The pretty big re-arrangement

hi all,

this is my actual physical rack - 5 cases - plus a case I need to build - to hold the DIY backlog and some other modules I want - really only needs power before I build it - I'm ordering the power this week!

over time modules have more or less been added wherever was free or where they got the best power (video modules) and it's a bit of a mess so as I add the 6th case, it feels like time to rearrange it

I'm not looking to add any more modules or swap out anything at all at the moment - although I can always see applications for more utilities, envelope generators and video modules, maybe even a couple more filters (I can fill the next case too) - so whilst suggestions are welcome this thread is primarily about re-arrangement

If any one who can is up for the challenge, please have a go at rearranging

a bit of further explanation (it might help)

the black blind panels and big gaps etc are meant to divide it into the 5 soon to be 6 actual physical racks that I have

upside down modules are either DIY backlog (mutable, blue lantern, synthonie) or to be purchased over the next few months (magneto, chromagnon, crossfader, deckard's voice, optomix, doepfer matrix mixer) - but for the purposes of this can be taken as in the case

the left 2 racks are 9u/104hp DIY case and a mantis - they are primarily video modules with a few analog utilities

the middle 2 racks are a 9u/104hp DIY case and a 6u/72hp bastl case - the bastl case will serve as an audio pull out - so this could be built as a separate instrument - hence the tm/tune/mixer with headphones etc

the right 2 racks are both 9u/84hp DIY - one of these rack is not built yet - but will be soon!

actual case arrangement is similar although the 2 84hp cases will be side by side, instead of on top of one another

the 84hp racks are in front of the tv and the other racks are to the left, the top 2 are on guitar stands

there is some scope to move the cases about a bit - I'm thinking of swapping the left and middle cases around - but then it would be mean that patching the audio modules over the video case - I could try to move the video modules to the 84hp cases but I've not looked into that for power reasons - I don't think there are any easy/optimum solutions:

for example a lot of the issues could be solved easily by having the 2 of the 9u case horizontally in front of the other 9u (where the 6u are now), but then I think it would be difficult to reach the ones on the guitar stands - and I would probably have to kneel - these cases are on the floor - but it would mean that a lot of the video modules would be straight in front of the TV

all the DIY cases have a befaco excalibus 1.2A +/-ve 12v (not sure what 5V is but overall 5v is negligible) the 104hp also have a frequency central psu in them, which is a further 500mA on +/-ve 12v rails

mantis is 3A +ve, 1.1A(?) -ve and something on the 5v

the bastl is 1.5A +ve, 0,5A -ve and I think it also has some 5v

modules that are in the video path are constrained to the mantis and the befaco power supplies (which seem clean enough)

chromagnon is to be powered externally and may get moved outside the case in the future (as it has it's own case - like a mom32) but it is better in the rack if possible

TL/DR

here is my audio/video modular - it is messy and needs re-arranging - please re-arrange, offer suggestions etc as you see fit - I think I need more envelope generators, utilities and video modules - but that is for sometime in the future

Man, I wish I could help here. This is a great thought exercise, but I feel like once a rack reaches a certain size, the arrangement all depends on highly personal choices and workflow.
Personally, I'll be maxed out on space at 832hp soon, and had to make some recent arrangement choices that may be odd to some of the folks here but make perfect sense to me based on how I use the thing. I really just looked at what I wasn't using and asked myself why. If it was because the module didn't fit into the concept/sound I was going for or if I hated the interface, I pulled it completely out of the rack (goodbye Clouds and Phonogene) and opened up that space for something more practical. No use for me to eat up time and space with something that is just not working. If I wasn't using a module because of where it was placed in the rack, I moved it closer to the modules I use most often. That was actually the case with Maths for me. I wasn't getting the most out of it, but now I use it all the time simply because I moved it closer to where I have my hands most often.
I have spent way too much time scratching my head, configuring, and reconfiguring my rack here on MG before making any real-world changes, all the while being mindful of how I actually work (which is probably way different than your approach). Then I finally took a few hours on a Sunday and actually completed the "Great Rearrangement", but I still spent time over the next few weeks moving a few modules. Now, I'm really happy with my arrangement, and getting the most use out of everything.
I think if you follow the general guidelines we've all offered to the novices here (e.g. maintain a sensible signal flow similar to a hardwired synth architecture: osc -> filter -> modulator -> vca -> effects, keep similar module functions together or separate them out into multiple voices, etc.) but on a larger scale, it still applies. But give yourself an allowance for having certain modules in seemingly odd places because that's where it makes sense for you.
Have fun with it. I wish you luck!

Well, what the hell...

