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If the objective is to get the audio back into the DAW with the least hassle, yes, go with the ES-9. It'll also open up some possibilities for controlling the modular via the DAW IF you can get Reaper to speak proper CV/gate/trig/clock outputs. I would presume that the ES-9 comes with a copy of Silent Way, though, so the big question isn't so much whether the ES-9 will work, but whether Reaper and Silent Way can play nice with each other.

My take on the dual ADSR issue would be to check into Doepfer's basic but space-economic Dual ADSR...fits into 8 hp, and you lose the looping switches, but you don't usually loop ADSRs anyway. I'm also not jazzed by using a Rosie as the final mixer...it's more akin to a DJ mixer's output stage, and while that might work in some cases, this probably isn't going to be one of them. Lastly, don't fall into the "drums in a small build" trap here...these sorts of cabs do NOT have the space for a complement of drum modules AND the rest of the stuff. Use a proper drum machine instead, and lock it up to the DAW's MIDI clock.

Definitely need a VCF, though...but that sort of depends on what you're trying to do musically. Some are fine for all purposes, but others are more specific to certain styles. Also, make sure to keep the layout in some sort of order that makes signal routing sense, such as keeping the audio modules together and in a flow that tends to go VCO-VCF-VCA for ease of use.

Well, if the build is supposed to be in a 3 x 84 A-100 cab, then...

Following on from some of Jim's suggestions (notably the voice division), here we've got THIS:

Top row: This is "voicing". An A-119 provides an external audio input with envelope following. Then a buffered mult (six VCOs, so...yeah, it's needed) followed by a Ladik Gated Slew Limiter for portamento. Voice 1 (or more) consists of a Doepfer Quad VCO feeding a Veils clone, with a Doepfer Mini Stereo Mixer after that to spatialize the VCOs before they hit the Ikarie, a stereo VCF from Bastl. Voice two(ish) is built from a pair of Noise Reap VCOs in the Paradox, then these feed to an Intellijel Bifold before hitting either a WMD Overseer stereo VCF or a pair of LPGs in the Make Noise LxD. Or you can use both, making the LxD function as just a dual opto VCA.

Middle row: Modulation sources. A Doepfer S&H/Noise module starts at left, then a dual Tides clone from Tesseract handles the slow modulation. Maths is next, then the MISO allows you to screw with mixing/inverting/scrambling the modulation signals over the whole row. A 3xVCA then provides amplitude control over the modulation when needed. Two EGs after this...one is Intellijel's Quadrax (with the Qx), and the other is a dual ADSR from Doepfer.

Bottom row: Timing/sequencing/output. A Konstant Labs PWRchekr lets you keep tabs on your DC rails. I then went with a Temps Utile for the master clock and subsequencing. After this are a number of modules for screwing with timing: Doepfer Clock Divider, Ladik Dual Probabilistic Skipper, Ladik Dual Pulse Delay, Doepfer Boolean Logic, and a WMD Tool Box. Following that is an Erica Pico SEQ2, a four-step CV sequencer that can be used in numerous ways along side the 8-step Qu-bit Octone, which also has internal quantizing. The Shakmat Sum/Dif then allows you to add/subtract CV levels...also quite useful with the SEQ2. Following that, we get into a couple of effects processors: a Tiptop ECHOZ stereo delay, and Happy Nerding's multiFX FX Aid XL. Four more VCAs in another Veils clone provides audio level control to the Listen Four Quarters's inputs. That mixer has two stereo ins, two pannable mono ins, and balanced 1/4" outs in addition to a headphone preamp.

This build is more about providing many potential routings than a simple "it does this", however. It's just as suitable for outright experimentation as it is for "mission-specific" patches; in fact, with the amount of modulation/clocking potential here, you could even steer this into generative territory with very little in the way of underimplementation issues. But considering that this has as many as THREE potential CV/gate sequencers (one's hiding in the Temps Utile), six VCOs, stereo OR mono routings...well, you'll have some real trouble trying to exhaust this sucker's capabilities. Note, also, that the VCFs both feature cutoff controls that have ample room for live tweaking even with the general density of the overall build. Should keep you busy for a hot minute...

Hi Gabor,

Wow, this is a fantastic experimental jam. I love it, those weird but very nice and interesting sounds. The way you control them and engineer them towards my ears, fantastic! :-D

Looks like the Theremin is your best friend ;-) Thanks a lot for sharing and kind regards, Garfield.

