Drexciya style sound - eurorack setup?

Hi,

As a big fan of Drexciya i've always been looking after their sounds. Back in the days, i had tr808, sh101, various other sh*, system 100, junos and jx3p which i think was a good setup to get a kind of their typical sounds.
Now that i moved into eurorack i am traying to build a setup which would allow me to stay on the same line.
For the tr808, i am using the tiptop modules, for same baselines i am using the system500. I am still missing their "string" sounds which at the moment i can only get close to with MI Rings in 'organ' mode.
Altought the sh101 is technically derived by the system100 one, i still don't have any filter like it in my case. I am thinking also to get the soundforce juno DCO e VCF for some of the junos sounds.
Also thinking to give a try to the g-force sh2/101 vcf along with the jp6 vcf.
Anyone has some suggeations on some modules which would help here? Any Drexciya fan?
Thanks,
Ciao

EDITED Jun 27th 2021, 09:04

Hi abstractrhythms. I'm a huge Drexciya fan too.
I really like the organ mode in Rings. You can get really close to the sound of "A Forest" by The Cure and that early post-punk vibe. You may be able to pull off some of the Drexciya polyphonic chord sounds with Plaits in chord mode or the Music Thing Modular Chord Organ firmware on their Radio Music module, but really it would probably be a good idea to invest in an external polyphonic synth to get better control over chords. If I remember correctly, Drexciya supposedly used a lot of Roland and Yamaha FM synths. You might be able to get close with something inexpensive like a Roland JV1010 and midi controller...
Mylarmelodies had a cool video about using sample and hold modules combined with chord modules to get "chords" that follow the melody of your song in a sort of Drexciya-inspired way. Take a look on YouTube for that.
I have really enjoyed using the Behringer RD8 for my 808 sequencing and sounds (all due criticism of Behringer aside).
Have fun and good luck!

Hi Farkas,

Thanks for your reply.

Actually i got a few roland boutique (jp, juno, sh) but i feel like i want to keep all mysetup in modules. I am actually selling them and replace with modules. For the juno i will try the soundforce whereas for the sh, i am not sure yet. I own few system500 modules and i can use it for now.
For the FM, humble audio quad operator is on my list at the moment.
I am not really interested in play poly chords on keyboard. I play the piano and i can have fun with them on my digital piano.
Modular poly are fine, as long as i get get the typical drexciya (rolandish) sounds. I will keep expoloring and see if somethgnice will came.
I am actually also thinking at what effects/compressori i could get for the drums (808). Typical drexcyia's 808 is very effcted/compressed. I am using a pico dsp at the moment. Thinking to go for happy nerding aid fax and a wmd mscl compressor.
Thanks,
Ciao!

That MSCL compressor looks pretty cool. Also, the Erica Drum Mixer has a nice sounding compressor too. That's on my list for mixing my modular drums.
I had initially tried to do everything in the rack too, but found that there were a lot of sounds I was going for that I just couldn't pull off effectively without expanding into some external hardware (and guitars, but that's another story).
Take care, and let us know if you crack the code of the Drexciya sound. :)

Ol' Drex, hm? Well, lessee...

Amazingly enough, Drexciya (and some other Detroit producers from the same general period of time; Derrick May comes to mind immediately) actually used a good chunk of DIGITAL synths. One ubiquitous one would have to be the 4-op Yamaha FM synths, with the DX100 being popular there due to the ease of transport. The Korg M1 is also in there, too, as well as Casio's CZ-101.

When putting together Detroit-style tracks, it's important to remember that that scene utilized loads of "we pay you"-grade pawnshop and used gear due to the cheapness and ease of obtainability up into the mid-1990s. You see a similar situation in the Chicago scene as well, which is how the TB-303 wound up being a desirable track. When Larry Heard cooked up "Washing Machine" in 1987 with that little box, it succeeded because he used it "wrong"...not as a bass source, but for all of that squelching and weirdness, and this was still during the tail-end of the period where the TB-303 was considered to be Roland's most massive mistake up to that point.

Hi Lugia,

Yes, i am aware of the presence of FM (yamaha) sounds in their works.
I still believe that also a good amount of juno and jx (mostly 3) is there too.
I might give a try to the dx7 reface even if i am little bit scared of the programming part, which can be very time consuming.
If you have any other suggestions other then the humble audio quad operator, this would be very welcome.
Thanks
Ciao

Sure...have you had a look at ALM's Akemie's Castle? Also 4-op FM, but it has a much better panel layout that explains what's going on.

Also, there's a few decent librarian/editors for the old Yamaha devices. One of the better ones, which is also FREE (100% open source) is Ctrlr...have a look at what they offer at https://ctrlr.org/ Ctrlr's panels allow you to dive into the "guts" of numerous synths, and then to control those via the DAW or via Ctrlr's panels themselves. Since many of the older rack synths are sort of out of vogue right now, they're relatively easy to snag. Plus, Ctrlr has panels for synths that otherwise would be a total annoyance to use, such as the Roland JV1010. And, if you're used to some basic coding, you can whip up your OWN panel in it, with the aid of various SYSEX tables for the synths. No, it's not as comprehensive as a paid package like MIDI Quest, but it can hold its own with the more common instruments and processors out there.

The Intellijel Atlantis synth-voice module is based on the SH101. But it comes in at around $700.. which goes a long way towards just getting a vintage SH101... or you could buy a Behringer 101... but that might be a personal decision. :)

MI Elements (Omnious Mode) for FM or if you are looking for the gritty DX sound, an ALM Akemie`s. Personally I would choose the Taiko instead of the Castle.

Juno. Feedback Modules Chorus 106. Patched right behind an Atlantis.

To make chords, get a decent pitchshifter. For instance a Z-DSP with Time Fabric card.

And last but not least a sample (player) that is able to layer sounds. Load it with strings, choirs (and other "rompler" sounds) layer them and run them through a filter.

Flangers Phasers are also an important part of the sound.

Hi m01c,

thanks a lot for your suggestions.

Those are indeed very good advices, i was not aware of the feedback modules chorus 106 which looks very interesting.

If you have any specific suggestions on the flangers and phasers modules, those will be very much welcome :)

thanks a lot
ciao

If you are on a budget (Detroit Style), you can look at the Dreadbox Antidote for Flanging and at the Dreadbox Euphoria for Phasing.
And Dreadbox starts with a "D", so two times a Dreadbox must be good for Detroit Drexcyia Analogue Electro ;)

If you're looking for classic 4-Op FM I can't recommend the Akemie's Castle enough. Just a beautiful module with some great FM sounds.

If you have any specific suggestions on the flangers and phasers modules, those will be very much welcome :)

-- abstractrhythms

One I've found intriguing as of late is Frequency Central's Stasis Leak. In 6 hp, you get a stereo chorus, tap tempo delay, and reverb. Plus, since the module takes a mono input and "stereoizes" that, you get that extra perk along with the FX. Plus, Happy Nerding's multieffects modules, the FX Aid (4 hp) and FX Aid XL (6 hp) are big wins if you need a larger variety of FX algorithms. Potent...AND space-efficient.

Thanks for your suggestions.

@Lugia, i already have an Happy N FX Aid which i found very nice. I am actually thinking to buy an XL as well.

The FC Stasis Leaks looks good - i will have a deeper look at it.

@Troux, yes, the AML are on my lists

Thanks,
Regards,
Matteo