Is this any good?

Ey up everyone

https://cdn.modulargrid.net/img/racks/modulargrid_991748.jpg

Nearly got all this together, just missing a couple of the smaller modules.

Ideally I'd like to be able to make some generative music but also use it in more traditional applications coupled with a daw.

I also have a 0-coast to pair with it.

Any thoughts and advice would be greatly appreciated as I'm a total noob to modular (although I have used synths for a long time).

Thanks

Alex

EDITED Sep 10th 2019, 19:16

try posting an actual link to the rack not just a picture of it - amazingly there are thousands of modules and nobody knows all of them

you have made mistakes 1 and 2 in modular newbieness

1. filling the case up too quickly - with no room to expand

2. getting all shiny trendy modules and forgetting about the plumbing

You have way too many voices and appear to be quite light on utilities for so many modulation and audio sources and destinations

veils and blinds together in such as small case is too much as I think are 2 tides (even if they are different models)

possibly a good exercise is to explain (here or to yourself) your reasoning behind picking each module and question why you haven't selected more basic utility modules

I would reduce* the number of 'voice' modules (voices/vcos) to 1 or 2, keep one effect, rene/tempi, veils and one modulation source and work out how these combine (probably with additional utility modules) to produce interesting audio - you may want to strongly consider getting a disting mk4 as well - it will help you understand what different types of module do and guide you on your path

*this may just involve sticking them in the cupboard for now and reintroducing them when you are actually ready for them

Hi Jim

Thanks for your advice.
Yes, perhaps I've gone a bit overboard/excited.

I really liked a lightbath tune on YouTube where his only using mutable modules. So I copied his rack + added a few other modules from looking around the net and reading through many articles/forums, etc.

I used quite a few virtual analogue/analogue synths in the past and I'm super proficient on various daws and vsti.

I wanted to put together a system which I could use standalone but also integrate in my music production.

I got blinds because it was a good deal (second hand) but I see what you mean about blinds and veils in a small skiff.

I play percussive acoustic guitar and I'm into minimalist music and polyrythms. I like evolving harmonies which are never just played as a straight chord but implied by the interplay of different single notes played by different instruments. Hence my getting so many vcos.

I thought the two tides could be used mainly as envelopes and rings can also be an effect/resonator for other sound sources fed into it.

Rene, tempi and yarns or ornament and crime would (in theory) allow me to create complex polyrythms, right?

Mal-2 is a random generator, got a filter and a dual envelope. Passive attenuator.

Ornament and crime can be used as four lfos.

On top of that there's 0-coast. This is a good vco but can also be used as a function generator/utility module.

It has a maths section, looping slope, ad/ar, eoc out, random lfo, amplitude all linkable to outside sources to control those.

I was quite confident in my vco choices but not too sure what utilities to get so I held back on those.

I built my own wooden skiff for peanuts. Got a mean well power supply with busboard in it so I could easily expand on that by adding to it so I saved quite a bit there.

Do you think this is workable? And if not would you be able to advise on essential utilities to get me going?

Oh, forgot to mention I have quite a few quirky guitar pedals I use with this. Earthquaker devices avalanche run, Red panda particle, electro harmonix memory man and a few more including loop pedals and more run of the mill guitar pedals.

Thanks for your help so far man. I deff got too much too quick. Just rene has a 33 pages manual.. Ha ha ha let alone all the others, it'll be a long winter for me.

A Eurorack module (or any other format module) is generally just one piece of system that's necessary to make a Eurorack rig work. It's like buying a propeller, a seat, and a rudder and expecting to have a flyable airplane.

By the looks of it, you're buying "cool" modules but you don't understand the architecture that allows them to work together to get a creative result.

Understanding how a DAW works or being able to tweak the controls of a VST synth won't get you very far. That's a bit like walking into someone else's already patched rack and twiddling with the knobs. You can be an awesome race car driver but not understand how to build or rebuild the engine that makes it go.

Spend some time with software like VCV Rack and start building and patching. Until you're proficient with that aspect as well as identifying and using the utility modules necessary in just about every rack, you'll be pretty hard pressed to get the results you're hoping for.

Ey up

Thanks for your advice Ronin.

I take on board that I don't know as much as you guys.

However through playing with what I have already I have come up with a revised rack plan.

Would you guys say this is a closer to a good/versatile/capable system?

I've attached a link to it here:

https://www.modulargrid.net/e/racks/view

Again, thanks in advance for your help.

Alex

EDITED Sep 17th 2019, 10:15

Check your link again. Go back and fix it as well as your first link. If you view your own rack, you can go up to the URL and copy that like so. The URL should end in numbers. This one ends in 959778

It makes it a whole lot easier to check out your rack and look up the modules.

Hey Ronin

Whoops, Ok. Hopefully this will work now:

Thanks for pointing that out

A

Hey Alex

I'd watch out for all the smaller modules you have there - a lot of them are going to be difficult to use unless you have baby fingers

a lot of the 2hp demos videos show them with blind panels between

I find that having a module that has a bit of space around it (say a mutable one) either side is a decent solution - this goes for pretty much anything up to 4hp - disting is really fiddly unless you have space around at least the knobs

Jim

The 2HP stuff isn't stuffed in pretty densely. Also, much of it is mostly set-n-forget kind of modules. You might want to move Pluck over one module so that it has a bit more clearance.

