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Hi Marco,

Interesting rack... with many fancy modules if I may say, never thought so many fit in such a small rack :-) Welcome to the club of modulars and prepare yourself for getting a huge loan with the bank ;-) Haven’t come across a bank who wants to finance my modular “needs” but that might be just me...

Just joking of course, here a few matters you might want to look into it:

• I feel your rack is pretty small, sooner or later you will regret to start with such a small case and you have to get yourself another case, so better get started with 3 rows and at least 84 HP, if possible wider. Don’t complain about the costs because just leaving out one or two of those fancy modules should easily get you a bigger case ;-)

• To repeat your words: “Many fancy modules” :-) That’s of course nice and fancy but you should also focus on classic and simple modules/functions like LFOs, envelopes, filters, etcetera. And yes most of those fancy modules can do that but that’s an expensive way of doing so. Maths for example can be an ADSR but I wouldn’t use a Maths for just being a simple ADSR, so get yourself some envelopes planned

• The above regarding an ADSR is just an example, I think you need to rethink your entire concept to see if the complete system is that what you really require? My advice is to read in this forum in this racks section the replies of senior persons like ronin1973 and lugia, they replied to many cases, similar like yours and my advice is to follow up on their advice :-)

• This shouldn’t put you off though but getting the basics right, make sure you got a clear picture what you want with modular is important because it’s just too expensive to make wrong setup mistakes and yes I read your text but I think you have to go a few steps back and think on how to archive your goals with modular, must it be modular? Etcetera

• Another thing is that sequencer, the Hermod, that might be a good sequencer yes but is it really the sequencer you need? I am myself rather new into modular as well but almost one third of all the time I have spent into modular and synthesizers went into comparing different sequencers. I bought a few (Tirana II from Xaoc Devices for example and Hikari Analog Sequencer II to name a few) however the ideal sequencer I still haven’t found. Just don’t simply get a sequencer and assume that one will do. Try to get to a dealer and test there a few. Start with a simple sequencer like I did and then consider for yourself what’s important for you for a sequencer? I am still busy with that question and still don’t have a very clear answer to myself about that, it’s very difficult and one shouldn’t under estimate the choice of a right sequencer. Unless of course budget is no issue, then just get the Hermod and try it out :-) And then from there reshape your opinion about a sequencer to see what you need

Or wait for Endorphin.es to come up with their new sequencer Ground Control or Erica Synths with their Black Sequencer, both are not available yet but waiting for it might be worthwhile. I will wait for these two, have them tested at my dealer and then I try to make a decision which sequencer I want and then still I might not know but let’s see.

Good luck with the reading, studying modular materials, basic principles like VCO, LFOs, filters, envelopes, VCAs, etcetera. If you can read German consider this book: Synthesizer from Florian Anwander or just read yourself through the feedbacks people got here on their racks, there is really useful information coming from many people as long as you are open minded for it :-)

Then after that I wish you good luck with your planning, redoing your hopefully bit bigger case and I look forward in seeing your updated case/rack but please take your time, don’t rush it.

Kind regards,

Garfield Modular.

Hi Diego,

Nice rack you got yourself planned there :-) I did nearly the same thing as you did, though instead of Erica Synths, I took a Doepfer starter set and “uncoupled” here and there a few modules and put my own likings in it. It resulted in a set that was double sized and not many of the original modules left of the starter set :-)

By the way, I am jealous about your Octatrack. I had a good friend a week ago here who brought his Make Noise 0-coast and his Octatrack; together with my modular system we got some interesting and nice results. Very nice device that Octatrack if you take your time to learn how to use it, good stuff Elektron. I consider the Analog Four but I am not so sure, I want to see what Hydrasynth comes up with and then will take it from there most likely.

Back to your rack :-) Here a few things you might want to look into it and/or to (re-) consider it:

• You got quite a few Pico modules planned, 3 HP width, I feel is a bit too small. I got a few Pico modules, in principle I am okay with them, they are good however once you got them patched full with cables and want to reach the knobs then it’s getting less comfortable, just too small. Similar opinion I have about modules of 2 HP width. I also got the 8 Multi module, it is just a buffered multiple so without knobs and then the width (4 HP) is just about acceptable for me but it shouldn’t get smaller. But hey, that’s just me. Anyway, I see you put some of the Picos near to each other, perhaps you should put here and there a module between them to make it more comfortable to use them.

