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Nice video, indeed goes well with your music! Must have been a lot of work :-)
-- GarfieldModular

Well, a day. Mvgen does most of the work. Try it out! It's free and stupid.

Hey this is nice. Good work!
-- ParanormalPatroler

Thanks!

bought a mangrove from @notwaving
smooth and perfect transaction!

Since my last post I bought modules from @100000bps, @tonito, @Slocap and @LiquidYzer (sorry man but I can't tag you properly).
Everything went smooth, no problems at all.
I also bought a Monsoon from @PinPinKula, communications could be faster but the module safely arrived and it's a flawless build.

Thanks :)

Hi Radtron,

I had a look at your rack, quite some modules are okay however I am missing the filters, I didn't see any filters, right? So plan at least two filters if possible. One more EG would be useful too.

I am missing a mixer as well before you put the output to the Rosie module from Make Noise.

Just when I wanted to click the Submit button I realised... I don't think I see any LFOs here as well? So plan at least one or two LFOs. I noticed you got two VCA modules, one quad VCA, so perhaps for the moment you keep the quad VCA and ditch the other VCA to get some space for the LFOs?

Though Maths is a good module, it eats up quite a bit of your HP space, so you might want to consider to take another EG instead of the Maths to save some space. If you want to stick with the same brand then you might want to consider Contour but there are other brands around that come with (more space) efficient EG modules.

I noticed you plan quite a few logic modules, which is of course on one hand good to have but if you relate that to the size of your rack, it might be perhaps one logic module too much? Saving space again and use that for a filter instead?

Other than that, I wish you good luck, welcome to modular synthesizers and have fun :-) Kind regards, Garfield Modular.

Hi Wishbonebrewery,

Oh this is nice relaxing! You are right space enough but there is no reason to (over) complicate this, it's perfect as it is :-) I am pressing the play button again and going to relax on your music!

Thank you very much for sharing this and kind regards, Garfield.

Its taken me a while to start using the Freeze button on #Clouds, this is the #2hp #Pluck heading into #MonsoonClouds with plenty of modulation in Clouds coming from the #Divkid / #Instruo #ochd, i split a bit of the audio off and filtered it through the external in on the #ADDAC105 #4VoiceCluster's HP Filter and sent it through the pingpong Delay on the #Erica #PicoDSP, then the #NoiseEngineering #BinSeq is running long gates turning on and off the Freeze Button, there's also a little modulation coming from the Noise Engineering #ClepDiaz which mainly tweaks the texture slider on Monsoon. There is a lot of space in this piece, I didn't see a reason to complicate it.

Cheers for listening.

Please review my rack. I like to play generative, poly-rhythmic with layered elements of sequencing. I want to be able to interact with my pieces as much as allow them to shape themselves. I would like feedback on types of modules to explore using with some possible examples. Thank you for your time.

i have a old korg monotron delay laying around that i dont really use,is it possible to be able to use it as a delay effect with eurorack(without to much effort???)

Thanks to @restlessboy and @Oblique_Noir for the modules I bought. Great communication and quick dispatch.

Ha! Yeah, I'm not sure I'm up for the real thing.
I checked out the Subharmonicon more in depth yesterday. That is definitely on my watchlist now. It gives me some deep early Depeche Mode vibes on its own. Would be awesome integrated more deeply with modular.

Hey this is nice. Good work!

Hi Panos Volkov,

Oh my goodness! What a nice treat is this "Night Strolling" track of yours. Such a sonic experience with so many interesting sounds you are surprising the listener with! Normally 17 minutes is pretty much, but for your track that's considering short, you keep the listener stuck to the chair, keep surprising him/her with fantastic sounds, and not once, no not twice, not thrice, not even ten times but uncountable times, again, and again, you got one after another surprise up your sleeve in your music. I don't know what to say other than this is seriously good.

Somewhere half the track I think, I get the feeling of listening at a new generation of Vangelis! Beautiful!

I haven't been entertained for quite a while so good as a listener as by your Night Strolling track. Superb and I hope to hear more from you on this level! Kind regards, Garfield Modular.
-- GarfieldModular

Thank you so So much GarfieldModular !!

Right now, the only other piece of external gear I have besides the DFAM is the SOMA Labs Lyra-8. I figured that was the closest I could ever get to Fripp's guitar sound on No Pussyfooting. :)
-- farkas

Well, that, and maybe a couple of Revox B77s and a VERY sturdy table! :-)

Hi Sislte,

Nice video, indeed goes well with your music! Must have been a lot of work :-)

Well done and kind regards, Garfield.

