User Posts

I usually go to bed thinking about patching ideas and try them out the next day.
"Why couldn't I get that vibrato to work right?" "How could I use a switch to add interest to that patch?" etc.
I'm a big fan of Eno's "Oblique Strategies" too. If you aren't familiar, back in the 70s Brian Eno created a deck of cards with short phrases and single words that are meant to redirect artists out of their comfort zones. When you get stuck, pull a card and contemplate the phrase for a minute or two, then incorporate the idea into your music. It doesn't always lead to something cool, but it keeps you on your toes and shakes up your routine workflow. I believe he has used Oblique Strategies on many (most?) of his great productions including Bowie's "Low" and Talking Heads' "Remain in Light."
Here's a free website with random cards that you can click through:
https://www.joshharrison.net/oblique-strategies/

Uh oh... Lugia’s givin’ us a’scoldin’. Hahaha
I saw Maths and Samara so I didn’t think much about dedicated attenuverters. Agree with everything else. Someone should really hand out a Mantis with every first rack post.

A lot of this stuff is a matter of taste so my only other recommendation would be to consider Bastl's new Ikarie filter instead of the Three Sisters. While it's obviously a beautiful filter, you're going to pay a pretty hefty premium for Three Sisters if you can find one.

May I recommend the Future Sound Systems OSC1 for your analog oscillator? I think that might float your techno boat.
https://www.modulargrid.net/e/future-sound-systems-osc1-cyclical-engine
Have fun and good luck!

I went with the Furthrrr Generator and couldn't be happier. I pair it with an Optomix LPG fairly often, but I'm thinking about adding a QPAS soon. I like the DPO as well.

Your Portland jam sounds great. I feel like I'm at Berghain. :)
Looks like you have a fairly versatile techno set-up here.
Have fun and good luck!

If I was looking to fill the 10hp left, I would probably add a Happy Nerding FX Aid XL and a Mutable Instruments Kinks.

For the record, I would highly recommend Pamela's New Workout too.

I have the Loquelic Iteritas Percido and Basimilus Iteritas, and I would recommend the Voltage Block. The VB doesn't seem to get much love around here, but the NE oscillators seem almost tailor-made for the complex rhythmic modulation that VB offers. If you have seen Baseck's VB/NE demos, you'll know how that combo can shine.
Have fun and good luck!

XAOC makes the Sewastopol II (10hp and 3.4cm) and Ladik makes several I/O modules that are 4hp each. The A525 might work for your purposes (4hp, 3.2cm).
https://www.modulargrid.net/e/ladik-a-525
https://www.modulargrid.net/e/xaoc-devices-sewastopol-ii

Very cool. Thanks for sharing. Mylar Melodies made a good video about generative patching too.

Yeah, I think that's a good solution for your problem. The Makrow is really handy.

https://www.modulargrid.net/e/future-sound-systems-makrow

Future Sound Systems Makrow

I was probably just blinded by all of your Serge modules. :)

Yeah, I feel like for acid explorations I'm going to need a dedicated gated slew. Maths and Disting aren't quite getting me what I want.
Did you recently add the Stepper Acid and Metropolis? I can't remember seeing those in your rack before.

Ah, this takes me back to my clubbing days. Great stuff as always! Those hi-hats sound good.
How do you like the WMD Time Warp? I'm probably going to get the AJH S+H/Slew, but I've been eyeballing the Time Warp too.

I would recommend Pamela's New Workout instead of the older version (Pamela's Workout) you have in your plan. I guess the new firmware for the newer module is pretty powerful. I'll probably load it up in mine soon.

FWIW, I've had pretty good luck with Shawn at Analogue Haven. He's always gotten back to me pretty quick on orders and product inquiries. Detroit Modular has been good too. One of these days when things get back to normal, I'll probably drive up to the D to visit their storefront. I'm not too far from there.

• 2 AJH MiniMod VCOs or 2 Erica Synths VCOs. No, they don't have 20 settings, and no, they don't have a LFO mode, but they sound great.

-- rabbitfighter

I would agree with most of the above (though I am a Plaits fan). Just a correction for anyone in the future who is interested, the AJH Minimod VCOs do have an LFO mode (marked "Lo" on the panel). They are by far the best and most used modules in my rack. I can't say enough good things about AJH.

