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Hello guys, what do you think about it? What would you replace and why?
I sequence externally via octatrack, I'd like to run just a melody from octatrack and derive other sequences from shifty/rnd etc., so that I can use the octatrack for audio mangling and live resampling and I can focus more on sound manipulation than on melody.
Music genres: ambient/techno/idm/experimental.
Is quadratt redundant with maths? I'd like to free up maths for more complex duties.
What about the vca section?
Disting ex will be my swiss army knife and Pam's the master clock.
My english is not that good, anyway I hope that everything is understandable
There was a lot of stuff in the original build that just didn't seem as if it worked together. Plus, you had some misunderstandings about a few modules, such as the difference between Maths and the QuadrATT (the former is a modulation source, the latter is just a quad attenuverter/mixer). In the end, I decided to rebuild the whole thing as a three-voice setup, keeping the Octatrack use in mind. I came up with this:
It's SORT OF the same...but things have either been reinforced or shifted to more capable/better sized modules.
Top row: Shapeshifter and QPAS...then I started having some fun. The QPAS is tandemmed with a CV stereo crossfader; this allows you to select two stereo output pairs from the QPAS and crossfade between them for more timbral complexity. Then I added two pairs of Noise Reap Paradoxes, which are dual crossmodulating VCOs, then these go to a Veils clone so that you can CV around through the VCOs to do some complex timbral stuff there, or "mixsequencing" between the four VCOs before this goes to a G-Storm clone of the Roland JP-6 multimode VCF. Notice that the VCF also has a dual input, which allows you to "break out" a VCO or two and feed them directly to the VCF, bypassing the CV mixing from the Veils clone. Lastly, I added the mo'fo of all nasty, dirty VCOs, the Schlappi Engineering Angle Grinder, for in-your-face leads. This goes to a Font, which is a Ripples clone. We'll get back to the audio in a bit...
Tiles got changed a lot. The MIDI interface is now at the left end, to feed the VCOs. Then there's a Noise Tools, which gives you noise, clocking, a slew limiter, plus a sample and hold. The QuadrATT got shrunk down to a DuATT to provide some modulation attenuation/polarization control for the VCOs' CV/mod inputs. Next is a sneakily-added passive LPG, which in tandem with your noise gen can serve as an extra percussive. Since the Rainmaker was simply too large for this sort of build, I added a stereo delay (or chorus or reverb) back in with an Intellijel Multi-FX, then the line I/O is next to this.
Bottom row: I swapped the Pam's for a Temps Utile, which I think will work out better in this build. Your Disting EX is next to this, followed by a dual sample and hold, then the Shifty analog shift register. After this, there's a buffered mult, which you'll want if you decide to put ALL of the VCOs under a single pitch CV. I switched out the Maths for a Befaco Rampage, which is the same general sort of thing minus 2 hp. This then allowed me to drop in a Batumi for CV controlled LFOs, and a Roti Pola which is there to allow you to invert/mix complex modulation signals from the Batumi. Another Veils clone provides VCAs for the CV/modulation signals, then the Zadar. I upped the FX Aid to the full version, and then put in a Toppobrillo Stereomix mkii; this provides final level VCAs for four audio inputs, CV over panning, and CV over FX sends. It also has FX send/return (stereo return) jacks, a headphone preamp (which can be switched to CUE for isolating mixer strips for tuning, etc), and mutes on all inputs. A mixer like this is pretty essential for audio control, especially if you ever intend to use the system live.
This is pretty beefy now. Technically, you can source as many as FOUR different sources from this build, including the noise-to-LPG routing I mentioned. I'd actually consider taking this out for live gigs myself, which is saying something. This should be more than suitable for your purposes, plus it's open-ended enough that it'll play nicely with the Octatrack.
Wow, I can't thank you enough.
About quadratt and maths, I know they are two different things but since maths can be a mixer/attenuverter I asked about the redundancy of quadratt in the previous setup.
I knew rainmaker was too big for this setup and I was looking for reasons to keep it 😆.
I don't get why temps utile is better than Pam in this context but I'll study more both and try to understand why.
only noobs think of redundancy in modular - at least from just looking at a rack
a module is redundant if and only if you never use it - and the only person who can work that out is the actual user of the rack - this is because how you patch may be different from how I patch etc etc
duplication of both functionality and specific modules is useful once you get past a couple of voices
"some of the best base-level info to remember can be found in Jim's sigfile" @Lugia
Utility modules are the dull polish that makes the shiny modules actually shine!!!
Yep...in many cases, you WANT "redundant" modules, particularly VCOs. That's why the VCOs in the subsystem with the dual Paradoxes + quad VCA are both the same. If you detune those to get that warm, rubbery detuned result (even better with the Paradox, as they have some weird internal crossmod and sync abilities), that's what you'll get. As opposed to if you paired a Plaits with a Doepfer Basic VCO, which would result in both different spectral qualities AND behavior.
As for the Temps Utile, I like the fact that it can be modulated by more (4 CV ins as opposed to 2) basic mod signals, plus it's actually a bit less menu-dive-dependent than the Pam's. Otherwise, it does much the same things...but the Temps costs around $100 less. And if you can duplicate functions AND save money...that's the right route!
