You've got the uModII already? Well, don't let it go! I've thought for a while that that was a superior piece of gear, especially due to the separate "SUM" and "DIFF" functions. Most ring mods don't let you go there, and if you can find a quadrature VCO to pair with it, you can get fairly close in behavior to a Bode Frequency Shifter. Not spot-on, but pretty close.

I think he's done. His website says, "All manufacturing has permanently stopped." A few months back I hashtagged Moffenzeef on Instagram and he just responded with "Moffenzeef is dead."
Hopefully he'll pop back up with a new project eventually.

+1 for the VC8. Not only is it a one-stop for linear VCAs, you can break out the mixing capability in a number of different ways for routings and CV/mod mixing.

Hi Sacguy71,

Ha, ha, sorry, I have to apologise to you and thank you at the same time for your kind help (thanks a lot for hinting Chris Meyer, I didn't know him yet, will check out his stuff). However please do notice this was not real seriously meant by me. By writing that I like all those flashing lights and that after seeing one Eurorack two weeks ago from a friend of mine and that I directly want one because it's just cool...

Should have perhaps been an indication to you and other regular readers that this wouldn't be me because I am member for more than a year and after that one should have more experience than just looking for "nice flashing lights modules" (aka sexy modules syndrome). My above rack and the "hidden" message behind it was meant as a kind of parody ;-)

Check out JimHowel1970's above message, he hits the nail on its head, this "designed" rack is a modular acrostic. Hence, read my P.S. and P.S.2 and then you should be able to solve the "puzzle".

Kind regards and I hope you are not angry at me? Garfield.

I'm going to miss Moffenzeef.... He had a very unique vision that will be sorely missed.
-- farkas

Yep...but is he really done, or is his store just going online only? Losing someone with that warped a vision of electronic percussion is going to hurt if he's out of the game.

Eurorack Pitch + Gate Sequencer Module Comparison

Hi Defragmenteur and Kalu_Bandali,

Yeah nice puzzle right ;-) ?

Oh no Defragmenteur, more abbreviations, UCA? I am so new within modular, all these abbreviations, how am I ever able to produce sounds from my Eurorack? ;-) I just wanted to have a Eurorack for all those nice flashing lights

Kind regards, Garfield.

Hi JimHowell1970,

Ha, ha, I am glad you recognised it as a modular acrostic :-)

Yes, for the moment it's good that you have removed the solution, let members give it a try first themselves ;-)

Kind regards, Garfield.

My pleasure Garfield,

Really fun sharing and sad to see so many dislikes by many unknown or mean spirited visitors to my channel who cannot appreciate modular sound creation and experimentation.

Thanks Garfield!

I was really just messing around trying patch combos and settings while reading the manuals and watching video tutorials on the new modules. Man, the Kermit, Bionic Lester and Quadrax are super DEEP powerful modules that can do what would normally take a dozen individual modules to achieve! Some menu diving and learning hidden combos but worth it for small setup to play full tracks.

Hi Sacguy71,

You got some very interesting sounds there! Oh, and thank you for mentioning the Intellijel - Quadrax, I totally overlooked this module, wasn't aware of it, great hint :-)

Kind regards, Garfield.

Hi Sacguy71,

Interesting Saturday evenings you have! :-) Partly it reminds me of a steam locomotive somewhere in a far away galaxy ;-)

Nice video and thanks a lot for sharing this. Kind regards, Garfield.

Hi Garfield,

In that case take a look at the Hermod, Eloquencer and 512 vector sequencers. Those seem to offer the features you want in a sequencer for modular stuff.

Hi Defragmenteur and Sacguy71,

Thanks a lot for your ideas and provided links. The WMD - Metron looks quite interesting but is mainly focussing on percussion & drums. I am looking for a mixture of both percussion/drums with 3 or if possible at least 4 sequencer channels beside that. Something like the Arturia - Keystep Pro but then in Eurorack format and without a large keyboard ;-) The only two sequencers I found so far are the non-released ones yet of: Endorphin.es - Ground Control and Erica Synths - Black Sequencer.

If you know of similar (or better) sequencers, especially of those that are currently already available, then please let me know :-)

Thank you very much and kind regards, Garfield.