Hi Panos Volkov,

Oh my goodness! What a nice treat is this "Night Strolling" track of yours. Such a sonic experience with so many interesting sounds you are surprising the listener with! Normally 17 minutes is pretty much, but for your track that's considering short, you keep the listener stuck to the chair, keep surprising him/her with fantastic sounds, and not once, no not twice, not thrice, not even ten times but uncountable times, again, and again, you got one after another surprise up your sleeve in your music. I don't know what to say other than this is seriously good.

Somewhere half the track I think, I get the feeling of listening at a new generation of Vangelis! Beautiful!

I haven't been entertained for quite a while so good as a listener as by your Night Strolling track. Superb and I hope to hear more from you on this level! Kind regards, Garfield Modular.

On in five!

Excellent product, works really well with my Disting EX over the i2C connection on the rear of both modules. Allows me to modulate and adjust 16 parameters at the same time if I need to.

Jam in Cm.

Main sequence comes from Varigate 8+ and MiniMod oscillator 2. Then to Morgasmatron which is in parallel mode. OUT A (LP2 and then BP mode) goes to Left input and OUT B (BP mode) goes to the right input of Magneto for the dotted 8th delay effect.

Notice that Voltage Block sends a random 1 volt through Intellijel Quad VCA (which receives a random gate at the CV input from Varigate 8+) to 333. 333 acts as Precision Adder as both quantized pitch CV from Varigate and VB’s 1volt meet there before they go to MiniMod oscillator 2. The result is a random 1 octave pitch change for the notes of Varigate’s sequence.
See patch here:
https://www.modulargrid.net/e/patches/view/65270

Lead voice comes from the Make Noise DPO. Oscillator A is in LFO mode and its EXPO input is modulated from Batumi which is in expert mode (Matthias Puech firmware) for the trembling effect. Same for oscillator B (distorted voice).

Marbles sends random pitches in Cm to DPO (lead voice). Also sends random pitches to BIA which is responsible for some weird noises. Both BIA and DPO goes to Clouds (delay+reverb)

Bassline comes from Varigate 8+ and MiniMod oscillator 1 (triangle) which goes directly to 531 output mixer.

I should keep Blck_Noir’s Kick MORE in that reverse reverb mode!! After I heard the recording I noticed how good it was..

See patch on ModularGrid for more details:
https://www.modulargrid.net/e/patches/view/65267

Gear:
AJH Synth MiniMod Vintage Transistor Core VCO
Intellijel Morgasmatron
Mutable instruments Marbles
Expert Sleepers FH-2
Make Noise DPO
Intellijel Triatt
Xaoc Devices Poti
Xaoc Devices Batumi
Frap Tools 321
Xaoc Devices Belgrad
Strymon Magneto
Frap Tools 333
Intellijel Quadra
Noise Engineering Basimilus Iteritas Alter
Intellijel Quad VCA
Mutable instruments Clouds
Endorphin.es BLCK_Noir
Malekko Heavy Industry Varigate 8+
Malekko Heavy Industry Voltage Block
Roland SYSTEM-500 531

on vacation right now so cant try out untill friday.

i want to record my modular into my Daw(Reaper) for my soundcard i use a presonus studio live 16.0.2,in my modular i have a Ladik M-171 Pannable Mixer,can i just connect cables from the M-171 into channels on the studiolive,choose those channels in Reaper and then record??

Premiere 2100 CET/2pm CST for a Mvgen based video we put together for the track.

Hi troux! Telharmonic is the latest module I bought and I'm still learning it but I love it so far. It sounds great!

Thanks Lugia. You know, even though it's an intriguing synth, I haven't looked into the Subharmonicon much yet. I checked out a few minutes of an early video, but I was distracted and never came back to it. I'll give it another look. Right now, the only other piece of external gear I have besides the DFAM is the SOMA Labs Lyra-8. I figured that was the closest I could ever get to Fripp's guitar sound on No Pussyfooting. :)
I appreciate the ideas and insight I have gained from you and some of the others here.

Hmmm...it occurs to me that this build could use...NOTHING! You did this thing right, farkas. All of the study and slogging really hit the big payoff here.

