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thanks for taking this great time to delve into my rack! i will go through it and specifically consider your changes. thanks!

by the way – would you know of any colorful/lofi/characterful VCA:s?

One of our supportive members here suggested I should do a live streamed set, so I did a little practice session. This is fully 100% improvised from a completely random starting point so I could practice digging myself out of a hole in a live situation if necessary. I just went with whatever was already patched. I got into some groovy places via some abstract noisy backroads. The distortion/noise about midway through is intentional. I was trying out drums through the Moffenmix cranked into the Erica Black mixer for some disgusting overdrive.
I definitely need new headphones because I was not getting an accurate picture of the volume of some elements (headphone recommendations welcome!). Mistakes and glitches are an honest part of the process, I guess.
I guess it's post-minimal, post-electro, post-techno, post-industrial, android jazz. It was a fun learning exercise. Thought some of you might enjoy it.

EDITED Jan 30th 2021, 13:17

This module’s depth is close to 40mm, not 25mm listed here.

Nope, no you don't @the-erc, acid is the truth and we want more around here!

Thanks guys. This is a really fun setup to play. I really need to stop myself from going "Hmmm, acid." every time I turn on the Werkstatt.

OK...I tore into this, figuring it was a simple enough rebuild...and then I started banging into the case's limitations. The aim was, of course, to try and keep as many of the original modules as possible, but some of those were just the wrong choices. So I tossed those, expanded the case (the build now fits into a Tiptop Mantis [or any other 2 x 104] and an Intellijel Palette 104), and restarted. With the larger cabs, this started all snapping into place and in a much more orderly manner. Provided MG's screenshot function is working (it wasn't when I posted this, so if you don't see the rack, just wait a while and come back to the post), here it is:

I'll go over the updates and reordering...

First up, the Intellijel cab offers a utility row at the top, with more than enough mults, your audio outs, power, and your MIDI in. In fact, since both of these cabs are powered, the uZeuses are gone.

Tile row: Added a single-channel MIDI interface, a Noise Tools, and a separate stereo out to a pair of the cab's 1/4" jacks. This leaves two of the 1/4" jacks unused, unless you want to branch the stereo out tile to both pairs of 1/4" jacks to allow a second stereo pair for separate processing, etc.

Row 1: It's the same modules until you hit the Zlob Triple Cap Chaos, which functions as a waveshaper and/or ring modulator. I co-located this with the Chainsaw VCO. PLL, then the dual 3-in mixer for summing oscillators, and after that there's one of two Codex Modulex's Veils clones. After that is the LPG (technically a VCA, so it's just past the Veils clone), then your two voice modules. The entire top row is your "voicing".

Row 2: All your picks, until we get to the middle. This is where I added a Batumi (more LFOs), a MISO (for altering/mixing/wrecking CV and modulation signals), and a Quadrax which now puts your EG count at 4. After that, your effects...I added a Tiptop ECHOZ along with the Data Bender and Monsoon. These all work in league with the main stereo mixer below.

Row 3: the little sliver is a Konstant Labs PWRchekr, which makes up for the lack of DC bus indications on the Mantis. ES-3 and 4 are co-located. Then all of the timing...Pam's, Little Nerd, RND Step (sample and hold, yes, but it needs the timing pulses) and your logic. Then a second Veils clone handles VCA duties for modulation and CVs. After the Squid Salmpler, there's a new stereo submixer to help get that down to a stereo feed. Then you now have a PROPER stereo mixer in there with the Praga/Hrad, which provides your final audio VCAs, plus CV over panning, CV over AUX send levels, your AUX returns, headphone pre (with cue), and main level control.