Yes i tried this, same issue without Gate. i also tried with an lfo to v/oct ... It's seems better but I don't know what to think about it (im a noob) : https://drive.google.com/file/d/1NdgfzD0TuWfGqAxWikqJnADsC-Wbyt1J/view?usp=drivesdk

Im in contact with the builder of the module. If he cant help me... i will try the tech forum.

Thank you so much for your help.

I already have :
-the MB2S
-Plaits
-Rings
-Veils
-Doepfer quad ADSR
-a passive 2hp multi from Doepfer (i know.... but i'm not fond of stackcables )
-Erica Synths Black Stereo Delay
- and a Ripples which will be probably useless (not visible on the screenshot.)

What do you think about the other, possible, modules ?

Clouds, Erbe Verb ... or Maths ?

The ZPO seems to be a very rich analog vco. That's what i'm looking for. But do you think the others modules are enough for taking advantage of it ?

Musical styles inspiration : Depeche Mode, John Carpenter, Tangerine Dream, Perturbator, ....
This kind of think :
Link
Link
Link

EDITED Sep 30th 2020, 07:11

get a quad cascading vca - such as veils or intellijel - either will be able to be 4 vcas, 4 external input amplifiers, a 2-4 channel voltage controlled mixer

Maths is a great module - but it is more than the sum of its parts - google the unofficial "maths illustrated manual"

kinks is another great module that will add a lot of functionality in a small space = including logic!
-- JimHowell1970

Thank you @JimHowell1970 just followed you on instagram

With your suggestions, updated rack looks like this. Appreciate the direction from both @Lugia and you

EDITED Sep 27th 2020, 17:26

get a quad cascading vca - such as veils or intellijel - either will be able to be 4 vcas, 4 external input amplifiers, a 2-4 channel voltage controlled mixer

Maths is a great module - but it is more than the sum of its parts - google the unofficial "maths illustrated manual"

kinks is another great module that will add a lot of functionality in a small space = including logic!

EDITED Sep 27th 2020, 17:07

well it seems your English is good enough!!

have you tried without the gate patched to strum, a change in note should trigger rings

the transpose function is on the keyboard - so it is just general playing etc and not the frequency cv input

it certainly does not seem to be correct

I suspect you might be right about the quality of the build - was the vendor a known builder - ie have they built and sold a lot of these or was it just some bloke and a soldering iron?

I would initially try to contact the person you bought it off, describe the problem and see if they will fix it or refund - if you bought it with that possibility

if this doesn't work out then you might try the muffwiggler music tech diy subforum - there is a sticky list of reliable builders there - and of people looking for them - and there's also a mega - unsuccessful mutable diy builds thread - you may be able to find better help there!

Thank you for your message. My english is quite limited ... i will do my best. in fact it is not only a question of transposition. Basically, when I connect a controller (bsp or keystep) cv gate to rings (cv to v / oct and gate to strum), I can only play the notes on a very limited part of the keyboard. Afterwards, no matter which note I ask it to play, it remains stuck on the same note (the last lowest note or the last highest note). We can hear it in the video. I can't go down or up in octaves, can't use the transpose function. No problem with my controllers and other VCOs. This is a DIY module that I bought used and I'm starting to think whoever sold it to me wasn't being honest.

Ask me if you need more details.

Thanks !

Cool a Puzzle lol

Thank you for the sanity check! that's why this site is so good!

To many UCA!

I'm going to miss Moffenzeef. I use the Mito and Deviant in every patch. Unfortunately, I could never get the Muskrat to sit well in any of my music (which is weird because I do a bunch of glitchy stuff) so I sold it. He had a very unique vision that will be sorely missed.

Thank you @Lugia for detailed feedback.

It would be foolish not to listen to experienced users as a beginner. Understood on the size of the rack. Expanding it will be wise and pair down from there.

I already own uModII but as this is my first move into the rack I'm not completely set on the set up and believe that it's better to take suggestions of more experienced users then try to learn through errors. I'm sure there will be plenty down the road anyway.