One thing I would suggest as a tandem to that DFAM, though...and which would really shoot this monster up with some synth vitamins...would be the Subharmonicon. I got mine about a week and a half ago, and it is truly THA SHIZNIT, especially the very deceptively useful 2 x 4 sequencer and its wild subdividing/ratcheting capability. With the sequencing that's in here already, having that level of clock craziness would be the proverbial cherry on the cake. Think RYK-type subdivision, and make it crazier...that sort of thing.

But yeah, congrats! This thing looks like it's not only got plenty of potential in of itself, it also has lots of possible upgrade/expansion paths that are clearly suggested by the module selection and layout, and just goes to show that when you stick at this whole process of whittling at your build, keeping up with developments, and studying other builds and the theory behind this, you DO eventually arrive at something serious that'll give many years of use. And yeah, the plan changes over time...but it's changing with knowledge and understanding, and this shows that.

Thanks Garfield. I'm sure I will still lurk around the forum and chime in. This is a fun place to hang out. :) I just don't have the need to spend as much time on here researching modules and planning out my rack now. I have a few ideas about switching out Maths and Clouds eventually, but nothing immediate. I'm going to spend some time figuring out Maths' secrets before I make a decision.
I look forward to hearing some more of your music. Take care.

Yeah the more I look at this the more right you sound. Disting seems like a good way to test out different types of modules before deciding which way to go for some of this.

Hi Farkas,

I like this post of yours, a good introduction for newbies into modular :-) Well done!

You got yourself a nice rack there. It's a pity though to hear you are kind of leaving us or at least not attending so much here any longer, I believe you are/were a huge added value to our community.

On the other hand, of course, I wish you good luck with your planned projects, hopefully the output of those projects is that what you had in mind :-)

Regarding Maths... yeah, I kind of recognise it. It's an okay module, it has certainly good advantages but for such rather large HP-sized module, I am also not very overwhelming with it. Same as you, I keep it for the moment. I wonder though, perhaps I just don't make enough use of the possibilities (which I might not know or aware of), not sure with this module what to think of it.

Well good luck with your plans and I still hope to hear once and a while from you even if you reduce your presents here.

Kind regards, Garfield.

Hi Oliodnb,

I am using the Doepfer - A-180-9 and so far so good but I have to admit that I still have to test it with full usage of all possible channels/lines and then see if there are any interferences. What I did is that I am using CAT 7 cables to avoid as much as possible the interference issue.

With other brands and possibilities I don't have experiences.

Kind regards and good luck, Garfield Modular.

Disting Mk4 is not very user friendly but it can do almost everything you can think of. It's a great module for a small system, especially while you're figuring out what you need: whatever you need, Disting can probably do it. It was one of the first things I bought, and I still use it in most patches... most often as a quantiser for the DFAM :)

@aze_007 bought my Tiptop Audio Z4000NS envelope generator. Great communication and super quick payment. Many thanks.
-- Tinaxe106

I enjoyed buying from Tinaxe106, good communication and fast shipment. Recommended. And thanks.

Great advice, thanks a bunch for replying.
Trying to figure out what to get first has been a bit of a mind melter for me, but I think your point about Pamelas Workout is a good one so I'm thinking of starting with that and Maths at the moment.

Picking a quantiser has been a little tough as well but knowing that DFAM really needs one to sing pretty, I'm thinking the scales is
a good option, but of course theres things like Disting Mk4 that can do that and much more but I gotta say I'm more attracted to physical hardware knobs and switches over cycling thru the menu on Disting.