Not only does this layout make far more sense (and it also makes the build more intuitive to use), by going to the larger cabs, I was able to kick this all the way up in terms of having everything in there to make the majority of your original modules do what they SHOULD do. Now, some things were tossed out because the changes made them irrelevant (such as the Pip Slope), and I got rid of the drums in here because, tbh, drums added to a modular build are just...well, there's ways to do that, but they don't exactly fit in here at this point. You're actually better off using a proper drum machine with this, or outputting drums via VCV as direct audio into your DAW. But the results here do bear out the changes, I think, as this appears to be a much more capable build than the original. Its still a tad short on modulation sources for my tastes, but as it stands here, this should up your game considerably.

Hi The-Erc,

You got some nice sequences there! Here and there some interesting sounds makes the track complete.

Yeah, nice work, keep it coming and thank you very much for sharing this! Kind regards, Garfield.

Hi Mowse,

Oh yes, that Telharmonic sound :-) I love it!

Nice and interesting track this is! Thank you very much for sharing this and kind regards, Garfield.

lugia, it most definitely is an expensive noisemaker (why buy a fast car if you want to use the breaks!?). jk it's a fair point that i lack vca:s, but as you say, the boring modules – i prefer to let vcvrack+silent way handle those. which vca modules would you recommend? cheers!

VCAs come to mind immediately. Seriously...there aren't any. And without VCAs, you have no way to modulate signals, PERIOD. You can have all the LFOs and EGs you can cram into a build, but without VCAs, you don't have any way to control the amplitude of audio or modulation signals with those LFOs or EGs. A rough equivalent would be buying a new car that has brakes as an option...and opting to save money by not having them installed.

Otherwise, this build is really a hodgepodge of "sexy" modules, with very few of the necessary "boring" modules necessary to make the sexy stuff do what it's known for. If I were you, I'd consider taking up every last bit of space remaining to correct this shortcoming. Otherwise, all this is is an expensive noisemaker.

Using logic and related modules to alter timing is a bit of a "black art", but once you sort out what's going on, it's easy.

Boolean logic consists of a set of four very basic gate operations:

AND gates will send a gate out only when the A and B inputs have a gate present.
OR gates will send a gate out when either the A or B inputs have a gate present.
NAND gates send out a gate when neither the A and B inputs have a gate present.
NOR gates send out a gate when neither the A or B inputs have a gate present.

...and those four logic states allow you to combine timing pulses in those ways in order to arrive at a completely different pulsetrain. For example, let's say you have a single timing signal, and you split this. One split stays unchanged, but the other goes through a gate delay so that there's a bit of overlap between the original and delayed gates. To extract a wholly new timing signal from these with an AND gate, you'd just send both to the AND's inputs, and the resulting output will only occur during that little overlap window.

Pulse delays are useful with these, obviously. But also, there are supporting modules for logical operations, and one of these is the very boring-looking comparator. Comparators are gate generators that output a gate when an incoming signal's level exceeds a threshold level set on the comparator (or from an inputted DC offset used as a threshold level). This allows you to take modulation signals, such as LFOs, and use them to fire a gate when the incoming modulation signal exceeds the threshold. This allows you to extract a very different timing signal, which you can then combine with clocking via the Boolean gates. This can get REALLY INTERESTING from a generative standpoint, because getting some freerunning LFOs tends to be cheap (Doepfer's A-145-4 has four of 'em for about $85) and basic comparators are also fairly inexpensive (Blue Lantern's dual one is only $45), so with minimal money and space, you can brew up timing MAYHEM.

Another type of module is a derivator. Ladik makes one of these (the J-110), and what this does is to read the "direction" of CV signals. How this works is that, if you have the derivator patched for "rise", a gate will appear at that patchpoint when the module detects that the incoming CV is rising in voltage, and when it changes direction, the gate cuts off (but now, the "fall" gate will have a gate present). These can get really bonkers when used with random CV sources, such as a sample and hold that's sampling a noise source.

The last sort of important logic module is the "Diode OR". These aren't logic as such, but they behave like an OR gate in that whenever a gate arrives at a Diode OR input, it can then be combined with OTHER incoming gates to create a composite timing signal. They're basically a mult for trigger/gate signals, with diodes to prevent reverse voltages from affecting other modules, and sometimes are also called "Integrators" for...well, integrating pulses.

