Minibrute2S + Rackbrute6U - Careful start

Hello,
Here my first attempt to carefully start a Rackbrute6U (+ a minibrute2S.)
My musical synth tastes are very various, for instance : Tangerine Dream, Depeche Mode, Infected Mushroom, Perturbator.

My very first goal is to be able to get some space/alien/experimental sounds. (So more on the side of Tangerine Dream , Pink Floyd, etc ... i love the old progressive bands weird sounds.)
So i plan to add a Multi Effect (DSP2 ?), Rings (?) and some utility modules which i think will always be useful
Am i on the right way ? Is the DSP2 versatile enough ?

Then my second, future, goal will be to add a VCO, maybe an Erica Synths Graphic VCO (+a sequencer+filter+LFO, etc. ... maybe a random module ?)
My third goal will probably about adding a sampler ... if there is enough space remaining. But this is another story...

I will take all the necessary time to avoid bad moves. It may take months or even a couple of years, there is no hurry. My goal is also to avoid overflowing the Rackbrute 6U so i need versatile modules.

EDITED Mar 4th 2020, 18:29

Maybe something like that but i'm sure there are possible improvements.
The sequencer would be used by the graphic vco.

EDITED Mar 4th 2020, 10:33

Just jumping in with a quick comment (don't have the time atm to do a full rundown) but I wanted to make sure you knew that the Minibrute 2s actually has three completely independent sequencer channel outs. The first has two outs (pitch + gate), while the other two each have a single out (either pitch OR gate OR generic voltage). With that in mind, I'm not sure you need the metropolis unless there's a fourth gate/pitch you need that you can't generate or derive from elsewhere.

It could control the extra vco and the mb2s vco(s) simultaneously with an different sequence ?
That's a lot of space saved :)

EDITED Mar 2nd 2020, 22:02

Yes! It's awesome.

So, what I often do is use the pitch + gate sequence to drive my Minibrute's voice. Then I use channel 3 to control the gate of a second VCO and channel 4 to control its pitch. However, if I just want to use the same gate (to create multi-voice chords), I'll split the gate channel out to two additional VCO's and then use channel 3 and channel 4 as pitch sequencers for those oscillators. You could also do the opposite and use channel 3 and 4 as additional gate channels to create drum rhythms (which don't need a pitch sequence).

The more i learn about the mb2s the more i think i made the good choice :)
Very cool.

Kind of hard to go wrong with Arturia's various sequencers, really. There's a bunch of that laying around in my studio: Microbrute, Microfreak, a pair of BSPs, Keystep, and a Keystep Pro which should be here in a couple of months. They do those things RIGHT.

Update. Do you think it works ?

If you don't care about the size of the knobs, clones of Marbles and Rings will save some rack space. The Batumi always needs the 3HP Poti expander.

The 1010 Music FX Box will also run the two other firmwares, so you have another synth and a drum module there as well (just only one at a time). I'm not sure why you have all of those mults. Maybe one buffered mult. But passive mults are a real waste in a small space. Apart from the convenience, you're better off with external splitters.

Thank for those precious advices :)

Which clones of Marbles and Rings are the best ? Cara and nRings ?

Nothing else missing ?

EDITED Mar 4th 2020, 19:07

Thank for those precious advices :)

Which clones of Marbles and Rings are the best ? Cara and nRings ?

Nothing else missing ?
-- vincentprimault

Just a note: some of those clones are DIY only, so just be aware of that unless you’re cool putting stuff together and soldering and whatnot. Also, if you’re looking for weird experimental sounds, Make Noise’s Mimeophon is worth a look, though it might be more hp than you’d prefer. I’m actually working with the same setup you are (Rackbrute 6U and Minibrute 2S), so have fun: it’s an awesome ride. And feel free to PM me if you want to talk further—I’m a big Depeche Mode fan.

Yep, good advice. Cara and nrings seem to be assembled.
I wonder why the Michigan Synth Works rings clone is 100E more expensive than the two others.
I'll have a look to Mimeophon.
Thanks :)

EDITED Mar 4th 2020, 20:26

A few other points, also...first up, you don't have enough sources that require stabilized CV for pitch, so the buffered mult is pretty useless here. Rule of thumb is that once you get beyond feeding three sources with the same CV, you'll want to buffer that to avoid CV sag and resulting tuning problems...but with what you have here, you won't need this. Just mult things out with inline mults or stackcables, and you'll be golden.

Now, having removed the buffered mult, you now have an 8 hp hole. So...try this: remove one of the Quad VCAs altogether. Then into the hole, put a Happy Nerding 3xVCA, and use this in THAT position for your CV/mod level control, and the remaining Quad VCA for your audio + mix to mono. This leaves a free 2 hp there in the second row (2hp DC-coupled mixer for CV/mod combination?), and 12 up top. My next move there would be to add one more device, something you can use as a doubler for one (or both) of the audio samplers. Like this: https://www.modulargrid.net/e/flight-of-harmony-sound-of-shadows which is a delay line that would work great for doubling, plus it also offers an insert loop in the delay's feedback path for even more fun. It's sorta gritty, too...adds character, done right. That way, you don't have to tie up the Mimeophon for simple delays, making it more useful for global delays/loops.

Thanks :)

EDITED Mar 5th 2020, 08:18