• I see one ADSR, the Doepfer A-140v, I got myself the A-140 (the standard one), is a good module and does what it should do: being an ADSR :-) Though in your setup I would go at least for one more envelope (if not more). I have for example the Erica Synths Black VC EG (with the expander), I love that module, you get the usual ADSR however each A, D, S and R can be controlled by a separate CV (thus 4 CVs). The extension provides you a separate output for each of the stages: A, D, S and R. I use this module pretty much and I am really happy with it. You might want to consider that as a second envelope. And/or another envelope you could consider is the Erica Synths Black HADSR EG, I also got that one and is a nice module too that includes the Hold phase and you got a switch on it to use it either as a HADSR or as AHDSR. Yet another triple-switch for loop mode: ADSR, AR or off. I can recommend that HADSR EG module too however note that this module can’t be controlled by CVs

• Not so sure why you want to have that Black Mixer? You got already a Doepfer A-138p (I got the standard non-vintage version and I am happy with it, I can recommend it), so why do you need the Black Mixer for?

• Talking about that A-138p mixer, are you sure that’s going to work with the Erica Synths Output Module? I use the setup Doepfer A-138p together with the A-138o output module and that works just fine, so perhaps you should reconsider that Erica Synths Module and perhaps instead use the A-138o? The A-138p can be daisy chained with another A-138p so that’s why I don’t think you need the Black Mixer, do you?

• I notice a few double modules, nothing against it if you have plenty space but you don’t have much space left, so do you really need two Pico Modulators? And two Pico Logic?

• In the same context I noticed that you have one Pico DSP and the Black Hole DSP v2, I would go for the Black Hole DSP v2 and leave the Pico DSP out, so you can reduce a bit on the Pico modules, I feel you got a bit too many of those Picos; but that might be just me. Or do you really need a second DSP module, i.e. that Pico DSP?

• Similar you might wonder if you need that Pico Attenuator module, you got already that Black VCA (got it myself too, nice module, output could be at times a bit stronger but otherwise a good module) and you got already planned that Doepfer A-138p, so already two ways of reducing the signals if you like, or do you expect somewhere such a strong signal that you must have a separate attenuator for that? The Black VCA (accordingly to the manual) got an improved attenuator :-) The In Level pot-meter can be used to reduce your signal if you need that.

• Once you got the Make Noise Maths, the Erica Synths Black Hole and the Dual VCF please let me know your experiences, these are on my wish list too :-)

• The Erica Synths Octasource is a fantastic crazy bastard ;-) I have that module in my setup and for me it’s the craziest module (in a positive way this is meant) I have but I love it. It’s a psychopath of a module, it has 8 outputs each 45º in phase shifted (single mode) or you put it in multi mode and then any output can have any phase. I recently use this crazy LFO a lot in my setup, so you can make not so crazy modules a bit crazier by having their CVs controlled by this psycho ;-) Then I use yet another two LFOs to control the CVs (Wave, Phase and FM) of this Octasource, then it goes totally bananas! :-) If you then put the rate of that Octasource quite low, you get crazy but nice effects

• What I am also trying to say with the above is that yes the Octasource is a good choice but you need at least one normal LFO as well :-) Preferable with multiple/simultaneous outputs so you can put that psychopath of an Octasource even more out of control...

• Oh yes, and do yourself a favour please and get one more row planned, so 3 times 104 HP instead of now 2 times 104 HP, you will need that space rather soon than later and then you will regret if you stick now with just two rows. Don’t come with the excuse that you don’t have budget enough for that, then leave out first one of those fancy modules and put that money into that extra row

• Sorry, one more, I am missing an Audio output module, so instead of that Erica Output, I would take the Doepfer A-138o and then an Audio output module from Intellijel (Audio I/O) for example, or Bastl Ciao or Befaco Output, something like that, to make sure you can go without worries (DC signals filtered away with such audio output module) to your external mixer or directly to your active speakers

Well that were my two cents of thoughts ;-) I am still a bit jealous about your Octatrack, together with Modular you might get yourself some interesting results!

Good luck with your planning and kind regards,

Garfield Modular.

Hi everybody,

First post here :)
After months of weighing the pluses and the minuses, it's decided, I'll buy my first modular system. I even have some money saved up for it.

I have a good background in music making, bought my first hardware desktop synth more than 15 years ago and I know what sounds I want to go for, how to make most of those using regular synthesis techniques and effects, etc. I've tried my hand at vcv rack and played a lot with the Axoloti, but while I really enjoyed the patching part, staring a a computer screen all the time to make music just doesn’t click with me. Modular + Elektron Octatrack sounds like the ultimate music making combo.

Below is the rack I came up with, started as a copy of the Erica Synth Black System, and I tried to move towards something that made more sense for my use.

