Ambient Improvisation, With NDLR, Deckard’s Dream, OB-6, Peak, Dreadbox Abyss, Polymoon & Big Sky

Sunday Synth Jam: This video captures a live, semi-improvised performance by Jay Hosking, featuring the Conductive Labs NDLR and a variety of hardware synths.

The performance does a great job of highlighting the possibilities of the NDLR, and showing how it lets you play and control multiple synths at once.

Here’s what Hosking has to say about it:

“I’ve long wanted to make a couple of videos about how the sequencer really determines where the music goes, and I thought there was no better example of this than the NDLR, which is such a beautiful little inspiration device. In my opinion, I think the NDLR thrives at making interesting ambient explorations, and I hope I’ve demonstrated that here.

I’ve also wanted to make a “poly synth jam” and show each of the poly synths I currently have next to each other.

Some really interesting things revealed themselves here: 1) the Peak is the clear winner for bass; 2) I like the OB-6 a lot better for plucks or shorter decays than I do for pads; 3) the Abyss holds its own among these bigger names and is a real gem with lots of personality; 4) the Deckard’s Dream isn’t particularly rich or versatile, but adds the most beauty to the track, and it’s a joy to make a patch from scratch.”

Technical details:

Conductive Labs NDLR — Sequencing
Black Corporation Deckard’s Dream + Meris Polymoon — Pad
Sequential/Oberheim OB-6 — Motif 1 (brighter arp)
Dreadbox Abyss + Strymon Big Sky — Motif 2 (mellower arp)
Novation Peak — Drone (bass monster)

Written and performed within a 24-hour period, and uploaded as is, with only a little compression/limiting on the master.

13 thoughts on “Ambient Improvisation, With NDLR, Deckard’s Dream, OB-6, Peak, Dreadbox Abyss, Polymoon & Big Sky

    1. there’s a ‘buy now’ tab on their website which takes you to an Indie Go Go campaign page, choose the top perk which is essentially just ordering the unit, so i gather.

  1. awesome, I picked up a NDLR at Knobcon and I haven’t had the time do do anything significant with it, time to give this a go with my other Knobcon buy which just arrived: Hydrasynth

  2. so many synths, not even a whiff of an original sound. These things go together though, it is pointless otherwise. No one is here for the exceptional harmony, or the inspired melody. Plz stop treating them as preset machines and put the work.

  3. Does anyone know if the NDLR has the chord sequencer update yet? I notice he is pushing the buttons with his hands in the video.

    NDLR is super cool, but I think for myself, it’s going to really shine when sequenced externally.

    It’s also SUPER deep, so I haven’t got that far with it in my limited free time.

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