PS-MOD Compass
Turn the key the whole rack is playing in.
Everything in the rack is playing in C minor.
Neighbours on the wheel share six of their seven notes, so one step is the smoothest key change there is — and the far side is the most dramatic. The inner ring is each key's relative minor. Modulation is live: a bounced WAV renders at the key the session was saved in.
What this machine does
PS-MOD is the instrument that plays the other instruments. Every pitched device in the Studio reads one global key; the Compass is the thing that turns it. Click a key on the circle of fifths and the sequencer re-modes, the bass re-snaps, the progression re-voices and the pad swells somewhere else — mid-bar, without stopping. Neighbours on the wheel share six of their seven notes, so a step round it is the smoothest modulation there is and a jump across it is the most dramatic; one-touch buttons take you to the dominant, the subdominant, the relative or the parallel, and a drift dial walks the circle by itself every few bars. Each move is confirmed by a short bell chord of the key you just arrived in.
Keep playing while it films. You get a square video with the sound on it — nothing is uploaded.
Panel notes
- 01A circle of fifths as the face: majors outside, their relative minors inside
- 02Click a key and every pitched instrument in the Studio modulates to it, live
- 03One-touch moves to the dominant, subdominant, relative and parallel keys
- 04A drift dial that walks the circle on its own every 4, 8 or 16 bars
- 05A struck bell chord names each key as you arrive in it
- 06Live only: a bounced WAV renders at the key the session was saved in