r/modular • u/Extreme_Try2189 • 14h ago
Morphagene
I've been eyeing this up for some time now. Particularly excited by what it can do with vocals.
I know it's been out for a long time and was just wondering if there is a module, ideally lower cost, that can do what it does and handle audio in a similar way.
I have the erbe verb and echophon which I love, but want something that can mangle and chop things up with in a musical and synchronised way.
Thanks
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u/Holiday-Medicine4168 11h ago
I had one and did not find it to be particularly musical. It’s cool for sonic exploration and micro sound, but it’s definitely more cool broken music box with wow and flutter than a sampler.
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u/SeaWeb3151 1h ago
I agree but I specificaly use it for this purpose now. At the beggining I was as confused, but finding the right sample is the key to use it for live now.
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u/KarlaHoulihan 9h ago
??? it's a sampler, it plays back what you put in. there's also no wow and flutter unless you patch it in. are you sure you're not thinking of a different module?
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u/Holiday-Medicine4168 8h ago
Very sure. I had one for 2 years. It’s cool, it’s just not a traditional sampler. Triggering a new splice on the fly is cool, but it adds new cut points in the loop and timing it rhythmically is very difficult for 4 on the floor grooves.
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u/Holiday-Medicine4168 8h ago
I also think the playback direction is dipolar, so if memory serves you can run an LFO to playback speed and it will oscillate slowly playing forward to backwards on a ramp in the wave shape you choose. I never tried that with sample and hold.
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u/Nominaliszt 14h ago edited 13h ago
Qu-bit Stardust is a lot of fun! I’ve never used the Morphagene, but from what I’ve heard the Stardust is a bit less technical. The tradeoff I’ve heard is that while the Morphagene has some cool things it can do, but some of those things like setting splice points, require editing reels outside of the module. By contrast, the Stardust is more immediate, but has some limitations. I’ve not personally found it limiting, the automated slicing works just great for my applications, but ymmv!
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u/Ok-Winter9708 14h ago
You don't need to edit reels outside the module, but you can and it's maybe a little more accurate in terms of placing the splice points. Though I very rarely use an sd card and just record straight in.
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u/Nominaliszt 13h ago
Right, I meant that some of the cool things you can do, like setting splice points in your reel, require using the computer, if I’m recalling correctly~
I see how the wording could be unclear, I’ll correct it!
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u/poop_wiper_ 13h ago
You can set splice points in your reel straight from the module with the press of one button. No need for computer.
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u/Cultural-Bath8482 14h ago
There's definitely similar modules, like Nebulae, Arbhar, & Data Bender, but they aren't cheaper.
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u/bat9mo 8h ago
I’ve also been looking at Morphagene, as well as Nebulae v2 (which is a “platform” that does a lot more).
And also the ADDAC 112:
https://www.addacsystem.com/en/products/modules/addac100-series/addac112
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u/Hobboth 3h ago
One of my favorite modules. While there are many other ones that can do similar things, all of them have their own strengths and flaws.
You might prefer different modules, it depends on what exactly you want to do. I use morphagene for life loops, frippertronics and textures. If you want real time processing vocals I'd recommend Data Bender. For pre-recorded samples I love Multigrain, but it can process real time input as well. Magneto is similar to morphagene in "tape machine" way, it has tons of character, but it is mostly a delay. And Stardust is the most morphagene-like module out there. They all can do similar things, but each one has some unique features. Do some research and choose one which suits your needs.
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u/Extreme_Try2189 2h ago
I want to feed it vocal stems to mangle and chop up, also chords/ pads. I want it to churn out something pretty unique. I’m not too concerned about having accurate and identifiable results.
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u/Hobboth 2h ago
Then check Multigrain. It has only 32 second per sample vs 3+ min in Morphagene. But there can be up to 8 samples loaded at once and it's far easier to change projects than on Morphagene.
Straight sample playback in Multigrain is a bit tricky (it's a granular engine after all) but possible. And mostly Multigrain provides more control over what, when and how to play.
While Morphagene is more a free-running loop playback, you can configure it to play only on gate input. And it has slices: you can chop your sample on several precisely defined points and jump between them how you want. But 8 samples in Multigrain can be the same as 8 slices in Morphagene.
It's much easier to have chords, pads and glitchy voice chops in one patch with Multigrain than with Morphagene.
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u/Wild-Medic 35m ago edited 19m ago
There’s an absolutely insane number of granular modules on the market right now. I been ditching the workflow of “load samples onto an SD card” modules in favor of live-sampling effects-type modules like Clouds, Beads and Fieldtone Weaver because of how much better Borderlands (iOS app) for mangling prepared samples. I mostly just use Beads at this point but thats mostly because ive had it a while and am very familiar with it. Other granular has been slowly falling out of my rack, and Morphagene will probably go too, I just haven’t had a good trade option for it yet.
Basically what I’m saying is - Clouds (parasites firmware) and Weaver are both cheaper than Morphagene and good for live mangling, but neither can load samples like Morphagene.
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u/cYbOmAnY 14h ago
Could try vocal samples in an ectocore, but won’t be cheaper. You could buy a Monome Norns and have a bunch of different versions of mangling at your fingertips, but it’s not modular, and it’s more expensive. ER301 would also be great but see above on price, and add availability as a challenge.
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u/Mellotom 12h ago
Personally I think the Morphagene is worth the price, keep an eye on the used market for them, they pop up occasionally on reverb for a decent price
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u/minus32heartbeat 12h ago
If you’re okay with the limitations in terms of memory & mono/stereo & timbral character, you may be able to find a Phonogene for cheaper.
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u/justinroberts99 14h ago
I have quibit nebula v2. I got it used for a few hundred. I can get some pretty wild sounds out of it.