Hi Mowse,

Fantastic usage of the effects, I love this! Very interesting way of creating music. I wouldn't mind more of this kind of music :-)

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

Hi TumeniKnobs,

Oh that's a great jam! Lovely voices you are using here. By the way, how did you manage to do the drums & percussion?

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

Anyone have any experience with these modules, I am looking for a multi operator fm voice and have narrowed it down to these two. What I like about the quad operator is the matrix mixer vs the fixed algorithm of Akemie. Opinions welcome. I am also looking at pairing this with a new addition of Marbles as a primary modulation source, but am open to other random trigger/cv modulation source.

I have Beads and Mimeophon, no experience with DV. Anyway, they're very different modules. If I had to go for one, I'd say Beads, but it'd be better to make room for both :)

in that case - a large matrix mixer (doepfer or nlc), kinks and another quad cascading vca would be a good start + the sampler and ensemble oscillator - maybe an fx aid xl

no adsr is fine - but maybe you could consider stages - lots of envelope possibilities and a few other useful functions!

Thats certainly interesting, great price for a simple case and something that is lacking in the world of Eurorack.

Thanks, obviously I'm asking for advice considering the space available with a new case not just the remaining hp on this one.

Might interest some of you:
https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/brggr/fold-case-low-cost-aluminum-eurorack-case

I'd go for a small matrix mixer and kinks
or just get the new case - in preparation for the assimilator
then buy utilities...

You don't have room for it but looking at your rack the first thing that comes to mind for me is an Akemie's Castle. Beautiful beautiful module that's very different from analog oscillators but really hits the dreamy vibe you've mentioned, as well as some more experimental sounds. One of my favs.

2 music thing mikrophonies - what ears is based upon - and diy so you can hack at them as much as you'd like to get what you want

it's definitely one of the easiest ways - if there is more than enough i/o and you don't already have an audio interface and you have spare rack space then it's probably a good buy for you

I've heard of people not getting on with the doepfer midi module before - so I would swap that out - but I've no idea what for as I don't use midi to control my modular

if you need a dual adsr module there are much smaller, possibly cheaper, ones available - frequency central do a dual adsr in 8hp for example - or upgrade to stages - most people don't use full adsr in modular anyway - and get 2 * asr, or 2 * ad and some more functionality (that you don't have and could use such as sample and hold) - or one six stage envelope, for that matter - you only have a single vco and a drum

I'd rather have a filter and use the vca as output - yeah it'll probably be mono, but so what - fine for now!

I'd probably also want an fx unit of some sort - I like the fx aid xl - lots of options and a decent amount of modulation inputs

I'd next be looking to add some utilities - links, kinks and shades are all incredibly useful for not so much money/space - and make a great utility starter set

the next step i want to do is multitrack record my Eurorack system into Reaper,for further processing finaliing,would getting a Expert Sleepers ES-9 usb interface be the easiest way?

Frap Tools 321 would be a nice addition. I also pretty much always recommend Zadar

Awesome!

Hi,
I'm looking for some advice to expand my modular. Currently this is my eurorack.

I'm probably going to buy a second Intellijel 7U 104 HP case soon.
What I know is that I'd like to add a sampler (especially for drums but I would probably use it to sample something else as well).
I'm always been attracted by the assimil8or but I'm still undecided.
I'm probably going to add at least another oscillator, I've seen some demos of the Ensemble Oscillator by 4ms and I really like the kind of sounds it can produce.
However what interests me most is what other kind of modules could be most useful to me?
I know i will probably have to change mixer or add another one, maybe add a filter, ecc. but I'm still not an expert in all the other kind of modules (utilities for example) that could improve my modular.
I'm into dreamy/psychedelic sounds so this is the kind of music I'd like to do with it.
Oh, and the absence of ADSR is intentional, I have one, but I hardly ever used it.
Thanks!

EDITED Mar 1st 2021, 19:15

+1 on the mmMidi module from ALM. I've been using it for a while.

I'm interested in something like Mutable Ears, that can handle stereo input.

It would be for connecting cheap mis, piezos, or audio. But also could take a stereo Roland style drum pad and just get a trigger from it.

Ideally, it could even handle more than one pad.

Thx!

EDITED Mar 1st 2021, 18:51

Thank you! That's the path I can't stop myself from heading down.
I'm still just exploring, but a minimal techno album will probably happen sooner or later.