If I understand correctly it would be beneficial:
1. loose pico drum
2. no Circadian Rhythms (use stand alone machine)
3. need to add VCA (Erica synth is V2 is a good option here?), attenuators (something like Maths?) and logic (can Maths serve dual purpose for logic and attenuator)
4. Boolean logic by Adventure Audio?

Thank you again for the guidance.

Thanks Jim and Sacguy, kinks is on my list, and I will DIY another frequency central VCAs. That Logica XT looks amazing. Decent price too! Good call. Thanks again.

hahaha - a modular acrostic!!!

edited to remove the solution

this should be stickied

EDITED Sep 27th 2020, 10:31

i don't remember there being any latching in Rings...

does this only happen with rings? - have you tried the same sequencers with other sound sources and get the same or different results?

please describe exactly what you are doing - by transpose do you mean send a sequence to rings v/oct in and transpose the sequence on the way in or do you mean send a sequence to rings v/oct in and use the frequency cv input to transpose?

is it an original, a clone, a diy module you built yourself?

The System M0ffenzeef looks hella fun

Looks like the last stock is in the stores for Moffenzeef, always liked his selling tactics on Instagram :) Blunt and Honest.

I used my Make Noise 0-coast as a background drone noise to thicken up the sound and had fun tonite again. Ran out of patch cables. So time to order more as well as stackables.

One thing is certain: the IME Kermit MK3, Bionic Lester and Intellijel Quadrax are super complex deep modulation tools that are simply incredible amounts of features and functionality in small package! For a small setup, they can do quite a bit!

Nah one can never have too many VCAs :-)
I want the VC8 by Erogeneous tones that way never run out.

Hi Garfield,

Nice! I thought that you already had a setup? Anyways, I am new and well and learning with my new setups. Ok let me take a stab at it!

To help:

"By the way, what does LFO, VCO, VCF, ADSR, EG and VCA stands for?"

LFO= Low Frequency Oscillator
the slow moving oscillator that modulates other things like VCOs and can have different rates of control.

VCO= Voltage Controlled Oscillator
The main sound sources of a modular system. They oscillate as sound waves back and forth nonstop. I use a scope to view them for example there are various wave types of VCOs- square, triangle, sine and so forth.

ADSR= Attack, Decay, Sustain, Release
Often part of an envelope generator. Helps manage how long a note lasts and things like that.

EG= Envelope Generator

VCA= Voltage controlled Amplifier
Lets you do all kinds of useful things for managing volume and voltage stuff with sound and modulation sources. More is better :-)
My two setups have 12 VCA total and I only have 2 VCOs and 2 drum type modules so have it ok for now.

I highly recommend the book Patch & Tweak and the Youtube channel and website by Chris Meyer he is a master teacher of modular synthesis.

https://learningmodular.com/

If I am wrong here feel free to correct my oversight as I am just a humble beginner to modular as well.

Had fun tweaking and patching tonite and experiment with LFOs and Noise Engineering modules. Here is my jam:

To much vca...

Hello Everyone,

I am so happy with this forum, so useful, everybody is so nice. I am new into synthesizers and modular synthesizers I only have heard about two weeks ago when a friend of mine showed me his Eurorack. That looks so cool, all these modules, those flashing lights, I straight away thought I must have one as well. Way cool to do some electronic music, right?! :-)

Below you will find my first rack design:

I would appreciate your help and advice so I can have a good start into modular, you know, it's so cool, all these flashing lights, I just love it.

By the way, what does LFO, VCO, VCF, ADSR, EG and VCA stands for? You know I just start looking around and have difficulties understanding all these abbreviations.

Anyway, I look forward for your kind help and thank you so much, this is such a cool forum you know!

P.S.: Oh yes, if you wonder how I came up to this rack, please take of every module the first letter of the manufacturer name, that provides the first sentence. You could take of every module the first letter of the module name as well and that will be the second sentence, defining the rack and me as being such an enthusiastic beginner, again, thank you so much! :-)

P.S.2: No manufacturers with nice flashing light modules starting with the letter U, so I took V instead, so if you see a V make that a U in the sentences.

Another maker to look at if you're shooting for percussives would be Moffenzeef, hands down. NONE of their modules does anything...ah..."sensible" with the sound, but what they DO do is just off the chain.