The goal for this setup is
- making dark sounding drones
- creating sampler food, mostly interesting textures
- making simple sequences for bass/synth lines
- have fun experimenting with sound (although this would amount to creating sampler food, I admit)

I think this setup provides me with nice sounds sources and plenty of modulation to spice things up, some effects and utility stuff etc. Nevertheless, playing a bit with software doesn’t exactly qualify me as expert so I’m worried I overlooked important aspects of a functional setup.
So, what do you think, is this something you’d like to play with or an insult to your eyes ? :)
Am I missing something or would you add something that would take this to another level with limited space (there are some HP left).

Thanks in advance for your time and comments !

Diego

also, watch your module depths, as the Rackbrutes really only have about 40mm in practicality.
-- Lugia

According to the Arturia website —
The max depth available on a RackBrute 6U is:

53mm on the upper part. (power bus)
75mm on the lower part. (no power bus)

Ah, it makes sense.

A few days ago I was watching DivKid’s video on the Joranalogue Filter 8.Tthe filter has two inputs and I was expecting it to work as a regular audio mixer, but it kind of adds one signal on top of the other and drives the filter, which is also interesting.

However, other filters like the Tonus VCF also have two inputs and the resulting output doesn’t seem to sound louder, so I guessed these are different types of mixers.

Doing some research on this topic this morning I’ve seen some mixing modules calling this ‘unity’ and ‘average’ mode mixers, I’m not sure if that’s the official name though. Anyway, I would say the ring modulator outputs the sum and difference of an ‘average mix’, right? That’s pretty cool.

Regarding the VCOs tuning, I’ve started doing some of those ‘ear training’ exercises and so far is proving to be much harder than I expected, I guess I’ll get it at some point but for now I won’t relay too much on my ears.

Thanks again Footage,

That blog is very interesting indeed.

Thanks for the info Lugia. I have a few questions below:

Clouds is out of production, so unless you have one on hand or want to go thru sourcing a used one, you're better off using a third-party build. These also tend to be considerably smaller, which is also useful. The Peaks is in the same situation, btw.

In my original build, I was using clones of those modules, including the uClouds. I took them out and put in the Mutable ones for clarity's sake. I plan on going 3rd party for cost savings alone.

If you have this paired with a 2s, you might want to look into some modules which can screw around with timing, particularly if you want to get better use out of the Euclidean Circles. Logic modules are a must for manipulating gate behavior, plus adding some clock dividers/multipliers would also probably prove useful.

I'm really lost in this area. What are the big names in logic modules? Are there any good youtube video tutorials or demonstrations? I was looking at the Music Thing Modular Turing Machine MkII, but wasn't sure if that was a good idea or not. Is that a logic module?
Clock dividers and multipliers make sense with the 2s. Thanks for that point of view.

Buffered mult: unnecessary. If you have 4-5 VCOs to drive with a single CV, you'd need it. I advocate using NO multiple modules on small builds like this, btw; you can get the job done with inline mults and/or stackcables and save some panel space.

Sounds good. Thanks.

Add another VCO. Even if you're using something like Plaits as VCO 1, having a second VCO to detune or sync against it will yield some excellent (and bigger-sounding) results. This also means you'd need to add a proper mono mixer to combine your VCO outs, and after that you might consider a CVable waveshaper (Tiptop's is a good choice) to get more timbral variety.

I have both Plaits and the Minibrute 2 as VCO's. Should I add more?

Plus, add a quantizer; yes, the 2s has that, but one with various scalar patterns might come in handy to get some cross-modal lines going against the 2s.

With the 2S and the Disting, won't I be good with 2 quantizers? I could go more dedicated if needed,but I'm trying to keep as multifunctional as I can in my modules.

Have you considered adding effects, such as delay, reverb? Again, this is something that really fattens up/complicates your sound, letting you get more out of what's here.

I definitely want reverb, but doesn't Clouds & Disting have reverb?

Lastly, add some modulation sources such as envelope generators and LFOs. The Maths is useful, but you need more of this sort of thing, potentially along with a couple more linear, DC-coupled VCAs for manipulating CVs and modulation signals. Perhaps some attenuverters would go well here, too, for some nuanced control over your modulation.

Why wouldn't the Quad VCA I have in place not meet these needs? I'm a bit confused here as well.

Not too bad a start, otherwise. But it's got a ways to go. Try and keep things small when populating a cab this small. And also, watch your module depths, as the Rackbrutes really only have about 40mm in practicality.
-- Lugia

Thanks for the guidance!

Hi everybody,

during these last months I fell down the rabbit hole of modular eurorack and would really like to resolve myself and buy my first modules.

I have a good background as a regular laptop producer and as a bass player. I've experimented a lot lately in vcv rack, but ultimately I'm still a total noob to modular world and really need advices.

This is the rack I came up with.

I would like to do mostly ambient stuff but with a strong melodic content, basically sequencing my own melodies (even using an external controller, so the hermod seems a good deal) and being than able to heavily process them.

