ModularGrid uses so-called cookies to ensure it's so-called functionality. We also use dubious tracking scripts. Find out more in the Privacy Policy. We use cookies and wanna let you know.
In this build, I'm working to solve an issue with creating a modulation-primary skiff that can work equally well with my Digisound 80, the B.2600, my two MS-20 minis, and a bunch of other toys. And via the Nanobridge, these can also be used with the AE system.
This is a build in a Case From Lake 4U 168 hp skiff. While CFL doesn't have these in stock, they're available as a modification to their angled 84/104 single 3U row cab.
The module row starts with a Plankton clock sequencer...basically, what it sounds like: a sequenced source of time pulses, with the ability to set the durations as sequenceable steps. After this is a clocking "mangler" stage: Adventure's Count for extracting individual pulses, Ladik dual pulse delay, and Ladik probabilistic pulse skipper, a pair of Frequency Central Logic Bombs with a dual-OR pulse combiner, Doveman's dual window comparator, and a Ladik Derivator and Min-Max. The Greyscale Permutation then provides random generative sequencing to bridge the gap between the "clock" section and the "CV" section.
For modulation CV signals, I then dropped in a 4ms QPLFO. This is followed by a Tenderfoot attenuverter/mixer, a Quadrax with Qx, Maths, and a Zlob Vnicvrsal VCA for six linear VCAs. Then the sole audio device, Behringer's Bode Frequency Shifter, and after that, G-Storm's translator module for Korg/Yamaha analog synths.
The tile row below then gives me a Temps Utile (with four CV expander points) and an O&c for elaborate and interlaced clocking/utilities, a dual-channel mult, a pair of Pulplogic Cyclic Skews for use as either EGs or LFOs, Plum Audio's Dazzle stereo VCA/polarizer/modulator, then a pair each of a DC-coupled Pulplogic mixer and DC-coupled VCA.
So, this is more or less a "mission-specific" build on a fairly large scale. The cab design lets me place this perfectly in front of the bases of the racks in the "modular sandbox" without blocking any controls, etc. It might not be something I eventually put together, but at the same time it's a worthwhile "test" to see if this concept works, and how.
I dig the Happy Nerding VCAs, actually...they're linear, making them ideal for modulation control. Plus, they can be used as a "breakable" mixer, and the ability to get three VCAs, etc into just 6 hp makes them a go-to. The topology sort of makes them less than optimal for audio, but if you're down toward the "DC Zone", these fill the bill...and then some!
+1 on Jim's assessment of Doepfer. Sure, most of their modules are "primitives", which means that the circuits in them make up the circuit complement for more complex modules. But there's tons of potential situations when a "primitive" is just what the Dr. ordered. Dieter's making some great stuff to this very day...and there are some definitely unique offerings in their huge line. You can't write 'em off!
Gave it a bit of a poke, mostly to fix the layout but I also was able to remove a few modules that either weren't cost-effective or necessary:
Most everything is still the same as far as module complement, but I was able to mash the polarizers (and add more functionality) by swapping that for a Xaoc Samara II, which also contains VCAs for your mod row. Losing the buffered mult + a bit of shuffling then let me put in the Takaab VLH, which adds a ring modulator, suboscillator, and noise source to your VCO complement. And one more crunch let me put in a pair of ADSRs courtesy of Paratek's updated version of Peaks. But besides those changes and the module shuffle (which now has audio up, modulation down except for the Stereomix, with signal flow on both now working left-to-right), it's pretty much ready to rock.
Oh, and two more VCAs got added in the audio row, right after the Rings clone, so that you can use those to control stereo amplitude coming out of the Rings and before it hits the Monsoon, with the Plancks serving to submix prior to the Stereomix, if needed.
No real advantage, per se...the main part of that issue really stems from which synthesis approach you want to work in. Digital sources like the Plaits do "pre-make" the sound in a sense, but you can warp their preprogrammed waveforms all the same.
The real thing I was aiming at in the build above isn't so much a choice between oscillator topologies, but about the point of oscillator doubling. You can have one VCO (of any sort, really) and it'll sound good...but TWO of the same, with the same waveform and a slightly different tuning yields more than the sum of the parts. By using slight detunings, the result is that the sound has more presence...low end stuff hits harder, mids sound bigger, and so on. With the VOID Modular dual VCO, you've got those two VCOs...but the module offers more than just two oscillators inasmuch as you've got the ring mod (probably a 4-quadrant design in there) for amplitude modulation, you can drive one with the other at audio frequencies for FM, etc. However, you can accomplish the same sort of idea with two Plaits and the addition of a ring mod module.
But the big difference is actually in price. The Gravitational Waves is $250; a single Plaits runs $259. So while you could do a dual Plaits setup, just the two oscillators alone are more than DOUBLE the VOID's price. And yes, you definitely need to keep cost-vs-benefit in mind here...
Tiles are space-savers...but only with certain modules. For example, I deleted the Joranalogue mixer from the original build because Intellijel's got their QuadrATT, which gives you one more mixing input/attenuverter for cheaper ($179-ish vs $79). And the Noise Tools solves the noise source and sample and hold issues. But when there's no need for tiles, then yes, Jim's right on that. However, for portable rigs and definitely for one-row skiffs, tiles make a good bit of sense for shifting the basic utilities out of the "expensive" row.
