Jumpskiff 98HP Double Row

Hey Modulargridders
turns out it's better to get a bigger euorrack case ;) So now I'm planning my expansion in a second row with some bits and pieces I miss and some small space to grow.
Current 98hp are a lot of fun and are really striving from the input I got here on the forum! latest Jam with the Robaux LL8 as rhythm brain (I kicked out my midi module and I am not looking back)

Coming back to the planned second row, for now I'm really enjoying the idea to have two skiffs that can also work standalone and there are some DIY modules I'm interested in building.
Current wants & Favorites

DIY
Antumbra DVCA- As second half of veils (also VCAs)
AB+C - It's just super useful and there where times I wanted another one
Seismograph SD - It's a nice little kit and might be all I need
Stmix - I looked into a whole lot of more complex and featured mixers but always come back to basic setups
Robaux 3pt - I enjoyed the LL8 kit and mentality a lot, I want to use this for either quantizing or step sequencing

Assembled
Nearness - Those where recommended by Lugia and I really see a use for them in my rack

Others
Plaits, Beads - These two are kind of place holders, I like to have some granular module but might come back to bastl spa for that. I've recently come across a lot of techniques to use plaits and feel like it's a powerhouse of a module
Golden Master - I'm not sure if I'll go for this one, but at least I'm really digging into DAWless settings where I want something to add a little punch and EQ at the very end of the chain

I'm happy to hear about any tips tricks and further recommendations. Happy patching!

(I'm really not forcing the black panels thing. It just turns out a lot of DIY kits have them, haha)

EDITED Jun 18th 2021, 15:44

Hi Zuggamasta,

Yeah! Another donut jam from you :-) Great fun as always and here and there I discover some real interesting and nice sounds, lovely!

Most modules you mentioned, I don't have experience with them, so I can't help with those, however I have a Plaits and never regretted it. You called it a powerhouse of a module, well in a way it is perhaps but don't expect a magical module that can do everything. It's a really great sound generating module though, lots of fun is possible with it.

Good luck with your rack planning and kind regards, Garfield.

I have a Golden Master and like it quite a bit. I’m sure for some folks it is too heavy-handed since you can kind of just slam it and call it a day. But I do like the way it fattens up the sound, and in a pinch you can use it as a performance tool as well, DJ-style (cut the low end, etc).

Thanks Garfield, I was skeptical about plaits but there’s just a whole range an timbres possible with morphing and moving between engines (I hope)

Thank you Bigham that sounds like the thing I am looking for, a small set and forget module to „glue“ the mix. The additional Sharp Performance EQ Sounds also good on paper, but can it be used while the comp is set up? Or du you just manipulate the comp bands? ✌️

If the objective is "mix glue", then most anything that can warm up a signal will actually work. This is another reason I really like Happy Nerding's Isolator...it has actual "iron" in there, and if you push it a little it'll add some nice euphonious distortion. That, in addition to the fact that it's also very useful to keep crud from leaking into the modular via the outputs.

Hey Lugia, that's some great Input for my small rig. And I'd rather have some "analog" module on the output chain instead of the next DSP module. Great!

In the meantime I found out about the Tesseract Hex mix which neatly fits in to my channel and size needs. Might make the current output module obsolete but should work nicely with the Isolators.

Hey Modularfriends,

here's a update on the Skiff. Thank you again for your recommendations now, and when I started out:

Small DIY Kit Rewiew:

Frequency Central Seismograf SD (Snare Drum):
- Full Kit ordered from https://www.exploding-shed.com/
- Came with all parts and pre programmed snaredrum chip
- Build Guide is a litte rough around the edges, at the end I was not sure how in which direction the control PCB is connected with the main PCB. I did look up some builds on instagram to verify my setup
- Aluminum panel has nice sharp white screenprint but a little chipped at the side. No issue for me but might be from interest.
- I switched out the knured nuts for Befaco Bananuts, looks dope!
- Sound and functionality are top notch. Putting in an audio rate square wave in the gate input is lots of fun.

I might get a second one with the Kick Drum chip.

Plaits or Braids are great modules if you need bread-n-butter sounds in your case. They can do more. But to quickly dial in a bass or lead sound without reinventing the wheel is really helpful in live situations.

If you're buying digital modules for percussion, you might as well get something like a 1010 Music BitBox 2. You can play back up to 16 different sounds as well as RECORD IN SYNC. You can find them used in the range of around $400-500US. If you're not modulating your drums that much, it's worth it.

Hi Zuggamasta,

Nice to see you at work again in your latest video :-) I thought you considered to buy a second case, did you do that already or not yet? I see now two rows, isn't it, I remember before you just had one row?

Thanks a lot for sharing this with us and kind regards, Garfield.

Hey @Ronin1973 thank you! Another strong voice for the plaits. I really like the module in VCV already, need to see what module I can get. Original Mutable Instruments or maybe I can finally put together a SMD build like knit by anatumbra.
Bitbox is nice but a little to high fidelity for my cause. If I need more sounds there is a big computer somewhere around.

