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Devil Fish sound samples

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Latest update 2019-12-10.
 
After the section linking to tracks at other sites, there are Devil Fish sound samples of my own.  Some have reverb or echo (Lexicon LXP-1) and one has a flanger in the Filter FM loop.  There is no drum machine, EQ, compression or anything else.  The most melodic and rhythmic of mine is rw12.  These are copyright Robin Whittle 1999.

Following these are some samples I added in 2012, including with two Devil Fishes each frequency modulating the filter of the other.  

Both the above sets of samples are also available at SoundCloud.com .  Some notes on Soundcloud:

The SoundCloud embedded player and web page players are convenient for navigating the longer pieces, but with the more extreme signals - especially loud, glitchy and unbalanced left-right - the SoundCloud versions may sound poor, with mid-range fluffing noises in the background which are not part of the actual track.  Another problem with Soundcloud, which perhaps can't be solved, is that after a track finishes, it immediately plays some other track which has little or nothing to do with the initial track. 

There's a #devilfish tag on Soundcloud, with at least some of the tracks involving the Devil Fish modified TB-303:  https://soundcloud.com/tags/devilfish

Then there are two excerpts from tracks made in early 2000 by Christian Wiseman and Jack Maher, AKA Uniform Bass Code  tracks are © Uniform Bass Code 2000.  Note the excerpts here have been been through two levels of  MP3 encoding.

Then there are fifteen 60 second samples by Melbourne artist Charles James, of TM and Chucks Trax fame, email:    Charles James (chuck303@hotmail.com).  These were made with a Devil Fish 2.1b , a Boss DD-5 stereo output delay pedal, a Roland SH-09 and a Yamaha RM1x – which is doing TR-909-style drums.  These are fifteen tracks out of 32 which Charles kindly extracted from his recent noodlings.  I have included the notes he made explaining roughly how he created the sound.  These are copyright Charles James 1999.





Links to Devil Fish tracks at other sites

 

Matt Dubspun on YouTube
Deep Chicago Acid House and Jungle influenced Down Tempo, from Chicago:


(Added 2019-12-10.)


Maarkdvarck on SoundCloud
Late autumn 2014: "chunky. slow. dubby. low gravity":


(Added 2014-09-29.)



Dylan Davis on SoundCloud
Dylan Davis has a number of tracks using his Devil Fish and TR-808 with Sound Mods:


The acid-pattern-april track includes "Devil Fish with Audio Out from Filter sent through Digitana Micro Punk Robot (link) and then back into Devil Fish via Filter FM In".  These are the two signals on the old Headphone socket.  The Devil Fish comes with a special lead to make it easy to use both signals at once.  (Added 2012-02-12.)
 


maxdodge on SoundCloud
maxdodge is another Melbourne musician.  Here is a track made, in part, with this Devil Fish with Quicksilver 303 CPU replacement:


(Added 2012-10-16.)
 

Raw sound samples from Robin Whittle 
 
rw10 – Drastic extremes of Filter FM 1:05
Robin Whittle
Really one long note sliding up and down 2 octaves, 1 semitone.  Devil Fish with external pot (could just as easily be a mixer) to control the level of Filter Out going back into the Filter FM In – the ring and tip respectively of the old headphone socket.  Oscillator tuned low, Slide time maximum, all notes sliding, so the Gate is on continually.  This means no Env Mod or Accents.  I am playing with Overdrive, Cut Off, Resonance, Filter Tracking, Filter FM (on the front panel, which works from the output of the VCA) and the external pot to control Filter FM from the Filter Audio Out.  No reverb, EQ etc.
SoundCloud Flash-player and link:
 Devil-Fish-TB-303 Drastic extremes of Filter FM by Robin Whittle
                MP3: rw10.mp3 1,049
kbytes		 128 kbps Mono

