The Cloud Level shared-top drift
pad · bright · 126 BPM (120–132) · F# minor · 8 bars
Cloud LevelArpArpeggiator over four voicings that share one top note
The technique
Hold four notes and change three of them every two bars. The top note, the key’s seventh, never moves; the three under it walk the chords, and the arpeggiator keeps coming back to the one note that stayed.
The i as a minor seventh first, then the VI with that top note as its ninth, then the III with it as its fifth, then the VII with it as its root. Four chords, one note in common.
Change on the bar head. The arpeggiator is mid-pass whenever you move, and a change on the head is the only one it can absorb without a stumble.
Keep every voicing close, inside an octave and a bit, with the same note on top each time. The drift depends on the top note staying the top note.
Never hold the raised sixth. It turns the VII at the end into a chord that wants to go home. This loop does not go home.
Play it long. Eight bars is one pass, and the drift is heard on the third or fourth.
The chords
4 chords over 8 bars, in F# minor.
| Degree | Chord | Notes | Bars | Under the figure |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| i | F#m | F# · A · C# | 1–2 | ● |
| VI | D | D · F# · A | 3–4 | ● |
| III | A | A · C# · E | 5–6 | ● |
| VII | E | E · G# · B | 7–8 | ● |
The figure is played over these chords; supply them separately if your rig allows.
The rules
- Never the raised 6th, on any chord — over VII, the raised sixth turns the last chord into a dominant and the drift into a cadence.
The notes
8 bars in F# minor. Each note is in force across the steps shown.
- steps 1–32·over i F#m·F#3 A3 C#4 E4·degrees 1 3 5 7·MIDI 54 57 61 64
- steps 33–64·over VI D·D3 F#3 A3 E4·degrees 6 1 3 7·MIDI 50 54 57 64
- steps 65–96·over III A·C#3 E3 A3 E4·degrees 5 7 3 7·MIDI 49 52 57 64
- steps 97–128·over VII E·E3 G#3 B3 E4·degrees 7 2 4 7·MIDI 52 56 59 64
On the KORG minilogue xd
minilogue xd · Voice
Settings for this voice
Settings for a pad · bright voice on this box, written here. They are not the preset’s own values: load the preset to hear it as it ships.
Settings
MASTER
- PORTAMENTO0(0…127)
- SWING0%(-75…75 %)
0 is straight; the arpeggiator uses the same value
EDIT MODE, PROGRAM EDIT, button 7
VOICE MODE
- VOICE MODE TYPEPOLY
- VOICE MODE DEPTH0(0…1023)
Left at 0 — turning right crosses into DUO, which spends two voices on every key
VCO 1 / VCO 2 / MULTI ENGINE
- VCO 1 · WAVESAW
- VCO 1 · OCTAVE8'
- VCO 1 · PITCH0c(-1200…1200 c)
- VCO 1 · SHAPE520(0…1023)
Shape, complexity, or duty cycle of the selected wave
- VCO 2 · WAVESAW
- VCO 2 · OCTAVE8'
- VCO 2 · PITCH11c(-1200…1200 c)
- VCO 2 · SHAPE480(0…1023)
- VCO 2 · SYNCOFF
Locks oscillator 2 to the phase of oscillator 1
- VCO 2 · RINGOFF
Oscillator 1 ring-modulates oscillator 2
- CROSS MOD DEPTH0(0…1023)
Oscillator 1 modulating the pitch of oscillator 2
- MULTI ENGINE · NOISE/VPM/USRNOISE
- MULTI ENGINE · TYPEHigh
- MULTI ENGINE · SHAPE9000Hz(10…21000 Hz)
CUTOFF — the high-pass filter on the noise
MIXER
- VCO 1700(0…1023)
- VCO 2660(0…1023)
- MULTI140(0…1023)
FILTER
- CUTOFF760(0…1023)
Set too low and the patch may be barely audible
- RESONANCE200(0…1023)
- DRIVE0%
The filter drive circuit, in three stages
- KEYTRACK100%
100% moves the cutoff with the key, centred on C4
AMP EG / EG / LFO
- AMP EG · ATTACK420(0…1023)
- AMP EG · DECAY640(0…1023)
- AMP EG · SUSTAIN860(0…1023)
- AMP EG · RELEASE700(0…1023)
- EG · ATTACK320(0…1023)
- EG · DECAY560(0…1023)
- EG · INT30%(-100…100 %)
Negative applies the envelope downwards
- EG · TARGETCUTOFF
- LFO · WAVETRI
- LFO · MODENORMAL
- LFO · RATE190(0…1023)
- LFO · INT60(0…511)
Hold SHIFT, turn INT to invert
- LFO · TARGETSHAPE
EFFECTS
- DEL/REV/MODMOD
Selects which effect the two knobs below are setting; the other two keep their stored values
- OFF/ON/SELECTON
Hold SHIFT, flip to SELECT
- DEPTH45%(0…100 %)
This block draws on the minilogue xd Owner's Manual E 9, pp.17-41; its values are starting points.