Not going to go into detail here, since you know the vast majority of the modules already. I did a LOT of reordering for signal flow clarification, though. As a result, a number of previous positions where modules were are now occupied by something a bit different, while still trying to maintain the functional separations that were in place before. Plus, I did make a few additions here and there where they seemed to be called for, such as adding a third rescaler for the video cabs and restructuring those so that you main "control" modules are now at the bottom, your main LZXes are next up, then almost all of the non-video modules in this (except the MIDI interface) were shifted to the bottom of the three-row video cab to help delineate the "don't plug these directly into the video" differentiation.

I also clarified the drum module's usage a bit more by adding the Ladik submixers, which now lets you pan drum sources (and the VCO-VCF-VCA/wavefolder path) with a stereo comp after those so that the drum sounds can bang harder. Then a submixer here, a few PWRchekrs for the DIY cabs, and a bit of the usual mojo hand gettin' waved over the whole design along with a sprinkle of black cat hair and graveyard dust, and there ya go!

As for removals, I don't think I made more than four in here, trying to keep the original module complement intact except where it felt like the Department of Redundancy Department had gotten a toe-hold...and those very few removals opened the space up for a LOT more once things got slung around the cabs. I'm especially pleased with how the right cabs came out, notably with that single row for the Bassline, Deckard's, and Magneto (and a new Roti Pola, plus your M/S matrix). This now slaps, I do believe!

great - thanks for the suggestions, guys!!!

@Lugia - HAHAHA Funny title!!! I'm going to take a copy - remove all the modules you added - and put my modules back in!!!

the Portland has a mixer already - but it's mono - and normally goes to through one of the lollipops before hitting the mixer - if I need panning of the individual drum sounds I can record them separately and do that in the DAW - output is effectively mono at the moment anyway - my studio monitors are in a different country - long story!!!

for more panning and mixing I'd be most likely just to add more channels of the tex-mix - they are inexpensive and have panning - I though about auto panning - but I can patch it if I want it!

as for the doepfer modules - they get video signals sent through constantly -

I don't think I need another scaler - adding the 1st 5:1 will take me up to 14 scalers - I think that's enough (at least for the foreseeable future) and there are quite a few attenuators through out the system (one of the switched is actually a bank of attenuators (pusherman is not up to date on modulargrid)

mults are a good idea - although I do have quite a few stackcables - but I'd always go for 2hp DIY ones - such as the frequency central mumu - they are inexpensive and can be built in 10-15 minutes or so

the 2 right hand side cases are looking very good though - as little movement as possible will happen there - going to swap the joystick to the far right though, as I'm right handed!

as I said I'll take a copy of Lugia's (excellent) attempt and try to cram the modules I actually own back in - will re-post in this thread once it's done! fingers crossed the power & screws (and also some of the new modules and components for the diy builds) for the last case get here before next weekend, so I can build it and then I can actually start moving modules about

once again thanks very much for your input!!! greatly appreciated!!

Hi Jim,

Wow, nice rack! I agree here a bit with Farkas, if you reach a certain size as well as complexity, and your rack size and complexity has reached that I would say, though Lugia took the fantastic effort to still give it a try :-) , then it becomes rather a personal taste how you like to (re-) arrange your modules. It looks fantastic though!

Can't we make your rack stickied on top of this rack forum for beginners? Saying, look, if you consider to start into modular synthesizers, this is about the minimum size to grow towards to otherwise it makes more sense to buy a ready synthesizer instead ;-)

Thanks a lot for sharing this, very interesting and kind regards, Garfield.

Hi Jim,

Wow, nice rack! I agree here a bit with Farkas, if you reach a certain size as well as complexity, and your rack size and complexity has reached that I would say, though Lugia took the fantastic effort to still give it a try :-) , then it becomes rather a personal taste how you like to (re-) arrange your modules. It looks fantastic though!

Thanks!

I also agree with Farkas!

I'd already made a start on re-arranging... moving the video modules (and the doepfer modules I run them through!!!) into 2 cases instead of being spread around 4... and the mixer into a better spot etc! and then I hit re-arranging the cases to be more practical... video will be in the middle and the 2 84hp cases will be side by side.. definitely not ideal - so I just hit a wall for a bit and thought someone might give me a bit of a push in a direction - thanks again @Lugia - I think the re-arrangements should be done over the weekend and the final case parts will be here within a couple of weeks

Can't we make your rack stickied on top of this rack forum for beginners? Saying, look, if you consider to start into modular synthesizers, this is about the minimum size to grow towards to otherwise it makes more sense to buy a ready synthesizer instead ;-)

hahaha.... not that bad an idea - maybe remove the video racks, though... don't want to scare them!