 
 
 
rw11 – More drastic Filter FM and pulsations 0:56
Robin Whittle
Straight 16 notes all the one pitch, but one has an Accent.  Filter Out to Filter FM In goes via an old Boss BF-1 flanger and a pot to control the level of FM.  I am altering Overdrive, Cut Off, Env Mod, Accent, Muffler (switched from 0 to 1 at 44 sec.), Filter FM, and the external Filter FM loop (via the flanger) volume.
The waveform background df-waveform-q90.jpg to this page comes from this sample: 20.869 to 20.890 seconds.  To see the 70 msec bleat from which this is the first third, click here: bleat-70ms.gif .
SoundCloud Flash-player and link:
 Devil-Fish-TB-303 More drastic Filter FM and pulsations by Robin Whittle
                MP3: rw11.mp3 899
kbytes		 128 kbps Mono

 
 
 
rw12 – Melodic pulsations and knobulations 1.44
Robin Whittle
Patterns by someone I lent my Devil Fish to.  Knobulation by Robin Whittle. The Devil Fish is being processed by the LXP-1 reverb.  Three patterns cycle continually.  Initially not all the notes are audible because the Filter Tracking pot is set high enough that the low notes cause the filter frequency to drop below the first harmonic of the oscillator.  I am also manipulating the Overdrive, Cut Off, Resonance, Env Mod and Filter FM pots, as well as the Devil Fish's volume into the reverb.
SoundCloud Flash-player and link:
 Devil-Fish-TB-303-Melodic-Pulsations-and-Knobulations by Robin Whittle
                Hi-Fi MP3: rw12-256.mp3 3,334
kbytes		 256 kbps Stereo
                MP3: rw12.mp3 1,667
kbytes		 128 kbps Stereo

 
 
 
rw13 – One long note with Slide and heavy Filter FM 0.27
Robin Whittle
Someone asked if the Devil Fish can do arbitrarily long notes.  When the Decay pot is clockwise, the VCA remains on for as long as the Gate is active.  The Gate is continually on in this sample because all the notes have slide – so it is all one note as far as the Devil Fish is concerned.  I am knobulating the usual suspects: Cut Off, Resonance, Filter Tracking and Filter FM.  Raw – no reverb, EQ etc.
SoundCloud Flash-player and link:
 Devil-Fish-TB-303 One long note with Slide and heavy Filter FM by Robin Whittle
                MP3: rw13.mp3 427
kbytes		 128 kbps Mono

 
 
 
rw14 – Filter sweep from DC to daylight 0.40
Robin Whittle
Similar Slide, pulsation, Filter Tracking, Filter FM arrangement to rw13, but here I do a big filter sweep using an external CV from 0 to about 9 volts (if I remember correctly).  Processed by stereo delay.
SoundCloud Flash-player and link:
 Devil-Fish-TB-303 Filter sweep from DC to daylight by Robin Whittle
                Hi-Fi MP3: rw14-256.mp3 1,297
kbytes		 256 kbps Stereo
                MP3: rw14.mp3 648
kbytes		 128 kbps Stereo

 
 
 
rw15 - "Do not drink the glacial acetic acid . . . " 1.11
Robin Whittle
Aacccyyydiii filter sweeps and throbs they didn't warn you about at school.  A tribute to a chemistry teacher who once told us "Boys . . . do not drink the glacial acetic acid . . . because if you, it will not go down your throat – it will come out the bottom of your mouth."
SoundCloud Flash-player and link:
 Devil-Fish-TB-303 Do not drink the Glacial Acetic Acid by Robin Whittle
                Hi-Fi MP3: rw15-256.mp3 2,285
kbytes		 256 kbps Stereo
                MP3: rw15.mp3 1,143
kbytes		 128 kbps Stereo

 
 
 
rw16 - ". . . and do not look into the rocket exhaust nozzle." 1.02
Robin Whittle
My first modification was converting a firecracker into a sky-rocket at the age of 6.  It worked like a charm and we never saw it fall to Earth.  This track is heavily clipped and may make heavy metal guitarists speechless for a while.  Has stereo echo.
SoundCloud Flash-player and link:
 Devil-Fish-TB-303 Rocket Exhaust Nozzle by Robin Whittle
                Hi-Fi MP3: rw16-256.mp3 1,980
kbytes		 256 kbps Stereo
                MP3: rw16.mp3 990
kbytes		 128 kbps Stereo 
 







Dual Devil Fish sound samples from Robin Whittle 
 
   
rw17 – Dual Filter-FM with a single pitch
 14.59
Robin Whittle
This and some of the following sound samples result from two Devil Fishes (DF-A and DF-B) and a Lexicon LXP-1 digital reverb.

