HYPNOTIC DRUMMACHINE

IS THIS POSSIBLE? WHAT DO I NEED TO ADD/CHANGE TO MAKE IT WORK? AND WHAT WOULD YOU BUY FIRST.

THANK YOU

I AM NEW

EDITED Nov 30th 2020, 06:26

Hi Arrrrrr,

Welcome to modular synthesizers! :-)

Well... everything is possible, there are members here who take a rack and put them just full with only VCAs because the motto here on this forum is: "You never can have enough VCAs"... now that's kind a of a practical joke, so just ignore that ;-)

You can take a rack like your above rack or a rack with just 5 oscillators and nothing else, everything is possible...

The big question here is... does it make sense? On top of that you have to ask yourself, what do you want to do with that rack? If you like to share with us what you like to do with your rack (what are your expectations?), then it becomes significant easier to check if something makes sense :-)

Anyway, having all that said. Regarding your above rack, assuming you have nothing else, just planning for that above rack, my comments:

• More than enough modulators for a relatively small rack, could consider perhaps a bit less
• You could consider to get a bigger rack (one more row at least; for what you are all planning to do here)
• Keep at least then one row of that bigger rack free for (near) future usage, don't buy everything in one go, start small, gain experience, adjust your planning/assumptions, buy a few more modules, gain more experience, etcetera
• I do see enough "fancy looking modules" (some call them sexy looking modules ;-) ) so you might want to consider to start with a few less of those
• And start with a few more classical components, for example:
• You could do with at least one more "normal" oscillator to start with, that Snazzy FX thing, is most probably nice (I got the Kick_Me module, nice module!) but it's not a "normal" oscillator as such
• Get also a more "normal" or more default filter, consider a WASP filter for example (Doepfer - A-124) or SEM filter (Doepfer - A-106-5) both good filters. If you want a bit more fancy stuff consider the Erica Synths - Black Dual VCF, though being a bit more fancy, still a bit of a classical filter too
• I don't see any VCAs, right? (you need VCAs, that practical joke about you never can have enough VCAs still has to make a point)
• Instead of that Erica Synths - Link, you might want to consider an audio interface module instead, depending on what exactly you are planning to do with it (some members here think/practice to live without an audio interface, that's up to them. I want to have a more worry-less-life and therefore I advocate to use an audio interface module; but at the end, it's totally up to you :-) )
• Other than the Maths you might want to go for one classic ADSR; at least consider it

Well I guess for starters that should help already a bit. Keep an eye on the classic build up of a synthesizer and look less towards those fancy looking modules, then you should be fine.

Have fun, good luck and kind regards, Garfield.

shh!

I'd want more mixing capabilities - mostly for submixes, but also for modulation (matrix mixer) - also possibly some way of placing things in stereo (panning mixer) - possibly sacrifice one of the modulation sources - quad cascading vcas are also really useful - veils for example

possibly replace the dual fx with a couple of fx aids

how are you intending to sequence?

it may be an idea to look at a trigger sequencer - metron appears to be good - also eloquencer and erica synths do one - some of these will also sequence v/oct and/or modulation - which is useful

what to buy first - a way to sequence - kick, snare, hats - mixer (or quad cascading vca) - an effect - a modulation source

A few things...first up, this thing is NOT going to behave the way you think it will. You're missing far too many of the various utility-type "non-sexy" modules here. Sure, it'll make sounds and such...but so will a kazoo.

Second, this doesn't appear to be very specific, and I see a lot of "let's jam ALL the functions in this box" going on. Given that this is actually a rather smallish build, you don't have that luxury...unless you like the idea of conveniently-housed noisemakers. It's far more advisable to pick a functionality...and then stay in that lane. If this were something in a huge Doepfer Monster case, sure, yeah, go ahead and put the drums AND the bassline AND the lead AND the effects, etc etc, in one box. But this isn't that.

Third, you don't have the luxury in this space of adding "superfluous" modules. Lose the LINK, lose the Paratek meters, and lose anything else that doesn't fit into a tighter definition of what this build should be. For example, you've got 58 hp dedicated to drum modules; if you can fit that into HALF the amount of space, it would make more sense to retain the drums...but right now, given the relative absence of modulation sources, the lack of any VCF at all, and so on, the smart move here would be to scrap this build (not a bad thing...NO ONE gets an initial build right -- EVER) and step back for a few. What does your music NEED from a modular rig? Are there other solutions that make more technical AND MONETARY sense? How do I set up a very basic patch? ALL of these...and buttloads more...are questions you need to sort out before ever getting a build close to a physical purchase. If not, you stand to lose a pile of ca$h on a box that you'll discover pretty quickly is NOT ALL THAT.

Before picking this back up again, I'd also suggest you spend quite a bit of time with VCV Rack, which is a pretty accurate "virtual" Eurorack system implemented in hardware, and is a very good tool for sorting out what one needs when they get around to hardware. Plus, it's free...which is EXTREMELY useful if you get it to avoid making costly mistakes later on. https://vcvrack.com/