Well, I’m almost finished building this beast. I started getting pretty serious about putting a dream instrument together at the end of last year, and I should have the last two pieces of the puzzle (the Panharmonium and TG4) in the next few weeks. This website has been so valuable for me in realizing this project. It has been nice gaining insight from all of you and even sharing some along the way. I thought I might share a few things I have discovered for the folks interested in dipping their toes into the Eurorack world (or for those diving in headfirst).
I think I have mentioned before that I have a fairly long history with synths, recording, music etc., so I wasn’t exactly starting from scratch. I sold off all my old equipment years ago, though, and this format was completely new to me. The potential of Eurorack rejuvenated my interest in making some music again. I went from having zero musical equipment in my home to having what I think is a pretty killer synth in a little less than a year. So what did I learn along the way?
First, this thing probably ain’t gonna pay for itself, so be careful with the credit card. I put a few things on the card, but mostly paid cash. I’m not a wealthy man, so I had to make sacrifices and take some opportunities for extra work. Many hobbies are expensive, and this completely overshadows my record collecting habit for its zero-bank-balance-inducing potential. Buy used, DIY, whatever… Just don’t go into debt for this.
That leads me into the second thing I learned. Slow down a little. Buy one thing (or a select few) at a time. This way you can spend some time learning the potential of each module, and decide if it really fits in with your workflow and the kind of music you want to create. I wish I had kept the first rack I built on Modular Grid because it was COMPLETELY different from what I actually built. You will know what you need next after you start incorporating a few things into your rack.
Third: Do your research. From MG to MuffWiggler to DivKid and beyond, there are a million resources to help you figure it all out. Outside of work and actually playing around with my synth-in-progress, I spent most of my free moments researching this big investment. I know you probably want to ask a million questions, but they have already been answered. Take ownership of this journey and put in some work to understand what you are getting into.
Fourth: Don’t be afraid. Don’t be afraid to jump into the modular world. Don’t be afraid to take a chance on an interesting module. It might just change your whole concept, or it might be a dud. So what if it doesn’t end up working for you. Don’t force it. Just sell it and move on. You might take a little financial hit, but chalk it up to the learning process. I’ve bought some crap records in the past. I sold them and bought something I liked instead. Same thing applies here. Don’t dwell on it. If you have actually done a bunch of research and moved slowly, the duds will be fewer and farther between. Also, don’t be afraid to put your music, demos, videos, and experiments out there. If you are going to make some noise, share it with the world. Most people will probably hate it, and that’s ok. Back in the early 70s, the lead singer of the New York Dolls (David Johansen) told Joey Ramone that the Ramones sucked and they should give up. Ignore the haters and just do what you do. You probably aren’t going to be the next Brian Eno, Aphex Twin, or even Merzbow, but don’t let that stop you from enjoying and sharing your creative energy.
Fifth: Don’t believe the hype. Just because a module is popular amongst modular enthusiasts or a “must have” doesn’t mean it’s right for you. A few of my earliest purchases were “must have” modules, and they are among my least favorite (I’m looking at you Maths and Clouds). You can build a generative-ambient-houseplant-and-cup-of-herbal-tea-overlooking-a-beautiful-peaceful-garden rack without Rings and Clouds, I promise (though Rings is pretty sweet). I’m holding on to Maths and Clouds for now, but I’ve found that there are better modules or combinations of modules for what I want to do. You may love both of these, but I bet you will find a few modules that will make you wonder what all of the fuss is about.
Finally, build something that is fun for you. Build something that makes you want to experiment or record all the time. If the module looks like a pain in the a**, it probably is. You don’t have to get into some weird Nietzsche suffer-for-your-art thing. If you get a headache from menu-diving and multiple button combinations, don’t buy those kind of modules. Above all else, have fun.
I’m probably going to be a bit less active on Modular Grid for a while because I actually have the instrument I want now. I don’t have as much research to do and I have a few projects I want to dedicate some time to, to take beyond the lo-fi screwing-around-and-seeing-what-comes-out demo stage. I just wanted to offer some food for thought to the new folks who are standing in the shoes I was in not too long ago. Thank you to all of you who have helped me along without realizing it (Lugia, Garfield, Ronin, and others). This website has been such an invaluable resource for considering different approaches and viewpoints.

P.S. Almost forgot… Buy a bigger case than you think you need. More utilities, modulation sources, and VCAs will make your rack a lot more fun, and modulate the modulators.

Thank you as always for the kind words @GarfieldModular, and kudos on the poetry, today's metaphor had me cracking up ;p

bye bye

Hi everyone,
I'd like to connect two cases with a single cable (or two if going with the Doepfer) but I'll be sending mainly audio between them.
I'd prefer the Plum Audio's Rack Plumber HD as it has the most connections, but I can't find any feedback on how well it works with audio signals. The two cases are pretty close to each other so the cable length shouldn't be an issue.
Does anyone have any experience with this kind of modules?
Thanks.

Hey - thanks very much for the response! I’m continuing to evolve my plan and now that the Tetrapad/Tête and mixup are in hand, I’ll be experimenting to connect up the 0 Coast and DFAM, control with the Tete/Tetrapad to see what I can do, then consider what is most missing. I’m sure effects couldn’t possibly hurt, what is vague to me as a newbie is how much sequencing/clock I’ll need/want in addition to the T/T. The research is fun, now time for my own discovery! I’m sure I’ll be checking in again soon...