Also the Batumi has a 3HP expander called the Poti. It's not too expensive and gives front panel access to portions of the Batumi that can only be accessed via jumpers on the back. If there's 3HP to be found in the rack it might be worth it. Also, why you should have spare rackspace in all of your builds.

Hi, this setup looks technically capable, yes, but it also looks like it would be a little bit annoying to actually play it. That nRings and Pluck do not look like much fun to tune IMO. Too many tiny knobs all packed together like that... just consider how hard that's gonna be to do anything once it gets filled in with patch cables.

I think you've got some pretty cool and ambitious ideas, I suggest that you'll be better off just looking at a larger case to start with. One that isn't already packed to the brim with mini-versions of everything.

You'll know you have the right size case when it's just large enough that you'd prefer to have a Maths over a Function in the spot. That's the sweet spot.

Hey guys

Thanks for all your replies.

It feels like I'm getting closer.

Jim:

They are small, that's true. Although I'm trying to limit myself in terms of skiff size as I'd be looking to travel with it.

As Ronin said the 2hp modules aren't too densely packed and as he has advised I've moved pluck but also moved another to leave more space around the knobs for disting.

As it is at the moment I am toying with the idea to build myself a skiff out of a leather suitcase to accommodate three rows. In which case there would be more space for slightly wider modules.

However for now I am also working with budget constraints. I'd like to have a full system by spring.

For now I have about two thirds of it already and I'm just about to sell: a tides, blinds, ableton push 1 and a couple of my lesser used guitar pedals to get a few of the smaller modules to quickly add utilities and functionality to what I already have.

I have: tides, veils, Rene v2, tempi, yarns, nano rings, plaits, pluck, quadatt2, disting mk4, nebulae v2 and the York modular eg.

About to get: 2hp TM, switch, verb, MI links, make noise function and the mixer.

Cg funk: noted. However I do also own a 0-coast. This already has a: function, contour + more. With that and an extra function in the skiff I pretty much have a maths (more or less).

I built my own skiff and I'll prob keep doing that as that's something I can do and enjoy so making a larger one would only cost me my own time plus the price of rails..

Ronin:

Pluck moved. I've also done away with the passive multiple as I could always get an external one or two.. Like those intellijel ones? That made space for poti as I think you're absolutely right that having one would help with batumi's functionality.. Not having to take it out of the skiff to change settings is worth the little money it costs and the 3hp of rack space.

I expect I will be upgrading my skiff in the next couple of months.

When I'll do that I will prob end up selling on some of the 2hp modules to replace them with wider ones.

It's all work in progress.

On the plus side what I already have is giving me a lot of fun as is.

I made a couple of recordings I'm quite happy with.

As I mentioned previously I have a couple of guitar loop pedals so I have been recording a jam on those then jammed again over the top of it. So in terms of vcos I'll prob just be using a couple at any one time (for now). This works quite well when performing as it naturally forces you to develop an idea in stages then to build another layer over the top.

Thanks for all the super expert input and advice so far. It's great to feel part of a greater community where others like to share their knowledge and generally discuss things in a productive manner

EDITED Sep 19th 2019, 20:33

Whoops

I forgot to attach a link to the revised skiff plan.

Here it is:

That Befaco mixer bugs me...you do know that if you mix the -MIX and +MIX outputs as if they were L - R stereo, you'll get some hellacious stereo mis-phasing issues, right? It looks like this is intended as a final output mixer in the revision, which is why I'm pointing that out. If you're trying to put a stereo mixer in 6 hp, have a look at Happy Nerding's PanMix Jr. instead. Mind you, the Befaco is useful for getting simultaneously normal and inverted signals, but this is something that's better suited to modulation signal mixing, where the normal + inverse outs would actually be far more useful.

Ey up Lugia

Apologies, I've not been on here much for the past week.

Yes, I got that. I thought the befaco might be useful as mono audio mixer or as an inverter depending on the occasion.

However I thought it more as an audio mixer.

Since my last post I have been mulling over everyone's input on my dream rack and I have made quite a few changes to my ideal plan.

I've upgraded the skiff. It's bigger with an extra row. I've swapped a couple of modules, dropped a couple and added a couple.

Not sure if there are enough mults on my latest update but I hope this might be looking a lot better...

I've looked at other modules too.

Thinking about a comparator possibly. Also a sloth.. As is I have run out of knowledge/understanding to be able to tweak this anymore.

So....

Here's my latest plan:

This will take me a while to put together. As I've said earlier I have started but obvs funds are a major player in this game.

At the moment I am filling up one row at 104hp ( I freed up 22hp which I am going to fill with a: function, mini ornament and crime, sequential switch and logic modules. I bought some small passive mults, intellijel, which live out of this skiff to maximise space for now).

I have a smaller 60hp skiff filled up with modulation: rene, tempi and yarns + uZeus power.

In the meantime I am back to the drawing board. I am looking at different options to build my bigger skiff. Looking at vintage suitcases, cdj flight cases and old wooden carpenter's tool boxes.

However it seems my best option would prob be building my own wooden skiff from scratch. I enjoy working with wood and I am pretty capable with it so..

Hopefully this will be complete in the next few months. There's no rush really as I won't be able to buy many more modules for a while after this last run.

As per usual your thoughts will be greatly appreciated.

Thanks
A

EDITED Sep 25th 2019, 23:14