User Posts

I guess you know this reference video...

@znschaffer In your opening post: ‘I'm attempting to move towards more nimble and needlepoint plucks and warm droney pads’. And a little further : ‘I'd really like some more cv modulation and controllability!‘.
So, I have two suggestions:

• Rings not being a traditional oscillator (in fact, as a ‘Resonator’, it is closer to an effect), for nice plucks and an easy tuning - you know what I mean - may I suggest the 2hp Pluck. A little jewel.

• For deep drones in motion, Zadar is probably one of the best solution today. It obviously generates traditional envelopes, but thanks to its 'loop' function and its two assignable cvs (adding the small expander Nin) you will be able to create vast complex landscapes.

I have included these modules in my setup, so it’s the experience that allows me to strongly recommend them to you.

We can encourage listeners to discover the album on Bandcamp. (NB. the links here do not seem to work on Safari - to be checked - but one can copy and paste the url, or use this one: The Silence that does not Exist). Btw, special mention for ‘Lunar Inclination’, ‘Still Air Vibrates’, and of course ‘Dimensional Wreck’.

Excellent!
Finally, serious business begins...

• Did you take note of which modules (and possibly semi-modulars associated) you used for this piece?
• It seems to be essentially generative. Did you add some manual interventions? Any ‘tweaks’ on the fly?
  (Personally I most often keep a detailed record of these two aspects).

Bravo for the visual on the side (the video): it does not distract attention for the music.
Really nice work.

It is true that you have many sound sources here. But depending on the style of music you want to develop, and the final use you make of your modular, one can conceive or remember that this is the lion’s share. So that’s OK with me.

I often propose analogies in my comments: you own a lot of colors for your paintings, and to highlight them you need all kinds of tools like brushes, knives, sponges, masking tapes, etc.

When we equip ourselves with utilities and modulations (see the famous @JimHowell1970’s signature), we expand our possibilities. And this can even become excessive, or addictive too... So for your future addiction may I suggest, among many others, the little following selection:

Divkid Ochd (so much ‘organic’...)
Xaoc Nin (for your Zadar)
Happy Nerding 3x MIA (as already suggested)
Xodes LB5 (easy logic, absolutely useful and harmless)
Doepfer A-151 (classic quad sequential switch)
Intellijel Planar2 (it is you who become the utility)
And in any case: the Expert Sleepers Disting mk4!

I believe there is also a lack of filter modules in your setup.
From Doepfer filters to the great Joranalogue Filter 8, the choice is vast to complete your lonely QPAS. Without forgetting a proper Low Pass Gate.

As always, should you or any of your tracks, patches or videos be caught or killed, ModularGrid will disavow any knowledge of your actions :)

About acid/house there's something that might interest you here, the ADDAC107 ‘Acid Source’: https://www.modulargrid.net/e/forum/posts/index/12346

If you put it that way: yes, you’re obviously right! The A-160-2 (or even the A-160-1) may be enough.

I started with the A-160-2, which is an excellent module. It remains in my setup as a complement to Pam.
The A-160-2 costs around 100€. Pam costs about 300€. But you can multiply its power by 10 (BPM based clock, more divisions, a multiplier, probability, highly perfected Euclidian, microtiming for swing, oscilloscope, etc.)

If you have to wait a little before investing, no problem, make that choice :)

My best advice, and without hesitation: Pamela’s Pro Workout... ;)

EDITED Jul 10th 2023, 07:24

@wishbonebrewery I have been using Morphagene and Nebulae for 2-3 years. No noise problems (fingers crossed). I remember @Lugia telling me not to put them near internal power supplies, exactly for that reason.
See also this information given by Make Noise (January 19, 2018) in Lines

EDITED Jul 9th 2023, 12:46

I have been using Ochd for 3 and a half years (January 2020, thanks to Jason/Signal Sounds), this little guy takes place in 60% of my patches. I use 2 Lfos outputs on average (so do I underuse it? ;) but I sometimes use up to 5 or 6 outs at the same time. A very ‘organic’ module as someone said... I confirm.
Ah, Ochd tells me to pass on to you that he is Batumi’s best friend.

(This was just for a modest reminder of the good reputation he deserves...)

I am looking for a mixer modul with around 4 inputs that are panable with a stereo out? I am open for ideas.
-- DareDenis

Doepfer A-138s.
Don’t look any further.