So, yeah...logic can get pretty confusional, but at the heart of it, it's simpler than most think. And by adding lots of peripheral modules such as comparators, derivators, etc etc, you can create a whole world of complex timing in not a whole lot of space!

Just remember: the P/S is upstream from literally EVERYTHING here, so if it has some sort of catastrophic failure that results in passing a voltage surge across your DC busses, your entire rig will be toast. This is one part of any build that I always insist that builders overspec; there's simply too much riding on having stable, clean and reliable DC to go with something questionable for your power supply.

Otherwise, Jim has a point: this is NOT a large build, and trying to cram large modules into it will inevitably result in taking up space that needs to be there for other modules. Also, you can chuck the mults...the build's too small for these, plus you don't have enough CV destinations to require a buffered mult, as those are for correcting voltage sag issues that can crop up when trying to control several modules on the same CV line.

Love your board!

hmm missing... it's not so much about missing as it's about continuously feeling uncertain what the modules will do, and being out of the comfort zone :D

generally, i seem to like every module DivKid calls "characterful" :D

yeah, the modulation sources for sure, but i use so many, i rely on vcvrack mostly.

thinking of a gate sequential switch...

This was an early image Behringer posted in 2018. Pretty sure this was integrated into their larger stereo output module. There was a couple that were combined into other System 100 modules. Like the Slew and EQ modules. I think! Haven't checked these out in a while.

for me it would be more modulation sources and the utilities needed to combine, modify and distribute them

I'm doing my best to keep Audio path in the upper row and CV modules in the lower row. I intend to use the modular in a larger setup with a Squarp Pyramid and a host of other synths, so my goal was to develop a multi-voice modular, in particular with wavetable capabilities as it's the only form of synthesis that I'm missing (that I like) that could serve as a canvas to experiment and develop a foundational melody or chord progression or hook/pads/etc. and then build upon them with the other synths in the setup. However, I wanted to be sure that I could really play the modular on it's own if I wanted, hence the BitBox sampler and things like Cellz staying in the rack. Pachinko (marbles) can also serve as a Note source if I don't have a midi controller/sequencer handy.

I need another filter (or two) on top of the Freak Manifold Filter I have. I decided on the viol ruina as it could also give me some extra distortion, but it isn't exactly versatile and I haven't bought it yet. I'm a big fan of the Jove sound, but I'm also thinking about TipTop Forbidden Planet since it has multiple inputs and could be used to blend different parts quite nicely. Any thoughts?

Any other utlities/logic/wave-modulators that you might suggest? Thanks to the disting (missing in shot for some reason, sitting between Swiss Army Mixer and Sequential Switch) I can try a lot of things out, but I'm also not very good at envisioning how I could use logic processors and some other utilities in this setup. It's really the last category of modules that is still mysterious to me in terms of how they best function in a synth patch.

Anyways, comments/criticisms/complaints?

EDITED Jan 29th 2021, 18:17

So when you're playing right now what's missing? The right filter squawk? The voice? Sequencing?

Is this module ever existed from Behringer System 100 family ?

ah! (and vcvrack) and musical, melodic, with possibilities for 8bit sometimes, game soundtrack, or aphex twin '95-01. :) cheers!

Gonna give this a full listen later, but skipped around a bit and the DFAM and Werkstatt are like a dream combo, top notch squelches here.

Could you share your current rack and what type of music you're aiming for?

Smart contact and nice transaction with @RAMIREZ
Gracias Enrique.

Hi, I’m a couple of months deep into this cable pushing life, and after 100 hp or so I’m curious what your tips are for the module that would improve audio most. Or, the least hp to have to most effect on a patch.

I found it easier in the budding months to know exactly what I wanted and I miss the buzz of having a feel for where it’s headed.

What are your tips, least Hp for biggest return, in audio or playability or possibility...?

