Artist Spotlight: Mike Estlick - January '21

About Mike Estlick:

I'm an electrical engineer by day, and a Buchla player by night.
I've been recording electronic music since I was a kid in the 80s.
I was into raves, clubs, and MIDI sequencers in the 90s.
In the 2000s I recorded quite a bit with the Nord Modular synths, and got into sequencing with modules instead of MIDI.

In 2017 I got an Easel, and by 2018 had built up this Buchla system. Since then all my music is composed and performed on modular systems.
I find the 248/245/216 combo very productive for writing music, and it blows my mind that this stuff all was designed before I was born. 

I've since got into Serge and LZX systems as well, and have videos up on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/c/MikeEstlick

When there's no global pandemic, I like to hang out with my friends at the Colorado Modular Synth Society: https://coloradomodularsynthsociety.com/

"January '21"

Patch Notes:

0:00 - 2:10 : Start

A little filter-sweep introduction with 2x258 and 212.
There is a pretty complicated feedback network going with FM into the filter and the oscillators.
The 248 MARF is modulating waveshapes with slow, sloped voltages.

2:10 - 7:40 : SeqVol

Krell variation on the Easel, with the pulser driving the sequencer and the sequencer modulating the volume.
The Easel pulser is also driving the Pendulum/Ratchet, which runs a patch on the 212 system.
EHX Deluxe Memory Man provides the echo.

Various parts of the patch were recorded into the Keen Association 287e.
The end of this piece is the 287e playing snippets into the 212 system.

7:40 - 13:00 : Scan

A 248 MARF and 245 based sequence driving 208 and 258/212 voices.
The Pendulum/Ratchet divides down for drum and bass sounds.

Again recorded parts of the patch into the 287e, and played that through the 212.
The Pendulum/Ratchet is triggering the 287e and 212 envelopes for the end of this piece.

13:00 - 15:06 : Ival

Another 248/245 sequence, with vocal percussion sounds from the 287e (recorded from the onboard mic).
The filtered notes are selected by the 216 Touch Controlled Voltage Source.

15:06 - 21:28 : 9Swing

Have you ever wanted to have a rhythm swing in 9/8, against a 5 chord progression in 7/4?
Well, the MARF is the sequencer for you!

The lead sound is the Easel, using pressure to modulate pitch and timbre.
I used a 257 so I could have the pressure change the amount of modulation oscillator to timbre.

The backing is from the 212 system.

The second section is the patch as I originally made it.
For the first section, I just swapped the envelopes around to change the levels of other voices in the patch.
The third section is the 287e playing samples from the patch.

21:28 - 26:56 : Glory

The lead is the Easel arpeggiator. The Easel clocks the Pendulum/Ratchet, which then drives the 248/245 and all the background sounds.
The 287e is playing snippets of a reading of a Rilke poem.
The 216 plays the clicky bleep sound.