XAOC Samarkanda – First Impressions and Modular + Strings Composition

Samarkanda – delay, memory, and strings

Ever since I got my hands on it, Samarkanda by XAOC Devices has fascinated me.

I’ve used it in a recent piece that blends modular synths with a fully written string quartet — seeking a balance between repetition and movement, between digital textures and classical writing.

In this case, the East Beast runs a very simple sequence, almost like a cantus firmus, creating space for the Samarkanda delays and the evolving harmony of the strings to grow, intertwine, and reshape the whole. Like vines slowly covering a block of concrete until it becomes part of the landscape.

I combined channels in normal and reverse modes, synced from Pamela’s New Workout.

One of the delays is very short, with high feedback, producing a metallic resonance.

Another builds rhythmic momentum by increasing the wet mix and opening up the East Beast’s filter — a sort of refrain or peak moment in the piece.

Although my experience with the module is still fresh, its immediate musical response, flexibility, and sonic depth have inspired me from the very first patch.

About the module

Samarkanda is a four-channel digital delay with resampling, looping, reverse, and external sync capabilities.

It can behave like an analog-style delay (tape or BBD), or as a granular digital delay, with the ability to switch behavior independently per channel.

Each of the four delay lines features:

• Delay times from 0.5ms to 15s, or up to 60s in stacked mode.
• Reverse, hold (freezer), feedback control, and CV modulation.
• External clock sync with time division/multiplication (from 1:8 to 8:1).
• Voltage control over delay time, feedback, and mix.
• A default stacked routing for internal serial processing with no quality loss.

Samarkanda is designed not as a decorative FX module, but as a performance-ready delay instrument.

It can sound clean, precise, and reactive, but also chaotic, resonant, and saturated, depending on how far you push it.

Watch the piece

This piece is part of my project The Machine in the Botanical Garden. A full dedicated website is coming soon.

You can watch and listen to the full composition here

Garden Tales: Concept Album with AI Vocals and Electronic-Orchestral Sound

 Garden Tales is the new album by The Machine in the Botanical Garden, and it’s now available in full on platforms like YouTube, Spotify, and iTunes. This project brings together seven tracks released over the past year, all set in a garden where fantastic things are always happening. Each song tells a story inspired by the characters who inhabit this mysterious and barely explored universe.

The music blends electronic sequences, classical string arrangements, and AI-generated vocals that perform lyrics and melodies entirely composed by me. Everything is written, created, and produced from a human sensibility, using technology as just another expressive tool. The result is a kind of symbiosis between the organic and the artificial, the emotional and the mechanical. Garden Tales is an invitation to listen with your eyes closed and let yourself be carried away by a sonic narrative that plays with the boundary between the natural and the synthetic, the ancient and the futuristic.

Listen to this album:

Spotify YouTube iTunes

Garden Tales: un jardín sonoro donde todo es posible

Garden Tales es el nuevo álbum de The Machine in the Botanical Garden, y ya puede escucharse completo en plataformas como YouTube, Spotify o iTunes. Este proyecto reúne siete canciones publicadas durante el último año, ambientadas en un jardín donde siempre ocurren cosas fantásticas. Cada tema cuenta una historia, inspirada en los personajes que habitan este universo misterioso y apenas explorado.

La música combina secuencias electrónicas, arreglos clásicos de cuerdas y voces generadas por inteligencia artificial, que interpretan letras y melodías compuestas íntegramente por mí. Todo está escrito, creado y producido desde una sensibilidad humana, utilizando la tecnología como una herramienta expresiva más. El resultado es una especie de simbiosis entre lo orgánico y lo artificial, lo emocional y lo mecánico. Garden Tales es una invitación a escuchar con los ojos cerrados y dejarse llevar por una narrativa sonora que juega con la frontera entre lo natural y lo sintético, lo antiguo y lo futuro.

Escucha este álbum: Garden Tales

SILENCE | Mei Ming

Tema compuesto para el proyecto musical Mei Ming en 2009, grabado entre 2009 y 2015 pero masterizado y publicado ahora. En la voz Martha Gallart. Canción disponible en la principales plataformas digitales. https://open.spotify.com/album/7Mrs4mQCzkS1lQS65UwBp6?si=_UlOaJGwT0--khxwiqJXug

The waltz of the crickets | The machine in the botanical garden

This work tells the story of a cricket who, instead of using his song for biological mating purposes, chooses to dedicate himself to art. With his melodies, produced by rubbing his wings, this cricket not only attracts other insects and animals but also faces criticism and skepticism from his contemporaries. His love for music leads him to found a school, inspiring a generation of cricket musicians who eventually form orchestras and revolutionize their world. This piece was composed for the project 'The Machine in the Botanical Garden.' Available on major digital platforms

She | Norand Mono MK2

She was born in the garden, able to see time as a single snapshot—past, present, and future in one coherent landscape. Some believe she's a spirit, others a magical being, or a creation of a machine. Yet, she's none of that and all of it and more. She's the soul of the garden, the breath that gives life to each second, the tireless engine that keeps it running. Her origins are unknown, possibly eternal. Nameless, yet embodying all names. She is harmony, peace, creativity, joy. When distant from her, these feelings wane. Meeting her, everything makes sense, confirming your intuition that everything is connected. The Norand Mono MK2 synthesizer and sequencer, alongside Sheena (Synthesizer V) and a string quartet, unfold a new tale set in this magical garden that blurs the edges of time. The interaction with the synthesizer alternates between programmed sequences and live performances. Sheena narrates the story of "She," the soul and essence that permeates every corner of the garden, while she is enveloped by a classical string quartet with counterpoints and harmonies crafted from the perspective of old tradition.

Bruno in the slow lane | sequential 960 | Sheena Synth V | Bastle Pizza & Ikarie

This track starts with a sequence created on a modular synthesizer, where the Behringer Sequencer Module 960, inspired by the legendary Moog 960 Sequential Controller, plays a key role. The melody flows from this synthesizer to the Bastl Pizza Oscillator, its unique character further shaped by the Ikarie filter, ending in the Strymon Star Lab module. The story unfolding in this song is performed by Sheena, using Synthesizer V technology, giving voice to Bruno, a peculiar beetle from our garden. Bruno always felt different, moving slower than the rest, which initially frustrated him. But over time, this slowness allowed him to appreciate details of the world that others overlooked. His life takes an unexpected turn when he falls in love with a unique orchid, marking the beginning of a new adventure. In addition to electronic sounds, the theme is enriched with arrangements for a classic string quartet, adding a layer of depth and emotion that elevates the story. Each note and arrangement have been carefully composed by me, with Sheena lending her voice to bring the narrative to life.