, a sequencer or something sounds like the way to go, maybe.
You could do it on an Electribe EMX/ESX or something else that has recordable knob motions. Record you messing around with the pitch shifter on it and set that to a track, then play the Drone Commander through it.

[colin]

Hi, I use the grendel with the Pitchfactor quite often. I don't find that it changes the grendel vibe and I am quite happy with it since it is very easy to tweak live. The price is steep though.

I recorded a couple of samples for my friends of alternative guitar gear (a french forum that you may enjoy if you can read french), I reckon that you should have a better idea after lending your ears to this:

[soundcloud]https://soundcloud.com/steko-1/grendel2[/soundcloud] and this:

[soundcloud]https://soundcloud.com/steko-1/grendel-01[/soundcloud]

OH man, that sounds awesome! Why oh why did I ever sell my drone commander?

[sonidero]

Hi, I use the grendel with the Pitchfactor quite often. I don't find that it changes the grendel vibe and I am quite happy with it since it is very easy to tweak live. The price is steep though.

I recorded a couple of samples for my friends of alternative guitar gear (a french forum that you may enjoy if you can read french), I reckon that you should have a better idea after lending your ears to this:

I love French Talk...

Just play it non pitched and train yourself to have a pitch perfect ear...

[steko]

Thanks for your comments Darkaxel and Colin. The drone commander is surely an inspiring device but the Pitchfactor is the best piece of gear I have ever purchased. It works well with guitar but definetely seems to be designed to be used as a synth right after another synth to add melodies.

[DarkAxel]

your clips make me want to own a drone synth

[mengenlehre]

(I'm still here guys, just studying and trying to figure out things. Steko: that's what I meant! Plus: that stuff is nothing short of amazing.)