The audio out of DF-A goes to the mixer and is panned left.  It also goes directly into the Filter FM Input (tip of the old headphone socket) of DF-B.  DF-B's output goes to the mixer and is panned to the centre.  It also goes directly to the Filter FM Input of DF-A.  Some of both the DF-A and DF-B output signals are sent to the LXP-1 and the LXP-1's pure reverb left and right outputs are plugged into the Audio In to Filter (old Mix In socket) of DF-A and DF-B respectively.  The LXP-1 is set to Plate B with relatively long decay and pre-delay. 

At the start, the LXP-1's output is turned right down.  The LXP-1 is turned up only in some parts of the track.

Both Devil Fishes are playing a single long note, of the same low pitch.  So there are no Volume or Main Envelope signals, no changes to the oscillator pitches etc.  The oscillators are not synched and they are very slightly out of tune - a fraction of a Hertz.  I don't alter the tuning or most of the controls.  The only changes are to:

1 - The LXP-1 output, feeding a reverbed version of the two Devil Fish outputs back into the Filters (audio in, not Filter FM input) of both Devil Fishes, along with the signal from each Devil Fish's internal oscillator. 

2 - I recall the Overdrive on both machines was mid to  high.  I can't remember whether I altered these settings.

3 - Filter Cut Off and Resonance for both Devil Fishes.

4 - I think I may have altered the Muffler settings for both Devil Fishes.

None of the other controls would make a significant difference, since each machine is playing one long note.

This isn't any great piece of music - its just to explore the "69" configuration of one Devil Fish Filter FMing the other, which is returning the favour, without any melody, Volume or Main Envelope Generator activation etc.
SoundCloud Flash-player and link:
 Devil-Fish-TB-303 Dual FM long note by Robin Whittle
                Hi-Fi MP3: rw17-256.mp3 28,059
kbytes		 256 kbps Stereo

 


rw18 – Dual Filter-FM with melody 1
 14.59
Robin Whittle
The audio out of DF-A goes to the mixer and is panned left.  It also goes directly into the Filter FM Input (tip of the old headphone socket) of DF-B.  DF-B's output goes to the mixer and is panned right.  It also goes directly to the Filter FM Input of DF-A.

Both Devil Fishes are playing the same melody and are synched together.  Initially, the synthesizer settings (both TB-303 and Devil Fish) are set the same, so both machines produce a similar sound.  This can be heard at the start of the track, first DF-A and then DF-B.   When both machines have their volume knobs turned up they are Filter FMing the other machine, which of course is Filter FMing the first machine . . .

In addition to turning the Volume knobs, I alter some controls such as Overdrive, Cut Off, Resonance, Filter Tracking (the filter tracking the sequencer CV in a non-linear fashion), Muffler and "Filter FM", which is the knob on the Devil Fish which takes the output of the VCA and AC-couples this into the Filter frequency signal.
SoundCloud Flash-player and link:
 Devil-Fish-TB-303 Melody 1 Dual FM by Robin Whittle
                Hi-Fi MP3: rw18-256.mp3 12,035
kbytes		 256 kbps Stereo




rw19 – Dual Filter-FM with melody 2
 9.43
Robin Whittle
The audio out of DF-A goes to the mixer and is panned left.  It also goes directly into the Filter FM Input (tip of the old headphone socket) of DF-B, though I sometimes unplugged this (crackles can be heard, this is a bit crude).  DF-B's output goes to the mixer and is panned right.  It also goes directly to the Filter FM Input of DF-A.

