Building a system around two moogs and a Pittsburgh voltage research lab

I'm primarily a drummer and already do a lot of electronic percussion stuff. I'm also a synth lover and have a small collection of quirky digital synths (a korg M3 rack, Blofeld, and an Organelle). I've been watching eurorack from the sidelines for awhile and thinking a lot about what I'd like to do.

I mainly interested in pulsey, winding, spacey, analog patches that have a rhythmic component but aren't about sounding like drums or even sample based in any way. Frippertronics would be a good frame of reference. And I'm mainly interested in happy accidents and live performance - I guess what they call west coast style.

I started with a Subharmonicon and love it. Eventually I found a used DFAM and dig the combo. I wanted a good normalish synth but wasn't bowled over by the mother 32 or behringers. Was strong for an 0-coast but fell in love with demos I saw of the Pittsburgh Modular Voltage Research Lab. It seemed to be the kind of quirky + learning platform that I'm after and I just snagged one. But now I need an actual case! And also a strategy for building around these things. Space wise, I can do at most 3 X 90. Smaller if I leave the moogs in their own skiffs.

I don't need effects or samples. I'm pretty handy with PiSound/Organelle effects and just run the two moogs through a pisound running modep and control it using the computer or an android app. I'm mainly interested in things that would expand the quirks of what I have in terms of evolving sequences and weirdness. I need to focus on small as I have limited space and blew a lot of it on 3 large modules.

I have a beatstep pro and a McMillan Qunexus for triggering though I don't much care for beatstep's way of programming sequences compared to the more fun/random ways the subharm and dfam work.

Anyway, thx in advance for any suggestions!

https://cdn.modulargrid.net/img/racks/modulargrid_1343489.jpg

Do leave the Moogs out of the cab. Not only do you get more space, you get space for things which don't already come with a case and P/S. In this configuration, you're paying to house those Moogs twice. Don't do this, as it wastes necessary space AND winds up costing you even more to do this than it would to keep them where they are already.

Now, as for the Pitt voice...you should possibly look for the Lifeforms Touch Controller that it should be mated with. I know Noisebug has this in stock at present...but it's also worth noting that finding new Pittsburgh stuff via the usual sources is showing up a LOT of "out of stock" and "discontinued" flags. That doesn't bode well. Plus, you'll still wind up missing the auxiliary module that's part of the VRL setup. Talking with Pittsburgh Modular might be of help here; perhaps you can get the controller, auxiliary module AND the VRL cab from them directly, as that setup really is something of a "thing unto itself" and needs to be treated like a single instrument.

Thanks!

I did a fair bit of research on the Voltage Lab and came to the conclusion that I didn't really want the entire VRL system with their touch controller - just the module.

I definitely am considering leaving the moogs out of rack. Then I could do a smaller rack which would be nice. I'm also considering one of the moog skiffs and bolting it all together with those moog side panels. But one 60hp with the Pittsburgh doesn't leave much room.

I could possibly add a second empty moog 60hp and go 4 tiers. But in my closet like space two or three rows of 84 or 90HP would fit better. That's what kept pushing me towards a box of some sort.

Don't go smaller YET. One of the best methods for getting a build right is to start in a case that you think is "too large"...because, invariably, it's NOT too large once you get the "feature" modules in alongside the "boring" stuff that's there to make the former set of modules really do their thing.

Three rows of 90 hp? You just described the Pittsburgh EP-270. But you didn't mention the BEEFY power capacity it has, which is a huge plus! Plenty of space, too...the angled front leaves ample internal space for deeper modules. However, it's not exactly set up for controllers, given the lack of a "flat" row. But you could also go with their EP-344, which also has the 1U utility row as standard, 5 Amps on each of the 12V rails, plus a "flat" row that's made for controllers, performance mixers, etc. More expensive, true...but as a long-term project (which all modular systems SHOULD BE viewed as), it works with its 4 x 86 hp form factor...still small, but still spacious.

Thx - that 4 row rack is just too expensive as would filling it with stuff!!

Als0, not sure I need the flat row as most of my controller options are external anyway. But the sloped EP-270 is near the top of my list. Or just a rectangular one that I could always lay flat or tilt back.

Also, I'm wondering if I might do a plain case with a flying bus power for a few modules and then just use the wall warts for the two moogs. I know it would be a somewhat short term solution. But that would be good enough for a while.

The EP-270 is sort of a tried-n-true thing, because that angled panel setup is pretty much one of main features of the ARP 2600's UI. It allows the system to be at a comfortable playing level while still keeping the controls face-on for easy reading. I wish you saw more of this sort of cab in the Eurorack environment instead of flat skiffs/cases or purely vertical ones.

As for the Moog cab idea, actually, that's not a bad one. Assuming 4 hp for a uZeus in an empty Moog skiff, that would still allow 56 hp for a "sidecar" cab of Euro stuff, and it + the Moogs could then fit nicely in one of the Moog 3-tier frames. I'd suggest the sidecar go in the middle slot, also...easy routing of those signals to either the DFAM or Subby. DO note, however, that you'll want to locate an Erica MScale in there as well to deal with some CV oddities that the Moogs have that aren't 100% Eurorack "kosher".

EDITED Oct 11th 2020, 23:57

Ah, Just was reading about that mscale. If I don't really care that much about accurate tuning or am fine tuning by ear, how important is it? One of the reasons I went with the voltage lab was the amount of randomness strewn about the module.

Re cases, I have a really small space and something I can move or stack stuff on would be best. My studio is like a weird little cave at this point, and it's pretty much dominated by drums! I've been looking at some of the little cases like Intelijel, Mantis, or Nifty just to have something to run the voltage lab in for a while. I want to spend a lot of time digging into it as I did with the SubH and Dfam.

Not sure what other things I even want at this point to tie it together. Maybe a weird little sequencer. And a mini 3 or 4 ch mixer with an effects loop or two, for my organelle and raspi effects.

Thx for your help!