Newbie needing opinions - beginning the eurorack journey

Hey folks, apologies in advance for my newbie ignorance. I purchased a Make Noize CV bus case and have been building up a system as I learn more about eurorack. I chose to get into this hobby because I am not necessarily the most musical person, but I love the process of buiilding sounds and learning sound design, as well as the analog feel of a eurorack system. I use this system mainly for fun at home as I learn more about sound design. I am looking for help building out the next steps of my current system and identifying any major gaps. As I learn more about modular in general, I want to ensure that I am building slowly and not overwhelming myself with features that I will not use or undertand, but still ensuring I have the basic capabilities needed. While I know the system will be constantly evolving, I want to ensure I am efficient and intelligent with the additional space I have in this case. I'll try and lay out my specific goals, but I am mostly just exploring

Goals:
-Learn sound design basics
-General exploration
-Generative / dark ambient music
-Learning how to patch bladerunner esque synth noises and futuristic sound effects
-Trance music

I am considering the following with my limited perspective
-ADSR of some kind
-plaits (seems like a common beginner voice, and I want to create some harmonization with the Mother32)
-More modulation (maybe pams)
-drums of some kind?

Your opinions are much appreciated, thanks to the community! Also if you have any recommendations for learning material such as books, youtube channels, etc I would love your opinions. I currently am reading Allen Stranges "Electronic Music"

EDITED Mar 14th, 20:04

Good day/evening !

First let me say that it is great your took the time to explain your goals, and also that you plan on taking your time and learning your system before spending too much on stuff you won't use !

Regarding your goals:

• Learn sound design basics: the Internet is filled with great resources for learning sound design basics and also important, the basics of synthesis with modular, I suppose you could learn both together with VCV for free. Not sure where you are in your learning journey so I won't recommend too many things, but I'll mention https://learningmodular.com/ which I found to be an excellent place to start for absolute beginners. DivKid on Youtube makes a lot of videos that are mostly about one specific module but highy informative and full of great patching ideas, so watching a video review of a VCA module will most likely teach you a bunch about VCAs in general. For a more complete list, have a look at pinned threads on ModWiggler Eurorack forums. For books, Patch & Tweak is an obvious recommendation to learn about the format, I will never let go of mine.
• Generative / dark ambient music: eurorack is a fantastic format for this but you will most likely need a few more utilities, i.e. more modules. A Pam's and an O&C if you're willing to use screens and menus can easily send any build into that territory with clever pacthing. Depending on the type of generative stuff you're looking for, a Benjolin V2 is also an interesting option I think.
• Learning how to patch bladerunner esque synth noises and futuristic sound effects, Trance music: Not my area of expertise necessarily, maybe people who make this type of music can chime in, but learning to analyze how the tracks you like are made is part of learning synthesis, I'd say. I would recommend to try not to stick to genres to much at the start to avoid frustration, I'm willing to bet you'll enjoy the sounds that will come out most of the time anyway because they will be yours ;)

For your perspectives:

