Mask 1 synced LFOs and some other stuff
Léon | Posted on Thu 28 Sep 2023, 04:51 PM Hi, new Parisian Mask1 user here, very pleased with the sound and the overall design of the synth ! Though it is clear that the philosophy of this design is to not have all the bells and whistles you can sometimes have in order to focus on the essential, I’d like to make a case for midi synced LFOs (I supposed it has already been asked). The nature of the masks mapping is that you can sometimes get fairly abrupt timbral changes when modulating. It makes the synth naturally oriented towards producing «rhythmic » sounds. Without any way to predict and synchronize those rhythmic events that the mask modulation brings about, those kinds of sounds are pretty hard to use in the context of the rest of your music (so I am personally, and with regrets, sort of shying away from them). If, on the other hand, LFO sync was implemented, that would make it very exciting to play and experiment with those. If not (or in addition to being) synced to midi, the option to make the LFO reset on key press would also be quite beneficial (I could also see the use of that for a predictable per-osc pitch modulation that I find a bit lacking maybe) There was my case, hopefully not after simple lust for more, but considering the nature of the synth:) Since I am here, another feature request, on the QoL side of things : would it be possible that by simultaneously pressing the two osc buttons (env not lit) one could access simultaneous editing of the two osc, just like it is with the envelopes ? Because I want quite often to have my two osc playing the same mask, and it is quite tedious, when you want to explore those masks (once you have for example detuned your two osc one against the other) to increment/decrement the first mask then the second mask etc. (actually so tedious that I can’t do it for long). I think that would perfectly blend with the overall workflow. Last question : I am a bit surprised by the behavior of the filter envelope level. The first steps are a bit wide (in the case where initial cutoff would be at 0), then, past 30 or so, you barely hear any difference till the end (the negative values range seems to acknowledge that, since it only has 20 steps). I suppose there is a difference, but I can’t hear it, because it is in the highest register. To me, it sounds as if it is scaling linearly (not exponentially). I would have preferred to have more granularity in the bottom of the specter, while I don’t really care for subtle differences I can’t hear in the upper register :) Thank you and congratulation for that beautiful instrument ! |
jbowman | Posted on Fri 29 Sep 2023, 10:42 PM I have had my Mask1 for a week now and am enjoying exploring this wonderful instrument. I agree with all of Léon's points. I think midi sync would be useful, but even better for me would be the ability to sync to the internal (Arp) tempo.Ability to loop the delta envelopes would also be incredibly useful. LFO reset on key press likewise. I have found another similar bug to the filter envelope level issue: when I set mod wheel destination to Osc 2 Mask with maximum value it seems to only use a small portion of the travel (say 25%) to change the mask, and then above 25% Osc 2 is silent. |
| Léon | Posted on Fri 29 Sep 2023, 11:53 PM I think one could generalize on the last remark of jbowman : mask modulation via the modwheel seems to be broken, whether it is ocs1/osc2/both. I find it hard to describe what is happening but in any case it is not what you would expect, i.e. what you get when scrolling up the masks in the menu (and doesn't go somewhere pleasant). (FW 3.2)Another small thing : in the delta envelopes, it seems to me that any speed value above, say 18, is so fast that it doesn't make any (musically significant) difference if it is 19 or 30 or more. In keeping with the philosophy of a synth curated with meaningful values, I would prefer to then not even have the option to go above 18 or so. Or, of course, keep the same number of values, but with more granularity across the whole of the "meaningful" range. |
AndH123 | Posted on Sat 30 Sep 2023, 05:31 PM Leon, have you tried using external LFO's as cc's to control parameters on the Mask? I use a squarp pyramid and have a definition file set for the Mask 1 to have every parameter available to send LFO's and env shapes to all sorts of synth parameters and have it be well synced. |
| Léon | Posted on Sat 30 Sep 2023, 09:53 PM Yes, I have been doing that (Dirtywave M8 in my case) and that sure works well ! But I still think there is some value/comfort/pleasure in being able to do that kind of things on the synth side, rather than on the sequencer side. After all, it amounts to outsourcing LFO work, and since this synth has two LFOs, I'd rather use them :). Tweaking is easier when you can limit the necessity to go back and forth between two machines, at least that's how I feel.But yes, what you say gives great results |
KODAMO | Posted on Fri 17 Nov 2023, 08:07 PM I have found another similar bug to the filter envelope level issue: when I set mod wheel destination to Osc 2 Mask with maximum value it seems to only use a small portion of the travel (say 25%) to change the mask, and then above 25% Osc 2 is silent. This is probably not a bug. The modwheel subtracts from the Mask value. If you assign it to Mask with 100% scaling and your initial Mask value is a small value, Mask will quickly reach 1 which produces almost no sound (only a very quiet high pitched noise). Modwheel was designed to subtract from the mask because it makes more sense in that direction (subtracting = increasing the harmonic content, unless you cross a multiple of 32 boundary, which switches to a totally different timbre) |
| KODAMO | Posted on Fri 17 Nov 2023, 08:08 PM We will look into MIDI-synced LFOs, a lot of people asked for it 🙂 |
| KODAMO | Posted on Fri 17 Nov 2023, 08:09 PM Since I am here, another feature request, on the QoL side of things : would it be possible that by simultaneously pressing the two osc buttons (env not lit) one could access simultaneous editing of the two osc, just like it is with the envelopes ? Yes, it totally makes sense. Will be added in the upcoming firmware! |
| jbowman | Posted on Sat 18 Nov 2023, 11:06 AM "We will look into MIDI-synced LFOs, a lot of people asked for it 🙂"Please also add ability to sync to Arp Tempo for those of us who don't use MIDI. |
| Léon | Posted on Sat 18 Nov 2023, 01:54 PM Yes, it totally makes sense. Will be added in the upcoming firmware! Awsome ! |
rcmusic | Posted on Sat 27 Sep 2025, 09:43 AM UP for lfo/delay sync....any chance? |
Acidity | Posted on Fri 03 Oct 2025, 01:44 PM 1UP also for the MIDI synced LFO, etc for Mask1EX |
eisblau | Posted on Mon 13 Oct 2025, 08:40 AM If you look into MIDI synced LFOs could you also look into key synced LFOs (or any other random modulation source for each keypress)? This is where sequences or arpeggios would get into modular sounding territory. 👍 |
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