I get fussy about tuning, so my tuner of choice is actually a Peterson Strobetuner. Yep, with the motorized disc, the line-frequency neon lamp, all that fun stuff BECAUSE you can detune up or down with precision due to the Strobetuner's cents vernier dial and the strobe disc's "motion". And if I'm seriously chasing some REALLY out there scalar stuff, I also have a frequency counter. If it worked for Rick Wakeman back in the early 70s, it'll work great today, too!
These are good fixes...but the REAL fix is this one book, probably one of the best books on electronic and/or studio mixing strategies of all time. And it's from 1913! Vide:
No lie. This was the orchestration text we used for my instrumentation and orchestration classes in undergrad...but I noticed that Rimsky-Korsakov's concepts of how to keep various orchestration layers from clashing/overrunning each other also worked perfectly when mixing multitrack audio. No oboe or cor anglais? OK, there's some electronic signal that sounds like 'em, so why not deal with those the same way, albeit with faders and EQs? By doing this sort of "ab extensio" sort of approach to this book, you'll find that mixing and composition in electronic media gets WAY easier, and your mixes sound tighter.
One other caveat: if you're using EQ while multitracking, NEVER boost. Always cut. The only times you'd use boost on an EQ will either be to accentuate frequency bands within a sound, as an effect, or gentle and wide boosts on a mixbus program EQ during mixdown, and even there, you don't want to go bug-nutz on boosting. You can always pull levels up...but bringing them down can actually really mess with your ability to control the mix because you'll get a false perspective from the hotter signals.
Right...technically, you could use a basic comparator as well, but this specific Doepfer module is designed for audio AND modulation use. Not all comparators can work nicely at audio frequencies, so this purpose-designed version is the winner here I think.
OK...first up, 3U x 84 is just not a good starter case size. It's small, as Jim notes...small enough that you'll be making compromises that you probably won't like. So, taking your intentions and mixing 'em up with Jim's notes, I cooked this up:
First of all, I jacked this on up to an Intellijel Palette 104. Instead of the previous cab, this gives you a utility tile row AND the power supply/header half-row. By doing this, you can then move some of your functions up into the tiles, plus the header gives you three buffered mults (usable as one HUGE buffered mult) and two adders. And a MIDI port. Oh, and four 1/4" jacks. We'll get to those in a bit...
Tiles: MIDI Interface. NOW you can connect this to your DAW's MIDI. This will give you a synced clock, also. Then the Intellijel Noise Tools provides a noise source, slew limiter, sample and hold, and another clock that can also spit out random pulses. Then there's a utility VCO that doubles as an LFO with CV and sync. The QuadrATT provides mixing, but also polarization, and a breakable summing bus. Then the first 1/4" jack thing: a Pedal I/O, which lets you drop in various FX processors or, if you like, you can use the return line as an audio input. This makes use of a pair of the 1/4" jacks for its own I/O. And last, the stereo output. No, the Befaco isn't in here, because NOW you can output from the build via the Stereo Out and its 1/4" jack pair...no need to rob 4 hp for the output.
Row: Pams first, then a Ladik dual pulse delay lets you offset two channels of pulses on the fly. I kept the Steppy because now, it makes a decent sequenced trigger for the Quadrax...or you can use the Quadrax's QX expander's EOR/EOF pulses to fire it in ways that can, if wanted, turn the entire Quadrax into a complex LFO. Hell, you could even clock a channel or two of the Quadrax at audio rates to use those function gens as extra oscillators WITH CV over the rise and fall values. And in the same vicinity, there's the Disting EX to provide all sorts of ancillary functions...quantizing makes sense, but there's OTHER weird things it's very capable of with the other modules in here.
Now, for the voice section, I opted for a more "proper" complex oscillator, as that'll give you your dual VCOs for fattening up the sound. But you don't have to do that with this; instead, you can FM one oscillator via the other, you can AM them by using the ring modulator, or you can entertain a bunch more weird routings, all of which gives you some really rich timbres before even hitting the VCF. Next, a quad VCA (Veils) lets you strum through various waveforms, which more or less gives you some simple timbral sequencing, or you can use one half of it for audio from the Gravitational Waves while reserving two more for modulation amplitude functions.
The next two modules actually work in tandem. First up is Doepfer's take on the MS-20 Sallen-Key VCF pair...which, strangely, includes an insert loop in the resonance path. And for that insert loop, I added that second module, Recovery's Bad Comrade mkiii, which is a delay line with many ways to cause glitches, freezes, etc etc, which the resonance path then takes back in...so, as each sound loops through the Bad Comrade, you have ample opportunities for seriously messing with it, then it all accumulates back in the VCF...and around you go again!
Last, some effects. First up is a Stasis Leak, which I find comes in very handy for "stereoizing" audio. It's a mono in-stereo out reverb/chorus/tap delay...and yes, you can use the Steppy to define/redefine that tap delay length as a sequenceable function. Then the end of the 3U stuff has a Warps clone, which lets you do a lot of pitch change, various other modulations, stereo ring mod, and so on.
Now THAT'S a serious and small production rig. Instead of the previous version, this has a lot of open-endedness to it that keeps it from being a "one-trick" build. Timbral variety is REALLY big in here, plus the Steppy has the ability to mess with certain other functions, AND you can offset it in time from the Pams with the Dual Pulse Delay. But by going a big bigger, adding the extra tile and header rows, NOW this is working at the right capability for a really diverse system that still fits nicely under one arm.
That looks like a great option. I also might be able to wait on the KSP for now, and use my current midi controller/sequencer?
Thoughts on the 2600 in terms of versatility in sound? After buying the 2600, what eurorack modules would be best to create more sound/timbre possibilities?