EDITED Jan 29th 2021, 13:28

Thanks for the input :-) I should probably add that the rack contains stuff I already have. Some modules I've borrowed, others I've bought used and a few of the new. I love spring reverbs though. I guess I'll be looking into some more modulation sources.

I got the Quark (elements clone) for cheap and im really digging it. Haven't spent much time on the Edges. Borrowed it from a fiend. The phaser sounds nice so far and as far as the filters go, I got them used, really cheap except for the Roland that I've borrowed from a friend. All in all I'm in a good position to get to know the different modules without having spent too much money on buying the wrong modules.

The PSU might be cheap, but it haven't caused any problems yet.

I have external mixer, speakers and so on.

I really like the idea of Grids, but every time I see that panel I think it ought to be about 6hp...

(Yeah, I know there is an 8hp clone, and yeah it does look a bit cramped.)

Seconded on Veils -- also the response shape is variable, and it works as an offset too! Great module!
-- the-erc

that's why I like Marbles - it's slightly larger than Grids but adds so much more! especially with a branches sitting next to it!

veils can also double as an input module/overdrive as it has a decent amount of gain (+20db available)

unless you are buying used or diying edges and peaks are discontinued - and edges is quite big for a vco!

spend thousands on modules - spend pennies on power supply to power them - do you see what's wrong here???

I don't think you need a quad adsr in this rack and it's huge!

do you really need 3 vcfs?

I'd rather have a fx aid xl than the knock off effect unit and the spring reverb

I would want more modulation sources and utilities - Maths (see illustrated manual), stages, a matrix mixer, kinks, attenuation/attenuversion/offset (possibly shades or mia or miso) - imo these are the really interesting parts of modular - modulation and how to combine, modify and distribute it are way more important than which vco/vcf or how many

I'd also want a waveshaper/folder and an lpg

I'd rather have a quad cascading vca with some level of control rather than the octal vca - and with both linear and exponential response - nice try though - veils would be my choice for replacing this

start slowly - a sound source, a sound modifier, a modulation source, a way to play (external probably from what you've listed) and a way to listen - I expect you have an external mixer already (if not get one as it will make more sense with the other things you have already)

actual link to rack -

I'm a long time professional musician. Played keys and synths on a pro level for 25+ years. I've decided to try a bit of modular to complement my setup. I'm by no means new to synthesis, but modular is new :-) Im going into modular to experiment and get inspired. Small loops and sequences to jam to, new and exiting sounds and just to learn and explore. Maybe even connect and sync to funk box app or other apps on iPad.

My rack shown below is going to complemented by: Behringer Poly D, Beatstep Pro, Zoom MS70 CDR, Eventide BlackHole, Behringer Neutron and a Waldorf Streichfett that I already own. I also play Nord Electro And Yamaha Motif and some iPad apps...

let me know what you guys think. Any modules I should look into? thoughts and tips are appreciated :-)

https://cdn.modulargrid.net/img/racks/modulargrid_1436403.jpg

Already checked! Hehe...!

Thank you :) Check one more video with that case:

There will be soon a proper video teardown of it before I will redo it fully :)
Julia
-- juliabondar

Thank you :) Check one more video with that case:

There will be soon a proper video teardown of it before I will redo it fully :)
Julia

A quick patch played in on Telharmonic through Alright Zzzorb, XAOC Tallin, and clouds backed by two Mother 32’s and DFAM played through Mimeophon.

If you ever decide to get another sequencer, consider Eloquencer, it is such a great modular sequencer with 8 cv/8 gates and tons fo options for creating melodic and percussion songs and tracks.

Awesome...awesome piece of music coming out of this brain (the girl!) and this machine (the rack!).
Thank you for that...
Really!

Thank you, less is more, some might say. But I am currently looking into the noise reap dual oscillator or the tiny instruō ts-l to spice things up 🔥

Ah cool -- so the sine is your only oscillator! Very impressive.

finally we finished our project...

