Stochastic Inspiration Generator will get your probabilistic juices flowing

29 Jul 2019 by Robin Vincent | Approximate reading time: 2 Minutes

Omsonic Stochastic Inspiration Generator · Source: Omsonic

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Omsonic has teamed up with dBs Music to produce a wonderfully creative Eurorack module that uses Stochastic random probability distribution to set the likelihood of notes firing through your rack.

Stochastic Inspiration Generator

It’s a really interesting idea that applies probability to pitch, duration, onset, offset, ratchet, octave and transition events while governing the likelihood of the note playing in the first place. They say that the workflow is more of a duet than simply playing with it; it’s more of an interaction between human and machine through the manipulation of controls.

What you get is 12 sliders representing the 12 notes of scale arranged like the keys of a piano. As you push up the sliders the probability of the note being included in the sequence increases. On one side you have knobs that do the same thing for timing from two measures down to a sixteenth. Along the top you can influence the octave range from +2 to -2.

Omsonic doesn’t want you to see SIG as a traditional sequencer because it doesn’t repeat (unless you tell it to); it’s also not a probability sequencer with fixed steps and variations, and it’s not random or chaotic because you have a certain amount of control over it.

SIG knows things about rhythm, harmony and melody. It recognises when you push up notes of C major and will emphasise the most common notes in that scale and will shift and morph as you make changes to that. It understands that bass notes define the harmony and inversions. Rhythmically it will aim for useful loops that you can capture and hold with the press of a button.

The Stochastic Inspiration Generator will be available soon and has some features that are still on the way. It’s priced at £224.95. Check out the video below for a short demo that gives you a good idea of what it can do. To me, it comes across as a potentially awesome melody generator. Sort of like an intelligent Turning Machine that you interact with – very interesting indeed.