A musical instrument can inspire musical works and even the music of all composers during a whole century. The invention of the piano ('piano-forte', the power of expressing nuances) has inspired a century of romanticism. The harpsichord alone could not have offered this path.

But human beings can also individually create their own path with the same tools. Debussy and Rachmaninov had the same piano but their music was totally different.

Things are not one way.

Someone once wrote that among the best musical spirits of our time should be included the creators of electronic instruments. He wasn't wrong.
Only the modesty of people like Bob Moog or Dave Smith (Dieter Döpfer or Emilie in the modular world) could contradict this statement.

Too close proximity between the 5HP RackBrute power module and the internal power supply part of some mixers can generate a noise/tone. I’ve experienced that. In this case, you just have to move them a little bit apart.

A general definition may also suffice.

Great work on the design of this patch! Your House Jam took me back to the end of the 80s :)
The ‘second summer of love’ and the years that followed were a truly creative and sincere period.
The good old days.

Modular, it’s both very simple and very complicated.
It’s like a wedding reception: you can choose the venue (a dream case), you invite whoever you want (some cool modules), each can be placed ‘just about’ anywhere you like but be careful: you have to make sure that everyone will have enough to eat and drink (power requirement), otherwise you'll spoil the party!
Ah, also, anticipating the outs in the ins, being far-sighted ;)

@Trismus For your 1U modules, whatever the brand of rack, you can think of the 1U to 3U format changers from Xodes. Like this one for example: https://www.modulargrid.net/e/xodes-fc313-28hp

@JimHowell1970 London and the few places I've mentioned are linked to so many of my memories of the 70s and 80s. Concerts, studio sessions, meeting all sorts of nice people, and even... camping (in the East London suburbs, because it was cheaper and above all a wonderful vestige of 60's philosophy, cool :)) Having said that, I agree, London, which is an extraordinary city, is not the whole of England. Like Paris, for France, London is 'the eye of the duck', as David Lynch would say: when you look at a duck, you look at its eye, even if it's not the whole duck. I played on stage for the first time in Margate in 1972 (piano, not modular). My heart belongs to Kent.

@JimHowell1970 is very kind in responding so often to requests for advice. Really. He's one of the mainstays here now. However, I'm going to take the liberty of contradicting him on one point in particular: this case thing, that... Mantis.

Yes, there's the price of the case and the relationship with the number of HPs available. But a case isn't just that: there's also its overall size, its materials, its solidity, the power supply, whether or not it has 1U rows, whether or not it can be linked, the general style, etc. And it's the same as with the modules, with the way they're choosen. As with modules, there are the technical features, there's also the emotional connection with the whole object, or even a brand.

4 years ago, I hesitated between several models of cases and the Mantis quickly became my first choice, but in the end I opted for Arturia's RackBrutes. This is a personal choice. The most important thing is to feel good about it. And there's nothing chauvinistic, I'm French and I prefer London to Paris. Ah... Wardour Street, Leicester Square, Baker Street, Hyde park, Speakers' Corner, and the best hot dogs in the world (there should be a thread about this)!

Encore une vidéo intéressante et pédagogique.
Je rejoins volontiers les compliments de @toodee. Précédemment, vos descriptions du Klavis Twin Waves Mk2 m’ont permis de mieux appréhender ce super module ; et finalement de l’accueillir dans mon setup en complément d’un autre macro-oscillateur plus renommé, Plaits.
(...’Il faut rendre à César’).

Another interesting and educational video.
I'm happy to add my voice to @toodee's compliments. Previously, your descriptions of the Klavis Twin Waves Mk2 gave me a better understanding of this great module; and finally I decided to include it in my setup as a complement to another more renowned macro-oscillator, Plaits.
(...’Il faut rendre à César’: wink in Gallic language of the famous biblical quote ‘Render unto Caesar the things which are Caesar's’. Underlying meaning: to give credit where credit is due... ;)

You can find more information in this thread: https://www.modulargrid.net/e/forum/posts/index/10666

@MCGM Very clear description and extremely interesting comparison!
@HGsynth Thanks for this hijacking. But after such an answer, yes my friend, we unfortunately need both :))

Since I don't hear anyone coming, here is a proposal on the basis of your indications. But beware, others are much better at this than I am. I hope for your sake that they will come to our rescue.