-- ethanlawrence
The ARP 2600 may actually be...even today...the BEST synth for learning the basics of analog synthesis. It's what I learned on, many years ago. There's no surprises, it doesn't do anything particularly quirky, it's just a hella solid patchable monosynth (or paraphonic...it all depends on how you configure/control it). It's also what the roots of Eurorack go back to, as ARP designed this with what we now consider standards: 1v/8va CV tracking, positive 5v gate/triggers...exactly what you'd expect in a present-day Eurorack setup.
As for what one sounds like, gives you perhaps one of the most iconic ARP 2600 tracks of all time. And yes, that's an ARP 3604 controller he's wearing!
Really, all one of these needs is a skiff with an extra HPF, some extra modulation, maybe a matrix mixer and a few other widgets...but not a whole lot else in "must-haves". Plus, the Behringer has the 3620 keyboard's "extras" on the main panel, so it's got the extra LFO, clocking, latching, all that; Korg did have those on the "nobody's gonna get one of these" 2600FS, but their "2600 for everyone else, ie. the 2600M" is crippleware next to the BARP, as the 2600M doesn't have the 3620 circuits, period. And having played 2600s with both the 3604 and 3620 controllers, there's really no comparison.
Very true. And with a KSP, as noted above, you can use two lanes of sequencing and still have a third VCO for straight-up keyboard work when using it with just a 2600. Only one VCF, yeah...but the 4012 is awesome, given that it's the "lawsuit filter" that Bob Moog contended was a copy of his transistor ladder LPF.
Again, I renew my objections to trying to do this with modules from only one manufacturer. That might've been the routine back in the 1960s and 70s, but back then you didn't have the current plethora of module choices. And part of why I'm objecting is actually right here in this case: the Quad VCA.
OK, so that module is based on the original Veils VCA topology, and it's 12 hp...like the original Veils. But at this point, Mutable's moved on to a v.2 of that, which fits in 10 hp. And anywhere you can save space means that you have more space for functions. And with just one VCO, you need more functionality in that one point at least, since you have no way to detune between 2-3 VCOs to generate a bigger/fatter sound.
Another problem with this plan is that you're forcing yourself to use modules that, in this build size, are on the edge of taking up too much space, and the Rainmaker and Metropolix are definitely too big for this case size. In fact, those two modules alone take up 70 hp on their own...and you only have 208 hp of 3U slots, meaning that nearly 30% of the cab's main rows are covered by just two modules. That's not a good way to proceed.
Much of the "bad behavior" as of late seems to have been here in the States, partly due to how these companies treat their rank-n-file folks over here. In the rest of the world where government standards dictate AGAINST that, they're relatively trustworthy.
Better solution? Well, if you're considering a Crave but you want something more "modular-esque", I'd suggest a B.2600. It's a couple hundred $$ more, but it'll fit right in as a "modular core" that you can build around. Snag that and a Keystep Pro, and I can guarantee that you'll be busy for a while!
And yes...after a few months, I can now say with all certainty that their 2600 really is the "rev. 5" we never got due to ARP's post-Avatar implosion. I've found little to no significant differences between it and rev. 2, 3 and 4 versions. The VCFs sound right, the various CV paths do even the "not really supposed to work" stuff...worth it.
Also worth noting: Junkie XL is also a big soundtrack composer as well. Think Hans Zimmer with more beats and about the same amount of gear prior to JXL's "studio yard sale".
One of the biggest issues I have with small skiff builds is that they require lots of compromises. So, I instead opted to show what you'd get if you started in a 7U Intellijel cab, with both granular and sample modules being WAY more beefy as well as easy to operate...especially live. There are compromises here, too...but far less, plus some interesting opportunities popped up.
Now, check THIS out! Same idea, but with a much better powered cab with more space for modulation schemes that the 84 hp skiff simply cannot accommodate.
Tiles: First up is a stereo input control. This gets signals from a pair of the four 1/4" jacks built into the cab. Then I added a Noise Tools tile to give you a clock source, sample and hold, slewing and noise. Next up is a mono-to-stereo effects processor that offers reverb, delay, and chorus. And then, a VCO...but we'll get to that in a bit. Then two stereo VCAs for level control over the input pairs to the stereo mix out...which is also connected to a 1/4" jack pair but ALSO, the on-panel L-R out remains hot. Something else we'll get to in a bit...
Top row: Disting. Then a stereo compressor, which you'll find useful for mildly squishing the audio TO the sampler so that your samples can maintain a degree of dynamic similarity. And as for the sampler, I swapped the Instruo one for a much easier to use (thanks to its touchscreen) Blackbox. Similarly, I swapped out the other Instruo granualizer for a Mordax GXN...for pretty much the same reasons. Whenever you're screwing around with samples, etc, it's SUPER useful to have modules with screens so that you can get a better editing and/or audio control going on than with ones that don't have that. After those, a Veils allows you to either mix the two sources together in stereo, or you can use them as a pair of stereo VCAs per each source.
Now...remember that VCO? The next thing here is a Make Noise modDemix, which is a dual balanced modulator, and that VCO is for splitting across the carrier (via a mult widget...there's no mults onboard, which is about right for something this small, plus you don't "rob space" for a mult or two) inputs so that you can ring modulate in stereo. Next, Intellijel's awesome and super-versatile stereo VCF, the Morgasmotron, and this is followed by the SCLPL for further timbral strangeness. Then, last up you've got an FX Aid XL for more "global" processing. Also, this could be implemented by sending its wet output to one dual VCA and then to one stereo pair on the Stereo Mixer, giving you a parallel processing possibility.
