UDO Audio’s Super 8: Patchcraft and Performance with Hazel Mills

Hazel Mills opens the session by inviting viewers into her patch-building process with the UDO Super 8, setting the stage for a hands-on exploration rather than a mere preset showcase. The context is her performance video ‘SIGIL,’ where these patches are put through their paces in a musical setting. Mills outlines her approach: constructing three distinct performances, each built from two patches, aiming for a blend of rhythmic and melodic interplay. This structure hints at the Super 8’s flexibility in both split and layered modes, offering a glimpse into how the instrument can underpin a full composition.

From the outset, Mills makes it clear that every sound starts from an initialized patch, stripping away any factory polish in favour of raw, user-driven synthesis. This approach not only demonstrates the Super 8’s immediacy but also its suitability for those who prefer to sculpt their own tones from scratch. The focus is on building a percussive base, highlighting the synth’s potential as a rhythmic engine as much as a melodic one.

The patch-building begins with two square waves and a short, snappy envelope—classic ingredients for a percussive sound. Mills uses the arpeggiator to inject rhythmic movement, then deliberately pushes the patch away from traditional melodic territory by modulating pitch and filter with envelope one. This not only alters the timbre but also introduces a quirky, less predictable character, showing the Super 8’s capacity for both subtle and pronounced modulation.

Dynamics are brought into play via VCA velocity sensitivity and full key tracking on the filter, ensuring the patch responds expressively across the keyboard. Cross-modulation and waveform experimentation follow, with Mills dialling in drive and delay to add grit and spatial depth. The result is a percussive patch that’s anything but static—alive with movement and variation, ready to anchor a track’s rhythmic core.

Switching focus, Mills crafts a sustained bass sound, again starting from an initialized patch. She tweaks the envelope for a touch of release and a slow filter attack, lending the sound a brassy, evolving quality. The second oscillator is introduced for warmth, and drive plus resonance are added for extra body. Stereo movement is achieved by modulating the filter with the LFO, exploiting the Super 8’s binaural architecture and phase manipulation for a wide, animated soundstage.

Mills experiments with oscillator pitch relationships and chorus, then demonstrates the wave morphing function—modulating between sawtooth and square for shifting timbres. Unison mode is engaged for a thicker, more imposing presence, and the patch is saved as part of a performance. Effects like chorus and delay are used judiciously, enhancing the patch without overwhelming its core character.

Performance building takes centre stage as Mills layers patches, focusing on rhythmic interaction and dynamic envelope shaping. She constructs a new performance with two sequences running at different rhythms, starting with a sawtooth-based patch modulated by envelope and delay. Octave shifts and key tracking add further nuance, while envelope tweaks shape the attack and sustain for expressive phrasing.

The second patch in the performance is set to a contrasting tempo and timbre, using square waves and noise elements for variety. Delay is again employed, and Mills opts for a dual mode to play chords, rather than a split. The result is a performance where rhythmic and tonal layers interact dynamically, showcasing the Super 8’s ability to support complex, evolving arrangements with hands-on control.