Minimal starter setup - bang for your buck? looking for advice, thx

Hi,

I've been working on this for a while now, first build, absolute euro-rack newbie. The basic idea is to create a fun to play, relatively versatile setup that can create some playful minimal techno and ambient for starters..

Pamela will be the brain that runs the outfit, the master clock and rhythm creator, Rene will control Rings + Pico DSP using cord and patterns generate by Rene and Grids running the BLCK_Noir drums (has built in filter an sfx + aux).

Disting mk4 for learning, sfx channel, samples etc. The rest is utility an audio out, no intention to use MIDI. And yes I have considered Maths, one of the objectives is to keep the cost as low as possible, and the setup simple.

Any feeback would be much appreciated!
Thx.

Does any of this make sense!? )))

EDITED Jan 27th 2021, 21:09

things you don't need:

output module - mono straight from the vca is fine for starters

buffered mult - you do not have enough v/oct destinations to warrant this at this point - if you want a mult get a passive or some heeadphone splitters or stackcables

adsr - pams will give you an envelope generator (or 8) and rings doesn't need one

things I would swap:

nRings - for Rings - get the full size one it won't be that much more and it will be much more fun to play with

pico dsp for fx aid xl - yeah it's more expensive and takes up more space - but it has more algorithms (32 swappable), more modulatable and is stereo in and out (unlike the pico dsp) so if in the future you get to a point where you want to effect a stereo signal then you can

Maths - brilliant buy it - download the illustrated manual and work your way through it a few times

I'd also be tempted to go for a simpler (and cheaper) sequencer to start with maybe the pico seq (the one that has 16 steps and memory slots and quantization) - possibly or a beatstep pro - multiple sequencers can be really handy - so a simple sequencer to get you going and then dive into something more complex such as a rene in the future

the next modules I would buy would be kinks and shades

Hi Jim,

Thank you for taking the time to have a look at the rack concept!

The common issue is a lack of utility, I tried to cover it, but I see I went a bit overboard with the mult, adsr and output, thanks for clearing that up! Saves me having to spend money on that and makes it possible to spend a little extra and upgrade to a legit version of Rings, after your comment about a proper sized version of Rings, I understood right away what I overlooked... more space and proper knobs to twiddle is going to be more fun ofc.. similar would be aid xl instead of pico dsp, aid xl looks great, nice tip, thanks for that.

About Rene, I managed to buy a secondhand version of it that is cheaper than a step sequencer and am generally fascinated by it and look forward to learning how to work with it. I will have to wait with Maths a bit till I have funds to purchase it.

Summary would be: Pamela is the brains running the outfit, Rene the mathematician plucking strings and Grids banging it out on the Noir.

See updated version:

looking better - at least to me!
yeah if you already have modules keep them - people seem to really like rene
I often use the marbles 'grids' mode it's great for getting a drum pattern quickly - 1 thing I do though is to take the middle output and send it to a mutable instruments branches - which I patch to get (skip/open/close) - this may add a lot to grids too, I'm not sure - so maybe that and kinks would be good next modules
it's not a bad thing to have to wait for modules due to financial constraints - you'll learn a lot about how your modular works
tbh if it's a toss up between pams and maths - I'd get maths first
I'd also consider veils instead of the 3xVCA - 4 hp bigger and a little bit more expensive (but only a little) but you get an extra vca, which is never a bad thing

I really like the idea of Grids, but every time I see that panel I think it ought to be about 6hp...

(Yeah, I know there is an 8hp clone, and yeah it does look a bit cramped.)

Seconded on Veils -- also the response shape is variable, and it works as an offset too! Great module!

EDITED Jan 28th 2021, 19:22

If you ever decide to get another sequencer, consider Eloquencer, it is such a great modular sequencer with 8 cv/8 gates and tons fo options for creating melodic and percussion songs and tracks.

I really like the idea of Grids, but every time I see that panel I think it ought to be about 6hp...

(Yeah, I know there is an 8hp clone, and yeah it does look a bit cramped.)

Seconded on Veils -- also the response shape is variable, and it works as an offset too! Great module!
-- the-erc

that's why I like Marbles - it's slightly larger than Grids but adds so much more! especially with a branches sitting next to it!

veils can also double as an input module/overdrive as it has a decent amount of gain (+20db available)