Patchcable with built in LED, illuminates red with positive polarity and green with negative polarity, designed for modular and semi-modular synthesizers.

5pcs. pack - with transparent jack and black or transparent cable, 50cm. special price for preorder, delivery starts around feb 9th

Perfect for LFO, CV,... Eurorack modules
red, green polarized bi-color LED on both sides
3.5 mm mono jack connector
minimal measurable interference (very low power consumption)
worldwide shipping
(estimated shippment due covid, march 2021)

https://producertools.net/collections/eurorack-tools/products/patchcables-with-polarized-voltage-controlled-green-red-led
greetings from vienna!

Why is it discontinued? :(

Hey @the-erc,

I'm not that good in describing things with words, but i know my way around diagrams. I also took this opportunity to setup the document for later patches. Muxlicer as sequencer, Rampage does the envelopes and the Disting is set to L2 (mono to stereo reverb).

What is really cool about this patch is that I finally got around facilitating the MIN and MAX outputs of the Rampage. Now I can blend between two different sounds with just one knob. In this case modulating the reverb wetness, and the CV to the filter.

Next cool thing, the Antumbra DVCA can also act as a mixer if the output 1 is not connected. I didn't notice that before, so in the video the two Outs of the DVCA first go to the mixer and then to the SVF.

A bad thing about this: I'm sending (attenuated) triggers to my headphone out, this could potentially harmful if the PO-33 is not connected or not set to a mode that receives a sync signal on the left channel. There is also the possibility to keep the stereo signal. Using the cue of the Output V3, but as I do not have a stereo mixer to connect the two devices to...

Voila: Eurorack and Pocket Operator synced, and no external mixer needed.

I really like the idea of Grids, but every time I see that panel I think it ought to be about 6hp...

(Yeah, I know there is an 8hp clone, and yeah it does look a bit cramped.)

Seconded on Veils -- also the response shape is variable, and it works as an offset too! Great module!

EDITED Jan 28th 2021, 19:22

looking better - at least to me!
yeah if you already have modules keep them - people seem to really like rene
I often use the marbles 'grids' mode it's great for getting a drum pattern quickly - 1 thing I do though is to take the middle output and send it to a mutable instruments branches - which I patch to get (skip/open/close) - this may add a lot to grids too, I'm not sure - so maybe that and kinks would be good next modules
it's not a bad thing to have to wait for modules due to financial constraints - you'll learn a lot about how your modular works
tbh if it's a toss up between pams and maths - I'd get maths first
I'd also consider veils instead of the 3xVCA - 4 hp bigger and a little bit more expensive (but only a little) but you get an extra vca, which is never a bad thing

So is the PO-33 doing the drum break, and the modular all the rest? Patch notes please :)

The DFAM is listed in the MG database so I think this is allowed. Also I plugged and unplugged a patch cable more than once during the jam!

Patch notes are pretty boring :
- DFAM is kick and noise snare; VCO2 gets pitch from the BSP, but you don't hear that often.
- Acid synth noises are the Werkstatt-01, gate, pitch, and VCF cutoff controlled by the BSP. Delay from Boss RSD-10.
- Hats, claps, other percussion, and weird digital noises are from a Pocket Operator PO-12, which never makes into fully into the frame, passing through the Korg Monotron filter.

... and much wiggling!

I recorded another Jam.

I re-ordered the modules in the skiff and added the Antumbra DVCA. Again DAW-less, the Screen is just for atmospheric lighting ;)
And yes, I'll need to build another drum break soon.

Big shout out to @Lugia !
The Antumbra DVCA is super nifty and only 2cm deep, which is great for the tiny skiff people like me. With the other modules I need to fiddle a bit more around, the proposed setup is great, but I think I'd still rather add some easy to play trigger sequencer and maybe do not add the FX Aid, or exchange it with the Disting.

I changed the Rack to my current setup and will build from there. The nearness modules will be a longer process as it looks like I will build the 2hp version. But I need to get into smd components and my soldering iron also needs an upgrade. In the meantime I'll wait for another Kick All kit to drop at exploding shed.