I know I've listed many fancy modules, but obviously I plan to start by buying very few at first and than building a rack upon them progressively. Nonetheless I was wandering if the rack I made was any good or if I'm totally missing the right direction.

Thank in advance and I'm sorry for my poor english here and there :)

Marco

After good advice from Lugia, Ronin and others I have started my first rack that I am very satisfied with.
Most of my patches (ambient) are based on the Marbles-Plaits combination. Now I want one more ”macro-oscillator”. I am thinking of buing one more Plaits (or clone). But I guess there maybe are some better alternatives as a complement to Plaits?
So far I have used most of my modules in my patches.
As Lugia have pointed out in other posts a small rack do not need buffered multiples. I agree with that but my A-180-3 was very cheap :-)
In comments to my first rack suggestions ”everybody” told me I need a slew limiter. So far I have not really figured out how to use it in my patches. But I am sure I will learn.
There are some more modules I have on my wish list as Maths, Tiptops Fold Processor and Miso. But that has to wait.
I will also buy a delay module but so far I am using some guitar pedals for effects.
But my main question is:
Shall I buy one more Plaits or go for something else?
My rack so far:

Clouds is out of production, so unless you have one on hand or want to go thru sourcing a used one, you're better off using a third-party build. These also tend to be considerably smaller, which is also useful. The Peaks is in the same situation, btw.

If you have this paired with a 2s, you might want to look into some modules which can screw around with timing, particularly if you want to get better use out of the Euclidean Circles. Logic modules are a must for manipulating gate behavior, plus adding some clock dividers/multipliers would also probably prove useful.

Buffered mult: unnecessary. If you have 4-5 VCOs to drive with a single CV, you'd need it. I advocate using NO multiple modules on small builds like this, btw; you can get the job done with inline mults and/or stackcables and save some panel space.

Add another VCO. Even if you're using something like Plaits as VCO 1, having a second VCO to detune or sync against it will yield some excellent (and bigger-sounding) results. This also means you'd need to add a proper mono mixer to combine your VCO outs, and after that you might consider a CVable waveshaper (Tiptop's is a good choice) to get more timbral variety. Plus, add a quantizer; yes, the 2s has that, but one with various scalar patterns might come in handy to get some cross-modal lines going against the 2s.

Have you considered adding effects, such as delay, reverb? Again, this is something that really fattens up/complicates your sound, letting you get more out of what's here.

Lastly, add some modulation sources such as envelope generators and LFOs. The Maths is useful, but you need more of this sort of thing, potentially along with a couple more linear, DC-coupled VCAs for manipulating CVs and modulation signals. Perhaps some attenuverters would go well here, too, for some nuanced control over your modulation.

Not too bad a start, otherwise. But it's got a ways to go. Try and keep things small when populating a cab this small. And also, watch your module depths, as the Rackbrutes really only have about 40mm in practicality.

Thanks Apache! I've been reviewing this "Learning Modular Synthesis" (linkedin.com/learning/learning-modular-synthesis/) and I do feel like I could use more envelopes. I'll keep it in mind.

Hey ArmHead, I am a newbie as well, only been at it for just over a year, but if your after some really cool cv generation, check out ornament and crime, its a bit involved and quite a steep learning curve, but has some amazing apps for weird and wonderful cv patterns, sequences, envelopes, and complex lfo's

Hi Folks,
Yet Another Newbie here. I'm starting my rack. I was able to pick up the Minibrute 2S and a rackbrute 6U for a good deal. I wanted to know what folks thoughts are on where I'm going.

I'm shooting for techno/synthwave/ambient (Lorn is pretty close).

Let me know where my blindspots are! I feel like I'm missing something with CV, but I don't know what. There's so much to learn!

Thanks!

Thanks for the tips. I do have a dual VCA that I use with both the ARP oscillators. Its the Bastl Skis and the o_C gives me all the lfo's and envelopes I need. All the 4 outs from the o_C will be going into the buffer matrix for quick assignment to where ever I need them. And it's the DFAM not the M32, I love the DFAM, its just quirky and erky and Great for all those acid leads. Great tip about the vacuum tube next to the uzeus, I shall move that. Thanks.

Try using the Disting as a quantizer instead. You might have a better shot at constraining the CV values that way, plus it'll give you proper scalar intervals to send back to the 2S's VCO1.

This build has got some very real problems, actually. For starters, I don't see any VCAs aside of what's in the Tesseract mixer and the M32. The mixer's VCAs might take care of audio levels...but how do you plan on using modulation to modify CV/mod levels? Basically, you can't. And part of that, also, is the drastic lack of modulation sources. Aside of the M32, I see only one very lonely Make Noise Function. No other LFOs, no ADSR (and variants), zilch.

