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Great techniques discussed here.

I use a Blue Lantern Modular Subharmonic Generator to achieve this and have had great results. This module outputs a copy of the original harmonic and 3 lower harmonics and can also act as a clock divider. I usually use the triangle or pulse wave out from the Rat King Modular Tone VCO and pass the subharmonic generator's output into it's out filter and LPG/VCA. I use Maths to supply the envelopes for both the master VCO and the SH voice, giving me the option to create alternative envelopes for the subharmonic's VCA and filter.

I discovered Math shortly after I started planning and building my first rack. It was the 3rd module I bought and it's by far the most powerful and unique module I have. I can't imagine not having one in my rack.

If you're short on space, I can recommend the Happy Nerding 3x VCA as a great mixer/VCA combo. Also take a look at the Make Noise modules like Optomix, Dynamix or ModDemix.

I did exactly this with my Make Noise Powered Skiff and it worked fine.

I just upgraded from a 104hp 3u skiff to the Arturia Rackbrute 6u and I love it. The size and form factor are perfect and the stand/handle is great for setting it up to play at different angles. Enjoy it! I think you will like it.

If for some reason you have to replace a ribbon cable, they are readily available from most websites/stores that carry modular gear. In the USA, Perfect Circuit, Sweetwater and even Amazon have them(I just bought one to replace a bad cable on my 2hp Pluck from Sweetwater for $6 shipped). There are 2 flavors: 16 pin to 16 pin and 16 pin to 10 pin. Like others have stated, you will get a ribbon cable with each module and they are usually paired with either flavor cable depending on the design of the module. Also, you will almost always get 2 sets of screws with your module to mount it to your rack, a set of 2.5mm and a set of 3mm. The Rackbrute takes 3mm and comes with 8 screws to get you started. I would recommend grabbing a set of 3mm screws from amazon if you find yourself losing any of them or if you but second hand modules.

You can tune the Mimetic Digitalis's CV to notes but it will be easier to dial in melodies quicker with a quantizer since it does take some time to tune in melodies without one. For some people it might not be the most efficient workflow. I like to use it this way, but if you're used to writing sequences by playing keys or dialing notes, you may find it cumbersome. The shred feature creates random voltages across several octaves and since there is no built in scale quantization the results are not always in key or musical. It lacks dedicated gate outputs for each channel, but you can use the channels to out put a voltage to trigger an envelope per step.

If you can live with only 8 steps of sequencing, I would say go for the Varigate 4+ since it has built in scale quantization, a built in clock, probability, repeat, clock division and is expandable. MD is more of a modulation source so it lacks all of those features.

Have you looked at the Qu-Bit Octone? It's a similar module(size, price and features) but also have a few options the MD and Varigate 4+ don't

One thing you could try is to focus on using only 3 modules at a time together. Take a look at some of the videos in this series by Comparative Irrelevance I've learned so much from this series, it might help you too.

You might also want to grab a small 4ms pod or maybe throw together a small DIY skiff and pick 3-4 modules and spend time getting to know them and what they can do. Something small that you can sit and play on the couch or even throw it in a backpack and take it outdoors away from the studio can do wonders for inspiration.

I had a Tune at one point - they work great. I recommend adding an Expert Sleepers Disting Mk 4, it has dual a quantizer along with shift registers (Turing Machine) and whole lot more. It’s a really useful module for under $200 and only 4hp. You could ditch the Tune or just have more quantizer for other vcos

I’d suggest grabbing an Arturia Keystep or Beatstep Pro for sequencing and save your Space for more modulation sources. For about $120 you get a solid keyboard controller with a built in arpeggiator, sequencer and you can switch MIDI channels while the sequencer keeps playing and play live over another channel. Great performance tool. You could also drop in a Mutant Brain and use any MIDI device for control like a Novation Circuit, MPC or Digtakt. The Mutant Brain is completely customizable giving you plenty of cv/gate/trigger and even clock division options for output. Using an external sequencer is going to result in far more control over compositions at a much lower cost. If you want a more randomized or more generative composition, try a shift register and quantizer combo along with a keystep to enter root notes that the system can then transpose or riff off of.