Don't do this. You're majorly painting yourself into a corner by using a cab that's FAR too small to accommodate all of the functionality you're aiming for. For one thing, if you have to jam ALL of one function's voicing into a bunch of 2hp modules (which are a pain to adjust in the configuration your actual build has), you're doing something wrong.

Generative ambient...besides not really being very percussion-centric...really requires a lot of control manipulation subsystems that you don't have room for here. Think more along the lines of a machine that has a nonrepeating patch program, and once it's set into motion, it continues to create without performer interaction. THAT is "generative ambient".

I would stop right now if I were you, and go and get a copy of VCV Rack. You need to see firsthand how this should work, and what it really requires, and without the intermediary of VCV Rack, it's going to be far more difficult to pick up on this. Right now, you're building a money hole. You don't want to do that. LEARN the proper functionality requirements, THEN move to hardware...otherwise, this sort of thing gets real spendy real fast.

First up, the uMod II is discontinued, so unless you have one or can source one, it's probably best to remove it from the build.

Secondly, don't do the drums in here! This build is TOO SMALL to support lots of different functions; you're already missing a lot of what should be there just to support basic synth functionality.

Third: Richie uses a lot of bespoke devices and software. And without these, you won't replicate his workflow. Not that you should, anyway...if you check your driver's license, and it's not from Ontario and doesn't say Richard Hawtin, you probably shouldn't be trying to replicate his setup. Given that there are SO MANY possibilities for individual builds in Eurorack alone, it's far easier to find your OWN sound than lifting someone else's.

Now, as for the build itself...first up, jettison the small cab. If you insist on using the Circadian Rhythms, well, that takes up a HUGE plot of panel real estate, and it would work better in a 2 x 104...not this. Next: drums...just get a proper drum machine. Something like a Digitakt, etc would actually be MORE flexible in the end than trying to sacrifice part of the modular for a function that's better left to a stand-alone device. And in fact, you SHOULD be building in a much larger cab to start with...then you should pare down from there to arrive at the right case form factor.

Next, utility modules aren't a luxury...they're a NECESSITY. If there's none of them (like right now, for example), then trying to get the maximum horsepower out of the expensive crap will be an exercise in frustration. If you lack VCAs, attenuverters, logic (ESPECIALLY if you're doing major sequencing!), and so on, your rig will suck like an Electrolux! And you WILL come to loathe it. FYI, you'll notice I'm not including the Invy here; $100 for a dual attenuverter/offset is a tad much, and you should be able to get into something with identical functionality for less.

As for things that're right here...the FH-1 is a very good pick, and frankly, you might find that sequencing in software and then piping that to the modular via the FH-1 would be a better choice. It definitely cuts back your space usage. And the White Gallop would make for a great internal clock gen/mod, but this would be improved by a couple of orders of magnitude by adding some Boolean logic so that you can massively screw with the sequential timing. As for the rest, though...this is more of a "do over". Try some of the suggestions above (especially expanding the case size), and see what you think.

hey, looking for some advice. I'm attempting to make a generative ambient synth with a bell, drone, white noise, and drums (kick for sure, plus snare for good measure). This particular set up seems to be a balance of being able to be both "generate" rhythms and be random in melody output while still able to, when needed, be planned out enough and be played live.
The Disting MK4 is likely to be either an effects mod that I haven't thought of or a very expensive quantizer. The Quadrant 1U is mainly going to be a mixer because I could not fit the 2hp quad-channel mixer and the Clep Diaz sequenced LFO. I do not know where my drone is coming from at this point, I know the 2hp LFO can reach audible levels however I am thinking about switching the VCA for the 2hp sine module, my current idea is that the VCA would modulate the rainmaker, I am not sure which is more important.
It is important that I can have multiple separate sequences to trigger each of the voices and in order for it to be generative/random, I went with the Pamela's New Work out instead of the Steppy it also allowed me set a percentage that any beat would be skipped. It also allows me to put in the Noise Tools 1U for the White Noise along with a Sample and Hold. The idea of this synth is to take a set triggered Bell sound and use the rainmaker to "make" it into a melody. Please inform me if I am missing something obvious, like MORE VCAs instead of switching it for a sine wave or other effects for the kick and snare, by using stackable cables I am wondering how the rainmaker would react to having multiple voices input into it. I did not link the modules because I do not know the syntax yet.