I can give some input perspective on the doepfer A-190-4. If you need USB, DIN midi and DIN midi trough, yes! But there are other modules that give you much more midi to CV for the buck and for the HP.

https://www.modulargrid.net/e/alm-busy-circuits-alm023-mmmidi
4HP, two full channels with cv gate and velocity + clock and MG lists it with 115€

https://www.modulargrid.net/e/befaco-midi-thing-
6HP, DIN midi, Modes with either two channels with velocity and mod, four CVs+gate or 8 trigger/gates 200€ (or less if you DIY it)

🔥🔥🔥 stuff @farkas, I think we need a whole minimal techno album from you...

Thank you! Got it fixed!

Dear Irish mate,

Thanks for posting this, I had no idea, so buying from Belfast is now a nope situation but Dublin and most of the island is still good. Very nice, I for one am glad to still have you with us
-- toodee

I have to admit I do not know the situation when buying from RoI to Northern Ireland and vice-versa.

EDITED Mar 1st 2021, 17:31

Dear Irish mate,

Thanks for posting this, I had no idea, so buying from Belfast is now a nope situation but Dublin and most of the island is still good. Very nice, I for one am glad to still have you with us

Hello my European fellow.

Since the start of the year I have noticed that I've been receiving much less messages re. my modules for sale. And in the few I have received, one of the questions is always "will I have to pay custom fees?".
This makes me realise there is a lot of confusion regarding Brexit across the continent, and this is affecting us Irish people. So I wanted to clear things out:
- The Republic of Ireland is an independent country which is not part of the UK.
- It is still a member of the EU, and we use the same Euro currency as most EU countries. There is NO custom fees when buying from RoI.
- Northern Ireland, however, is separate from RoI and IS part of the UK, therefore you'd probably have to pay custom fees.

On a side note, all this is explained on every single of my ads, which means that people do not read ads properly before getting in touch. So please, RTFA people! :D

great advice, perhaps - but don't take them as set in stone! more vague guidelines! do what works for you in the long term...

copy and paste the url of your public rack into the thread

this will allow click through etc

I tried to do it for you but your only public rack is not the same as the jpg!

I'll have a look back later and comment once you have fixed the link..

This patch is starring Just Friends and the AD APC Theremin. Details in the video.

Cheers dude :)

It has been a while since I have done an Evening Modular Experiment, so I wanted to cover my favorite new module: WORNG Vector Space.

In this simple patch, WORNG Vector Space is the brain providing nine modulated outputs, some fed through Joranalogue Select 2 and Instruo Tain, and provides modulation to Make Noise QPAS, Mimeophon, Desmodus Versio, and Telharmonic as a musical sequence is fed to Telharmonic by Make Noise Rene. Vector Space is fed by three unclocked, phased LFOs from Batumi. This patch offers a lot of exploration and I'm just scratching the surface.

WORNG Vector Space is an immediately approachable giant for modulation possibilities. It is simply incredible and can act as both modulation brain and force multiplier for other strong utilities.

This is just a thought experiment (tempting as it may be) to shift my current setup into 12U. I feel like I probably have too many voices right now, and probably would swap the SWN for effects or more LFOs or something else interesting... Any suggestions?

I haven't used Beads or Desmodus, but I do have the Mimeophon, and I totally love it. As a noob I had no problem coming to terms with how it works. It can do straight delay effects or go totally off the wall. I originally bought the Erica Black DSP multi effects but sent it back to get the Mimeophon.

https://cdn.modulargrid.net/img/racks/modulargrid_1492317.jpg?1614567746

There's a link to the picture of it-I'm not sure how to post it on this forum. Again, please excuse my ignorance. And thanks a ton!
-Justin

EDITED Mar 1st 2021, 18:06

i am extremely new to all of this honestly. maximum 2 months of researching or just watching youtube videos on the subject. i'm still very much new and inexperienced with patching and signal flow/control flow, but i find it fascinating. I got really excited and ordered a case /power supply and a few modules, which I am now thinking was probably too fast. I should have waited, and learned more first but either way I am super excited to try and begin patching. I would absolutely love any and all opinions about what modules I choose to purchase. I think what I purchased should produce sound? I'd love to know what else you'll think I could use or need for my basic system. I'm sorry about how new I am to this and I apologize if I am butchering any phrasing or information. Any help would be super helpful and greatly appreciated. I'm glad to be apart a cool community that really dig into and love electronic/modular music.

