Pittsburgh Modular Taiga: Experiments in Waveshaping & Chaos

In this video I share some recent patch experiments using Taiga, the new semi–modular synthesizer from Pittsburgh Modular. I’ll go over what Taiga is, share a brief tour of the instrument, and jump into a bunch of demos of patches & sounds from my recent explorations.

While Taiga is great at classic synth leads, bass lines, sequences, & paraphonic chords, it also excels at creating very dense, noisy textures & sound worlds. The patches I share in this video are focused on slightly more experimental and chaotic sounds that feature waveshaping, feedback, and chaos.

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TIMESTAMPS:
00:00 Intro
01:51 East Coast + West Coast Synthesis
03:10 Taiga Overview
10:24 Experimenting with Wavefolders
16:17 FM Feedback Experiments
22:30 Waveshaping Feedback
27:56 Preamp Experiments

Sarah Belle Reid is a Canadian performer-composer, active in the fields of electroacoustic trumpet performance, intermedia arts, music technology, and improvisation.

[sarahbellereid]

PS: You don't need any special gear to do this—just a computer with VCV Rack (which is free to download).

[richardnicol]

I did not know Taiga could sound like that. Amazing sound design!

[JorbLovesGear]

Taiga feels like such a great compliment for the sorts of sounds you like to create and explore, so glad to see your take on it. 🙏🙏

[davidhrivnak]

I think I've watched every video out there about this synth, but this is the one that finally made me buy it. This is such a great deep-dive exploration and explanation of what it's all about, and the whole video is great, but my favorite parts by far were when you showed how far you can push it into really wild and unruly experimental territory

[bymski]

So much fun watching this one !
Just got my Taiga Tiger 3 days ago, and reproduced your patches and exploring this new synth, learned a lot tonight, thanks so much, Sarah ! 🙌

[GregorySWells]

Very helpful, particularly using the Taiga's own OSC outputs as feedback loops as opposed to just the LFO/ADSRs or external CVs. Helped me finally "bond" with Taiga which I hadn't quite done yet, nicely done. Thanks.

[OscarvanderBurgh-ei]

I love how you focus on sound design. I think that is what the Taiga is about. Creating Odd sounds.

[IndieAuthorX]

Probably one of the better synth demoes that I have seen...

[synapticmemoryseepage]

Thanks an M! This vid explains elements of Taigo so well, and unlocks vast possibilities for Taiga fun and sound design, which are really astounding. The weirdness possible with this brings me such joy!

[KorhanErel]

As an experimental electronics player, your channel is the only one that is musically interesting to me, besides your nice, calm, non-dudebro way of presentation. 🎶🧿

[soysos.tuffsound]

I'm really glad to see your take and sound sensibilities on Taiga! Thank You!

[awpMusic]

I got a Taiga as soon it was available and still exploring what it can do. The most exciting new synth for a while. Very interesting video too. Thanks.

[jammystraub]

Thank you for making a video with such experimental and exciting sound design!

[FursAndMasksMusic]

I love that this vid is mostly amazing examples of sounds Taiga can me made to produce. Been looking for something like this!

[cletusbeauregard]

Pittsburgh Modular knocked it out the park. Between this and Waldorf's incredible update of the Quantum, 2023's off to an unbelievable start.

[daysweregolden]

7 months later and I am still in love with my Taiga and still using these FM feedback patches in my live shows, thank you!

[millenniummastering]

Ahhh finally someone doing proper FM group modulation. I was doing that with the shapes today in the shop. Instant harmonic drone complexity.

[HiLoMusic]

I'm very glad u of all people managed to get this early to experiment with it.

[leanderlumen]

As always, it is an absolute pleasure to listen to Sarah as she calmly breaks down synthesizers into their component parts and pushes them to their limits. I can also highly recommend her course.

[meninspace_music]

Thanks for focusing on the weirder side of this synth! I am considering it as a next purchase and wanted to see how freaky it could get!