The outputs of both Devil Fishes go into a Lexicon LXP-1 digital reverb, which is generally on Plate B with long decay.  In some parts of the track I turn up its output which feeds two separate reverberated versions of this back into the Devil Fishes via their Audio In to Filter inputs (the old Mix In socket).  For instance, around 4:30.  There's no reverb on the mix itself, so it is quite dry and potentially hard on the ears and speakers.

Both Devil Fishes are playing the same melody and are synched together.  Initially, the synthesizer settings (both TB-303 and Devil Fish) are set the same, so both machines produce a similar sound.  When both machines have their volume knobs turned up they are Filter FMing the other machine, which of course is Filter FMing the other other machine . . .

In addition to turning the Volume knobs, I alter some controls such as Overdrive, Cut Off, Resonance, Filter Tracking (the filter tracking the sequencer CV in a non-linear fashion), Muffler and "Filter FM", which is the knob on the Devil Fish which takes the output of the VCA and AC-couples this into the Filter frequency signal.
SoundCloud Flash-player and link:
 Devil-Fish-TB-303 Melody 2 Dual FM by Robin Whittle
                Hi-Fi MP3: rw19-256.mp3 18,202
kbytes		 256 kbps Stereo
   


 

Excerpts from tracks by  Uniform Bass Code
 
cw-acidtrax2-edit 1:06
Christian Wiseman and Jack Maher – AKA Uniform Bass Code
Devil Fish acid boot camp with drums, bells and whistles.
More MP3s at:  http://uniformbasscode.pointinspace.com/
                MP3: cw-acidtrax2-edit.mp3 1,053 kbytes 128 kbps Stereo
 
 
cw-roundbrilliantcut138-edit 1:19
Christian Wiseman and Jack Maher – AKA Uniform Bass Code
Devil Fish instructed to maximise the fire.
More MP3s at:  http://uniformbasscode.pointinspace.com/
                MP3: cw-roundbrilliantcut138-edit.mp3 1266 kbytes 128 kbps Stereo




Samples from Charles James 
 
cj03 1:00
Charles James
Devil Fish The Devil Fish signal is being overloaded into its filter and FM inputs and being tweaked with the EQ on the mixer. 
SH-09 Pulse Width Waveform driven by the CV & Gate outputs of the Devil Fish.
RM1x TR-909 style drums processed by the Devil Fish Filter input – analog saturation effect. 
                MP3: cj03.mp3 964 kbytes 128 kbps Stereo

 
 
cj05 1:00
Charles James

 
Devil Fish Crazy tweaked acid with drums and Devil Fish being sent back from the mixer into the FM input.  Boss DD-5 pan delay is also used.
RM1x TR-909 style drums processed by Devil Fish Filter Input filter effect.  The Devil Fish sequencer pattern cuts the drum track up with accent notes making the drums louder and non-accent notes making them quieter. 
                MP3: cj05.mp3 960 kbytes 128 kbps Stereo

 
 
cj07 1:00
Charles James
Devil Fish Acid squeals with the Devil Fish signal frequency modulating itself by being sent to the FM input from AUX 1 of the mixing desk.  The sound is tweaked using Hi - Mid - Low EQ on the mixer.  In parts it sounds a little like a monkey.
RM1x TR-909 style Drums.
 
                MP3: cj07.mp3 960 kbytes 128 kbps Stereo

 
 
cj09 1:00
Charles James
Devil Fish Squelchy acid line with Boss DD-5 Delay. Cutoff peaks up and down with huge Filter Tracking tweak 20 seconds in.
RM1x TR-909 style drums occasionally put through the Devil Fish Filter Input to give a ducking filter effect.
 
