Advices on my first rack

Hi,
I'm planning my first rack, can you give me any advice or tell me if I'm missing something that I should consider? I would like to go in the direction of ambient/generative and also I would like to process the sound of my acoustic piano (that's why there's a mikrophonie). I know 84hp are a lot limited for what I want to do and I will probably expand in the future, but I want this to be my first goal into the modular world.
I'm unsure of having pico logic and also maybe I should consider changing something and adding a clock dedicated module, but I don't know if it's necessary since I could use rampage or tromso as a clock. Also I'm unsure if the DVCA is enough VCAs. What do you think about my choices for this little system?

Thank you in advance for any advice.

EDITED Jan 12th 2020, 21:33

Hi Colo98,

Interesting idea of processing your acoustic piano but ehm... are you sure that modular will be the right solution? If yes, keep reading ;-)

As you indicated yourself, modular with just 84 HP is asking for trouble (space-wise). Go straight for 3 * 84 HP or 2 * 104 then at least you don't need straight away to buy yet another case.

I had a look at your rack but I can't find your audio (i.e. piano) input. Into which audio interface module does that go? I think you might have forgotten an audio input/output module? If you don't need a headphones output then Intellijel Audio Input/Output is a nice one.

Please carefully plan this rack since the limited space you have it will be very difficult to choose the correct modules for your need. On the other hand, once you got your rack, enjoy it :-)

Kind regards, Garfield Modular.

Hi Garfield, thanks for your reply!
For my piano input I thought I could use a contact mic and feed it through mikrophonie. I know it won't be super high quality but I don't mind it to sound lo-fi.
Regarding audio output I thought I could use an external mixer like a little Behringer one to have both headphones and L/R out, my idea would be to go out from clouds or from A-138b into the mixer, I've read that it can be done and that I don't need to attenuate the signal before feeding it into the external mixer.
Do you think that my idea for managing I/O is doable?

I agree with garfield get a bigger case - 6u / 104hp is a great starter size (and mantis is one of the best $/hp in eurorack)

I think I'd want a better mic input - Little Mikey is the only one I know of - but it will be a better bet than microphonie - at least you get the choice as to how bad it is depending on mic, placement etc as opposed to being forced down a particular route - plus phantom power should you need it

Another option would be Ears - which is an updated microphonie - which adds an envelope follower, which is quite useful
or a doepfer A119, this will take a dynamic mic, and it probably will distort, but it does have an envelope follower and a gate extractor

If I went for Little Mikey, I'd want to add an envelope follower (disting has one and a pitch follower)

Your output from clouds for example to a mixer will definitely work

With an original clouds (and a lot of clones) you will want attenuators for cv inputs

If it was me trying to do this I would go for the Little Mikey, Disting mk4 (envelope follower), Maths (or Rampage, I prefer Maths - google illustrated manual), MI Kinks and possibly a used Phonogene or a supercell, and add a filter - ripples is nice - I'd also want to look at sampler modules and how to trigger them whilst playing the piano - create a loop, process it and then re route the piano in so that you can process that differently (in the future perhaps)

And leave the rest of the case empty - it will fill up at some point in the future, probably just before it's time to buy another one!!!

ie get a few things that will allow you to do what you want to do - process your piano - and then slowly and organically grow from there, instead of planning all sorts of stuff

Didn't know about pitch follower! It seems super cool considering that I would like to integrate the sound of my piano with a voice or two in my rack, so I'll add a disting for sure. Sampler is something that I'm considering for the future, I really like morphagene and 4ms DLD that can also loop.
Regarding the mic I thought that maybe I could use a mic connected to the mixer and send the piano signal from there to my modular through the FX send. The output from the modular would go in the FX return, so I would just need a little preamp in my case. I don't know if I explained myself well, do you see any problem in my idea that I'm too noob to see?
Anyway, thank you for your reply and your hints!

Hi Colo98,

Most of it JimHowell1970 answered you already, just about the audio output: Please keep in mind that Eurorack level voltage is higher than the usual audio level. So either be damn careful or if you don't won't too worry too much get yourself a proper audio input (if you need that) and output module aka audio interface module.

You also can sleep better at night because of possible DC signal on your output will be filtered away if you use a proper audio interface module; though your mixer might take care of that too, but as I said, I sleep much better at night knowing I don't need to worry about all that because I am using an audio interface module. Up to you of course but you can't say you haven't been warned :-)

Good luck with everything and welcome into modular! Kind regards, Garfield.

You also can sleep better at night because of possible DC signal on your output will be filtered away if you use a proper audio interface module; though your mixer might take care of that too, but as I said, I sleep much better at night knowing I don't need to worry about all that because I am using an audio interface module. Up to you of course but you can't say you haven't been warned :-)

-- GarfieldModular

Almost all interfaces are AC-coupled - which will filter out any low frequency DC signals
If your interface is DC coupled, then rejoice - you can use it for CV too (Expert Sleepers and RME for example)

Yes modular levels are much higher than line level, but almost all mixers/audio interfaces can cope with this - either through turning their gain down - or by attenuating on the way out - which is a lot of what most output modules do - they may also alter the impedance and "balance" the signal - but these are unnecessary

In my experience (I don't have an output module) sending straight from modules to a mixer is fine - sometimes you get a bit of unwanted clipping - just turn the signal down a bit before hitting the mixer (I use a small old yamaha one at the moment)

For me the only reasons to get an output module of any sort would be either I need headphone out directly from the modular (I have a rebel technology mix02 for this, when I need it) or because I was playing out a lot - in which case balanced outs would make sense - for longer cable runs to FOH mixer

My entry to eurorack lasts for two years now, and i am still planning and planning and should be doing a lot more patching. Its like Mylarelodies said: planning/building your modular and actually playing your modular are two different hobbies. There is one module that stuck out for me and i would never ever go without one anymore and that is Marbles, because it so readily and intuitivly GIVES.. Modulation. Melodies, Rythms. I didnt touch my O_C anymore since i got marbles, because results are faster. Just my 2 cents. Enjoy. And patch more than you plan. Dont make my mistake.

EDITED Jan 18th 2020, 00:45