Then there's the M32 itself. Mother 32s come with a case that has power already. And you've already paid for that case. So why pay twice to house the M32 and power it? It might be convenient, but economically, it sucks. Try this: take the price of your case + power supply, and then divide that by the total HP in the case. Then multiply that x60. Not so convenient now, is it? Even if you just count the one uZeus on that row in the equation, it's still a lousy bargain. And if you want (need) to add more (as noted), you'll now have to get yet another cab in which to put the various VCAs, LFOs, EGs, and other oh-so-boring BUT ESSENTIAL modules that this build just ain't got. So...take the M32 out, as you're going to need that extra 60hp real soon now for things that don't have their own cases and power, which is what should be in a Eurorack case anyway.

Next, things that are there that don't need to be. Let's start with the Takaab buffered mults. Again, aside of the M32, you have two VCOs. You don't need buffering to correct CV sag with just two VCOs. This problem really starts at 4 or 5 and above, depending on the frontend buffering on the VCOs in question. Now, I can see the mistaken idea of putting one by the VCOs...but the second one is for...what, exactly? Fact is, in a small build (which this is), you should avoid adding anything that you can replicate outside of the cab, and multiples are one of the big offenders here. It would make more sense to use inline mults or stackcables, given the space constraints...yes, even to replace the buffered mults here. Trust me, you won't see any detuning. Then there's the GSMN tube distorter; did you happen to read this in the MG listing: "PLEASE NOTE: As with all vacuum tube based designs, this module is very sensitive to noisy power supplies."? If this is the case, why is this next to the uZeus on the bottom row? And this gets into the whole concept of workflow/signal flow itself...and this is sort of a mess in that aspect.

Go and study classic, prebuilt modulars and semi-modulars...instruments such as the Moog 55, ARP 2600, EML 101/200, VCS3, and so on are the way they are because their workflow patterns are ones which function to assist the user. This current build doesn't seem helpful at all, which you'll find extremely annoying when your career starts to move and you're gigging live in a low-light situation and suddenly you're having a very hard time figuring out where you are on that scrambly patchpanel. Building a modular synth is just like building any other musical instrument -- it has to make sense from a musical standpoint, and it needs to be carefully thought-out before throwing money at it, because much of that money will wind up going up in smoke if you've proceeded with that process before A LOT of careful preplanning. That Neutron may have been inspiring, but it also may have given you a lot of wrong ideas, because they're definitely showing up in this build.

Actually, what MG needs is a tutorial on modular synthesizers and their use. I've been working on a multipart text on this for a bit, and could go ahead and crank it on out over the weekend. It won't help the lazy-ass TL;DR crowd, true, but in general those people tend to pay little attention to useful advice anyway.

YouTube videos - There can be only one!

If there are more than one YouTube videos on a module detail page or in the forum, only one can be played at a time, e.g the last one playing will pause. That is a requirement from YouTube, fixed.

Modular News refactored

The Modular News - brought to you by the social channels was broken because of changes in the Facebook API. Fixed.
While I was there: Modular News section had an isotope effect which aligned the news in columns via Javascript.
That was nice to look at but annoying to read, so I have swapped it with a simple view that works better on mobile phones.

If you are curious, find it somewhat hidden here:
https://www.modulargrid.net/e/socialtope

Met up with @opam to buy his Mutable Instruments Frames. Super friendly and accommodating, thanks!

Now I understand what to do.
I guess I can not get a precise range like exactly +2V to +4V. But I can live with that :-)

Hi, I am new to the forum, what a great website and have been reading loads of posts on the forum, it seems like a lot of very knowledgable muffy's on here, which is great, as I am still quite a novice. I have only been into modular for just over a year after catching the bug from the Behringer Neutron. This is my live rack (well my only rack), I am still waiting for the tesseract modules to be completed, but everything else is here. I use the auturia drumbrute for drums and I have an old roland space echo that I send audio signals into via the Divkid switches (which sounds ace). All of this is routed out into my UAD apollo where it gets some solid pultec eq and SSL comp with a dash of reverb. I have released several tracks on RD recordings this year under the names Apache Raver and Mindscape. And I am planning on making some videos at some point in the future. Any and all patching suggestion would be most welcome. Cheers

Oh wow yeah, I had no idea that existed, that's a super handy feature! Virtual modular version control. Very nice!

A Eurorack module (or any other format module) is generally just one piece of system that's necessary to make a Eurorack rig work. It's like buying a propeller, a seat, and a rudder and expecting to have a flyable airplane.

By the looks of it, you're buying "cool" modules but you don't understand the architecture that allows them to work together to get a creative result.

