DivKid Dives Deep: BATHYMETER Turns Human Gestures into Modular Mayhem

The BATHYMETER isn’t your average modulation source—it’s a four-channel human gesture recorder that takes your slider movements and turns them into voltage gold. DivKid wastes no time showing how this module captures the nuance of your hands, letting you record gestures into any of its four channels. Whether you want to loop, trigger, or just freestyle, the BATHYMETER is all about putting your own groove into the patch.

It’s not just about recording—each channel can run independently, letting you layer up complex, organic modulations that no sterile LFO could dream of. The range is wild: from smooth, free-running curves to sharp, percussive envelopes, all with the unmistakable stamp of human imperfection. This isn’t just modulation, it’s attitude on tap.

DivKid gives us the lowdown on the BATHYMETER’s key features, and it’s a proper rave toolkit. Looping is a breeze—just hold a channel, move the slider, and you’ve got a custom LFO or envelope ready to go. Want to sync to your modular clock? Easy. Each channel can be clocked or left to run wild, and you can tweak the speed or clock division per channel for maximum chaos or precision.

There’s more: one-shot gestures, manual gates, and even a handy way to save your favourite moves for later. The interface is dead simple—no menu diving, just buttons and sliders. DivKid’s not shy about calling out the firmware update needed for early units, but the process is painless. Bottom line: this thing is built for fast, musical patching, not endless menu hell.

Here’s where the BATHYMETER earns its stripes. DivKid runs through a parade of patches, showing how human-recorded gestures can animate everything from PWM to filter cutoff, envelope decay, and beyond. Want LFOs with soul? Done. Custom envelopes with a bit of human wobble? Easy. The module shines when used for clocked, looping gestures, and even lets you hack the global speed for some truly bizarre results.

But it doesn’t stop at modulation. DivKid demonstrates how you can use the BATHYMETER for manual gates, build up off-grid rhythms, and even record pitch sequences for melodic fun. There’s a killer trick for phasing and speed-spreading across channels, turning a single gesture into a swirling, evolving modulation soup. If you want to see the full madness, you’ll have to watch the video—some of these moves are pure modular sorcery.

The real magic happens when DivKid patches live, stacking up playful pitch sequences, creative resets, and even turning the BATHYMETER into a lo-fi oscillator. The module’s flexibility is on full display: you can quantise pitch gestures, use resets to jump through melodies, or just go full noise source for stepped random modulation. The video is packed with real-time patching—watching DivKid wrangle this thing is half the fun.

There’s a moment where the BATHYMETER gets clocked at audio rate, morphing into a glitchy, Gameboy-esque oscillator. It’s not just a modulation tool; it’s a full-blown sonic street weapon. If you want to see how deep the rabbit hole goes, you’ll need to catch the video—words can’t do justice to the wildness on display.