SoundDesigner

Hmmm...30 HP left. What I would like:
* more envelopes, function generators, LFOs, what have you
* obvie some VCAs . It would be nice to find exciting ones...
* an arpegiator
* a filter/dual filter.

Hi k0s0,

How about a bigger rack? ;-) I would go for at least 3 x 84 HP so you have some space left for the future.

Consider at least one or two more filters and indeed EGs and VCAs are always useful. How about one or two more oscillators? Ehm... speaking of oscillators... I don't know all the modules in your rack but... do you have any oscillators in that rack at all? Did I overlooked them?

Of course, the René module is nice but if you calculate your 2 x 84 HP space and René is 34 HP, that means it takes one fifth (20.2%) of your total capacity... are you sure that's worth it?

Good luck and kind regards, Garfield Modular.

Hi GarfieldModular,

Thanks for the correspondence and ideas. To give you some context, this is my secondary rack. While my "big boy" rack isn't much bigger ( ), between the two of them and several standalone synthesizers (one of the reasons I'm a bit light on oscillators and filters), including the Minibrute2 it is connected with....I can't complain about my hobbyist level. For the sake of space in my house and pocket book, filling out my eurorack and getting Glo the polyphonic whale, I mostly just want a rack that can do some intereesting sounds and rhythms.

Oscillators? Yes, I have two of them! The sinc iter is a tiny oscillator with lots of character (IMHO). I was originally going to get at least 4 of them and a midi->CV converter for some real polyphony. The MakeNoise telharmonic is quite nice as well (and if you haven't heard it, and like additive synth...check it out). Sure, I'd love more....so many delicious + lush sounding oscillators on the market today.

Ah, the Rene. I bought it thinking it would be the sequencer that would change my life. It....didn't. It's fine for what it is, but overall I wish I had gone for, say, a voltage block or something. If anyone wants to trade, I'd be down. Its actually one of the few modules I've bought that I kinda regret :/ I have a tiny rack it used to sit alone in, but honestly, I'd rather have other modules. I'm too cheap to just give it away at this point.

Overall, my main point of this rack is to design interesting (mostly monophonic) sounds and rhythms. So, yes, EGs, filters, and VCAs for the win. It is sitting on a desk with the minibrute2 (I love semimodular!), an OP-1 and the (admittedly seldomly used folktek mescaline) as (let's call it) station 2. My other rack is surrounding by...lots more keyboards and some pedals and what not in station 1. In some mythical world that I have space someday those stations will combine. I'd like to be able to do some decent drums....so the BI alter, yes, and something to make some creative rhythms....though I can always drive that from, say, the OP-1 sequencer (Kenton MIDI box not shown).

Hi k0s0,

Ha, ha, you had some more modular on your sleeve ;-) Yes all sounds good to me, pity that the René isn't as good as expected, for the space it takes and then being almost disappointing, that's a real pity then. Sorry to hear that, good to know as well, will focus for the moment on another sequencers then :-)

I am waiting for and hope to test soon the Endorphin.es Ground Control sequencer and the Erica Synth Black Sequencer, both not on the market yet, waiting patiently ;-)

He, he, the OP-1 is a nice thing to play with and for such a small thing amazing what it all can do, it's the (new) price I don't like though... the old price was already pretty steep but perhaps worth it.

How is the Morphagene coming along, do you like it? Is it worth? More worth than the René? :-)

And how about the huge E370? Is it the space (and financial efforts) worth it? You got quite a few modules that are interesting. Three 6-channel mixers... did you configure them as one large 18-channel mixer or as 3 separate mixers? I got myself the Doepfer A-138o/p combination with two p's (i.e. 8 channels), quite nice.

I see you got yourself an Octasource too, I enjoy mine almost every time, I love the craziness of it :-)

Enjoy your stuff and kind regards, Garfield.

Hi Garfield,

The Rene is "okay"...its just for the money and space, I was hoping it'd be more performant. Well, I got it, and it does the job, so maybe I can learn it better. I'm sure there's more potential than I tapped.

You'll have to let me know if your sequencers work out. Someday, I'm thinking of getting a standalone sequencer. I mostly use the OP-1's....which is pretty good. I was lucky enough to get it when it was "only" $1000. I think of it more as a toy studio than a toy sythensizer.

The Morphagene is great! If you want voltage-controlled tape (that doesn't sound like tape, but also doesn't have its limitations), go for it. My newest "trick" is recording voices, decreasing the grain size to small, and then morphing through the real with CV. Can get that horror-movie sorta sound.

The E370...also great! Yes, its a lot of money, and its huge, my if you want quad morphing wavetable oscillators (and I did!), it's worth it. It is a bit more setup (loading and selecting wavetables, usually hearing them on the computer first) than most of the rest of my modules (I mostly want immediacy), but I knew that going into it. Even just the wavetable playback by itself can make for some great oscillators....then you add morphing and yum!

The octasource is great. I'm glad you enjoy yours. I actually very often pair it with the E370 to have morphing with different LFO phase offsets, but its a great LFO for just about everything. I wish it had a clock out, but I guess having a clock in I can't complain too much.

Kind regards, Garfield. I just finished planning my rack (still several modules to buy); not enough VCA or LFOs, as usual, but...sigh, ya can't have everything. If I ever get to the point of having more time to actually make music, I may consider a bigger rack in a devoted music room.....but that day won't be soon!