Bravo, Champagne! We are free. And 'Private' is a clear enough term. Well, one could also imagine 'Just married, do not disturb', but I'm afraid that would arouse more curiosity :(

A visualization of your rack that is just as ambient but much less ‘dark’.
We made a first step :)

Oh thanks a lot for the topic! It reminds me I should set everything to private because I really have to clean up my racks, it's such a mess. But you know how it is, tidying up, we keep putting it off... Yet I can almost feel the dust between the pixels. Fortunately, the cat is there to keep the mice away :)

Forgetting utilities, modulation sources, etc. is a very common mistake at the beginning. When we think about our dream house, we are mainly focused on the living room, the bedrooms, the kitchen, the bathroom... Corridors, doors, staircases and closets are less of a dream.

I can only recommend here modules that I use and appreciate:
Buff Mult (buffered multiple), A-180-2 (passive multiple), Sinc Defero (buffered quad attenuator), A-160-2 (clock/trigger divider), A-151 (sequential switch), CalTrans (calibrator and transposer), Booster Stage (amplifier to eurorack systems), Mutes (multi channel mute), Disting mk4 (multifunction module), Listen IO (input/output interface)...

I am French. I have a deep love for French culture and language.
But I try to translate my posts into English as a courtesy to others.

If I understand what you mean by 'opinionated design', Data Bender seems to fit. It is a module that can be very soft or very hard, but its opinions are always very personal :)

High quality delay. Freshly baked, and placed in a boxe designed to keep the audio signal safe and warm... Nessun problema, signore!

Don’t worry, I won’t buy it. I save my bucks for Marilyn’s NEW Rehearsal.

Pico & The Final Frontier

Pico MScale
‘The module is not limited for use with Moog Mother-32 only. You can use it as a regular eurorack precision voltage scaler': https://www.ericasynths.lv/media/Pico_Mscale_manual_v2.pdf
- Useful? Yes. For the scale difference -5V +5V / 0V +10V
- Essential? No. Because the pitch of the note can be adjusted by the frequency of the destination sound source.
- Tip: start without it and decide later.
- Testimony: my MScale has made the round trip between case and drawer several times. It is currently on holiday...

Mother-32
There are a few constants among modularists:
- A passion for exploring sound.
- The temptation to acquire new modules.
- Their need for space to house all those modules.

So if you want to, leave your Mother-32 in the RackBrute, but you may soon hear the call of the big spaces.

Modularists are pioneers at heart ('Go West! Young Man'), gold diggers, conquering sound: 'To explore strange new worlds, to seek out new life and new civilizations, to boldly go where no man has gone before!

That's why their cases are never large enough.

And this ‘little’ Stereo Krell by Todd Barton using the new Tiptop Buchla Quad Lopass Gate Model 292t...
Wonderful.

Congratulations on your piece.

Below, a historical example of the hoquetus technique: 'Hoquetus David' by Guillaume de Machaut (14th century), vocal version. A beautiful interpretation and a video in which one can visualise the alternation specific to this technique. There are also many instrumental versions.

First, turn on the headlights:

Then forget about this setup. Sorry, I don't have the strength of @JimHowell1970, or some others, to explain things in detail. And there would be too much to say.

In exchange, if techno is your thing, this rather famous tutorial from mylarmelodies; you'll find more on YouTube. I sincerely hope that this will help you.

I would add that things seem a bit dry here. So for ambient especially, but also techno, one might think of supplementing with a little effect like Pico DSP, FX Aid, or Desmodus Versio?

Remove the version with the black panel from your rack, and click on the version you prefer in the module page: it will be directly added to the rack.

For my part, just a 24HP suggestion chosen for playability and adaptability.

Though at that price you could buy a TR-8S, plus premium cables, and even (being 18 years of age or over - and to consume in moderation) a nice selection of beers from our friend Wishbone Brewery ;)

Personally, I did opt for a mix because I think it’s a good solution: external drum machines (including the ADX-1, TR-707, and a DrumBrute Impact that sounds great and is perfectly suited to live performance), with some ‘percussion’ modules of course.

That sounds pretty good! And the demo track is very cool: somewhere between Daho and Kraftwerk... Nostalgia.
8 voice polyphonic, multiengine, sample playback, FXs... Impressive.

Ça sonne plutôt bien! Et le morceau de démo est très cool : quelque part entre Daho et Kraftwerk... Nostalgie.
8 voix polyphoniques, multi-moteurs, lecteur d'échantillons, FXs... Impressionnant.