Bottom row: Yeah, this is the seriously new...and VERY needed...modulation row. On the left, the little white sliver is a Konstant Labs PWRchekr to keep an eye on your DC rail health. Then the Tubbutech gives you both a MIDI interface AND a microtonal-capable quantizer. And yeah, even with no sequencer, you can STILL do all sorts of pitch trickery by clocking the quantizer and then feeding it an LFO. Plus, the Tubbutech gives you MIDI over USB and the ability to store configurations via micro SD. Next is the Time Warp, made even more useful now thanks to that stereo input tile. After that is SSF's brilliant utility "one-stop", the Tool-box, giving you a bunch of needed functions that were missing before.
The Ochd got flipped for a QPLFO from 4ms. This has four independent LFOs that are tap-timeable but which ALSO have utterly insane frequency ranges...like, say, as slow as 70+ MINUTES per cycle! And they can go up into the lower audio range, too. Then for CVable rise/falls and also cascadeable looped envelope gens, I dropped in a Quadrax and its Qx expander, which allows the cascading thanks to its EOR/EOF trigger outs. But you can also tie them into the Maths, too, and make things REALLY over the top. And hey, lookit...there's a Maths! A 3xVCA gives you dedicated linear VCAs for modulation level control, and a Frap 321 next to it is there for even MORE modulation scrambling via offset generators and several other odd things.
Then for more complex envelopes, the Zadar and Nin give you four plus a little extra control via the Nin. But if you need to tweak envelopes on the fly, I put in a Paratek CVable Dual ADSR for a total of six (and actually ten if you count the Quadrax) full-on EGs. And...a headphone preamp; remember that "hot output" on the Stereo Mixer tile above? You can connect the tile's on-panel outs to the headphone preamp, and you'll STILL get your output pair on the cab's 1/4" jacks.
Now THIS is a hellacious sound manipulation machine! The control level over the upper audio row is pumped up to INSANE levels via the new modulation row, plus you get a few neat extras via the tile row. Lots of trickery going on in this now...
Well, Kinks is discontinued, for one thing...that could have something to do with it.
My suggestion would be to sub this for the Kinks: https://www.modulargrid.net/e/steady-state-fate-tool-box It's got everything save for the Kinks' S&H/noise...and the stuff it's got that the Kinks doesn't have compared to the Tool Box is pretty sizable. 6 hp only, too.
Sounds like a win to me! Erica's "zoned" approach to power is something others have latched onto as well, with Arturia's Rackbrutes being good example of that. But the Erica cab build quality is also a plus...the only thing about the 3 x 126 that you'll need to watch is module depth, as it's kinda shallow over the P/S itself.
And it's crazy-land power because Trogotronics is very accustomed to building tube gear. Those require overspecced power like you wouldn't believe, and the inrush on tubes can be really extreme. My bet is that that's a "stingy" 10A, and the REAL capacity is above that...10A is just what Trogotronics would like you to run it at.
I don't like BL's stuff. Controversies aside, my sticky point with them is about their UIs. Some of the panel designs look like they were designed by accident, for example. Others have the "chopstick fingers required" problem, as they're too dense for the panel size used. There's several makers that I ding routinely due to their horrible panel designs and/or graphics (looking at YOU, Noise Engineering!), but BL goes so far that I can't even consider them seriously, especially not for starting modular users.
ADDAC's got some really wild modules, though...and not just these. They've got a T-network filter pair just for pinging, for old-school beatbox sounds. And the Marble Physics "LFO" is utterly bonkers. Plus, if you need a case that a small family could live in, they were pretty much first with the 197 hp (1 meter) widths.
There's a few things in this that I find confusing. For example, three Moddemixes? And where are the actual VCAs? The other envelope gens besides the one Function module? Why only one audio source, albeit a rather good one? Why no Brains with the Pressure Points, so that you can have something of a second sequencer? Attenuverters? Submixers? Other utilities?
You're only broke if you threw money at this build. And I do mean BROKE...as this build has some pretty serious issues that compromise its capabilities. It would probably be a good idea to explain what you're trying to build this FOR so that some of us can give you a hand with it, as it drastically needs some reworking.
The 3xVCA should actually be easier to get in the EU than elsewhere, given that they're in Germany. Bug Schneider's Laden in Berlin (here's the listing there: https://schneidersladen.de/en/happy-nerding-3x-vca) and see if/when they'll have them in again.
This is probably the fault of a few of us on here who've been giving advice. That triple VCA gives you so much modulation control capabilities in a skinny 6 hp that it's RIDICULOUS...for many of my builds, it's THE modulation row VCA.
DHL is downright annoying. Fortunately, I only have to screw around with them when I order anything from Tangible Waves, but you HAVE TO be around to see what they're up to, as they'll just bolt if you're not there within, oh, 60 seconds. Makes signing for their shipments annoying as hell, but they do have a good track record on not smashing your shipment all to f**k.
And I can't say that about UPS at all! I still have very hideous and rattled memories of purchasing a Bruel & Kjaer Model 123 "Spectrum Shaper"...basically, think Stockhausen's Albiswerk filter banks at WDR, then shrink that down to a rackmountable form factor. This was shipped UPS, and it DID arrive on time...with one corner of the padded double-box job smashed in completely! After pushing the hell out of the UPS Field Inspector, they admitted that packages at the local depot tend to get "thrown around too often".