Thanks a lot for sharing this, very interesting and kind regards, Garfield.
-- GarfieldModular

a pleasure!

Ahhh...didn't know the "normal" modules were already functioning at video voltage levels! Changes things a bit, although I still think my layout for those cabs works there. It puts the most obvious "hands-on" devices as the bottom "controller" row, all of the LZX stuff with similar control paradigms in the next, then all of the "normals" above that.

Also, those Seismic mults have a sneaky feature that allows you to break out the second mult set there; if you don't patch that, they can function as 1-in/7-out, which can be pretty useful for distributing control (non-scalar) signals to many destinations.

Gave me quite a bit to think about, also...one objective here within this decade is to implement a video synthesis studio as well, although that's going to have to go in a different room here.

@Lugia

voltage is 0-1v in lzx ecosystem - and it's just electricity - above or below will clip, so no damage, but maybe not as expected - saying that I do it all the time!

what you do have to pay attention to a bit is frequency - goes up to multiple MHz... so if for example the 'audio' module has slow op amps, you can get smearing - although layering the smearing and blending can be quite nice

I've tried running video through most things in the rack!

for examples see instagram - #lzxveurorack - where I post examples of 'audio' modules being feed video signals - and check out my feed too if you like (same user name)

iirc most if not all the passive mults I have are normalised like those seismic industries ones - to a greater or lesser extent

do you have a tv in your studio? most seem to like crts (if you can find one with component in jump on it) but I use lcds - a different 'vibe' but looks great to me (all my instagram footage is lcd filmed on an iPhone - hence the crappy audio!)

if the answer to the tv question is yes - then look out for the chromagnon videos when they come out - maybe time to jump on the pre-order then as they will undoubtedly go up in price - that'll be one of the best starting points for video synthesis for the next few years at least - and can be used standalone or racked (yes, yes I know, racked = expensive case) - or go digital with hypno or structure - I like the analog much better than digital to be honest

another option would be to get something like lumen if you have a mac (Windoze version is on it's way but might be years) and connect that via cv-> midi for modular control

anyway - anytime you want to chat/ask questions - you know how to find me!!!

cheers

Jim

do you have a tv in your studio? most seem to like crts (if you can find one with component in jump on it) but I use lcds - a different 'vibe' but looks great to me (all my instagram footage is lcd filmed on an iPhone - hence the crappy audio!)
-- JimHowell1970

Jim, I was wondering how you film your Instagram posts. They always look great.
I've dipped my toes into the circuit-bent glitch video world, but have not gone down the video synthesis path (yet). I've been using a Sony WEGA CRT. It seems to mostly avoid cutting out with the glitch processors without a time based corrector. Otherwise, I'm just using an Edirol V4 and a few handmade glitch effects I picked up on etsy. Your video rack and productions are impressive.
Take care.

Hi @farkas

visual cortex component out -> old sony lcd 40" TV (TV handles upscaling)

iPhone about 15u (haha) from the screen on a tripod (horrible shitty joby gorilla knock off)

regular iphone camera app on phone - no effects just a straight upload to instagram - after selecting letter box instead of square - so the sides aren't cut off!

best results are at night with lights off as much as possible

I keep meaning to look for a decent CRT and a video mixer - but the ones I see are often more than I'm willing to pay - bloody hipster gamers!! - so I just end up buying more modules / DIY

do you have instagram? so I can check your glitch recordings out!

you take care too, mate!!!

Jim

Awesome guidance. I was lucky to find the CRT in relatively good condition locally for $20 on Facebook Marketplace. It was the exact one I was looking for.
I've only posted a few videos on Youtube that I experimented with last summer. I was just getting started so they're definitely novice and nothing too interesting, but I'm planning another multimedia project involving glitch video soon. I'm going to refine my process and I'll post something here when I start working on the project.
I'm on Instagram as cierny _ vlk _ farkas and Youtube as Cierny Vlk.
Take care.

EDITED Mar 12th 2021, 17:33

No Problem!!!

bargains can be had - but they usually involve transporting things long ways - I don't have a car so it's a pain to arrange so generally skip - and the ones I see on the street often don't have the right inputs - and are mostly battered and wet!

something that may really work for you is camera feedback - especially if you can find a cheap video camera (that's compatible with the v4 - you may already have one!) and another cheap crt - use one for feedback and one for filming

some ways to explore this:
move the camera

move the tv - more difficult - but doable - easier using a projector and screen - i wouldn't advise using a wall for this technique!

put things between the camera and the tv and move those about

put glitch boxes between camera and v4

if I remember correctly (read some where) you can probably use the v4 for no input feedback and put the glitch modules in the feedback path

are you/were you doing any of these!!!

I'll take a look at your instagram!!