One of the things I enjoy most about making electronic music is the ability discover happy accidents. I find it’s important to start with an idea or a framework for an idea, but along the way, to utilize machines or processes—heck, even mistakes or misapplications of technology—to discover quirks in the composition that surprise and delight you.

Modular is fantastic for this kind of composition as many sequencer modules have fun features that add randomization, probability, and chance into the process. (For those unfamiliar, a sequencer is a tool that essentially orders the notes and timing of the notes to create the melodies and rhythms.)

In this patch, I used a familiar module I’ve used for ages (ornament & crime), but in a new configuration. This module is really good with creating musical phrases by just adding a few inputs. Here I’m using an app called Enigma in the Hemispheres firmware, which is a series of pre-programmed Turing Machine sequences that the user can interact with.

I recently acquired this small acrylic case, and I love that it’s forcing me to explore the possibility of creating something pleasing with very few elements. Here I’m playing with the sequences and the tonality the Bastl Pizza through Mutable Clouds. I haven’t racked Clouds in a while and it still provides so much pleasure. It’s a classic.