alternatives to Mutable Grids for interesting (background) perc?

Hi folks,

I meant to get Mutable Grids a while back, didn't get it, and now it's discontinued.

Are there good current alternatives to Grids? What I'm looking for is a percussion-oriented trigger/sequencer that will spit out an interesting and changing musical line while I'm working on something else.

Use case: let's say I'm dong a pretty deep sound design effort on a pitched voice chain, but I'd like a bit of perc running in the background so I don't lose my ears or mind in the meantime. $s budget to this "Grids substitute" is under 500, HP budget for this is 26HP or less roughly. Hence a good chunk of $ and HP to this purpose, but not buck wild.

The idea of running a few channels of VPME Euclidean Circles 2 through a switch is also a possibility. Sadly my favorite basic switch (Acid Rain Switchblade) is now also discontinued unobtainium.

Appreciate your ideas for a good Grids alternative.

Thanks!

Nicholas

What about something like Noise Engineering's Numeric Repetitor? A combination of the Numeric and Zularic Repetitors would be a powerful and fun combo at 16hp, and you could probably get both for under $500 used.

I have a https://www.modulargrid.net/e/dnipro-modular-dot-black-panel which is a really simple Euclidean trigger sequencer with CV control. Its nice to use for incidental percussion that flutters around the main percussion and with the CV you can make it change over time.

Is that what you have been using in your recent videos @wishbonebrewery? That thing looks pretty neat.

Yeah its definitely in there @farkas its currently doing some hi perc stuff via the ADDAC103 and triggering a synth line. I don't always hit it with CV though and just tweak it manually to find a nice pattern.

I use a combination of the zularic repetitor and marbles (which is basically a mini-grids+++) for this

Thanks for the ideas above folks! A few comments / questions:
-- the Noise Engineering modules and Dnipro DOT mentioned above could really be a good fit here, I will look at those closely
-- @JimHowell1970 could you explain a little what you mean about marbles as mini-grids+++? I would have never thought of that.

Much appreciated!

NG

@nickgreenberg yeah one of the modes of the t side is basically grids - deliberately set up to do kick(t1) , snare (t3) and hats (t2) - I usually send t2 to branches (self patched) to do skip/open/closed

EDITED Mar 21st 2022, 00:03

Btw I see there are clones of grids from Michigan Synth Works and Momo modular. https://momomodular.com/products/ugrids-micro-mutable-instruments-grids-black-textured-aluminum

Do you think those would be as good as a Mutable Grids original, or close?

Btw I see there are clones of grids from Michigan Synth Works and Momo modular. https://momomodular.com/products/ugrids-micro-mutable-instruments-grids-black-textured-aluminum

Do you think those would be as good as a Mutable Grids original, or close?
-- nickgreenberg

The clone works in exactly the same way as the original, albeit with a smaller interface. Mutable clones can be a bit of a sensitive subject, but in this case I think it makes sense since the original is discontinued anyway.

My biggest concern with the clones is ergonomics. The smaller “micro” footprint is not very fun to use in practice, though it might seem like a good trade off.

Agreed on the topic of ergonomics. The original Grids was a lot bigger than it needed to be in my opinion, but these micro clones that aim to be literally as small as possible overshoot the mark.

Agreed on the topic of ergonomics. The original Grids was a lot bigger than it needed to be in my opinion, but these micro clones that aim to be literally as small as possible overshoot the mark.
-- jgoney

uGrids is by far the "u" module that is least impacted by the downsizing (maybe tied with uO_C) , as there was a lot of room on the original. The main thing to consider is if you like the feel of the larger knobs or not.