Who are they hiring? Gorillas? That filterbank weighs about 35 pounds minus the doublepacking! And the momentum + mass not only fubarred the boxes, it smashed in a corner of the unit itself, with the impact knocking components loose inside it, destroying soldered connections, and so on. Had it not been for my ultra-amazing tech, who has repair-fu that's WAAAAAAAY beyond my pay grade and his ability to figure everything out WITHOUT SCHEMATICS, I could've wound up throwing that poor filterbank in the trash. UPS doesn't have to care, though, once they paid out on this fairly-unobtainable thing. Rat-bastards...
Amazon does great on delivery...as long as your shipment isn't clearly expensive AF. A few pedals I got thru them, well, I didn't get them on the first try. Apparently when things go through their SW Chicago facility, they sometimes get subjected to five-finger discounts. So I quit using them except for boring stuff that people won't want to steal.
This problem also crops up with the USPS...same area, too. But the USPS actually has SERIOUS consequences waiting for anyone who gets caught (screwing with the US Mail is a bigtime felony!), so it's not as often nor are expensive things typically stolen, as those clowns tend to look for pocketable packages. HOWEVER...and shockingly enough...ONLY the USPS can consistently hit delivery times around here. UPS can be a day late at times, FedEx...who knows, and Amazon can hit the delivery times as long as one of their terminal crew doesn't steal your shit. And nothing domestic comes here via DHL, so it sees very little action. Even with DeJoy (appropriate name, that!) still trying to wreck the USPS, they can manage pretty well.
Solution? Talk to your shippers, explain that you want NO FEDEX (or whichever carrier is screwing up for you) on your shipments after the first time you get screwed, and also make a lot of bad noise at the higher-ups at the carrier in question about your concerns about their "clearly untrustworthy" shipping security. And while this might sound like a rather Karen-esque way of going about this, the fact is that the upper management of these companies are pretty bent out of shape about this for the same reasons YOU are, and they'd like nothing more to root out the pilferage and get those responsible locked up. ALWAYS report shipment screwery. Always. If more people hold these carriers' feet to the fire on these sloppy operations, maybe they'll finally start doing things like, oh, paying their employees something more than McDonalds slave wages and treating them like human beings so that they have LESS impetus to pull stunts like this.
Trogotronic has this for around $200, with three busboards, brick, cabling, and a 4 hp inlet. These can be modified in various ways, so what I would suggest is getting in touch with them directly and seeing what a "zero busboard" version of this would run you.
And yes, it's wise to have at least a 1/4th of your current in reserve for typical "startup inrush" issues...but with something like this, you could slam a few smallish cabs together on the one P/S. Plus, if 10A doesn't cut it, this can be scaled up to FORTY AMPS if necessary!
Normally, no. But when you grow up in/around the music industry in Nashville, you eventually learn that dumpsters in that alley between 16th and 17th Av. S. on Music Row tend to wind up with some interesting "garbage".
My suggestion would be to have a look at Ladik's A-5xx series. There's several possible solutions in there, some of which also include line-level input to modular level out capabilities. The fixed-level ones are especially cheap and don't require much in the way of fiddling around.
It's also worth noting that the vaunted Maths is also based around slope gens, which are more or less slew limiters with CV over rise/fall in Make Noise's design. Plus, anything else based in the Serge "Universal Slope Generator" family fits this definition, too.
Actually, I think the 4ms 64X is a rather poor choice here, given that only a couple more inches 'vertically' gets you an Intellijel Palette 62. Sure, 2 hp shorter, but you also get 62 hp of tiles AND the utility bar with two buffered mults, USB MIDI I/O, and your 1/4" audio outs.
Plus, this fixes one of Ronin's questions. The tile row has the ability to house Intellijel's Stereo Out tile (which directly connects to those 1/4" jacks). And as for his second, instead of the Serge version of this sort of thing, have a look at WMD's SCLPL. Also a resonant EQ albeit more limited in bands than the Serge, it DOES feature this "morph between settings" capability. Sequencer friendly, to be sure...and VERY capable while occupying 450% LESS space!
I'll bang on this when I get a little more nicotine in my system...just started this cigar, and the "brain food" hasn't kicked in yet!
EDIT: OK, here we go....
First up, this is in the 62 hp Palette, as mentioned above. The utility module gives you a pair of buffered mults and your 1/4" outs, plus the potential to add one of Intellijel's MIDI interfaces later on. I omitted that here because your description of the rig is less something MIDI-controlled and much more of a portable, manual tweakfest. And of course, your power connection is here.
TILES: First up, there the Intellijel Noise Tools gives you a master clock, sample and hold, noise source, and slew gen. Then there's your other VCO which can also be switched to LFO mode. After this, I put in another two VCAs which can be used in stereo. Then last in line is the Stereo Output Mixer, which can sum down two stereo paths to a single output. This connects directly to the 1/4" jacks on the utility bar, but you also have a direct stereo out so that you can take that summed stereo signal and mess with it elsewhere in the build.
MODULES: OK...the O&c is still there, but the little screened thing next to it is a multichannel sequencer, with five gate/trigs and one CV/gate channel with quantizing. The Paratek CV Peaks is an upgraded variation on Mutable's Peaks, albeit with full CV control over the stages in both EG channels. Your Mangrove is after that, followed by a Happy Nerding 3X VCA for controlling all three of the VCO levels pre-VCF.
And as for that VCF...I went with something like the Just Friends, but even crazier! The Limaflo Motomouth is a digital VCF that's also capable of operating as a formant filter; you can see the dial with the IPA phonetics vowel annotation in the middle left. So if you want a normal VCF, you've got that...along with the formant-based filtering the larger Mannequins module does. But the Just Friends doesn't have a morph control to shift from one vowel to the next, while this thing CAN do that. The C4RBN is also there if you need "conventional" filtering.