Noise Reap modules seem to be amazing, but I also came across this little fellow https://www.modulargrid.net/e/instruo-ts-l-v2 which of course is super crowded and not too "playable" if there is more than two cables connected. But the ability to go in LFO territory sounds pretty nifty to me.

Hi, (it's me, Florian from the fb group^^).
You wrote, that you are planning to get a second case, on muff I read that you can get some problems, if you mix different cases, cause they seem to have different zero V (or ground, idk). With 2 Inttelijel 7u cases you could solve the problem by linking them together. With an other 7u you should have also space for some buffered mults ^^. And if you go for the generative kombi you don't need the noise tools. When you are sure about a second 7u case, I wouldn't go for the duatt, instead I would wait and get a second quadratt for the second case and some mults and vcas. :)
Cheers Florian

Hi Jim,

Thank you for taking the time to have a look at the rack concept!

The common issue is a lack of utility, I tried to cover it, but I see I went a bit overboard with the mult, adsr and output, thanks for clearing that up! Saves me having to spend money on that and makes it possible to spend a little extra and upgrade to a legit version of Rings, after your comment about a proper sized version of Rings, I understood right away what I overlooked... more space and proper knobs to twiddle is going to be more fun ofc.. similar would be aid xl instead of pico dsp, aid xl looks great, nice tip, thanks for that.

About Rene, I managed to buy a secondhand version of it that is cheaper than a step sequencer and am generally fascinated by it and look forward to learning how to work with it. I will have to wait with Maths a bit till I have funds to purchase it.

Summary would be: Pamela is the brains running the outfit, Rene the mathematician plucking strings and Grids banging it out on the Noir.

See updated version:

Thanks @Lugia for chiming in!

Yeah, since I ever started planning my case, the mixer conundrum stays one of the main PIA... Many options there, but none that really checks all boxes. I'd like to have CV control over panning, stereo Send/Return (2x if possible), a nice interface, not too big... maybe I have build my own!! :D (if I only knew how.)

I know of the Frap Tools new instalment, but adding to the price tag they take quite some space and are still a bit cryptic for me. Knob.farm seems like a good option for the Sends (and would free some space on the 1U row), and with support from another module for some of the functions, could get me nearer the goal. I've checked Vortices and sort of even get it, but that interface is a bit all over the place for me.
Do you have any other combos you know about to help me on that front?

Regarding the 1U row, thanks for taking the time to put that together. I seem to remember reading that the original I/O was bigger and they wanted to give people the choice of having both interfaces or not. Plus you can separate them spacially, that might make sense in some setups!
I thought of adding a Duatt+Vca in there with possibly an LPG also, that would give me some more control over modulation, and to buff it even more, since I ditched the Black Sequencer (for now), I'm considering the Plum Audio 1u version of O&C. It takes quite some space, but I'm hoping I can then combine that with some interesting, crazy, modulation on the 3u space. Would you car to chime in?

The Buffered Mult is there mainly to divide Harmonaigs root (exclusively :D) to other oscillators once the Saïch is there, as that one would take all of them. I'm a classic double bass player in my working hours, so harmony still plays a big part on the sounds I go for. But if you don't think I'd need it and could do with stackables or even those starfish thingies, I would free also that space for something more interesting. Gladly!

Thanks again! I look forward for more input from you and the Jims, Farkas, Garfields, Kels, and some I'm sure forgetting right now! You make this community a lot less poor in their banks and richer in their noodling lives!

Cheers!
Jorge

On the topic of popular, sexy modules, I just want to toss this in: Big, sexy modules are fun. However, it doesn’t take long to start feeling really good about doing something massive and complex with a handful of very standard, boring modules.

Agree Lugia the WMD SSF Toolbox rocks so much it can do and paired with Kinks a real powerhouse duo of modular tools. I like Plog as well for the many logic combos.