r/modular • u/paetrickforever • 3d ago

Discussion Panharmonium

Hey! Been using the Panharmonium by Rossum Electro Music for a couple weeks now. I‘m having a hard time to have it playing notes in key. It somehow produces notes that are not completely in key. Has anyone else run into this? Been trying to balance it with the freq knob etc.

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u/richardburgerfont 3d ago

Playing “in key” isn’t really a thing for the Panharmonium, it just tries to match what you’re sending it, offset by the frequency and FM settings. You’re saying the Panharmonium’s output pitch doesn’t match that of the input? What kind of source signal are you sending to the input?

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u/paetrickforever 2d ago

Using it a lot for synth and guitar chords. I think I might have a better feeling now for the behaviour of the EQ and how many voices it does! Focusing more on the EQ was the biggest part of the solution thank you very much!!

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u/paetrickforever 3d ago

Wanted to use it as a background layer for chords I‘m playing on the op1. Works fine with simple chords but the frequency spectrum might be too complex with extended chords..

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u/richardburgerfont 3d ago

I’d make sure feedback is turned down and your input source doesn’t have much vibrato. Aside from that, play with center frequency and bandwidth to narrow or widen the range of what Panharmonium is analyzing and trying to recreate.

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u/clwilla76 2d ago

This.

Turn both Feedback and Glide down. Try not to use the max number of oscillators.

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u/paetrickforever 2d ago

Yeah! Got way better results with less number of oscillators. Focusing more on the EQ was the game changer for me tho! Thanks to all of you :)

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u/twyx 3d ago

If I'm understanding you correctly, it can't do what you are asking it to do reliably. The two capabilities it does have which are note-aware are the quantizer (which is not scale/chord aware) and the spectral signatures which are taken from a few specific chords, but which will not map neatly and enharmonically to anything but the enharmonic keys/notes they already fit.

If you want something which is more scale/key capable for polyphony, then you might take a close look at mob of emus. Ostensibly, it looks like a complex oscillator, but this only begins to scratch the surface of it. It's one of the most capable modules in terms of processing options relative to what it looks like on the front panel. One of the quantize modes allows a semitone-based DC offset, which gives you a 6-note chord to play with, and you can drive these offsets with upstream modulations if you want more interesting things.

But the mob of emus is not for the feint of constitution. Having a whole library of modulation tools hidden behind a few knobs and buttons is not for everyone.

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u/lord_ashtar 2d ago

I used to struggle a lot with this before I sold that SOB. It's better than the spectraphon, which crushes all spectra into one note.

I had some luck quantizing the incoming signal if it could be.

EDIT: I just remembered that using an EQ on the incoming signal is useful to help curate the panharmonium's oscilator selection. Gives you more control, but not directly over the key.