I need some help in starting a modular rack. I'm interested in generative ambient or dark ambient sound. Could sombody please suggest a starter rack with a budget of $1.800? Thanks Again! Eric
i didnt want to give a single sentence half thought through response, so i did a bit of a deep dive into 'generative'. it seems to me like it can mean anything from random, quasi-random, to procedural, and you have a lot of leeway in defining what it means for you. one option to consider is the moog labyrinth, it is a fully self-contained instrument, falls inside your budget, and gives you everything you need to start playing around with some of the many possibilities of 'generative'. (moog is a quite well respected brand, etc.) another option would be to really think long and hard about what you actually mean by 'generative', design your own custom sequencer in pd (pure data) controlled from a laptop, that you could then use some kind of interface to send cv note data out to a eurorack case, where you use your budget to create your take on a dark ambient voice chain signal path, something i dont know a ton about. i would recommend the strange-r bighat as a starting point for the generative aspect, but it already eats up into too much of your budget, all by itself. maybe check out the channel "not_a_creative" on youtube for some inspiration. unfortunately, i was not able to just design the perfect thing for you.
sorry. peace.
(edit)
{im not the right guy to ask about staying inside a budget. i tend to design stuff that ends up looking like this, etc.: ... ... ... ... ... }
another approach you might consider, if money wasnt an issue, you could just try to put together some of the modules that most interest you, that all together would give you the greatest possible ability to explore and experiment with. i tried to put together something like that for you, but including the cost of case it is already 2x over your budget, and im not even sure how to refine this concept fully yet, but this is what i have:
i cannot design your case for you, but good luck.
peace. ✌️
(edit)
oops, the eisei i think its called, i thought was mostly an lfo, because that seemed to be how it was categorized on this site. i was just trying to make a point about choosing the type of modules that make you curious to explore possibilities of everything they offer, as a personal aesthetic choice that i am encouraging o.p. to make for themselves. sorry for not reading the spec sheet on that.
peace
finally, to stay totally within budget, you could consider these three modules, (image wont load right, sorry.) and this case, and have a good amount of room to experiment with and expand with more modules later, and just treat this as the beginning of a journey, as opposed to 'finally' possessing a 'fully complete case' with infinite percussive sequencing options 'built right in'.
https://www.etsy.com/listing/1754453849/eurorack-case-6u-powered
just trying to be helpful with suggestions. ✌️🫠✌️
Maybe something like this?
This is somewhat basic, but I think it should give you a good starting point for producing generative music with eurorack ^_^
Not the most creative, but very practical because you can buy it in stages (Labyrinth has its own case, Hector (has its own case), case/utilities). Plus, as you learn more about specific modules and get more stuff (if you do), these will still be useful, and you can out them back in their own cases and use the space for more stuff.
The Hector is a suggestion I go to because it has so many Mutable Instruments modules ported to it. Marbles and Grids are great generative sequencers that are both there with great interfaces. It also has great effects and synth sounds from Mutable (and in general) that will work with the Labyrinth and cover areas it can't (as the Labyrinth does for the Hector with its filter, oscillators, and hands-on elements).
But, of course, make sure you do some research, play with VCV Rack or Hexen, and narrow things down so you know what you want and why when you start spending. There are a lot of ways to do generative modular – it's one of the things the medium does best.
Just in case you haven't found him yourself yet, Omri Cohen has some good videos with tips and tricks for generative music. I think this playlist should be of interest, but I recommend checking out more of his videos.
I enjoy little ambient performance racks.
Here are a few small ideas. Every row is a new idea.
If you want do do more complex stuff, you can add more stuff later.
Vihh x is a monster of a drone voice with internal effects
You basically need no other effects, just modelating it can be fun.
Very simple and small
1 Gliss for sequences -
1 Gliss for modulation and motion recording
You could add more modulation later. (if needed)
all in one ambient voice, sampler, effect unit with internal modulation -
you can have fun just with this without anything else
experimental synth voice with delay effect
sequenced and controlled by 0-ctrl
very performance oriented, works well for soundscapes and noisescapes
SGR is a industrial drum/noise voice but i can do awesome drones.
in combination with a mimeophon (dark delay, reverb, looper) it can be impressive
Dark Matter is nice for insane feedback but even suttle processing, and can do also insane sounds on its own.
Modulating Mimeophon and Dark Matter rhytmically can be awsome.
Mimeophon can be also like a instrument, with feeback and karplus strong.
Pamelas Pro Workout as Main modulation and sequencing hub.
Benjolin with Turing Maschine expanders as sequencer, modulation, filter and soundsource.
You can use the SGR for industrial drums or even drones
Dark Matter + Mimeophon (feedack, distortion, delay, reverb, looper)
Small SGR-Drone
SGR as drone and noise source
Ochd for slow envolving modulation + expander adds triggers, random, more cv for modulation.
uClouds for reverb, granular
Labyrinth + Sealegs
Labyrinth as soundsource and sequencer
Sealegs as selfmodulating Delay, Saturation and reverb.
There will be a lot of movement going on just with this 2 modules.
noise plethora + percal + muxslicer = glitchy, chopped up noise rhythms
Collide 4 as main vco, complex vco, percussion, distortion, processing, sound design tool
Mimeophon as looper with delay + reverb
Gliss can provide a quantized pitch sequence or just as custom lfo
Greetings
Chris