Then there's the FX module, where I opted for Frequency Central's Stasis Leak, giving you a choice of stereo reverb, tap delay, or chorusing. This also takes your mono "voice" signal and stereoizes it so it's ready for the WMD SCLPL...which is where that Stereo Output Mixer comes in. By having that in the tiles, you can use an out from the Stasis Leak AND from the SCLPL and then use that dual VCA to let one fade in/out against the other. And as for the SCLPL, no, it's not as complex as the Resonant EQ...really, it's more like a single resonant EQ band, albeit with a set of user-definable presets which can be morphed between, resulting in something even more filter-like and bonkers than the Serge clone. Hooking that preset "stepper" to a t/g channel from the Godfried will then result in sequenced TIMBRAL mayhem!
But yeah...this is what I was talking about above. Building these little portable systems is NOT easy...I actually revised bits of this several times for the optimal results...but by getting more functional density, adding some additional capabilities, and having that tile row, you wind up with a similarly-sized but WAY more powerful result!
Now, one notable omission here is the looper. It simply would NOT fit, and I wasn't going to stick you with that 2hp one because that's simply trying to cram too much behind 2 hp of panel space. But my idea here is that you actually might benefit more from a outboard looper for maximum sonic mayhem. Plus, the size works if you're going to jam it, the skiff, and the necessary power bricks, patch cables, and such into a nice gigbag (such as this: https://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/SubPhattyBag--moog-sub-phatty-gig-bag). And for that, I suggest the similarly-sized Boss RC-202, which gives you dual loop engines, onboard processing, live dub/delete, a "post-processing" headphone preamp, and a bunch of other stuff. Harness THIS (https://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/RC202--boss-rc-202-loop-station) to the build above, and you've got a rig that fits in that gigbag for maximum mobility. All DC-powered, too...so if you wind up in some odd place with odd voltages, you can at least try looking for a suitable pair of wallwarts at some bigbox.
Well, how about the Happy Nerding Isolator? 4 hp, plus it DOES have transformer isolation and a ganged stereo level control. As for the Befaco, I even looked over the PCB diagrams and saw nothing resembling a transformer on them. If you go with the Isolator, you won't have a headphone jack there...but at the same time, the WMD mixer does, plus that same headphone output is where you'd be able to check things (like tuning!) on a CUE bus via the CUE/MIX crossfader. Using a headphone pre on a different module, like an output, won't give you that functionality.
I have a splitting headache because I ordered some gear from the retailing juggernaut that is Sweetwater, and since it qualified for overnight via FedEx Ground, I went for that, then sat back the next day for this to show up.
Did it? No. Instead, what happened to mine and probably a bunch of others' orders is that they went to a suburb of Indianapolis...and stopped there for about 18 hours for what I was told was a snag due to "staffing issues". OK...fine, I've done this dance with FedEx's clown show before, so sit back, wait, and then tomorrow (ie: today)...
Nothing. Again. OK, check the app on the phone...and it arrived in Champaign, left Champaign, went to Champaign again, all early in the AM...and as of right now, this "overnight" shipment is coming up on Day #4.
Oh, HELL no! OK, so call FedEx AGAIN, punch through their customer deflection phone system AGAIN, and let's see what's causing this. The answers were appalling...apparently this was the package moving from the terminal to the local office, but this massive distance was simply a move from one part of their terminal to another part of that same terminal. Yes, scanning the package this way might make it appear that the package was on its way...save that that 'way' is about 150 yards.
I demanded answers at this point. S**t ain't funny. So I got connected to a higher-up in their customer mollification department, and they promised to "get this sorted out", and they'd call back in a half-hour.
Two hours later...the phone rings. And it's not the previous person, but someone at the Champaign terminal who was VERY hostile and combative, to say nothing of being a helluva insult-slinger. They suggested I come over and get the box. I suggested that maybe you need to do your effin' job and bring the box over like you're supposed to. Call ended shortly after that in an avalanche of four-letter words on BOTH ends! Call FedEx AGAIN, navigate the customer-deflector AGAIN...then I get told that "that package wasn't an overnight". Oh? Hmmm...Sweetwater.com, check this, that...nope, that assertion is 100% BS. Either that, or you need to see what THEIR website says about this "free overnight" shipping gobbledygook.
So...call Sweetwater, where this all started. They wanted me to, actually, as they were watching how this got dealt with by FedEx (which goes quite a way to my deduction that there were A LOT of Sweetwater shipments in that trailer that got stuck in Indy) because THEY have been pissed at FedEx since FedEx dropped their delivery guarantees which apparently has led to a bunch of lackadaisical behavior at that "When it absolutely, positively has to be there overnight" carrier.
I should note that I had Sweetwater change my shipment info around this point, leaving a note on my account that Sweetwater "absolutely, positively" NEVER ship me anything via FedEx Ground ever again, period.
Now, for those of you reading this who don't know the geography here, Champaign and Ft. Wayne, Indiana are only about 3-4 hours apart. By car. At this point, I could've gone over to Sweetwater several times, gotten a bit of the gear each time, and then by the time I'd reassembled it all we would be at...well, about NOW, actually.
So the lesson is: if you're ordering from Sweetwater and you're in the geographic range for FedEx Ground "overnight"...well, don't. Have them ship your stuff via UPS, USPS, ANYthing but FedEx Ground if you need it ASAP. Or if you need it at all, for that matter, if you value your gear AND your sanity!
