Nervous Squirrel’s latest modules focus on adding unpredictability to gates, whether internally generated or external. And you have to love that big “disruption” knob.
There’s something in the air, as this is related to the DivSkip trigger processor I wrote up last week (and just got in to test). That crammed 4-channel processing into 8HP, though; Nervous Squirrel has a much roomier layout, with each individual channel taking 8HP. And there’s an internal clock, too, meaning Turmoil (and its four-channel sibling Turbulence) can be a generator.
Rather than just focusing on skip, you get a full range of “deflection” and “burst” options. Burst is especially interesting, as it gives you a cluster of trigger outputs for each input or clock tick. The visuals make this clearest:
There are also dedicated onboard controls for clock deflect, clock skip, and burst length, plus A/B chance (Bernoulli style) – each controllable via CV. Bernoulli what? Here’s an example of Mutable Instruments’ creation (which clearly popularized this format), running as Audible Instruments for free in VCV Rack. Think of it as a useful way of making gates branch based on probability:
The quad Turbulence is just beautiful, like it came from an alternate universe where Bob Moog’s modular system did nothing but gate processing.
Watch this in action:
More info:
https://www.nervoussquirrel.com/turmoil
You could put Turmoil next to DivSkip and just go gate wild, and I think honestly, live a long and happy musical existence disrupting and deflecting gates. It’s a beautiful and frankly admirable lifestyle choice. Let’s do it.
Here, you should also have a goat playing modular synth:
Previously from Nervous Squirrel: