Yet another request for advice / actual build ... where to go?

Hi everybody!

I started making music with modular a year ago.
Might be some kind of mid-life-crisis thing.
Used to be a teenager-dream when i saw Dieter Döpfer exhibting his cases and modules in a music-shop in Munich.
Now 20 years later, eurorack doesn't look so expensive/difficult/scarry anymore.

So i dipped my toe in!

I have a 19inch stage-case (6U) wich is housing 2 rows (82hp each) for eurorack-modules (PSU is a tipTop uZeus). The case is pretty sturdy, can be closed with a lit - wich is great for moving the rack around, jammin with a friend (maybe playing live some day). Not a beauty but a pretty budget friendly case (lots of material flying arround unused).
So it's supposed to be between a Studio-Tool and a live instrument.

I polluted the rack very slowly during the last year. As a long-time reader on this forum i tried to stick to some frequently mentioned tipps for starters.

1. Don't get seduced by the "fancy" modules
2. RTFM before you buy a module to ensure what a specific module can do (and what not)
3. There should be a reasonable and usefull relation between the types of modules
   (sound sources < sound modifiers < modulation sources < utilities)
4. Don't buy a huge bunch of modules once, go slow, enjoy the limitation, understand stuff and exhaust the functionalitys of things you allready got

I also tried to resist buying very much "pricy" modules, due to fact that i wasn't 100% shure if would enjoy eurorack on a longer term. So after a year of research, reading and fiddling with the view modules i own, i feel more convinced to go ahead with my rack. I tend to check the functionality of my rack by building pretty much the same in VCV to see what makes sense (and sounds good). With the last two modules i purchased (MATHS and 3xMIA) i got a lot more possibilitys to mix/combine modulation CV and fine tuning modulation CV. In generall, they helped me to understand stuff.

So far so good.

At this curtain point of my build, im a little bit helpless to reach for new Modules. I just don't know where to go. So i'm asking for some input, opinions and feedback. I have two modules on my urgent wishlist, wich are OCHD and VEILS. I think OCHD is great, kind of a "no regrets" or "tried and true" module. I start to realise the possibilty of automating stuff within a patch so i think more VCAs with mix could help for stuff like that (im not set to veils).

I dont mind diving into menues that much and i also have no problems with cheatsheets ;-)
But i also like "dedicated" modules.
As a broadcast engineer i have no problem with tiny buttons and technical stuff
I'm willing to break with my tipp 01 (fancy modules) ... wich i allready did with maths

I definetivly have some fx on my short-term wishlist (FX AID not available at the moment).
I really like distings stereo-fx but i want to explore other disting-algos and get a dedicate fx module on the long term
Meanwhile i have reactivated my old tc.electronic delay/verb ;-) to free the disting

I have some "fancy" stuff on my long-term wishlist wich is (in particular order): PNW, Mimeophon, Data-Bender, Wogglebug and maybe dozens more. But those wishes are pretty random - I want to get the basic stuff covered first

Last but not least ...

I sequencing stuff in change with a keystep, SQ-1, sometimes with 2 channels of my Elektron Model.Samples.
I record my stuff with an desktop mixer, monitoring and recording with focusrite scarlett. Like a lot of people arround i like to work without the computer, except mixing and mastering tracks. Right know i'm more focused on experimenting and kind of rehearsing live performance.

Musically wise i thing i would describe my musical outpout as kind of ambient, dubish, technoid stuff.
As a kid of the 90s, aged hip-hop-head and rap/poetry artist im also attracted by the relatviely knew genre called "mod-bap"
I'm not into generative but i wouldn't mind to build patches that are kind of selve-evolving developing over a certain period of time.

Right now i'm not into swapping modules since i like all of them.
There might be a bigger cab in the future - right know i try to fill the case

Greetings from Munich and thanks for taking time,

Max

EDITED Feb 11th 2022, 19:46

Hi Max

I think you meant 'populated' not 'polluted', but it gave me a laugh - seriously don't let that discourage you though - your English is OK - better than my German would be, at least without google translate!

I wouldn't count Maths as a particularly fancy module - just incredibly useful - sometimes it's cheaper to buy a slightly more expensive module in the long run - veils is incredibly good value, for example - 4 variable curve vcas in 10hp - probably better value than the doepfer one you have...

FX Aid XL would be a good module to add imo

I don't have ochd, but I think I'd probably rather have Pam's (which I do have)

I'd say you seem to have a lot of basics covered - maybe it's time to think about something interesting...

you mention what you are using for sequencing, but not the pico seq... I've got one - I use it for sequencing song parts on Sinfonion - and only for that - I find the lack of a dedicated reset button/jack a real pain... what are your thoughts about it?

cheers
Jim

I've found Ornament and Crime to be a good multi-purpose module that actually helps many figure out what they really need going forward...they find a function that they really like and use a lot, then buy a dedicated module for it and then use O_C for other functions.

I've found Ornament and Crime to be a good multi-purpose module that actually helps many figure out what they really need going forward...they find a function that they really like and use a lot, then buy a dedicated module for it and then use O_C for other functions.
-- jb61264

good call...

I think you meant 'populated' not 'polluted', but it gave me a laugh - seriously don't let that discourage you though - your English is OK - better than my German would be, at least without google translate!
-- JimHowell1970

Don't bother, i had a big laugh aswell when reading your comment. I try to keep my rack celan and tidy, not polluting it

Thanks for the input on the o_C

I checked a lot of modules, manuals, other racks here but i never had an closer look to the O_c.
This could really be a nice thing but i think i'm only understanding half of the available functions.
It's very multi-purpose but it looks more apealing than the disting, i really like the content on the screen.

I'm not 100% set but i think i'll give it a try.

N.B. the namesake of the module "Ornament & Verbrechen" is a really clever essay - to much ornament is poluting things

you mention what you are using for sequencing, but not the pico seq... I've got one - I use it for sequencing song parts on Sinfonion - and only for that - I find the lack of a dedicated reset button/jack a real pain... what are your thoughts about it?

cheers
Jim
-- JimHowell1970

the pico-seq was my first module with the pico-voice.
I use the random function quite a lot for pitch, but it's great for cv also.
The interface is a little bit fiddly but with some practice i'm doing well with dialing in some simple baselines.
For faster stuff, bleeps and bloinks i use the random, wich is very musical to my ears.
Sometimes i also miss a dedicated reset button, on the other side i'm really good in stopping a patch on the last note of the sequence. The seq is also great for me as a neewbie to figure stuff out (e.g. scales, wich C) and to jam away instantly within everythin in the rack. When i dont use it for pitch it's modulating stuff. Great module!

Thank you so far!

Well, you could build up an entire system out of "primitives", ie: the very basic, mostly single-function modules. This would be as opposed to the "everything in xx hp" approach of the combined type modules. But doing so in Eurorack = Eurorack prices.

My main modular, though, is pretty much ALL "primitives"...an AE system, 180 spaces. And how much does it cost once it's fully-populated? Hmmm...maybe $6k...$7k if you really push it and include the Tektronix lab-grade linear DC supply I use with it. But the neat part is that it then becomes easy to build simulacra of typical complex modules. For example, this has either six complex VCOs when you use the colocated VCAs and mixer (it's sort of like a four oscillator variation on the usual two oscillator architecture) ...or you can just treat those configurations like 24 VCOs, 12 VCAs, and six mixers in other patches. And if you're into prototyping, they even have their "BrAEdboard" module, which puts a proto board right into the modular itself.

The main drawback is that, like Lunetta circuits, etc, these things only work with a 0 - +5V range. But while it might seem like that's a serious problem when it comes to external device interfacing, all you need is one of Soundmachines' Nanobridge boards and you've got incoming CVs and gates/triggers constrained to the proper voltage range. And audio can enter the system via an AE four-channel dedicated I/O module. Plus, you have to work with pinwires instead of the usual sorts of cables...but tbh, this has to have been one of the least-regretted things I've put money into. And while I know Eurorack pretty well and I've got some Eurorack gear here, when I need to do some seriously deep patching, I fire up that Monster From Murnau.