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The right module next for you is the module you want. I don't understand why guys are asking other people how to design their rack or which module to buy.
-- GunnarWaage

I get it. I like to have others' thoughts when I feel like I need to make a decision. Each of us can always learn something. I think asking others is just part of the learning process. There's always going to be sombody else out there with more smarts and experience (at least compared to me :)~ And, I'm going to want to hear others' experiences when I'm undecided about dropping the kind of cash that a Eurorack system can soak up!

i already got all the modules shown in the posted racks
-- Broken-Form

So, like others have already asked, what's not blowing your mind right now? Are there things that you use all the time? Do you have any modules that you like but have a hard time actually using? What makes you think that you need another module, other than a desire to fill up empty space? Do you just want some blind recommendations, or are there things/sounds/effects that you want to learn how to create?

I think that's what I take away from Gunnar's comment, above. If you want useful recommendations, it helps to have some idea of what you are looking for. IOW, if you don't know where you're going, you're probably not going to get there. And I say 'probably' just because even a blind squirrel gets a nut once in a while.

So, to my point, here's my suggestion... Since you want to do dark ambient, you may not be interested in adding some percussion but, since I'm not yet sure what you're looking for, that's what I would miss in your rack. Personally, I can't imagine having a rack without it. You may not want a 4/4 kick or snare hits cutting through your dark ambient atmosphere but it would add creative possibilities for adding punctuation and playing around with tempos and rhythms.

At the same time, there's nothing wrong with not having any percussion modules in your rack. Be bold! Do your own thing! Best of luck with your journey!

Right... "We're all playing together now, children." Just sayin' it does sound straightforward but, in practice, not so much for some. Requires more listening, as opposed to playing. I know I can struggle with that sometimes.

These two guys (El Ten Eleven) definitely seem to have some sort of click or guide track in their earpieces. You can see how they check in with eachother before starting the song.

Of course, neither of them is playing a modular. They are each sampling and looping while playing their respective instruments. I would also venture to say that neither of them is leading the tempo. They both seem to be following the guide track. Yeah... they're practiced.

I hadn't heard TOTL before. Thanks! I do like that kind of thing but, no disrespect, once a month is probably about right for me too, mate!

Watching vids of Nerve w Jojo Mayer, my guess is that they can simply read each other's minds. It looks like Jojo is leading the tempo but the synth player still gets all the arps, bleeps and bloops in just the right spots.

Those two approaches make sense. I imagine the free improve approach could be somewhat dependent on the types of sounds/effects being coaxed out of the modular. If the primary rhythmic component of the synth sound is just something like some mellow filter modulation, for example, it might be harder for the others to lock into it, compared to a more heavily sequenced groove. Or, if the synth part is more like an intro that fades as the band comes in, tempo sync might not even be a concern. Same if there are parts where the rest of the band drops out in places where the modular comes in.

I've used stompboxes that have tap tempo with limited success when playing bass or guitar. My approach was to give the tap tempo button a few taps every several measures or so, to try to keep the modulation in sync as the drummer's tempo fluctuated. Definitely requires some practice. I can imagine tapping a button with your finger might be a bit easier to coordinate than repeatedly tapping with your foot while playing guitar.

Ideally, it seems like the easiest, most effective situation would be if everyone in the band is capable of playing along to the same (click) master clock as the modular. But, I'd still be interested to hear some others' ways of doing it.

Hi. I have a little less than two years experience with eurorack, so far. Still learning. Still consider myself a newbie. Just collecting modules and making wild sounds at home in my basement. But, I would really like to be able to jam with other musicians.

So, I am curious to learn how other eurorack players approach playing with a band or just jamming with other musicians. Of course, you can just plug in a keyboard. But my background is more guitar, bass, percussion. I'm not much of a keyboard player, but I can get down with a sequencer, for example. Generative sequences, pulsating drones, rhythmic modulation, random sequencing, etc... all being driven by a master clock, it all still fits together... as long as you are not trying to be in time with other players.

So, for those with experience, how do you make it work within a live band setting (i.e. drums, bass, guitar)? I've heard of bands that work with a click track. Seems like that could be rather challenging. Tap tempo could be used to adjust the modular's clock tempo relative to what the drummer and other players are doing. But I can imagine that becoming tedious and troublesome, too.

Of course, I will admit that I haven't been brave enough to try any of these ideas, yet. I am still at the 'advice-seeking' stage. But, before I stick my neck out, I would love to hear how others have dealt with this. Is it possible to use a sequencer and still keep the band's timing toghether? Is it a matter of playing with talented musicians who know how to listen and follow the synth player instead of the drummer? What have others tried? Things that either did or didn't work? Please share your experiences. Thx!