Hi @GarfieldModular I enjoy the things I can do with modular a lot now. Still some things to figure out with the tesseract mixer but that should be sorted out soon. I really want to get a bit more control over pan and FX send/return.
Yeah! Second row = new rack. I had some trouble with the power brick that got lost somewhere sometime between Barcelona and Germany.

Yeah! Second row = new rack. I had some trouble with the power brick that got lost somewhere sometime between Barcelona and Germany.

-- zuggamasta

I am glad to hear that it works now :-)

Added some potential future Modules on the shopping list:
Mutable Instruments Stages
Mutable Instruments Links

The plan is that Stages would become the modulation control center. So my main "controllers" then would be LL8, Muxlicer, Stages and the Tesseract Mixer.

Optional with either PICO Seq or Mimetic Digitalis for more control over the voices. I really enjoy the idea of a tiny Pico Seq where I would slowly programm in some bass lines or other pre made patterns that could then be further processed with a sequential switch. As the Pico has configurable gates and even glide.
The Mimetic Digitalis may not have those but would be able to configure to send Gates Via one of the four channels by entering either fully open or fully closed values. so that there would be also the possibility to program "chord progressions".

Now that I write the post the MD might be better for general experimentation... What would you reccomend and which other Sequencer should I consider?

(last recorded live stream of the current setup minus the kick all, which is still being soldered )

sequencers are difficult... very personal...

I have a pico seq - I find that it's not particularly easy to program and resetting the sequence is a pita - i just reload the sequence once it has stopped - it is easier than actually resetting it which involves pressing both tiny buttons - either together or one after the other I can't remember exactly - but difficult when there are other modules next to it

as with a lot of small modules the ergonomics are poor - I have a feeling this also applies to the mimetic digitalis - but that might just be me and my opinions/experiences

I much prefer modules that leave space to actually get to the controls, especially ones where I am doing a lot of effectively programming - if the pico seq was 6-8hp and had a proper reset button and preferably a cv reset and a bigger screen it would be a fantastic module for the purpose I want it for - sequencing song parts on a sinfonion - as it is it's ok - it has other things going for it - 16 memory slots etc

I'm tempted by theblack sequencer - it' s just a shame you can't individually clock the channels

Hi Zuggamasta,

Nice to hear some music from you again! Nice rhythm you start with and in the very beginning the sound goes pretty low :-)

If you are looking for a small yet playful sequencer then have a look at Xaoc Devices - Tirana II, a lovely small sequencer at a foot print of 6 HP, only 4 steps but tons of fun and you can daisy chain it into 8 steps, 12 steps, 16 steps, etcetera.

Good luck with the search for a good sequencer and kind regards, Garfield.

Beauty shot of the current setup:

Great rack

Great rack
-- GarfieldModular

No debate there! I've been looking at this for a hot minute, and the only thing I would change here would be to move the Ears to the left end of the top row. That would make it less messy as zuggamasta's audio input line could come in from the left edge of the cab, instead of over the middle-top. But the rest...this is clearly an experimentation rig, and it's a damn good one!

Thank you it’s a pleasure to work/play with.

Great rack
-- GarfieldModular

No debate there! I've been looking at this for a hot minute, and the only thing I would change here would be to move the Ears to the left end of the top row. That would make it less messy as zuggamasta's audio input line could come in from the left edge of the cab, instead of over the middle-top. But the rest...this is clearly an experimentation rig, and it's a damn good one!

-- Lugia

The ears is still in the middle from some earlier single row experiments. I’m currently using it as an overdrive anyway so it’s not to busy with external gear ✌️

Well, when you get back to using the Ears as an external preamp and you STILL want some overdriven grit, check out Plankton's NUTONE. It also gives you a pair of VCAs, but the big ticket there is...yep...TUBES. Or in this case, the Korg-created "NuTube", which uses a variation on a fluorescent display tube to give you a dual triode, but it doesn't suck amps like most other tube circuits. I've heard the NuTube in other devices and it's totally shocked my shit; I always thought this would require something heftier and requiring big current, but not this thing, even though it HAS that triode amp sound.

New Sounds from the rack, take a listen here:

I added Kick ALL and some more modulation to the rig with Stages, and I couldn't be happier. This is still stock Stages firmware as the other one seemed a little too overwhelming. If I had to get something righ now (I don't plan to), I'd grab either another module that can quantize CV to free the Disting, an Buffered Mult or some more Attenuverters. But that's for another day (year).

Also: Thank you Lugia, I watched a lot of NUTONE demos when you told me about them. But more modulation & utilities first!

EDITED Dec 17th 2021, 08:48

I reorganized the rack. Upper row is modulation now, lower row most of the voices. I started this due to the fact that Stages was already crammed in every patch if sitting in the lower row. And Ears is also back in a reachable position.

before:

after:

The position of the 2hp sine is a little fiddly as it is pretty long and could potentially touch the connectors on the back of the skiff.