• ADSR is an interesting addition for your rack if you like that type of envelope. The Klavis Quadigy is a fantastic module offering 4 of those with a plethora of options (syncable lfo, modulation matrix, you name it), it's a bit daunting and complex especially for a beginner but well worth taking the time to learn it. Probably a great choice for that ambient project of yours too.
• Plaits: indeed, a lot of people enjoy it in its various forms, but I would think twice before making it a priority for you. The way I see it, you already have a very capable complete voice with an open patchbay, if you're really a beginner I'd suggest taking more time to try to get more out of it while you learn about the basics of synthesis and modular... Have you tried self patching ? Did you try turning channel 1 or 4 of Math into an oscillator ? Those could be avenues to explore with what you already have ;-)
• More modulation (maybe Pam's): I've already adressed Pam's above, it's very powerful and a great purchase for beginners willing to make do with its interface (that I personally find ok). It allows to explore a lot of modular concepts like gate patterns as modulation (with VCAs, I'll get to that) and the effect of logic, CV ins to explore modulating everything, loopable random you can turn into quantized turing machines of sorts, ... One of my first modules, still central to my setup although I tend to set&forget now that I got more performative modules. Other great choices include Ochd+Expander or Bastl Neo Trinity, the first will give you way more channels, the latter is a powerful performative cv source. There are more options so taking your time watching reviews, reading the manual and exploring options etc BEFORE a purchase is highly recommended.
• Drums: I would not recommend it unless you're absolutely hell-bent on doing everything in eurorack (and have a bunch of cash to burn). Don't get me wrong, there are incredible options in eurorack for drums, modules and sequencers, but it all gets very very expensive very quickly. You need a nice sequencer, a few modules, VCAs, utilities, sub-mixing options probably at some point too, dedicated synced effects, it adds up in €/$ and in HP usage. Or you can get another device for that, and there the options get more interesting, less expensive and more capable. Personally, I have an Ableton Live + Push + eurorack setup so the drums live in the DAW, I program them using Push, but if you prefer to stay out of the computer world, there are things like Digitakt, or even better some devices that even have some basic modular CV I/O.
• Utilities: you didn't mention that but I feel I should put this on your radar early. As another forum member eloquently puts it, the utilities are the polish that makes your shining modules shine. Things like the channels 2&3 of Maths, but also VCAs or logic. VCAs, for example, open the door to many interesting new techniques. Modulating the amount of another source of modulation is a good beginner-friendly example. Think for example modulating the amplitude (volume, if you prefer) of a copy of the gate pattern of your voice (coming out of your sequencer probably) with the V/Oct CV (pitch information, also from your sequencer), through a VCA, before it hits something like a timbre parameter of the voice (ex: VCO wave shape). After 10 years of "classical" synthesis, I find that's one of the greatest things of eurorack.

I hope it's not too overwhelming, sorry for the wall of text but hey, music is my passion so I'm passionate, is that so weird ? :)

Have fun,
D.

As another forum member eloquently puts it, the utilities are the polish that makes your shining modules shine. T

that'd be me...

I'll refer you to my signature... take some time to understand it...

more modulation, more utilities, another voice would all be great additions...

more modulation - I'd look at both Pam's and batumi

more utilities - vcas (grab a quad cascading one - either a veils (clone) or the intellijel one) "you can never have too many vcas!!!!" , matrix mixer (really useful for so many things - but combining modulation is a standout), an offset/attenuator/attenuverter (happy nerding 3 * mia), sample and hold, sequential switch, etc etc

another voice - it could be anything, but for a second 1 - a couple of simple analog vcos, a simple mixer and a low pass (or state variable) filter (along with the above utilities) is a good call...

I hear you on the knob per function, but a disting or similar is a fantastic learning tool... especially if you make use of favourites and grab actual modules to replace the algos if you start using it on one most of the time

Pams menu structure is quite shallow and easy to use - but it adds a lot of functionality in. a small module...

I'd also want to add delay and/or reverb.. but then I'm a bit of a delay junkie... (& getting more and more addicted to reverb)

personally I'd recommend the fx aid pro as a starter for this - so many algos + a screen so you can tell which one you're using (& a basic scope, which is useful, but noit essential)

I think effects are really useful in sound design - especially in modular - where you can modulate them and have them anywhere in the chain - delay/reverb into filter inot anothe reverb or delay etc etc etc

Toodee and Jim- TY so much for your in depth answers, and also helping me understand how better to think about my questions! Theres a lot of wisdom there that I will be trying to unpack over the coming weeks. I'm very appreciative and touched to be part of a community that is so supportive. I'll update the thread with any changes I make!

So far I was able to pick up a Plaits clone and Pams New Workout with a PX extender for $220 on craiglist which felt too good to pass up. I'm going to take the advice to bolster myself on the utilities front a bit more moving forward, as well as go as narrow and deep as possible on the current equipment I have

EDITED Mar 30th, 00:12