Newbie: modulators for ambient/granular?

New to Eurorack but not new to signal processing and digital effects. Looking for advice on modulator/LFO modules for an ambient/granular/delay/looper rack to be integrated with my pedalboard. Not looking for random or S/H so much, just a variety of waveforms, prefer slower speeds than faster if there has to be a choice. My taste leans more to the serene than chaotic.

PS. Not planning to use this as a sound soure, so no VCOs etc. required.

Thinking for me the Intellijel pallete is a good starting point.

Rack so far is here:

I'm thinking Xaoc Devices Zadar and an Intellijel 1U Quadratt to attenuate or attenuvert the outputs manually.

I believe the Zadar can loop and play at very slow rates. The Quadratt ensures you can adjust the amount of modulation on the fly. You could also use the Quadratt to mix waveforms from the Zadar as well.

I think that would be fast to set-up in a pedal board situation.

EDITED Feb 18th 2020, 18:11

Random is the most important kind of modulation for granular.

Random is the most important kind of modulation for granular.
-- richc90

No. You need smooth, SLOW modulation waveforms to make scanning through granules easier. Do it too fast, and you don't get the right sorts of textures.

My choice here would be the 4ms QPLFO, actually...since that gives you LFO periods that can exceed an hour in length. Plus, this can be backplane-patched to a 4ms SISM for CV-controlled mixing/inversion/etc which also makes patching simpler, definitely a plus if this is intended for pedalboard use.

I'm thinking Xaoc Devices Zadar and an Intellijel 1U Quadratt to attenuate or attenuvert the outputs manually.

I believe the Zadar can loop and play at very slow rates. The Quadratt ensures you can adjust the amount of modulation on the fly. You could also use the Quadratt to mix waveforms from the Zadar as well.

I think that would be fast to set-up in a pedal board situation.
-- Ronin1973

Awesome. Had not heard of the Zadar before. Looks very interesting. Thanks!

My choice here would be the 4ms QPLFO, actually...since that gives you LFO periods that can exceed an hour in length. Plus, this can be backplane-patched to a 4ms SISM for CV-controlled mixing/inversion/etc which also makes patching simpler, definitely a plus if this is intended for pedalboard use.
-- Lugia
The QPLFO looks like a good candidate too. The 4ms site says it is only available in DIY kit form. That is a bit beyond me at the moment but I imagine there are some available on the used market. Thanks!

Random is the most important kind of modulation for granular.
-- richc90

No. You need smooth, SLOW modulation waveforms to make scanning through granules easier. Do it too fast, and you don't get the right sorts of textures.

-- Lugia

Speed/smoothness has nothing to do with whether the modulation is random (think of Sloths).

Random modulation to things like position, panning, grain size, amplitude, pitch etc are all standard practice in granular synthesis (go look at any software granulator with built in modulation, or the Supercell module which has internally generated random modulation normally to the CV inputs). Whether a given kind of modulation will give you "the right textures" (whatever that means) will depend alot on the specific audio in the buffer and what results you want to achieve. That's why (for instance) the Granulator software offers you ways of randomly modulating parameters as well as more standard LFOs.

FWIW I'd get Batumi and Blinds rather than QPLFO and SISM.

You might check the Divkid Instruo Øchd. 8 LFO's in 4HP. From very very slow to any fast you'd like.

I've been using the Zlob Modular Diode Chaos a lot lately for this type of stuff, and it's making me really want to pick up a NLC Triple Sloths for more slow modulation. Zadar and Batumi also seem like they might be good candidates for you.

^^ Was just about to suggest Sloths. Also, you can get a very small 1u version of Sloth that would be a tremendous addition here.