What am I missing?

About to take a leap into the world of Eurorack and go on a spending spree.

I have a Minibrute 2S and I plan on getting a Rackbrute 6U to start building in.

AS far as I can tell I've covered all the bases here but I am admittedly new to this, Can y'all see any glaring omissions?

EDITED Jun 26th 2021, 04:21

Hey Legion,
I‘m also fairly new to this and I guess it won‘t take long before someone experienced will chime in, but there‘s a few things I‘m noticing you might want to check.

First of all I think the Rackbrute is rather expensive for what it is, but if you want to join it with the Brute I guess it makes sense.
Veils is probably a good choice for a VCA but this Version is discontinued and there’s a smaller version now (which is a good thing imo). You also probably won’t need the mult and and passive mixer, Mutable Links has both of those functions plus a precision adder which is very handy, and is likely cheaper than buying those two while retaining the same size.

Also Jim would probably recommend buying Kinks while you can (which is something that I did), great module and it adds some Noise and random to your build for modulation.

I personally would substitute Blades for something smaller and cheaper filterwise, it seems a little overkill to me (tho it looks like a rather awesome module) and add a good lfo module for modulating the brute and the other modules with, but you might be fine with maths.

All the Bestest

EDITED Jun 26th 2021, 08:19

you've learnt well @Cangore!!!

blades and beads are kind of difficult at the moment - I don't think the next batches are due until next year - so maybe go for something else to start with - you can't go far wrong with a happy nerding fx aid xl - plaits doesn't need a filter - there is one built in

but I would suggest some (used) doepfer filters - there is a huge selection and they are relatively inexpensive

as is a black face maths - only in the B&G shared system iirc

there's nothing wrong with the old veils - I have 3 - but if I was buying today I would buy the newer one - 2 less hp

I too dislike the rackbrutes - they do seem a little expensive, I don't like the aesthetics, and worst of all they waste hp with the rack wart - but you do have the only reasonable excuse for getting one - a minibrute 2(s)

the links and kinks tips are correct

I would also add something like shades - or the happy nerding mia - you need attenuation/attenuversion and offsets a lot

personally I'd also want a matrix mixer of some sort - predominantly for mixing modulation sources

how are you intending to final mix/record the output of this and the minibrute?

what sort of music are you intending to make?

you may well want to add a second sequencer - to enable you to transpose the sequence - for separate sections and/or chord/key changes - for this you would also need a precision adder - shades and links both include these

Thanks guys,

You've given me some great tips there, a few things I wouldn't have even thought about!

@Cangore I'll have to look into Kinks ...a little bit of random on noise sounds right up my alley. Mutable Links is something else I'll need to look into....so many options it's easy to get over whelmed!

Blades is pretty much only there as a placeholder. I know I'll want a filter and I was impressed with what I saw from MI

@JimHowell1970 I have Beads on preorder. I'm willing to wait for that one besides...it gives me time to figure out the other stuff. :D

RE: Veils & Maths Likes I said, I'm new. No idea really which versions are the newest. When it comes shopping time I'll p[probably grab which ever ones my local retailers have (unless I find a good deal used)

I was planning on running the output through the Minibrute to start with then expand with mixer and a seq on the next round of impulse shopping.

attenuation/attenuversion a is somerthing I hadn't even considered.

As for planned music? something between old school industrial and early periods of Aphex Twin with a dash of 80's New Wave...I think...we'll see what it morphs into :D

Thanks guys,

You've given me some great tips there, a few things I wouldn't have even thought about!

@Cangore I'll have to look into Kinks ...a little bit of random on noise sounds right up my alley. Mutable Links is something else I'll need to look into....so many options it's easy to get over whelmed!

it can be easy to get overwhelmed, that's why we often say replace this module with this one - because mostly we will recommend modules that we have and have had good experience with - I just had to have a button replaced on my Marbles and DHL and Emilie had it back to me in perfect working order in 6 days!

Blades is pretty much only there as a placeholder. I know I'll want a filter and I was impressed with what I saw from MI

@JimHowell1970 I have Beads on preorder. I'm willing to wait for that one besides...it gives me time to figure out the other stuff. :D

I wasn't at all saying don't get either - I was saying there's going to be a long wait (at least for beads - blades seems to have been re-stocked) - seriously though get an fx aid xl in the meantime, you won't regret it!

RE: Veils & Maths Likes I said, I'm new. No idea really which versions are the newest. When it comes shopping time I'll p[probably grab which ever ones my local retailers have (unless I find a good deal used)

dealers will only have veils 2020 by now and the white knob, aluminium panel maths (if you can find one) - you might be able to find other versions used - but then a mk1 maths is quite different than a new one - I would get a newer one at least (blue knobs, white knobs, black panel not red lightening panel) - the same goes for veils - you can filter by module/brand and order by newest if that helps

I was planning on running the output through the Minibrute to start with then expand with mixer and a seq on the next round of impulse shopping.

sounds like a plan - remember to get something at least a bit bigger than you think you need - you probably will in the future - I like the tesseract tex-mix for this reason - it's expandable and inexpensive - even if you buy built modules - need another 4 mono or stereo channels that'll be 12hp and 70€ - it does mean you spend elsewhere though - but for example - I don't need lots of auto panning - probably only 1 channel and I can use 2 vcas, an lfo and an offset, which I have anyway to do that if I need it - or just do it it in the DAW (if I'm recording)

attenuation/attenuversion a is somerthing I hadn't even considered.

nor offset I expect!

As for planned music? something between old school industrial and early periods of Aphex Twin with a dash of 80's New Wave...I think...we'll see what it morphs into :D
-- legion

good luck!!

To take a step back... what is it that you're hoping to achieve by expanding into Eurorack. You mentioned your Minibrute 2S. Are you looking to build on that semi-modular synth? From the modules I'm looking at, you've added a few that are popular in discussions. But I'm not noticing anything that feels like you're trying to build something with a purpose.

I don't want to tell you to do this or do that without a little more information. Talk it out. Do some soul searching. Are you at the point now where you want to explore? Is the MiniBrute meant to be the foundation or your system or just a convenient stepping off point? Don't feel intimidated or afraid to say "I don't know". "I don't know" really means "I don't know yet." Don't be afraid of that.

What do you want to get out of physically patching synth modules that you're not going to get out of a DAW or traditional self-contained synth?

What do you want to get out of physically patching synth modules that you're not going to get out of a DAW or traditional self-contained synth?

-- Ronin1973

A number of things really, some easy to explain and others not so much.

I've been making music on computers for over 20 years now. I've taken a hiatus from music for the last 5 and I'm looking to get back into it. I currently work on computers doing video editing and social media stuffs so I want something that will allow me to have a more visceral hands on approach top music making and less screens and drawing curves. Ultimately a computer will be necessary in order to capture and finalize but the goal is to do as much of it hands on and live as possible.

The plan is (at this point) to create multi leveled and textured music that is simultaneously industrial/aggressive and delicate/beautiful (yeah...I have no idea what that means either!). The rack I have currently laid out is what I consider Stage One...a few vital components that I either know I will need and have fallen in love with matched top some utilities to create a setup that is somewhat useful with the Minibrute 2S to start with before Stage Two.

Stage Two starts with a greater understanding of what I have, where I want to go and what I need to add to make that happen.