This looks like a lot of fun. One of these days I'm going to grab a few of the Serge modules. They sound so good.

Awesome! Have fun.

@GarfieldModular, that is easily the best comment I've ever read in any comments section of any forum ever. Thank you.

Hi and welcome @szaretsky. As much as I like the idea of more people joining the modular community, I struggle to recommend these tiny builds. Another user recently had a similar plan for a Nifty case build, and it seems to me like a bad investment unless you are willing to go much further with it. Aside from the delay module you have chosen, there's not much here that you can't do more efficiently (and cheaply) with a Behringer Crave or Moog Mother 32 semi-modular, or within your DAW. I would recommend looking into those and then branching out to modular to fill the gaps that you can't get from those sources. That's just me, and you may get some different recommendations from the other folks here, but these tiny builds are generally seen as unwise in this forum. I would recommend that you think a little more broadly about what you really want your modular to do that can't be done by other means.
Have fun and good luck!

Yeah, I have never really connected with Clouds. I've heard other people do cool things with it, but I can't seem to get a satisfying result. I do love Rings though.

Nice. That's probably the best use of Rings/Clouds I've heard. I have both and have never gotten anything remotely close to this. Haha.

Wow. Beautiful as always @troux. I think this might be my favorite track that you've done.

I've had that Pro-1 in my cart many times, but haven't pulled the trigger. It sounds great in the videos I've watched. I'm surprised it's not more popular.

Yeah, I agree with Lugia. You're on the right track, but you've got some modules that might not be the best use of time, space, and money. This kind of reminds me of my original plan, which changed drastically as I started actually putting it together. My advice would be to go slow. Start with a sequencer (doesn't have to be Eurorack, but could be a Beatstep Pro or Korg SQ1), something like Plaits, Maths, and Veils. Then see what you are missing. Need a filter? Buy that, and then repeat. Need a big a** button? Buy that, and then repeat.
Unless you really need the phantom power of the Little Mikey, the Doepfer A-119 is an external input/preamp with envelope follower that can be had for about $70 used. I kinda hate working with Disting, but adding one to a small rack is a decent idea. It will help you understand a bunch of different functions (albeit, not in a very fun way), and give you some ideas for the next fully featured module you should buy.
Have fun and good luck.

What do you make of this quote from Tatsuya Takahashi of Korg in Attack Magazine?

Attack Magazine: Would you like to do more Eurorack projects?

TT: If I can contribute to the community, yes. I love the Eurorack ecosystem.
Korg is bigger than any of the major players in the Eurorack community, so we have to be careful about entering it. Not because we are nice. It just doesn’t make any business sense to enter a market only to destroy it, unless you are very short-sighted.
As Jacques Attali puts it, “Altruism is the most rational selfish behaviour”.

Full interview can be found here:
https://www.attackmagazine.com/features/interview/tatsuya-takahashi-i-just-tried-to-design-products-to-be-the-best-i-can-imagine-them/

Love it.

The Eno and Cluster collaborations are pretty cool too. I love all of that kind of stuff.
My dad was a Tangerine Dream fan when I was growing up, so I've always appreciated Phaedra, Rubycon, Stratosfear, and the Sorcerer soundtrack. I recently got hip to Edgar Froese's "Stuntman" solo album. Can't believe I had never heard it before. Love it.

Sounds great, and that filter is killer. It's almost got a Tangerine Acid Dream vibe at that tempo. Very cool take on the acid sound.

This is fascinating. As with all AI, I worry that it will discover and continue to reproduce an algorithm that is "popular" but uninteresting. Kind of like when you enjoy Seinfeld on Hulu or Netflix so the algorithm recommends Friends next. Haha
As for the Eno quote, that is pretty much exactly the musical idea that I have been exploring. I'm an Eno fan, but have never heard that quote before. I like the immediacy of recording live, I like the mistakes, I like the happy accidents, I like wondering why I made the choices I did while listening back to the recordings, I like challenging myself NOT to intervene in the music.
Of course all of these conceptual approaches don't always lend themselves to interesting music from the listener's perspective, but there is plenty of pop, rock, and hip hop that can scratch that itch for everyone (myself included). I just don't have any desire to work on anything with sparkling production, perfect EQ and mixing, verses and choruses, etc.
So, for me the answer to the question, "Of all the things you can do now, which do you choose to do?" is probably a selfish one. I tend to just do what feels right in the moment and move on to the next idea. If someone else finds it interesting, that is welcome but has absolutely no bearing on the next choices I make.

