User Posts

Hi GunnarWaage,

I have spent a fair amount of time studying peoples opinions on polyphony in eurorack and definitely understand where you are coming from. It seems as though many people possibly even the majority believe that eurorack shines as a monophonic format. That being said what I am think is significantly more complex than just chords and is much closer to fully contrapuntal lines with a drone or ostinato in the background. To me eurorack appears especially well suited for this because having separate voices that have significantly different textures can be achieved by running each voice through different filters, envelopes, effects, etc. Think like an orchestra with a string section, a brass section, and a woodwind section. This simply cannot be easily achieved simultaneously on most polyphonic synthesizers (or at least not with the level of control I wish to have).

All of that being said, I realize that having a variety of different oscillators, more filters, and many other modules would be needed to fully realized this goal, but the layout I posted is my rough idea for a starting point that I can expand on as I learn the format better and have time to save up money for additional modules.

Beyond all of that, many of the artists that I have been listening to who primarily or prominently use eurorack seem to have polyphonic setups (or at least that is what I hear but can’t see if they are 100% in the rack or not from Spotify). Artists that come to mind are AnnAnnie, Lightbath, and Ben Jordan. I am thinking more classically than these artists at the moment but may try to grow into their styles more later on. More importantly however, I think it is noteworthy that these artists have reached a relative amount of success and acclaim with eurorack, so I’m not sure if any form of polyphony should be disregarded or even discouraged, although it is fair to warn of a significant increase in monetary investment in what is already a very expensive format.

I do understand where you are coming from and agree that eurorack can be an awesome format for monophony, but also believe that it’s polyphonic capabilities have yet to be fully explored. Thanks again for your opinions and input, it has definitely been good for thought, and I’ll be checking out some of the modules and equipment you suggested for sure!

Hi Garfield Modular,

Thanks for taking the time to write out your thoughts on the rack! As far as space is concerned, I am actually using a large 19" studio rack I had laying around from a much older project. If I put more rails in, it will easily fit two additional 3U rows and and a 1U row, and if I end up going really big I have another 8U studio rack I could put rails in, but of course with the price to fill all that I could almost buy a house instead. Jokes aside I do have plenty of room to grow for the time being so I am not too worried about how much space each module takes up, although those points are still valid since I neglected to mention the extra room I have in the original post.

Because of the enormous price of a full system (especially one with polyphonic capabilities) I am trying to assemble this rack in phases and this is more of my acquire slowly over the next several months plan. Although I am familiar with standard hardwired synthesizers and the terms associated with them, I figure this will also give me the opportunity to experience and learn each module and patching more slowly.

You mentioned looking into filters, a mixer, and an audio in/out. Do you have any recommendations on specific modules I might want to look at? I was originally going to put a 1U row in with the Intelljel 1U I/O module but after learning about the two separate 1u formats I have decided to wait and learn more of whats available in each before I commit to one or the other.

Thanks again for the input and the welcoming into the community, I am very excited to see where modular takes me!

Hey everybody,

I have several compositions for multiple acoustic instruments that I am trying to breath new life into and I think eurorack could be a really cool way to accomplish this. The way they are composed midi data for the pieces already exists so I just need a machine to feed it through. I am super open to any tips and suggestions regarding the layout, alternate modules/substitutions, and what I could put to fill in that last bit of space (14 hp on the top row and 10 hp on the bottom row). I would like to possibly add some drum modules but am also open to other ideas especially if I missed something essential (this is my first rack so it's possible). Thanks for the input, I appreciate it!