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It's not a bad list of suggestions at all. But trying to categorize specific modules as more or less "important" is sorta pointless. Instead, you should look at a modular NOT as a collection of parts, but a bespoke SYSTEM that you've assembled, which has functions specific to your music. But if I answered the question literally, I'd say it was the power supply...and beyond that, the "importance" of modules really is something between you, your music, and the device itself.
-- Lugia

Sure, but outside the esoteric nature of 'connection,' there are obvious necessities when it comes to building a modular. It's the same thing as when building a guitar. There are going to be required parts, and the luthier (and maybe the customer) gets to put their own fresh take on that particular instrument. And as I appreciate Garfield's semi-scientific approach to categorizing and enumerating those vital parts, I am interested in his further elaboration of the concept. After all, if there is no such thing as importance in a modular build, then nobody really needs VCAs, do they?

Functionality - Modules - Total - Status

Attenuverter - DPW-Att Av-1, TH-At-at-at - 2 - sufficient
Clock & random - 2HP-TM, OM-Clock Div Mk2, 2HP-Rnd v2 - 3 - sufficient
Drum/Percussion - 2HP-Bell, AD-T-networks - 2 - consider more
Effects - ES-Pico DSP, MSW-Monsoon, 2HP-Verb - 3 - sufficient
EG - SSF-ADSRVCA, ALM-Pip slope - 2 - sufficient
LFO - NE-Clep Diaz, DK-øchd - 2 - sufficient
Mixer - OM-UPE, BF-StMix, IN-Mixup - 3 - sufficient
Multiple - 2*MA-4x4x4, MI-Links - 3 - (more than) enough
Others - 2HP-Vowel, ExS-Disting Mk4 - 2 - sufficient
Quantiser & Arpeggiator - 2HP-Tune, 2HP-Arp - 2 - sufficient
Sequencer - 2HP-Euclid, PM-µSeq., NE-Bin Seq, DM-Dot - 4 - enough
VCA - MI-Veils - 1 - requires more
VCF - HN-VCF, AD-4 voice cluster - 2 - consider more
VCO - MN-STO, 2HP-Pluck, AD-4 voice cluster - 3 - consider more
-- GarfieldModular

@GarfieldModular Words cannot express how much I love this. How would you order the list if you were to rank them by importance, instead of alphabetically? And how many of each would you say meets the criteria of sufficient?

EDITED Sep 12th 2020, 23:13

Reminder to myself: we need a private note section...
-- modulargrid

Yes, please.

Holy accidentally expensive hobbies, Batman. This was certainly an eye opener as far as cost of builds. I don't really pay so much attention to how much these builds cost, but I was legitimately shocked. I was looking at each module, $70 here, $120 there, these cost ~$200, but they're also the largest modules in the build... Doesn't seem like much, until you have ~30 of them. Still, buying them over time isn't really that bad. Plus, many of them, the 2hp synth voices in particular, aren't absolutely necessary; I just like those voices.

Cost analysis out of the way, this was another fun challenge build. Expanding from my _picoRack concept, this build uses almost exclusively the brands 2hp and Erica, with all but the Mixer being 2-4 HP. I allowed for the mixer to be a tad larger since it works well with the Intellijel Pallette, meaning in another case that could be reduced. I also took the opportunity to take the 1U row to cram in an Ornament and Crime for the sake of having a powerful CV modulation source. The Intellijel 1U Midi module is also a bit big for my tastes, but it, again, works well with the case. Hopefully one day they'll release a smaller version. Either way, I did my best to cover every HP in that row with something.

These modules could allow for a certain amount of specialization in a tiny amount of space. For instance, the Erica Logic and A Logic modules turn 6 HP into a rather powerful logic circuit. If I didn't have Pico Noise for drums, I could replace both with a Kinks if I also didn't care so much about CV logic. Speaking of Pico Noise, I'm thinking it would work well with the physical modeler section. Which itself is a tiny, tiny Elements, at least in my head.

Either way, this was also fun and informative. I've been watching reviews and demonstrations on all sorts of modules lately, and these experiments have given me ideas on how to plug certain gaps in any larger builds.

_picoRack is basically a challenge I made myself when I realized how many interesting, tiny modules there are. So I challenged myself to use nothing larger than 4 HP. Being that I'm also a beginner, I also used this as time to look into brands other than the most well known. This combination of modules should, emphasis on *should*, provide just about everything possibly required of even the largest racks. Getting to all of the individual functions, however, might be a little more difficult.

Due to the space limitations, modules were chosen based on how many functions they could feasibly provide. Hence, the pair of Distings at the end. This does mean that some functions are buried beyond the idea of knob-per-function, but again, remaining within the space limitation was more important. Obviously, this could be made even smaller by dropping at least one of those, as well as the Ivan. Finally, I still had 2 HP left, so I decided to fill them with memes, a.k.a. Cats.

The build was fun. Practical, probably not. I'm not familiar with the quality of each brand that I used, so I wouldn't hesitate to replace many of them with something from 2hp, 4ms, or Erica. This would likely increase the size a tad, but I wouldn't want to use a case larger than an Intellijel Palette. I'm thinking that is going to be my next experimental build, actually.