I think I would miss all the other awesome sounds that Plaits is capable of if I had to use it for kicks. I have a Kickall and a Tea Kick. I like the great big fat bouncy deep kicks that those guys can do. But I would also like something that is tighter and punchier. 'Course, I'm always looking for something! LOL!

I don't imagine that the combination of features, ease of use, and price point for the BSP will ever exist in a eurorack format module, even though the 3 sequencers it embodies could be described as rather "vanilla" compared to what is available in numerous eurorack alternatives. It undoubtably does appear to be a great piece of kit that excels at supporting a modular synth system.

As a self-proclaimed newbie (only around a year) with eurorack, I am still busy learning about and enamored with all the possibilities for various work flow scenarios within the rack. I think my hesitancy with getting a BSP is the, perhaps unfounded, idea that it might take me out of the rack to some degree. As a bass/guitar player, I've been into stompboxes for years. So, I tend to associate my synth rack with the idea of a pedalboard. It's typically awkward to integrate an external processor with a pedalboard. Granted, integrating the BSP with eurorack seems to be seamless. But I still get the feeling that it will draw a piece of my focus, physical, mental, creative, away from and out of my rack. And right now I am really into "the rack."

Of course, I may also be obsessing and overthinking the whole thing, too. But that's kind of where I'm at... for now, anyway. Certainly enjoying the debate ITMT. Could be a game changer if Emile takes a swing at the BSP, though!

I have an ICD/pacemaker implant and have not really considered that any of my music gear posed any sort of risk. If you are that concerned, I would recommend contacting the manufacturer of your implant to ask if they are aware of any risk. My wife and I have been considering getting an induction cook top, which works by generating a magnetic field that could interfere with a pacemaker. When I asked my doctors about it, I got a lot of conflicting answers. So, I emailed the manufacturer of my implant and actually got a phone call response by a very knowledgable person who was very happy to explain all the concerns and answer all my questions.

Good suggestion! I've had my eye on the Behringer 182 for a while. Great value even for the modest feature set. Strikes me as kind of a budget workhorse. A bit of a step up from a Baby 8 type sequencer (https://www.modulargrid.net/e/other-unknown-tearaparttapes-baby-8-sequencer) which is what I displaced when I got my SQ-1. So, I think it might feel a little like a downgrade from the SQ-1. Changing the direction of the sequence is not something I currently do much, if at all. But I do very much like being able to set the length of the two sequencers independently. The ability to disable individual steps to create rests within a sequence is also a feature of the SQ-1 that I use a lot. But, since I do have other gate sequencers that could sync with the 182, I suppose there are workarounds to emulate some of the SQ-1's capabilities. So, I guess I'll just keep my eye on the 182 while I keep hunting. Thanks!

Hmmm... Strong arguments for the BeatStep Pro! I've already started collecting gate sequencers (Steppy, Euclidean, Turing). So, my thought was that I need to find module(s) to cover the CV side of sequencing. In comparison, the Tesseract seems to allow for greater manipulations/combinations than the BSP. But, the BSP supports longer sequences and also seems to be much more intuitive to program, at lease to me. Of course, the BSP won't fit in my rack. But, as mentioned, that leaves space for more utilities, modulators, effects... and, they're both in the same price range. (Don't mind me. I'm just thinking out loud.) Definitely considering the BSP. Thanks!

Thanks for the replies! While I am comfortable with the SQ-1, I've only gotten into Eurorack within the past year or so. So, I feel like I still have quite a bit to learn. At some point, I would eventually like to get a more "feature-packed" sequencer. But I'm trying to be budget conscious... not quite ready to drop $500+ on a single module. Man, I thought drummers shelled out a lot of coin!

The rack mount for the SQ-1 looks cool although it does claim a lot of real estate. And, as I alluded to above, I may be gradually talking myself into a bit of an upgrade. So, the Moritz Klein 5-Step is maybe too basic for me. But the Tesseract Step Fader looks rather attractive and the newer mk2 version seems to go for only about twice as much as the SQ-1. Also, as I am still learning about stuff, all of the Step Fader's functionality is not immediately intuitive to me, so it could be something that I could grow into and learn over time. Thanks, again, for the ideas!

I have a Korg SQ-1 CV/gate sequencer and think it's great bang for bucks. But I would like it more if I could get it off my desk and into my rack. What options, DIY or built, are out there for eurorack sequencer modules with similar functionality in the same price range? Most I have found seem to be at least twice the cost if not much more.

I'm kind of a newbie here, but I would suggest some filters. You can add some nice movement to a bass drum by putting it through a filter and modulating the filter's frequency or resonance with a sequencer or LFO or envelope follower or...