                MP3: cj09.mp3 962 kbytes 128 kbps Stereo

 
 
cj14 1:00
Charles James
Devil Fish Devil Fish signal frequency modulates itself being sent to the FM input from AUX 1 of the mixing desk.  The FM used varies from extreme to crazy.
RM1x TR-909 style drums sent into the FM input of the Devil Fish, a very crazy effect.
                MP3: cj14.mp3 960 kbytes 128 kbps Stereo

 
 
cj15 1:00
Charles James
Devil Fish Phatt 303 bassline tweaked to perfection. Devil Fish signal frequency modulates itself being sent to the FM input from AUX 1 of the mixing desk.
SH-09 Whole mix sent through the SH-09's filter and envelope follower section.
RM1x TR-909 style drums put through SH-09 filter input.
 
                MP3: cj15.mp3 960 kbytes 128 kbps Stereo

 
 
cj16 1:00
Charles James
Devil Fish Truly unique Devil Fish sounds achieved by tweaking the added normal and accent decay pots and flicking the sweep speed switch up and down.  Boss DD-5 fast tempo delay. 
RM1x TR-909 style drums.
 
                MP3: cj16.mp3 960 kbytes 128 kbps Stereo

 
 
cj19 1:00
Charles James
Devil Fish Swirling resonant acid achieved by tweaking the accent decay knob and cutoff frequency. FM added and more flicking of the Accent Sweep Speed switch.
SH-09 Whole mix sent through the SH-09's filter and envelope follower section.
RM1x TR-909 style drums put through SH-09 filter input.
 
                MP3: cj19.mp3 958 kbytes 128 kbps Stereo

 
 
cj21 1:00
Charles James
Devil Fish The Devil Fish Twang.  Too much going on to mention – just listen and imagine.  Let's just say I was busy!
RM1x TR-909 style drums.
 
                MP3: cj21.mp3 960 kbytes 128 kbps Stereo

 
 
cj23 1:00
Charles James
Devil Fish More Devil Fish Twang – Tweaking the FM, Cutoff, Accent Sweep Switch and Hi Resonance switch.  The Devil Fish signal is frequency modulating itself by being sent to the FM input from AUX 1 of the mixing desk.  The tweaking effects are created using EQ and Cutoff frequency.
SH-09 Slaved to Devil Fish CV & Gate Outputs.
RM1x TR-909 style drums.
 
                MP3: cj23.mp3 960 kbytes 128 kbps Stereo

 
 
cj24 1:00
Charles James
Devil Fish As for track 22, on which cj23 was based on.  More Devilish Tweaks especially FM and Env Mod.
RM1x TR-909 style drums occasionally put through the Devil Fish filter input to give a ducking filter effect.
 
                MP3: cj24.mp3 957 kbytes 128 kbps Stereo

 
 
cj25 1:00
Charles James
Devil Fish More crazy devilish tweaks.  Lots of out-of-control FM accented acidic sonic dribble.
RM1x TR-909 style drums occasionally put through the Devil Fish filter input to give a ducking filter effect.
 
                MP3: cj25.mp3 960 kbytes 128 kbps Stereo

 
 
cj27 1:00
Charles James
Devil Fish The Devil Fish signal is frequency modulating itself by being sent to the FM input from AUX 1 of the mixing desk. The tweaking effects are created using EQ and Cutoff frequency.
TI Speak & Spell Vocal sample.
RM1x TR-909 style drums.
 
                MP3: cj27.mp3 960 kbytes 128 kbps Stereo

 
 
cj29 1:00
Charles James
Devil Fish Frequency modulating itself by being sent to the FM input from AUX 1 of the mixing desk. The tweaking effects are created using EQ and cutoff frequency. Very Phatt acideeeeeee sound. 
SH-09 Slaved to Devil Fish CV & Gate Outputs.
RM1x TR-909 style drums put through SH-09 filter input.
 
                MP3: cj29.mp3 960 kbytes 128 kbps Stereo

 
 
cj30 1:00
Charles James
Devil Fish Twisted Devil Fish sound with feedback delay and manual introduction of Accented notes with the Accent push button.
SH-09 Slaved to Devil Fish CV & Gate Outputs.
RM1x TR-909 style drums.
 
                MP3: cj30.mp3 964 kbytes 128 kbps Stereo