Portable Generative fun!

Hey all,

Been playing at this modular game for a few years now, but I'm just a tinkerer. I started with a Pittsburgh Modular SV-1 and Keystep, and it's been downhill since. Do lots of DIY kits and modules to try to keep the price down, but this isn't a hobby to save money on!

I've been toying with the idea of minimal space/maximal usage, and I've built a small case to focus on that. Here is my current "portable case" to encourage me to focus on mastery of a few modules:

I own all these and quite enjoy playing this! I usually run the Ornament and Crime in Quantermain mode with the Turing Machine or Integer Sequencer modes to have some evolving melodies that play themselves. The Voltage Research Lab is ridiculously amazing and versatile, and I'm super happy to have that to give two oscillators, two function generators, two VCF/VCA/LPG, and an analogue delay. Both the Magneto and the Microcell do lots of great ambience inducing effects, and the multiDimension provides some great movement.

My question to you would be what sort of modifications would you make to the rack to extract more varied sound generation, or to extract more out of this limited space. Curious to see your thoughts!

Bigger cab, for starters. This is a pretty good start, but if you want to get REALLY deep into generative, you're going to have to go way further in.

Example: you've got a neat stochastic sequencing setup there. But you DON'T have any logic, no comparators, no mix/maxes, etc etc to work with its timing signals. So while there's some good options for generative sounds, this isn't even close to where it could go as far as generative processes can take it. By adding some of those...even if, yes, they look boring...suddenly you've brought your clocking and sequencer trig/gate aspects into the generative domain. And with a few comparators + Boolean logic, you can cook up LOADS of results that are based on your modulation source states.

So, I wouldn't concentrate on the sound generation SOLELY. Instead, figure out how to extend the generative concept AS FAR AS POSSIBLE...then pare that result back into a build that works with your capabilities and budget. You'll be pretty amazed as to the results. And yeah...if you've got VCV Rack, you can see how a lot of this should work.

As always, Lugia has the insight! Seriously, thanks for the comment. I didn't think about logic modules (obviously) and that will definitely be the next thing I dive into.

As for size, this is definitely something just for creative fun. I have 15U at 128 hp in my office, but I wanted this to have down in the living room as something to play with and distract me from the larger collection of modules. Totally get you though - to truly get into a generative patching scheme I'll need more space to allow more utilities.

As a side note, I haven't dug into the forums enough, but is there a collection of Lugia best tips? I mean it - you always have great suggestions and insight into the eurorack world, and if there is a compendium of your "best of" that could be helpful.

Thanks again!