As far as stereo goes, I think it’s worth it if you can find the right mixer module that fits your system without taking up a lot of space. The intellijel Mixup is a great little stereo mixer with plenty of inputs and stereo output in 6 hp.

Also, I tell this to everyone: get an Expert Sleepers Disting Mk 4. It’s an amazing module in a very small package. It’s probably the best wav player/sampler/Swiss army knife for the price and keeps getting better and better every update(which is very regularly).

If you can handle the small knobs --- the Złob is treating me well.
Lots of vca in a small package.

-- wiggler55550

The Zlob is very tempting indeed, especially since my system is very small(3u 104hp). I was thinking I could 3D print some knobs to place over the stock ones to make them a little bigger. I did this with my Korg Volcas for volume, filter cutoff and few other controls I wanted a little bigger and it made a huge difference in usage. There looks to be a lot of room on the panel to allow for this on the Zlob.

I'm also looking at VCA/Mixers and I'm down to these:

https://www.modulargrid.net/e/codex-modulex-%C2%B54xvca
https://www.modulargrid.net/e/zlob-vnicursal-vca
https://www.modulargrid.net/e/happy-nerding-3x-vca-black

Building a small is definitely challenging but you can do a lot with it if you plan things carefully. You definitely want a balance of voices, modulations and control, so try to find modules that have multiple modes/uses, have built in VCAs or even filters.

I think you can ditch the Arp and Tune since the Hermod will cover those areas for you, so will Pam's Workout. You might want to add another voice source - maybe a 2hp VCO, Pluck or one of the Erica Synths Pico series voicing modules. In my opinion, the Expert Sleepers Disting Mk4 is an absolute essential in smaller systems providing you a plethora of tools that will come in handy including VCOs, filters, sample playback, the list goes on and on... If you don't mind digital VCOs, the Klavis Twin Waves might be a good oscillator that could help you add more voicing options to the system instead of Plaits. That will also free up a few hp that will help you fit other stuff in. Also take a look at the Mystic Circuits 0hp line. These are literally 0hp and highly usable for any size system and dirt cheap too!

I agree with all of the above replies and will add my 2 cents:

Start off small, experiment and learn. I think the initial setup you have there is a really good start and will be able to make some interesting sounds right away. Maths is an amazing module and the STO will sounds great and give you a sub octave out that can be used to get sort of second voicing. One thing you might to consider is instead of the Optomix, take a look at the Make Noise Dynamix. Works great as a mixer, VCA and can do side-chaining fx as well. Since you have a Digitakt, a midi to CV module like the Mutant Brain will allow you to get tight sequencing and melodies out this setup right away so spring for that if you can.

I built this module last weekend and at first tried to run an Erica Synths Pico Drums through it with little luck. The design of this module is such that no little to input results in self oscillation. The breaks in between drum beats created results that were not what I expected. That said, once I ran the Disting Mk4 running one of VCO algorithms this filter came alive and the results were fantastic. I really like the results I'm getting from this module but I feel like I now need a second filter just for drums.

I bought a 2hp Tune from @js213 Quick shipping and well packed. Module was in excellent condition as expected.

Have you thought about adding a Mutable Instruments Ears as input for your guitar? https://mutable-instruments.net/modules/ears/

This will allow you to use your guitar's sound to generate envelopes and gates while the output jack will pass the audio through for further processing/sampling etc. I've added one to my skiff for both external instrument processing as well as strumming MI Rings. My goal is to run acoustic and electric guitars thru Ears for sampling/looping playback via Morphagene (or similar modules) and using Ears' gate and envelope out for CV processing such as triggering sequencers, running Maths functions, etc. When not using Ears as an instrument input, I use it to play Rings, drums and other things. It's a really versatile module.