I didn't realize the AJH folks were involved with this. I love everything about those guys.
I'm also coming around to Uli's willingness to put these slightly modernized clones out in the world. People have been clamoring for them for years, and my RD8 is incredibly fun. They sound great too.
Korg could have nailed it, but really blew it. No sympathy here.

Hard for me to argue against Mutable Instruments. XAOC are great too.
I am also one of the weird people that like the gold panel Endorphin.es modules. Haha

@farkas
Happy birthday! And thanks for your good, direct and sincere work!
-- Sweelinck

Thanks for the support and kind words @Sweelinck. You're awesome!

Hey @Kel_. Have you tried building a Befaco Burst yet? I was thinking about ordering a prebuilt one, but would rather give you the business if you can build one at a fair price. Let me know what you think.
Thanks!

A Tona just showed up on Reverb

I've been using a Doepfer A-119 input with envelope follower. It's great and very inexpensive.
https://www.modulargrid.net/e/doepfer-a-119

I'm with you on menu diving and O_C. I try to shy away from menus as much as possible. I definitely lean towards knobs over screens. On the other hand, I do like screens over weird unmarked and hidden button combinations. There's always a trade-off.
O_C looks really useful but I haven't found the need to pick one up yet. It looks like it might be a little frustrating. Pam's, on the other hand, is the glue that holds everything together for me. The menu system is shallow and easy to use. I have several different things that I synchronize using Pam's and its expander mainly as a master clock (Eloquencer, Moffenzeef Mito, Voltage Block, Prophet, RD8, etc.). I don't think I could live without it now. I'd say it's the best value in Eurorack-land.
Disting is a weird one. I begrudgingly picked one up earlier in the process of putting my rack together and just used one or two of its algorithms for a while, but now I find myself using quite a few different functions. It's an imperfect but incredibly useful module. While the EX is probably a better buy at this point, I'm keeping my MK4. It just does so much, and every time I need something, it's there waiting and only requires a quick reference to the manual.
Take care and have fun.

I mean, there's a reason you see this advice a lot.
The truth is, you could probably get a more useful synth by starting with a $180 used Behringer Crave. It's a semi-modular monosynth with a decent filter, sequencer, envelopes, LFOs, I/O mixer, VCA, and patch points so you can expand into Eurorack later. You're going to need a lot of functions at the same time to get anything out of modular. If you stick to your original plan, you will need that extra Nifty Case before you can even blink. It's not a cheap hobby, unfortunately, and getting the sounds in your head out from this format likely isn't going to happen without a sizable investment (whether upfront or long term).
Your proposed plan has an oscillator, a resonator with tiny knobs, a filter/VCA combo, a sequencer, and a menu-divey multi-function module. How will you control pitch AND amplitude over time? How will you clock your sequencer if you want to use the Chips LFO for one of those other tasks? How will you introduce randomness? How will you modulate the frequency and resonance of your filter at the same time as opening and closing your VCAs? Will you need effects like reverb and delay? Simply put, there's a lot of functions in a good synthesizer, and until you have those functions (and usually more than one of each), you won't be able to synthesize a wide range of sounds.
I'd like you to see your ideas come to life, so I'm helping you set expectations about what you might be able to get out of a tiny rack. You will almost instantly see the limitations of something this size.
Have fun and good luck.

Hi and welcome.
What kind of music are you planning to create with this?
It looks like you have most of the bases covered. I wonder if Bloom and Scales might be redundant with the power and features of the Varigate 8 though. I'm not that familiar with the 1u modules you have chosen, but that looks like a Steppy at the top and if so, it's probably redundant too.
My only other recommendation is to rearrange your modules for a more logical signal flow (and cable management). Think of the panel design of a vintage synth and try to arrange your modules logically like a MiniMoog, or Lugia always mentions the Arp 2600 panel design: Oscillators - Filter - Mixer - VCA - Effects, (sequencing and modulation on bottom row, maybe?). In the long run, grouping modules in this way will make your life easier.
Have fun and good luck.