Stereo resonant EQ, sort of akin to the one you find in many Serge builds, but with the additional insanity of having morphing capabilities from setting to setting. Small and dangerous!
EDIT: They're proving difficult to find. If someone was committed to avoid putting an output module in their main case, I suppose they could bring along a tiny separate case with an isolated output module and maybe a few other utilities.
-- CardiacTasty
Directly from Sweetwater's listing for this:
"Note: The Morley Hum Eliminator isn’t intended for use with mic- and instrument-level signals or powered speaker lines."
So, no, it won't work unless you stepped the levels down to line-level before hitting it. Given that, I'd say just go with a stereo balanced-out module in the cab, because a stereo attenuator module would take up about the same space.
@Ronin1973 Do you have any output modules you would suggest that have a pair of built in isolation transformers?
EDIT: I see three at the moment that seem to qualify and also have a small profile:
- Happy Nerding's Isolater
- Joranalogue Audio Design's Transmit 2
- WMD's Pro Output
-- CardiacTasty
A couple of others that work nicely AND which have parallel stereo mixing capability (great for FX returns) would be Bastl's Ciao! (5 hp) and Happy Nerding's awesome OUT (6 hp). Both of these have some interesting routing capabilities that allow you to do a few more things there than just level step-down and isolation, and both also give you an extra headphone pre.
My fave? Tiptop's Forbidden Planet, but that's because I owned an actual Steiner-Parker Synthacon for a number of years and came to LOVE that yowling, cutting filter. Nothing exactly like that weird topology for generating leads that literally RIP their way through your mix!
MOTU drivers? Yeah, they're out there...check here: https://motu.com/download and you'll see the 8pre under "Audio". Win10 drivers, even!
What I like about them is that, by putting these "obsolete" interfaces back to work, we're working to keep e-waste out of landfills. You'd be shocked at what major studios toss out sometimes; nothing is as satisfying as pulling a few Altec/WE "birdcages" out of a Music Row dumpster!
Went nuts:
Oh, holy crap...what all did I do to this build? Well...lessee...
First up, I reset the cases. Since it was clear that the desired cabs were Intellijel format on the one tile row, I simply opted to put an Intellijel 7U up top, then a Palette 104 down below. Not only did this make the build a bit easier, it added a SECOND tile row, plus the Palette utility 1/2U row. Once those were chosen, I could then eliminate the 1/4" I/O tile since the Intellijel cabs have 1/4" jacks (four, actually). The extra row also allowed me to put a pair of the mono send/return modules on the lower tile row, above the WMD mixer...which means you can use some rather complex outboard processing in stereo if you like. Plus you get some extra buffered mults and a couple of precision adders on that 1/2U row on the Palette.
Then I really dug in and tried to shrink some things. First of those were the sequencers...which although the new ones fit into a smaller space, they actually have MORE in the way of features than the Ericas. For example, there's a Rene/Tempi combo on the bottom (flat, so that it'll work better as a mixing/controller row) cab that not only gives you loads of clock modulation, you get six channels of clocking AND the Tempi still connects directly to the Rene, keeping all six of those clock outs free. And the Rene can also double as a manual controller, too. The drum sequencer got switched to WMD's very potent Metron, with sixteen output channels and a whole lot of other tricks behind its little aluminum panel. And THAT move then allowed me to revamp the entire drum section, with solid kick, snare, and hats...and also Delptronics' electro pairing for another several analog percussives (with CV!) AND a 4-channel sampler/sample playback module that also takes SDs to swap out the audio files. But let's go into this thing row by row...
TOP TILE ROW: This thing's got some new CV trickery, so first up is a buffered mult because that just might be useful in this, with the several VCOs and what-not. Next is Intellijel's Noise Tools tile, which has a potential master clock, sample and hold, and slewing. QuadrATT and the VCAs are next, then there's that first Pedal I/O so that you can add a basic mono effect such as flanging, etc.
FIRST ROW: Konstant Labs PWRchekr, because while you can "see" the DC rails in the Palette via its indicators, the 7U doesn't have that amenity in clear view. But now it does. Four LFOs and four EGs next, via the excellent Xaoc Batumi and Zadar, which both have their expanders here. Then the Hel expander gives you more CV ins for the Odessa, making it also quite useful as a chordal pad source. After the Odessa, there's some real fun from LA 67 with two VCOs that offer variable waveforms under CV, using a circuit like that found on the RSF Kobol VCOs. A Veils clone deals with level control/mixing for the VCOs as desired, and note also that you can "break" the mixbus on there so that if you wanted two VCAs for the Odessa and one each for the LA 67 VCOs, that's as easy as plugging in some patchcords. Then the Morgasmatron (good pick!) and the FX Aid XL. This row is basically the "voice" row, with a potential of up to...get this!...SIX separate voices (4 CV ins for the Odessa via the Hel, one each for the LA 67s).
SECOND ROW: This is mainly drums. The Disting is first up, then the Metron. Two Frequency Central modules handle the kick and snare (with some useful CV ins), then the Tiptop 909 hats...and then there's the Delptronics modules. The left one is the "voices" and the right has various CV ins for controlling the circuits in the left. All of these point back toward the fine electro sound of the early Roland stuff...CR-78, TR-606 and 808...that sort of thing. Then, not satisfied with just one sample playback module...now there's FOUR via Squarp's Rample. The drum submixer is by Paratek, giving eight ins with stereo panning over all channels. Then next, there's WMD's stereo take on a resonant EQ, with morphing capabilities...perfect for timbral tampering with the percussion! At the end, another Frequency Central module offers mono-to-stereo capabilities with chorus, tap delay, and reverb.