Yes, exactly. You can think of the 4 mono channels as 2 stereo processing tools, each one in order to get a control on ‘real’ stereo panning and / or stereo balance.
Ex: Morphagene left out > A-138s in1 / Morphagene right out > A-138s in2
Or: Monsoon left out > A-138s in1 / Monsoon right out > A-138s in2

Because you need the stereo image of a sample in Morphagene or that of the reverb from Monsoon to be better positioned in the song, or it can also be too wide. So, apart from controlling the stereo image for artistic purposes, you can use it to get a good (or better) phase correlation. The more you reduce the gap (in other words, the more you tend towards mono), the less you get problems of phase cancellation, especially with the bass spectrum.

(This phenomenon does not occur in headphones because the left-right sound distribution is necessarily separated, but it can dramatically happen in the case of monitor diffusion. The vibrations of the left and right loudspeakers cancelling each other out... and parts of the song sag or disappear!)

In conclusion the A-138s could be one of the best tools for ‘real’ stereo panning and / or stereo balance adjustment, ‘to connect between a stereo source and the main mixing’. And as it seems that you have two (If I refer to your Percussion Row. I have only one but I don't blame you :)) we end up with a great additional... ‘Zero HP'.

Easter really is a beautiful day!

An interesting article around these topics:
https://www.pro-tools-expert.com/production-expert-1/the-difference-between-stereo-pan-and-stereo-balance

What a thread!

At an affordable price (I have one ;) and it works well :) there is also this: https://www.dv247.com/en_GB/GBP/Koma-Elektronik-Attenuator-Cable/art-SYN0004623-000

I have to admit that I too was scratching my head when I read 'Zero HP'. But I did a search and finally found at least the cables.
Hmm, you'll have to make some sacrifices: https://hifi-solution.com/en/speaker-cable/1471-dragon-zero-hp.html

Now you still have to find the module, but frankly, all this worries me a bit.

20 minutes of good old Krell madness. I particularly like the solo between 17:00 and 18:00. I didn't understand anything he said, as I don't always understand the Krell language, but he said it so well...

It's remarkable how well this style of music fits with the simple film of the modular in action. The cables and flashing LEDs are Krell.

Only criticism: no black cat! But it's possible that she must have taken refuge under the table, or on top of the cupboard? Cats prefer mice.

Quite similar to Intellijel Audio Interface II, available, cheaper and less HP: 4ms Listen IO (I've been using it for live use for 3 years, and with great satisfaction).

These two modules which are less known, with several inputs/outputs, but of which one says a lot of good: Bubblesound Instruments Booster Stage and Reducer (I have the Booster, perfect to make enter synthesizers or drum machines for example).

Credible and affordable solution: Erica Synths Pico Input and Output.

More sophisticated, more expensive, and probably at the top of the podium: Joranalogue Audio Design Receive 2 and Transmit 2, or the superb ACL Audio Interface.

If you want to multitrack in a software (Logic, Ableton, etc.), you'll have to include the Expert Sleepers solutions: ES-8, ES-9.

Thanks a lot! Vous faites vraiment un excellent travail. Document téléchargé. Congratulations!

In ModWiggler a thread has collected various technical information and development proposals.
Phin Head from Stochastic Instruments responded with great interest, being aware that his module is a future #1.
https://www.modwiggler.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=272539

Since you propose the topic here, I would suggest this rack designed for silent performances (as the underground counterculture had initiated them in the 60s).

“Fascinating.” - Spock.

If you light your cigar with a banknote, then I would not advise you to :

• Listen to a lot of music produced with modulars.
• Identify the modules used in the styles of music you prefer.
• Determine a reasonable budget to start with.
• Choose a case that is large enough (Mantis, RackBrute 6U, Intellijel 7U, whatever).
• Make a first selection including some core modules (VCA, VCF, modulation sources, utilities, etc.)
• Set up your project in ModularGrid and submit it to get tips.
• And maybe leave your semi-modulars in their own cases...

From experience, you could end up running out of time, or space, or budget. Or all three. Unless you light your cigar with a banknote.

PS: I love your avatar ;)

If you're in Europe and don't mind a silver faceplate, SchneidersLaden is currently offering a 9.71% discount on this ‘paleface’ version.
(A piece of information that will probably conjure up things for @wishbonebrewery ;)
https://www.modulargrid.net/e/forum/posts/index/12056