Uploaded April 2018 | Updated September 2026, 4 hours ago
Just a wandering/ambient exploration of some tones from Mutable Instruments new module: Plaits.
Thought I'd try using rotorvideos.com to produce the video for the piece. Pretty cool, but not sure whether I'll use it again.
Shorter version on SoundCloud:
soundcloud.com/mathomas1962/farther-away
Patch Notes
==========
Tune is in pentatonic major, set on O_C.
Leading bass tone that becomes weaving bass line is Tides sequenced by O_C with the v/oct sent through Intellijel 1U clock/random/slew. Tides Smooth shaped by the same v/oct signal (attenuated), and Shape by a slow LFO from Peaks.
"Ethereal flute" sound is Clouds in granular mode, playing back a sample of Plaits recorded from this patch. Reverb turned up high, and Position slowly modulated by Peaks. Clouds Frequency manually moved up and down an octave as the piece progresses.
"Plucking percussive mandolin" is Rings sequenced by O_C and "strummed" by Pamela's Workout. Volume modulated by Peaks and Veils.
Main voice is Plaits in Granular Formant Oscillator mode, sequenced by O_C, with triggers from Pam's via Mutable Branches. Main output to 2hp Delay. Aux output to Ripples, with final level controlled by a channel of Peaks. Plaits Level, Timbre and Morph voltage controlled by WMD Mini-Slew in triggered/envelope mode and Harmonic by the v/oct that controls the bass line. Plenty of manual wiggling of these controls as well. Mini-Slew very lightly FM'd by a channel of Peaks, and also manually wiggled to control the envelope in certain sections.
Bass percussion is a TipTop ONE sample.
There's more VC going on here than I've mentioned. In this small-ish "Mostly Mutable" case I have to mult and/or attenuate my control voltages in order to have enough modulation, so I end up re-using sequence VC as well as using LFOs and random to wiggle various aspects of the patch.
Sounds and submixes all routed to Intellijel Mixup, which sends stereo to 2hp Verb and on to Intellijel uJack module. Thus, in this case 2hp Verb is the final effect. It holds up pretty well, I think. You just have to be careful not to overdrive it, or it will distort.
Piece produced entirely "in the case". Recorded direct to digital on a Sony PCMD50 with no effects added.
Just a wandering/ambient exploration of some tones from Mutable Instruments new module: Plaits.
Thought I'd try using rotorvideos.com to produce the video for the piece. Pretty cool, but not sure whether I'll use it again.
Shorter version on SoundCloud:
soundcloud.com/mathomas1962/farther-away
Patch Notes
==========
Tune is in pentatonic major, set on O_C.
Leading bass tone that becomes weaving bass line is Tides sequenced by O_C with the v/oct sent through Intellijel 1U clock/random/slew. Tides Smooth shaped by the same v/oct signal (attenuated), and Shape by a slow LFO from Peaks.
"Ethereal flute" sound is Clouds in granular mode, playing back a sample of Plaits recorded from this patch. Reverb turned up high, and Position slowly modulated by Peaks. Clouds Frequency manually moved up and down an octave as the piece progresses.
"Plucking percussive mandolin" is Rings sequenced by O_C and "strummed" by Pamela's Workout. Volume modulated by Peaks and Veils.
Main voice is Plaits in Granular Formant Oscillator mode, sequenced by O_C, with triggers from Pam's via Mutable Branches. Main output to 2hp Delay. Aux output to Ripples, with final level controlled by a channel of Peaks. Plaits Level, Timbre and Morph voltage controlled by WMD Mini-Slew in triggered/envelope mode and Harmonic by the v/oct that controls the bass line. Plenty of manual wiggling of these controls as well. Mini-Slew very lightly FM'd by a channel of Peaks, and also manually wiggled to control the envelope in certain sections.
Bass percussion is a TipTop ONE sample.
There's more VC going on here than I've mentioned. In this small-ish "Mostly Mutable" case I have to mult and/or attenuate my control voltages in order to have enough modulation, so I end up re-using sequence VC as well as using LFOs and random to wiggle various aspects of the patch.
Sounds and submixes all routed to Intellijel Mixup, which sends stereo to 2hp Verb and on to Intellijel uJack module. Thus, in this case 2hp Verb is the final effect. It holds up pretty well, I think. You just have to be careful not to overdrive it, or it will distort.
Piece produced entirely "in the case". Recorded direct to digital on a Sony PCMD50 with no effects added.









![KY Gravel Rides :: Six Mile Creek and Joes Branch Road Adventure Ride
Video Details
Cameras:
Bike Cam 1: Insta360 ONE X2 [ https://amzn.to/3tYl8M7 ]
Helmet Cam: Insta360 ONE RS [ https://amzn.to/3HoGyXV ]
Bike Cam 2: Akaso EK7000 Pro [ https://amzn.to/3zBtU62 ] (not really recommended, but it is very inexpensive)
Edited in Blackmagic Davinci Resolve Studio [ https://amzn.to/3NQNDmt ] (highly recommended)
(Note that there is a 95% feature complete free version available!)
Buy the Speed Editor and get Resolve Studio for $80 [ https://amzn.to/3MKW4i4 ]
(or buy Resolve, and get the Speed Editor for $80 😉)
Music © Mike Thomas 2021, 2022
About the Ride
First installment of KY Gravel Rides. I hope to do more exploring of the gravel around KY, and to share it here on YouTube.
Please check out http://gravelmap.com, which is how I discovered the roads in this installment. Highly recommended!
As I mentioned in the opening voiceover this was not actually my first time on some of these roads:
In my first ride in the area, the footage of which was lost in a freak computing accident, I entered on the east (Lockport) side, and rode to the west, eventually hitting Joe’s Branch and continuing on that until the gravel turned into old pavement and I reached the intersection with Route 22. I U-turned at Route 22, intending to ride back down Joe’s Branch and turn south onto Six Mile Creek Road’s southbound leg, and out from there. I eventually made what I thought was the turn, but ended up in a dry section of Six Mile Creek’s bed, and had trouble figuring out where I went wrong since my map software made it seem like I was in the right place. The R1200GS is a pretty big bike to get experimental with, and I was already a bit tired, so I ended up just riding out and back to Lockport, then home, leaving the north/south segment of Six Mile Creek Road for next time.
(Note: if youre on a smaller dual sport or dirt bike you could definitely have some fun in the creek bed if its dry, and there also appear to be some off-road trails even further off to the left and across the creek once youre down there.)
So ... this video depicts that “next time”. On this outing, in order to figure out my prior navigational failure, I entered from the south end of Six Mile Creek Road and rode north. At the intersection with Joe’s Branch Road I figured out my navigational mistake from that first ride: I had taken the correct turn to the south then, but there is a fork not long after the turn. The left leg goes down into the creek bed, and the right leg is actually Six Mile Creek Road. Somehow I convinced myself that the left leg was the correct choice on that first visit, and I was oh-so-close to where I actually needed to be. I actually thought maybe the right leg led to private property. So, arguably bad research on my part. What can I say? I was kind of tired and maybe a little dehydrated by the time I got to this point, so I didnt have my thinking cap on 🤷🏻♂️. KY Gravel Rides :: Six Mile Creek and Joes Branch Road Adventure Ride](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/A_8_EHvhYXY/mqdefault.jpg)
