OK you should fill the rest of the rack with NLC chaos modulation modules and a metric tonne of VCAs
Get a cv mixer like 3xMia or befaco A*B+C (encourage you to look carefully at the latter, it's like a smaller version of MI Blinds)
Get a uOrnament and Crime, install hemisphere suite firmware. It's incredible and will give you so many permutations of your modular.
Edit:
Although you could use some envelopes too and Stages is great.
Is this a real rack that you have? Don't you find yourself running out of modulation?
I think you could use this to make music, but you'd probably spend an extra 2000 on selling and switching out modules until you arrived at something you actually find usable.
You'll end up doing a lot of that anyway, but buying everything upfront is a surefire way to maximise waste.
If you're dead set on modular I'd take the VCV advice. If you haven't made electronic music before, trying using Reason or something else to find your feet and discover the joy of patching. Eurorack strikes me as a pretty treacherous place to start, unless you've got a focused vision and load of money lying around.
Also you don't need a dedicated module to do ducking, you can do this with vcas or Optomix. Part of the enjoyment for me is finding ways to make the most of simple components.
Thanks for answer, so you suggest of start with 1 x bia, 1 x md?
-- dvdvb
Ah I just responded while you were writing this. I'm no expert but yes those seem like a good place to start, maybe with a couple of other things.
I'm sure others will be have more informed opinions than mine :)
An alternative approach is to start small and organically build out based on what you feel would add most to your sound and workflow.
After playing with, say 3 core modules you'll get an idea of what is needed to get to the next level - and that will also encourage you to push your modules to their limit.
Having a big budget to work with is a real gift, but spending it gradually will give you a very personal journey.
EDIT: I'm certainly not an expert in Eurorack or NE modules, but to me it seems there's a bit of duplication in this system and possibly some simple things missing that are kind of core to modular - eg lfos, vcas, envelopes.
It looks like some of the modules in this system might build that into the module, and overall it seems geared towards triggering percussive sounds which is cool. But you might also find that a bit boring? I say that as a techno-leaning person myself :)
I'd still say start small. Choose a single sound source (eg BIA), one trigger source, a modulation source or two (Clep Diaz seems like a well regarded Noise Engineering module), and a CV mixer and see how you get on. You may not be making very layered tracks to start with but that's ok.
Also a very useful module to consider is a low pass gate (kind of a filter and VCA in one) that can instantly turn any sound into a nice organic percussive sound. I'm not sure what NE make in this area.
Good luck.
Thanks so much for this. Learning about the pros and cons of these modules and their applications is super fun.
Is lack of send/return the main reason you wouldn't recommend the Ladik modules for this use case?
I have thought about this a bit. My initial plan is to send the output to an external (non modular) mixer, which has sends and effects available to all my gear - for example I've got a Boss sampler that I can use as an effects box for now.
So for now there doesn't seem to be a good enough reason to include delay/reverb in the case. In the future I'd love to have a set of bespoke modular effects - and the option to use the modular as stand alone, or hooked up to the sends on my main mixer.
But aside from the range of modules available, I'm not seeing too many unique benefits from using modular for delay/reverb right now. I guess being able to rhythmically duck a reverb or delay reverb could be cool?
Thanks, I really appreciate these suggestions.
The Maths debate seems like a fairly frequent one in these parts. This had definitely given me some other options to check out.
Hi everyone, I am new to modular and exploring some ideas. I'd appreciate any feedback or ideas about this rack
A bit of background: I am currently aiming to add some sound processing and shaping capability to my home studio. As a priority I'd like to have more ability to add movement, modulation and frequency control to my external polysynths (I own a Digitone and Korg Volca. I'm considering buying a Korg Wavestation).
So messing around with the rack builder, my first iteration is focused on filtering and lfo/envelope generation. I expect to be using an external sequencer to sequence the modulation - probably the Digitone to start with to trigger envelopes/lfos etc.
(Also I realise there's not a lot to it!)
I am a big fan of Chain Reaction records. Part of the sound palette I'm trying to unlock includes sounds a bit like this - crunchy phasing and notch filtering, long high end sweeps, as well as punchier synth generated percussive sounds.
I like the idea of adding warmth and drive - but I'm generally not interested in acid sounds or excessively distorting the signal. (I initially looked at Sherman Filterbank, but it was far too focused on sound mangling)
Filter => Belgrad
- I love the control you seem to get on the Belgrad, especially the balance knob, so I'm not just tied to tweaking the cutoff.
- Are there other filters I could be looking at?
Envelope/LFO => Maths
- Er, its a Maths. I've never used one, but it seems right for the LFO and envelope work I'd need something to do. In general, I'm interested in how far I can get with LFOs rather than ADSR for plucking, sweeps etc
- Anything else I should be considering for this kind of use case?
Line In => A119
- An envelope follower on the in seems like a common sense move for a rig like this.
Line out =>Ladik A541
- On the off-chance that I ended up with 2 parallel signals, this could take them and mix them.
MIDI to CV - External
- I will certainly want to sequence the modulation, but that will probably start off being done with an external Midi to CV device, as I think we have one lying around.
- Are there any specific benefits to having MIDI to CV in the case?
As well as feedback on these choices, I'd also be interested in where I could take this - especially if anyone has any fancy ideas :) Potentially interested in:
- any module that could add unexpected new functionality to the rack. I like the idea of doing something with the Belgrad self-oscillation.
- other audio processing that might work in a rack like this. Considering things like chorus, phase shift, freeze...
- Semi-stereo-ish? I'm not sure I have the budget or inclination to commit to stereo across the whole rack - but I'm possibly interested in any efficient ways to apply some stereo widening at some point in the chain
Thanks!