Hi and welcome.
A few things to consider: Disting does a lot, but not all at once. To get anything out of the modular format, you're going to want a lot more modulation capabilities and utilities. Envelopes, LFOs, mixers, mults, quantizers, sample and hold, etc. All the stuff that Disting can do, but dedicated modules for those functions.
I have read and heard, um, "mixed" reviews on Cellz and Chipz. I haven't used them and don't plan to, so someone else here may be able to comment on their usefulness, durability, and sound quality in practice.
I don't know what your total budget is, but I would REALLY recommend saving up a little more and investing in a system that is a bit larger if you really want to get into modular. What exactly do you want this system to contribute to your music that can't be accomplished with a different format? Tiny systems like the one you are proposing aren't all that useful unless it's targeted towards a very specific sound or process. What kind of music are you playing?
Just wanted to throw some ideas and food for thought out there. Let us know if we can answer any further questions.
Have fun and good luck!

Hi and welcome @BreadTruck28.
The first few things I notice are that you have too much sequencing power for a rack this size, the "workflow" of the rack is jumbled up, and you have multiple modules that do similar functions. I would recommend just starting out with the Eloquencer for sequencing. It has probability and quantization, so you can get some randomization. If that's not enough, maybe add the Ornament and Crime for its more esoteric functions, but Eloquencer will probably be plenty starting out (8 channels of gate/CV). You can get rid of the Rene and Scales. I would get rid of Pressure Points and Brains too. I thought I was going to love PP, but mine ended up collecting dust, so I sold it.
I would bypass the mini-Mutables. The ergonomics of the original MI versions are excellent, and you can find them at fair prices. Those little mini-knobs aren't very fun to work with. Same goes for the 2hp modules, and I think you can cover the territory of the Pluck module with Rings. You don't really need two output modules, so I would get rid of XOH and keep the 4ms mixer/output if you don't already have an external mixer.
I added a Zadar, Happy Nerding 3xMIA for attenuverters/mixing duties (so you can free up Maths for other stuff), an FX Aid XL (because it's awesome), and Links and Kinks (because they're handy). As far as oscillator and filter choices, that's kind of a personal choice so I'll let others chime in on that. I'm not sure exactly what sound you are going for. You probably have too many "feature modules," and will change your approach and oscillator/filter preferences after getting a few modules in your case.
I would recommend that you consider the TipTop Mantis cases instead of the RackBrutes. They are 2x104hp each with excellent internal power supplies, so you don't take up valuable rack space with the 5hp Arturia psu.
Finally, I organized the rack by function to make the workflow/signal flow easier to follow. Everyone is different, so you can take or leave my suggestions, but this would offer a good starting point in my opinion. Others in this forum will probably have different ideas for you to consider.

Have fun and good luck!

The Cosmix is news to me, but it looks like a great set of features. No idea how it sounds, so I'd be interested to hear feedback from anyone who has tried it.

Here's a three channel mixer/overdrive with mutes from TouellSkouarn. I love my Moffenmix, but it's definitely got a characteristic sound. I usually keep the gain pretty low unless I want to just destroy a sound.
https://www.modulargrid.net/e/touellskouarn-sonveskan

Thanks again for listening @troux. I figure what I do is such a niche thing with the repetition and lack of traditional song structure that I really do appreciate when someone actually takes time to listen. I love "normal" verse-chorus-verse music as much as the next guy, but I have exactly zero interest in making it. Haha. I have a lot of visual artist friends, so their strange conceptual influence has probably rubbed off on me. Fun fact: Aside from the drums, the entire song Drowning in Positivity is actually the full mix of Squares run through the Panharmonium with some modulation. I thought it would be fun to create two completely different moods from the same source material.
I dig your stuff too. As a matter of fact, I listened to the track you shared yesterday again this morning.

*Edit: Thank you for listening as well @GarfieldModular. I really appreciate your thorough feedback!

EDITED Oct 14th 2020, 23:23

Looks like you kept the modules I suggested. Be sure that's what YOU want. It's your instrument, not mine, so go slowly and don't buy everything at once. Your actual rack will probably end up very different from this plan.

Yeah, you don't really need the Ochd. I was just patching away on mine here, and it's just so easy to use every single output to get some movement. I feel like I'm cheating. Haha.
Looks like this rack will be a fun addition to your existing gear. The Filter 8 looks awesome.