Stats:
Arturia 2x88HP Eurorack Case
Tiptop Audio 808 Bass Drum module
Erica Synths Black Wavetable VCO
Make Noise Maths Complex Function Generator
Intellijel Quad VCA & Mixer
Doepfer A-190-4 USB/MIDI-to-CV/Gate/Sync
Intellijel Dual ADSR
Make Noise Rosie Cue System with FX
Patch Cables
Midi Controller Keyboard

EDITED Mar 1st 2021, 02:54

I've been building this rack for a couple of months now and I finally got the Midi 1U on Friday, so I could sync it directly with the DAW and do some recording. I threw together this patch and hit the record button. I did a lot of manual modulating while it was running. I added a drum track in the DAW, a Taurus Pedal bass line, and because it wasn't busy enough already I layered in a short sequence from my Rev 2 as well in the middle.

The goal was more about process, technicals and logistics than it was about musicality, but I hope there some of that to be found here.

Here's the tune, the rack and the patch notes. Feedback welcome. Cheers.

https://www.modulargrid.net/e/patches/view/75225

Modular Jam Feb 27, 2021 Patch Notes

Master Clock from DAW (Studio One 5)

Voice 1 Routing
• Tempo from PNW into Arturia Keystep
• Keystep Sequence Pitch Out into Erica Black VCO 2 1v/Oct
• Saw out into QPAS Left
• Pulse out into QPAS Right
• QPAS LPF Left and Right into Quad VCA
• Envelopes from Quadrax
• Quad VCA into Mixer
• Mixer channels panned hard left and right
• Mixer into Mimeophon
• Mimeophon to Main Outs

Voice 1 Modulation:
• PNW LFO into QPAS Frequency
• Quadrax LFO into QPAS Radiate Left
• Quadrax LFO into QPAS Radiate Right

Voice 2 Routing
• Tempo from PNW
• Mother 32 Sequencer to internal saw wave
• M32 VCO Pulse out into External input
• Mix at 50%
• M32 VCA out into Quad VCA
• Quad VCA to Mixer
• Mixer to Mimeophon
• Mimeophon to Main Outs

Voice 2 Modulation:
• M32 Internal LFO triangle on PWM and Cutoff
• PNW LFO into M32 VCO Mod Amount
• Maths into M32 LFO Rate

Voice 3 Routing
• Mother 32 Sequencer KB out to Plaits
• Plaits into Ripples
• Ripples into Quad VCA
• Envelope from Maths Ch 1
• Quad VCA into Mixer
• Mixer into Mimeophon
• Mimeophon to Main Outs

Voice 3 Modulation:
• PNW LFO into Plaits Timbre
• PNW LFO into Ripples Frequency
• Maths Ch 4 into Rise of Ch 1
• PNW tempo into Maths Ch 1 trig

Mimeophon Tempo sync from PNW
Mimeophon in Ping Pong mode

EDITED Mar 1st 2021, 02:09

Hi

Do you have the "Double Hard Prolapse DHP" tube module?

thanks

Hi Wishbonebrewery,

Oh lovely track! For me the bass is okay, perhaps it could be a slightly touch more present but the way it is now will do for me too. By having the bass not too present, makes this a very lovely subtle track and the listener is more attracted to the other sounds you have to offer here!

I love that kind of ping-pong sound, nicely done! Thanks a lot for sharing this and kind regards, Garfield.

Hi Mowse,

Oh yes, that's that kind of track that just can't be long enough ;-)

Great work again, thanks a lot for sharing and kind regards, Garfield.

Hi Brunomolteni,

Wow, this is a great jam, I love it! Nice (input) play with your modular. Lovely video to watch you at work too!

This is great stuff, I wouldn't mind more of this. Thanks a lot for sharing and kind regards, Garfield.

Thank you for the feedback.

Sweet! I forgot to mention the artwork is great too.

Thanks, I'm sure i can do better :)

Percussion sequencing from Roboux LL8 and Euclidean from DNi Pro DOT, one out on the LL8 also pings a filter with some noise going into it, then the bass line comes from the 2hp Turing machine via 2hp Tune.

Jim, thanks for your ideas above, those are super helpful and interesting! Good food for thought, I will mull this over some more.

I find particularly interesting and useful your comments i) "modulation and utility should take up about 50% of the rack" ii) "matrix mixers are a great way of expanding modulation sources" and iii) "I'm in the use fewer modulation sources and more utilities to get more, complex modulation camp" -- great advice for a newbie like me!

Any additional folks from the forum want to add to the thread? (Hope so!)

Thanks all! Nicholas

Another nice one @mowse, I always love the West Coast vibes in your tunes. Speaking of, I recently discovered Pauline Anna Strom whose music you might dig, check it out:

https://paulineannastrom.bandcamp.com/album/trans-millenia-music-2

Very nice @EroGumby, the flow is great here and each "piece" seems to last just the right amount of time. Well done!