I'm primarily a guitar/bass player. But I've also had several different synthesizers and sequencers over the years, and eventually got seduced by eurorack modular within the past year. So, I do consider myself a newbie around here. Anyway... Really enjoyed this discussion and it got me thinking...

Philosophically, I have always felt that the SONG was king. And, I know lots of folks feel the same. IOW, it could be a crap recording played on a $100 pawn shop guitar. As long as it's a good song, it will still be a good song. Likewise, playing a weak, uninspired song on a $5K Hummingbird is never going to make it a good song. So, good music, a good song isn't ultimately about the gear.

But, I start to wrestle a little bit with that idea when it comes to modular synths. Especially as someone who is still learning some of the basics, it often feels like the gear itself actually has a huge influence on the music that comes out. Add a new module to the rack and it can inspire new sounds you never imagined. Realize a new way to patch things up and the gear is now a major part of the inspiration for the next awesome new song that you create. It actually is about the gear.

I'm not saying it's good or bad. I just think it's interesting. Maybe a little bit of a paradox.

v1.2 installed and all is well! Thank you! Very cool stuff! So, it's the right button, not the left. I pro'lly should'a picked that up the first time I read the manual... Doh! But it's all good now! Thanks, again for the help!

EDITED Dec 28th 2022, 20:34

while holding the left button, and turning up harmonics, the model lights should light up- in order- all the way to the top.
-- fretless19

OK. That's definitely not happening. I'm off to install v1.2. Thanks!

Thanks, Jim & fretless. I followed that procedure. The two bottom model leds light up once harmonic is turned all the way up and stay lit while I turn harmonic back down, then they go out when I release the left button. And no chasing leds, and still no LFO action.

BTW, just curious, where is that procedure documented?

Maybe I'll try Jim's suggestion, but install v1.1 instead of the most recent v1.2. Since I can go into color blind mode, I assume that I already have v1.1, but that's the way the module came to me. Maybe a reinstall will do it?

Also curious, does v1.2 retain all the features of v1.1 (color blind mode and LFO mode) as well as the 8 new models?

How do I enable LFO mode? I have an ALA Beehive. I can put it in color blind mode. But I don't see the "chasing lights" pattern mentioned on the Mutable Firmware page (https://mutable-instruments.net/modules/plaits/firmware/). Also, all settings of the Frequency control still sound like audio range. No LFO. Do I have to do something else after going into color blind mode in order to enable LFO mode?

I've been designing and building stompboxes for years. Just got hooked on eurorack this year and have been having a blast with this little setup. It's not just a layout plan. It exists in real life and, so far, I've just been recording and jamming with it on my own. I haven't quite figured out how to incorporate it into the live band situation, yet. For one thing, it feels like it takes me too long to set up and change patches. Maybe I just need more practice? Anyway...

I sort of think of it as a percussion skiff. My goal with this skiff is to create rhythmic, melodic backbones and soundscapes that I can add acoustic instruments to (i.e. hand percussion, bass, guitar, keys, etc...), occasionally vocals, too.

I am trying to keep it relatively compact. But all the comments here about difficulties with too many small 2hp or 3hp modules make a lot of sense. I happen to only have one 2hp module (div) but I find it really useful and use it in almost everything.

The TAPLFO and the PLVXf are units that I designed and built myself. The PLVXf is a Polivoks VCF clone based on the freely available schematics on the web and I like it a lot. The TAPLFO is based on the Electric Druid TAPLFO3c chip (https://electricdruid.net/product/taplfo3/) and has a lot of nice options, but maybe a few too many. I am thinking that a more compact redesign of the TAPLFO might be in order.

For some randomness, I used to have an Erica Synths Swamp (Wogglebug clone) installed but took it out to make space for the filters I now have (Zlob SVF, PLVXf, and SSM2044 - I am also working on an EDP Wasp clone that will be the same size as the PLVXf). I am now trying out the Zlob Diode Chaos to replace the Swamp and save a lot of space. But I think I might still be looking for a random module that suits me better.

As for sequencers... what I like about the Baby8 is that it has both gates and CV. With the individual gate outputs for each step, you can trigger up to 8 different things. What I don't like about it is that consecutive gate outputs do not trigger independently. They just make one long gate and only trigger once. So, I am looking into replacing the Baby8 with an Intellijel Steppy. Four tracks of gates but no CV. But I do have a Korg SQ-1 for CV sequencing. I'll see how it goes.

I really like having a delay in the rack, but could maybe go with something smaller. Suggestions?

Feels like I've already written too much. So, I'll leave it there, for now. Again, I only got started on this within the past year but I am having a blast figuring things out. So, thought, comments, suggestions are very welcome!