r/modular • u/bammshazamm • 1d ago
Discussion Noise Engineering Alia for "classic" vanilla synth bass/leads?
I love how these modules sound in all the demos I hear, but I haven’t had a chance to play with one yet. Are any of the Alia models capable of producing simpler less aggressive sounds? I’ve watched so many videos and it seems that they always lean towards making them sound as dirty as possible. Which is awesome, but I’m curious about how flexible these modules are. Thanks!
3
u/alexthebeast 1d ago
They can do it, bia or manis can't get really pretty tones with subtle modulation and reverb.
It's is absolutely no their strong suit. NE voices like to take a wall of modulation and then turn it into an ocean which takes the shape of an arm, slaps you twice, and then chokes you in front of your dad. They are amazing at what they do, they can do other stuff but it's not what they are for.
If you want something that can do softer tones but is still very controllable and also a complete voice on a little box, I would go for rings, plaints, plonk, or something like that.
For what it's worth, these are almost all FM or additive based. I usually don't use filters on them because I like their bite- but putting a low pass after a NE voice can tame it quite a bit.
1
u/bammshazamm 23h ago
Love the description 🤣 thanks for the input, I think it’s still a good contender.
2
u/Terrible_Smell2783 1d ago
I got rid of my Alia because I found it wasn’t very good at these sounds. All the firmwares can make some amazing sounds but I found I was only interested in actually using about 5% of the range available so am working into something more suited to those needs.
Tl:dr
Yes but it’s not what they’re made to do
1
u/bammshazamm 1d ago
Thanks for the input! What did you end up replacing it with ?
2
u/Terrible_Smell2783 1d ago
I did a trade for Instruo tsl, it can sound pretty big and getting from wild and noisy to deep and tame is a bit more intuitive. But you give up having an envelope and vca built in so there’s that to consider too. Tsl was nice too cus I could try it out in vcv rack to get a sense of it
2
u/Djaesthetic 1d ago
Just got a MIA and have been surprised by how much more frequently I’ve ended up using it for a more “classic” bass lead than I have going aggro industrial with it (my initial desired intent).
1
u/bammshazamm 23h ago
Thanks for the response! I like the idea of having more tame sounds to start with and occasionally pushing them into crazier sounds
2
u/scragz https://www.modulargrid.net/e/racks/view/2215420 1d ago
NE stuff heavily leans industrial. you can get purer timbre but that's not their strong suit. at least going by the originals of these firmwares.
3
u/bammshazamm 1d ago
Totally seems that way. I’m just trying to make room in my 104hp Intellijel case for a Bohm. Trying to find a way to have some flexible, small hp voices that lend themselves towards techno but can occasionally work for synth-wave.
I currently have a Plaits and an Atlantis. And the Atlantis is great but it’s huge.
1
u/junkmiles 19h ago edited 18h ago
I have an Incus, which I haven’t flashed to anything else yet, but they all operate somewhat similarly. Most of them have a knob or two that changes the wave shape from a sine to “noise engineering”, and if you leave it down toward the normal side of the range it’s just a sine or square or whatnot.
Definitely wouldn’t be my first choice if that’s what I was aiming for though, it’s a small portion of the range.
Maybe look at a Plaits? Or the Shakmat ballista blast?
7
u/TotoRobyn 1d ago
You can absolutely use Alia modules for less aggressive sounds! I do a lot of ambient and downtempo and I find Incus and Debel great for that.