Understanding how a DAW works or being able to tweak the controls of a VST synth won't get you very far. That's a bit like walking into someone else's already patched rack and twiddling with the knobs. You can be an awesome race car driver but not understand how to build or rebuild the engine that makes it go.

Spend some time with software like VCV Rack and start building and patching. Until you're proficient with that aspect as well as identifying and using the utility modules necessary in just about every rack, you'll be pretty hard pressed to get the results you're hoping for.

You're putting together a rack without knowing a lick about what makes modular tick.

You're setting yourself up for an expensive failure. Read some of the other threads in this sub-forum and you'll see the same issue over and over again. Take a look at all the recommendations and follow them. We really need to pin those answers to the top of this sub-forum.

Sorry to say, but I have not figured out how to tune Marbles CV range to for example +2V to +4V. But I will try.

What exactly would the problem be in using the 0V - +5V range? Those are perfectly normal CV values, and by using the Disting, you're definitely up in that range going into the 2S. I'd say take the Disting's adder out of the patch and use the wider CV range, and just restrict the Marbles' behavior so that the amount of voltage swing is reduced but within the desired range of activity. Besides, it's a bit of a waste of what the Disting can/should be doing.

That's a great feature, Knut! Thanks

You can select in your rack which panel graphic to display via the Panel Selector function.
See here: https://www.modulargrid.net/e/forum/posts/index/1749

I have a ”problem” with Minibrute 2S.
With pitch in to VCO 1 from Marbles CV out (0-2V) the MB2S plays, as supposed, in the lowest octaves.
With VCO 2 there is no problem as it can be tuned to all octaves when fed from an external pitch CV.
But for VCO 1 there is only a fine tuning so I am stucked with only low pitches from Marbles when I use VCO 1.
(I do nor want to use the Output voltage range 0 to +5V or -5 to +5V).
That is confirmed from Arturia who have tried to help me.
My walk-around is to use Distings algorithm A-1 Precision Adder and add 1 or 2V to the pitch CV from Marbles. That works fine but I am sure you guys have a much better solution.

Mutant Brain panel image switched to black? This is not what my actual physical module looks like... Can I no longer represent the module that I own in Modular Grid? Please make a new module entry for the new panel design and restore the existing one to the panel that mirrors the modules currently mounted in the racks of everyone who has purchased the device up until now.
Side note - et tu, Hexinverter? Hopping on the black-panel bandwagon? I sincerely hope that this is not a permanent switch, and that you will still make silver aluminum versions of your modules available for purchase going forward.

Lugia is making a good point about discontinued modules. Mysteron from Make Noise is also discontinued.

Are these modules that you already have on hand, or is this build still speculative? I ask because the Braids, original Pam's, and the Pittsburgh OUT are all discontinued modules, and if you don't have these the best thing I could suggest would be to remove them from the build and look for current versions. At that point, it'll be a lot easier to see where you can go with this.

Hi Wedoh,

Yeah... Xaoc devices, I have a few modules of them, not the Belgrad and Zadar though but will keep them in mind, especially the Belgrad. Once I listened to your music and sent you my previous message, you motivated me with your music to play around with my NW1 and though I managed to get some interesting and nice sounds out of it, not so nice/beautiful as you manage to do that with the NW1. So thanks a lot for your information, I will have another look at it and see what I can manage to get out of the NW1 :-)

I put the NW1's output through the spring reverb (Stingray2) of Intellijel, also quite nice, missing a delay module though, so I need to look into that.

Kind regards, Garfield.

Hi Murodot,

If I click on your rack I get an error that it can't be found, a bit weird. So I can't see the details of all the modules, though it looks to me that you might miss a bit of the standard boring but needful modules/functions like: ADSRs, LFOs, filters, audio output interface and VCAs? To be ready for the future it might be worth it to get just a bit bigger rack so you don't have your rack full after a short while.

Good luck with the planning phase and kind regards, Garfield Modular.

Hi Skarpa,

There are thousands of modules so to give you an advice for which modules you want/need is very difficult here. Not sure if you meant for us to have a look at your 0 Coast Plus rack, which I just did. I see a combination of some very large modules and some very small modules (2hp). Do you really require 2 expert sleepers disting modules? Keep in mind when you use a lot of small modules that it might be difficult to get in a comfortable way to the knobs, i.e. difficult to access your small modules.

I understand that budget might be an issue, it always is ;-) However your rack is very small, perhaps save money on one or two of those fancy and big modules, use standard stuff first to start with and get yourself a bigger rack so you don't have issues with it as soon as you want to add a module to your existing rack? It's just an idea. Instead of those big modules I would consider to start with, for example, a Behringer Neutron or something like that, that saves you space in your rack and gives you some basic components you might require. Other than the Maths, I miss a few ADSRs and other than the Braids I miss some oscillators as well. I realised that myself just last weekend that you just can't have enough oscillators. Perhaps one or two LFOs as well? Or are you going to use your Maths and/or Disting modules for that? But if they act like LFOs or ADSRs, you are still going to miss some "boring" standard modules. I know it's a big puzzle that's difficult to solve. Getting yourself a bigger rack and wait with one or two of the bigger modules might solve a bit your big puzzle though.