That doesn't necessarily sound digital in nature...I'm more inclined to think that there might be some sort of CV latching issue with the module, as it sounds like reaching a certain change amount locks up the latch. IF, of course, there's a CV latch in there.

OVERVIEW
This patch aims to make full use of all 4 available outputs on the Nano Rand (Teal - Random Voltage Algorithm), with each of these being sent to 1 or 2 destinations, colour-coded to match trace lines on DATA for easy identification and signal monitoring.
GREEN - Originates from the Metropolis' Pitch output
BLUE - Originates from NR Sample & Hold Output
RED - Originates from NR Random Voltage Output
YELLOW - Originates from NR Gate Out
PURPLE - Originates from NR Noise Out

SOURCES
1. Supercritical DCO straight into Cinnamon filter
2. M32 straight into VSL-74 filter
3. Noise Generator from NR straight into DCO FM Input

DISTING
A7 - Comparator mode outputs gates and A and B outputs based on the higher of either the attenuated NR Random Voltage output or an offset generated from Channel 3 of Maths (likely between 1.5-2.0V). Disting's Channel A output triggers an ADSR envelope on Pique #2, which controls the lowpass cutoff of the resonant VSL-74 filter. This filter envelope (and the static M32 tone it processes) is antagonistic to Disting's B output, which triggers an AD envelope on Maths that goes to the Metropolis AUX A input (set to "d. In" or time divisions of the incoming clock from Nano Rand's Gate output, modulated to taste with the on-board attenuator)

PIQUE

1: Trigger Stream Randomizer: low probability of trigger acceptance but high probability of retriggering and some jitter. Pique 1 defines the frequency that Metropolis will reset

2: ADSR envelope, which sets the cutoff value for VSL-74 and thus dictates the influence of the M32

NANO RAND
As mentioned above, all available outputs are used in this patch in order to explore the full impact that the nano rand can have over the frequency, amplitude, and timbre of a patch. The Rand Algo Switch CV Input is notably absent, as I developed the patch to focus on Random uni/bipolar voltage and didn't need random audio rate pulses or random stepped values. The Random lfo voltages in this patch helps to obscure the tempo being fed into Metropolis. A few interesting things learned about Nano Rand in this patch:
i) bipolar/unipolar RND switch is a powerful tool to explore. On the surface, it would seem that one that just use unipolar for envelope modulation and VCA levels, but it can also be a useful way to "constrain" the randomization depth to just 0-+5V. On the other hand, bipolar provides a much wider range of random voltage values, opening up modulation possibilities in a big way.
ii) The flat frequency white noise output on Nano Rand is useful to send into FM inputs on Oscillators and CV inputs on VCA's, to "dirty" or obscure a timbre
iii) Nano Rand's Gate Output can be an interesting and unconventional clock source, as it derives random gates from the internal/external clock that are musically related to it.

METROPOLIS
As I typically like to do, Stages has been set to Default: 8 but I have an odd number of pulses in the sequence, as well as a series of Reset pulses that are sent at random from the Trigger Stream Randomizer on Pique #1. The Metropolis is clocked, as mentioned above, externally by the random Gate Output on Nano Rand, which generates gates that are musically related to the NR clock. The SCALE is set to "dIMIn", which Intellijel calls diminished but can more accurately be called half-whole diminished, and I think sounds the best in this context. There is a small amount of Swing added, because why not, at 54.

CINNAMON
Cutoff kept between 9:00 - 12:00, beginning with normal resonance behaviour but later switched to folded sine character (lower of the 2 reso. character switches). This cutoff range is where you hear the most activity from either of the alternate resonance responses so I kept it around there. Normally the attenuator on Cutoff CV is kept high but I will periodically lower it throughout the performance of the patch. I keep the boost off most of the time because I find that it flattens the richness of the alternate resonance responses and cutoff cv's a bit.