This rack is insanely fun to use. Now with a RaspberryPi Running ORCA as main cockpit, controlling master clock and CV sequences. Also new lighting ;)

Nice jam zuggamasta and that rack does look like a lot of fun to use!

The new ORCA / Midi sequencing also gets some nice paraphonic chords out of this system. so much more to explore still!

Next on my DIY list is a front panel to mount the small device inside the case (power will be separate to keep the poor PSU from melting). I did a first test from foam board and now need to learn how to solder extra USB sockets to the front. This would also open up the possibility to mount the display vertically. (The display is really nice and sharp irl but always a little muddy on photos.)

Keeping this thread alive by dropping some more heavily lit jams.

I like some bits and pieces of this and dislike a whole lot. Next would be something this full and distorted but with more control over pitch and more variation detail in the drum voices. Any suggestions and patch ideas are more than welcome.

Before I forget: This is not using my tiny ORCA midi sequencer form the last post, but for the curious I made a tiny guide and put it on the ModWiggler DIY section as it's not a eurorack only thing: https://www.modwiggler.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=257717

Latest patch that I recorded. I'm a little puzzled where to go from here. On the one hand I want to do more rich compositions which would need more quantized CV options and some VCAs/LFOs. On the other Hand I'm still thinking to get some more sampled drum/background loops happening with something like the erica sample drum.

Open for any ideas.

17hp left. But I'm really happy with the latest additions.

Missed Opportunities:
https://www.modulargrid.net/e/cutelab-missed-opportunities
My choice over mutable marbles, the random gates are cascading down, making it possible to generate rythmic drum patterns from just one clock. To make the randomness usable it's possible to reset the the current random sequence via CV and generate a new seed via a small button.

Rample:
https://www.modulargrid.net/e/squarp-instruments-rample
After a lot of back and forth I landed on this sampler. The four outs are automatically removed from the mix if you plug them in (super smart). The CV assignment is fantastic and easy. The default samples are great, too. I'll report on how well it works to add my own breakbeat slices. As I think this might be quite the hassle to set up. But worth it in the end.

twitter link to a small sketch showcasing how Missed Ops can trigger interesting repeatable patterns on the Rample

EDITED Dec 23rd 2022, 08:15

Quick 2022 Wrap up:

Haven't been that productive with music this year somehow. But here's what happened in the meantime:

Patch050 - Lots of delay and some metallic bells from the Rample:

Patch052 - This and the next patch are based on the same session and share some core patterns, that get broken up by missed opportunities (highly recommend this one)

Patch053 - Really chaotic wild and quite heavy. I liked this a lot but other times it feels like a chaotic mess.

Edit: Come one, you can tell me when I paste the same video twice ;)

EDITED Dec 27th 2022, 20:29

Procrastinating and writing up a small report for the end of the year, feel free to take a look, too and chime in!

What Did I add in the last year?

• The Tesseract Texmix grew four stereo inputs. While I have little Stereo Soruces it has been great to experiment with Mono-to-Stereo Effects I might have been better off with two monos but limitations are good for creative choices
• I added a sampler voice inside the rack, for purists this might be a bit harsh or space waste. But the Squarp Rample (currently still with it's stock sounds) works like a charm, has some live performance perks and is sitting better and better in the mix. I'll also need to consider getting a good pair of midi TRS adaptors for it to be fed with midi signals, too
• Missed Opportunities. Fantastic module, I had to mount it upside down for space reasons inside the skiff but due to the color coded Bananuts I put on it, there is litte opportunity to plug something in the wrong way

Issues I solved:

• Good Repeatable Randomness, which results in more Procedural Drumgroves
• Analog Kicks are cool, but I'm adding a lot more Interest on the Percussions with Rample
• Using FXAid in the A effects loop and Disting in B gives a lot of opportunity to mess with effects and some stereo width

Issues I created:

• I might have too much audio sources and little modulation now
• I REALLY need to check and write down which modules generate and expect what voltages. I'm still doing this blind right now
• Even without knowing all voltages I will need to add an attenuvertion in the rack. Befaco ABC can do that, but ist often used in other places
• Second Filter would be great to play around with the drums, or some light EQing

What is next?

• Due to some weird combinations I'm left with a 5HP gap and one last Power Connector in the top row. I'll probably fill this with a 5HP Befaco Attenuverter
• Keep Making Music and experimenting more with the two Midi controllable devices, hoping they will play well in the future.
• Listening to as well as making more music out of my comfort zone
• Any suggestions?

I'm building a tiny small software to run on a rasperry pi to control my modular, while it has no official release yet you could potentially try it out from here: https://github.com/zuggamasta/midiTracker and/or just let me know if you have any ideas and questions for a tracker-esque sequencer.