Coming to the 0-coast, I just had this tested last weekend in combination with my Eurorack system and it just perfectly fits well together with the Eurorack system. It's fully compatible and I had no problems using it together with my setup. So if that was your concern, well that's no problem at all :-)

It's just such a pity that the 0-coast by its default delivery can't be transferred into the Eurorack case itself (though if you search on the Internet you will find ways of still getting that done), however other than that, it goes very well together with your Eurorack equipment and I loved the sound that comes out of a 0-coast, very nice!

Good luck with the planning phase and kind regards, Garfield Modular.

Hi Wedoh,

Wow, that's fantastic! I want more of that :-)

How and with what did you patch that NW-1 from Waldorf?

Kind regards, Garfield Modular.
-- GarfieldModular

Hi GarfieldModular!

Thanks a lot! I appreciate your nice comment!

I actually made the patch like a long time ago, I just recently decided to make a video for it. So I am afraid I don't remember exactly what I did anymore.. However, I most often patch the NW-1 into Belgrad, using some low pass filter with pretty much res. And in this case I think I patched it into my VCA and controlled that with stages using a 6 stage envelope. And out from the VCA into Tapographic Delay with custom taps and high res and modulation later on in the track.
Belgrad was probably modulated by the output of Stages "stages". And so was probably also the NW-1.

What I like to do with the NW-1 is to find a subtle wavetable and set the key track to 50%, then I attenuate spectrum and brilliance and manipulate them manually during the performance. These days I instead use a Zadar and leet it solely modulate the NW-1.

At least that's my guess because that's what I usually do :-). But generally I don't reson very much, I use som initial logic when I patch guessing what might work, and then I just listen to my intuition and what I like or not.

Yeah, Esoteric Modulation is a nicely crafted show. It’s extremely informative and a real pleasure to listen to. As for writings about modular synths, there was one blog I forgot to mention:
https://moinsound.wordpress.com/

Articles appear as infrequently as you’d expect from a personal blog, but everything I’ve read has been interesting.

Hi Jim

Thanks for your advice.
Yes, perhaps I've gone a bit overboard/excited.

I really liked a lightbath tune on YouTube where his only using mutable modules. So I copied his rack + added a few other modules from looking around the net and reading through many articles/forums, etc.

I used quite a few virtual analogue/analogue synths in the past and I'm super proficient on various daws and vsti.

I wanted to put together a system which I could use standalone but also integrate in my music production.

I got blinds because it was a good deal (second hand) but I see what you mean about blinds and veils in a small skiff.

I play percussive acoustic guitar and I'm into minimalist music and polyrythms. I like evolving harmonies which are never just played as a straight chord but implied by the interplay of different single notes played by different instruments. Hence my getting so many vcos.

I thought the two tides could be used mainly as envelopes and rings can also be an effect/resonator for other sound sources fed into it.

Rene, tempi and yarns or ornament and crime would (in theory) allow me to create complex polyrythms, right?

Mal-2 is a random generator, got a filter and a dual envelope. Passive attenuator.

Ornament and crime can be used as four lfos.

On top of that there's 0-coast. This is a good vco but can also be used as a function generator/utility module.

It has a maths section, looping slope, ad/ar, eoc out, random lfo, amplitude all linkable to outside sources to control those.

I was quite confident in my vco choices but not too sure what utilities to get so I held back on those.

I built my own wooden skiff for peanuts. Got a mean well power supply with busboard in it so I could easily expand on that by adding to it so I saved quite a bit there.

Do you think this is workable? And if not would you be able to advise on essential utilities to get me going?

Oh, forgot to mention I have quite a few quirky guitar pedals I use with this. Earthquaker devices avalanche run, Red panda particle, electro harmonix memory man and a few more including loop pedals and more run of the mill guitar pedals.

Thanks for your help so far man. I deff got too much too quick. Just rene has a 33 pages manual.. Ha ha ha let alone all the others, it'll be a long winter for me.

The thing you'll want to do is to listen for "beating". When tuning VCOs to unison, octaves, fifths or fourths, the second (and subsequent) VCOs will create a pulsing if they're not precisely on the interval in question. This is due to heterodyning: adding two waveforms will always result in some sort of sum and difference frequency. This is best known with ring modulation, where a carrier and modulator combine in a diode ring to cause only the sum and difference frequencies to be heard, with the original signals (optimally) suppressed.