SINC DEFERO
Plays a small but important role here as it constrains the Nano Rand random voltage values that are sent to both Disting's comparator (Y input) and to the 2B input on SPO, which influences the attenuverted output from Nano Rand's S&H, that goes ultimately to the first Quad VCA's CV input.

QUAD VCA
Using both Quad VCA's here, which didn't actually turn out to be necessary as I could've just used 2 channels of the same Quad VCA, but is still useful to clearly separate one VCA stage from the other. The first VCA receives CV information from SPO as described in the "Sinc Defero" section above, and the second VCA receives CV information from the VSL-74's output. During the patch I make a lot of use of these VCA's, particularly of their linearity response knobs, which can really boost, fold, and clip both the audio and CV inputs fed into their respective channels, an extremely useful knob!

EDITED Sep 27th 2020, 11:00

Hi!

Thank you in advance for any feedback. I'm new to the modulars and spent sometime thinking whether I should jump into it or not and after signing up to Chris Meyer's course decided to try.

This is my first attempt. Any suggestions are appreciated.

I'm a big fan of Plastikman's (Richie Hawtin) music. This is the type of music I would love to achieve to play down the road. I'm planing to use my OP-1 with it.

Can you please advise:

1. placement (in which order) of the modulars inside the rack. I bought Make Noise 3U 104HP Skiff?
2. what am I missing in this set up to achieve beginner level electronic music?

https://cdn.modulargrid.net/img/racks/modulargrid_1332663.jpg

I appreciate the support and love of this community.

Thank you

Let the fun begin

first modules and case arrived today

The ADDAC 103 T-Networks is great, does a nice 808-ish Kick then some great other Toms, blips, etc that fit in and around other elements really well.

Nice! Had not heard of the ADDAC voice drum modules before. How do you like them? They seem like good value for beat making in modular. Pair up with Erica Synth Bassline and VPME drum voice module and support modules for beat box. I may pick one up to pair with my BIA in the future.

You definitely need more attenuators/inverters/offsets, logic module, sequential switch and more VCAs :-)

Check out 3xMIA by Happy Nerding and Klavis Logica XT as well for these sorts of things. I like the Intellijel Quad VCA module quite a bit as it has extras like attenuators and boost for signals.

copy and paste the url

I'd go fh2, utilities, Maths, es9, more utilities

utiltity module ideas:
links
kinks
AISynthesis matrix mixer
shades

Thanks for that Jim, I was trying to figure out how to do that :)

Hey again,

I’ve finally decided to go without the Morphagene for now, it’s a pretty cool module but I think this small cab will be much more fun to use if I add a few utilities instead.

Removing the Morphagene frees 20hp in the top row and this is what I changed:

I moved the Pamela’s New Workout to the top row and it now sits between the PS and the VCOs, this should avoid any noise from creeping into the audio chain as Lugia pointed out. I guess the Pam’s will be setup and forget most of the time, so from all the cv modulation modules it kind of makes sense to put this one besides the PS.

Then I added a wavefolder as Farkas suggested, but instead of the uFold II I decided to go with the AntiMatter Crossfold because it can also be used as a crossfader or a VCA, that will surely be useful in this small cab.

In the second row I replaced the Mixup with the Happy Nerding 3xMIA as Farkas suggested too. I would lose the mutes in the Mixup though, but the acid rain Switchblade can swich, mix and mute audio or cv, so far so good. Also adding a kinks to rectify signals, do basic logic or use the s&h and noise. Pretty cool, can’t wait to have this guys in my rack.

Ok, so there’s 8hp left so far. I was planning to add a classic ADSR at this point, something like the MFB ADSR with CV ins for the different stages, but then I stumbled upon the Make Noise Function.

The Function is quite interesting but I’m afraid I don’t fully understand its potential yet and I’m unsure if it really complements this rack. I know it can be used as an ASR envelope generator or as an LFO too, a part from that I don’t know what other tricks it can be used for, but the EOR and EOC outs make me thing there’s a lot of creative patching possibilities in this module.

So, does this rack still make sense? what about the Function? Should I replace it with an ADSR or with something completely different? I think the rack kind of makes sense for its size but your feedback is more than welcome.