LOWER TILE ROW: That first thing is derived from Mutable's Peaks, but with some extra potential modulation mayhem. Another QuadrATT next, then another FX unit...this one's the Intellijel tile with some similar capabilities to the FC Stasis Leak in the second 3U row, but this also lets you time the delay from your clock. And then the pair of Pedal I/Os which connect directly to the Palette's 1/4" jacks.
THIRD ROW: Nope, no joystick! But...see that silver and blue thing with the D-sub? That's the module for Monde's RIBBON CONTROLLER! Yeah, baybee...put a big ol' long 9-pin D-sub on that and wade out onto the floor while sending the modular lots of possible craziness. It worked for Keith Emerson, after all. Then there's the Tempi/Rene combo, which you can use all sorts of ways. You can kill the clock and use the Rene as a 16-plate controller, or clock it and get one quantized and one unquantized channel, also with a pair of gate/trig channels. And you can have that AND interfere with it while it runs, too. This is quite different from the earlier Erica sequencer in that you have many more control possibilities with the Rene. After that, I put in the WMD's mute expander (now you have touch-mutes on ALL of those channels) to get some more mileage out of the Performance Mixer. And at the end are your D-sub send/returns.
Now, you could theoretically toss the buffered mult tile (and that 2 hp blank next to it) and replace it with a 10 hp tile of some sort, since the Palette's utility bar has three of those in addition to your adders (from which you can derive some of those extra CVs the Odessa wants with a little DC offset magic). I sort of left that open. But as for the rest of this, it's LIKE your version...but pumped up on lots of 'roids!
As for portability, what I'd suggest is to get over to your local outdoor sports big box and look into some deeper, cube-foamed ATA-type gun cases, sort of like the expensive SKB keyboard ones without as much of that expense. Futz around with the foam, and you should be able to fit BOTH cabs, power bricks, a few pedals, and some patchcables into that one case. You could even get one that's carry-on sized and much of this will STILL fit, although that might necessitate putting the pedals in a separate gigbag. Either way, this should travel very well in something like that...even if you're traveling out of the country and schlepping everything yourself.
It depends. If you intend to use the modular for a lot of live work, the ES-8 makes far more sense as it eliminates extra gear that you'll have to deal with if you went with an outboard interface. But in a studio environment, I'm finding that using an "old, obsolete" interface like my MOTU 828 mkii is better as it's not specifically "assigned" to one piece of equipment. For example, the 828 mkii I use needs to be able to feed or use outputs from:
A 22 module Digisound 80
The 180-space AE modular (via a Soundmachines Nanobridge)
A Landscape Stereo Field
Bastl bitRanger and Softpop
A B.2600
A Keystep and Keystep Pro
Two Beatstep Pros
Korg SQ-1
Electro-Harmonix 8-step
Koma Field Kit and Field Kit FX
Two Korg MS-20 minis
Moog Subharmonicon
4-channel Symetrix gate
4-channel Frederick Haer window comparator
Arturia Microfreak
...and probably anything else in the studio that uses typical analog control signals via the network of tie lines in here. So, with an external converter, it's simple to just use a 1/4" patchbay to route the I/O from the back to the front, then patching to anything is a snap!
And don't EVEN ask me about how the MIDI routing in here works!
Thanks for the advice. The Motu choice was a happy accident, used them in the past, and recently bought the 8pre-es before looking at getting into modular, so lucked out with the whole DC thing :)
-- TheSoundGardxn
Another nice thing about those older MOTU interfaces is that most pro audio types these days consider them to be "obsolete", so they turn up for cheap. That makes it relatively easy and definitely inexpensive to slap new I/O in in banks of 8 via either another interface or the ADAT lightpipe. Plus, add an outboard patchbay to the mix, route your I/O through that, and then it becomes a snap to change your CV/gate/trig routings. All you need are 1/4" to whatever's needed for the synth's format cables, and you're set.
@Lugia Sounds pretty interesting that. So you can use a VCA prior to the filter as an accent (etc) control with the post-Filter VCA shaping the sound.
-- wishbonebrewery
You could do that, sure...it would involve adding in an extra bit of CV on top of whatever modulation source's output is already controlling the pre-VCF VCA, but that's easily set up with a linear, DC-coupled mixer in that control path.
Far more interesting, though, is using a multi-VCA module which mixes to a breakable mixbus (think Veils here) to "strum" different waveform outputs on one or two VCOs. You could have a triangle wave come up on a hard attack via one VCA, then have the second VCA add a square wave to that gradually by using different EG settings for those VCAs, with the result being a very marked timbral change without using anything more than a second VCA and EG. With a complex oscillator, this can get even crazier...and you STILL wouldn't be making changes via other modules to get at that craziness!
I wouldn't do that. While you definitely get two balanced outs from that Erica mixer, if you're sending to that interface directly, you're far better off going 1/4" TRS - XLR-M. That ensures that your signals stay in a balanced circuit from the modular to the 8pre, which should help with noise and maintaining the same level at the 8pre's inputs.
Good interface choice, also...it's a snap to go from 8 channels to 24 via the ADAT lightpipe connections. Just make sure your lightpipe-connected interfaces are ALSO DC-coupled.
Ronin: Yep. And that just shows that if you're not set up for method #1, there's almost certainly a "method #2" hiding in the rig somewhere! Just requires ingenuity and necessity...