But with simply mixing VCOs, you still get the sum and difference, but also the original signals. The "sum" is generally harder to hear, but can show up when dealing with very low pitches. The "difference", though...this is MUCH more prominent, and is what causes "beating" between two slightly-detuned oscillators. To get VCOs exactly in tune on those particular intervals, you fine-tune the second VCO so that the beating stops. But slight detunings can also be musically useful for creating the illusion that a sound is more than just the sum of two VCO signals, and thereby making things sound "fat". If doing this, though, the best practice is to tune VCO #2 exactly to VCO #1 (or #3, #4, etc), THEN slightly alter the #2 (etc) VCO's tuning so that you get that bigger, slightly-detuned sound. That way, you're relatively assured that your detuning should track properly.

The only times I use a tuner myself is when establishing a "reference pitch"...my "concert A", more or less. And in a lot of those cases, I'll simply use a synth that gives me a specific A=xxx Hz reference and proceed from there. But if I need to do something more elaborate, such as microtonal intervals or alternate tunings, then I bust out the Strobotuner and a reference table for cents offsets. That sort of tuning issue goes way beyond the "by ear" method above, especially if I need to get it right.

try posting an actual link to the rack not just a picture of it - amazingly there are thousands of modules and nobody knows all of them

you have made mistakes 1 and 2 in modular newbieness

1. filling the case up too quickly - with no room to expand

2. getting all shiny trendy modules and forgetting about the plumbing

You have way too many voices and appear to be quite light on utilities for so many modulation and audio sources and destinations

veils and blinds together in such as small case is too much as I think are 2 tides (even if they are different models)

possibly a good exercise is to explain (here or to yourself) your reasoning behind picking each module and question why you haven't selected more basic utility modules

I would reduce* the number of 'voice' modules (voices/vcos) to 1 or 2, keep one effect, rene/tempi, veils and one modulation source and work out how these combine (probably with additional utility modules) to produce interesting audio - you may want to strongly consider getting a disting mk4 as well - it will help you understand what different types of module do and guide you on your path

*this may just involve sticking them in the cupboard for now and reintroducing them when you are actually ready for them

delays, reverbs and utilities - make a little modulation go a long way?

just to re-iterate - get the biggest case that you can see yourself filling over a year or 2 or 3

generally this will be at least 6u and 84hp

mostly this is as a long term money saving strategy - I know it might not seem it in the short term

generally the best bang for buck (cost/hp) is the tip top mantis - which is a great case, although some dislike the aesthetics - but not as much as I hate the rackbrute

doepfer and ladik both make very useable, inexpensive modules that are not tiny and have real knobs on them - but are generally bigger than 2hp and often cheaper than the 2 hp equivalent

the 2hp modules are great - for sticking between larger modules - if there is enough space to get to them easily - tbh I find the same issue with a lot of 4 hp modules too

just take a look at the 2hp youtube videos - they've almost always got blank panels between the modules

Shout out to @smartbits for a very fast and efficient sale of his Amsynths JP8 LPF to me. Excellent stuff all round, thank you!

Thanks Lugia,

It seems like I got the whole quantizers thing wrong and now I see how I'd still need to tune the VCOs. In fact I've listened the "180db_" track many times before but it never occurred to me why it sounds like that, VCOs out of tune, that makes sense now.

Up until now I've been using an app to tune the VCOs, I guess I'll have to train my ears a bit if I want to do it your way. Time to practice I guess!

Hey thanks for the links,

I'm a big fan of MylarMelodies and Divkid, I already knew about the Why we bleep podcast but I wasn't aware of Esoteric Modulation and I'm enjoying it a lot.

double post

I am trying to work out what other modules I should add to this rack. I would like to make ambient sounds so any suggestions would be great!

Ey up everyone

https://cdn.modulargrid.net/img/racks/modulargrid_991748.jpg

Nearly got all this together, just missing a couple of the smaller modules.

Ideally I'd like to be able to make some generative music but also use it in more traditional applications coupled with a daw.

I also have a 0-coast to pair with it.

Any thoughts and advice would be greatly appreciated as I'm a total noob to modular (although I have used synths for a long time).

Thanks

Alex

EDITED Sep 10th 2019, 19:16

Hi All,

I am Garfield Modular, pretty new into synthesizers, since about February 2019 (listening at synthesizer's music since about early 1980's), but wow what did I got hooked up with this new fantastic hobby. Almost every day and night busy with it, since early this summer I got finally a Eurorack system, now I am getting even less sleep and even more hooked up with the modular stuff!

One big enjoyment :-)

Kind regards, Garfield.

Got an Intellijel 1U Noise Tool from @shimercase, everything went well. Serious seller