Pamela's New Workout is a very powerful and flexible module, especially combined with Pexp-1 expander. I would start there and then consider which of the Turing Machine, RND Step, Rotating Clock Divider, and Ochd you really need -- Pam's overlaps with all of them to a greater or lesser extent. Also, since the recent firmware update, Pam's does quantise to scale (which is awesome) so the Intellijel Scales my be less useful. That said, DFAM really enjoys a good quantiser which is maybe reason enough to keep Scales.

On the saving money front : ST Modular Switched does the same thing as the Doepfer switched multiple, but it's a DIY kit. It is also smaller and has the cables and switches at the top and bottom respectively, which is better than left and right.

Hi Troux,

Yeah, nice one and again nice long. What can one wish for on a Saturday evening to listen at, more than one of your long tracks and let yourself go into space... but uhm, with your previous album I was quite deep into space already where the Internet connection gets poor, so it's a kind of miracle I was still able to listen to this track, now I am definitely in outer space :-) Internet connection will be soon disconnected that far away you took me with your music :-)

Kind regards, Garfield.

Ok so hello! Thanks for looking. I need a little feedback on this planned system. I currently have a Moog Grandmother, DFAM, a Dreadbox Erebus and a keystep, so this set-up is built with those in mind. I'm trying to augment my existing semi-modulars while also introducing some modules for more generative ambient music and some strange fun things.
I'm really interested in CV logic manipulation such as the Maths and that Doepfer Switch, so any more suggestions in that direction would be most appreciated. Also any suggestions on what modules here are overlapping in function as well as maybe some cost cutting advice would endear you to my heart forever.
I'm capable in DIY so I'm planning on trying to save some bucks with whatever modules I can find as kits (4ms clock divider so far) and I don't know much about much but I see these clouds clones cheaper than the original mutable ones, are they similar in quality?
Any and all suggestions, comments, criticisms, observations, judgements, opinions and views are welcome and needed. I understand that this modular grid plan is not set in stone because of module availability, price changes and such so I'm here to learn and absorb so I can know what to keep an eye out for.

Thanks a ton!

Yes, your project sounds fascinating and I'd like to hear some of its fruit if that's OK.

I don't think I can offer much else except to wonder if clock function modules such as Bastl Little Nerd might have a place? Also, MI Elements might fit into your vision with its Bow, Blow and Strike parameters. But it's big.

Thought I'd post a new one, probably too long (that's my signature though lol) but it's fun:

https://stevehand.bandcamp.com/track/best-buds

Same rack as above with some extra Serge modules for drone and color, and a Keystep handling arpeggiator duties
(⌐ ͡■ ͜ʖ ͡■)

EDITED Jul 11th 2020, 05:02

Hey Garfield,
Thanks again for your feedback, glad you like this track. The high clicks are hats from the Nord Drum and yes, now that you say, they might be a little seperated from the rest of the mix. They stand out, so to speak. This a question of taste... or unprofessionalism on my side :) No hard feelings here and I appreciate your feedback on this as well. I always try to learn. This track may make it to my next release and I'll definitely mix it again before it happens. Thanks again Garfield!
All the very best, G

Yup, this looks like loads of fun.

+1 to OCHD, if you aren't interested in Disting due to the menu diving.

Hey Gabor,

Thanks a lot for your feedback on the Planar module by Intellijel. It's most likely more interesting than I thought :-)

Wow, your latest track here, that's seriously nice! Everything comes nice together, it's not over complicated yet seriously intriguing. Your main sounds are in the perfectly stereo middle, hitting exactly the stereo sweet spot, nice!

I like the sound of that high-tone clicking sound that kicks in at about 0:24. Don't get me wrong here, I love high tone sounds, so I am not saying easily that this high tone is a bit too loud in volume, at least personally I wouldn't mind it to be a slightly bit reduced in volume then I think you got a perfectly well matching track here.

I love it, this is how every weekend should start :-) Thanks for giving me a good start of the weekend and kind regards, Garfield.

P.S.: I keep pressing the repeat/play button, listening now for the 5th or 6th time?! Brilliant mate!

Hi Forrestbaer,

Yes that's a brilliant idea, in that way it's easy to see where you have a lack in your system, be it a lack of VCAs or too less EGs, etcetera.

So I would like to see that feature too :-)

Thank you very much in advance and kind regards, Garfield.

It would be awesome to be able to get numbers of functions represented by rack, so one could at a glimpse see that you have X # of CV Generation modules in this rack, X # of clock generators, etc.. ✌🏻

Yeah, this won't be any fun to work with. This build has loads of sources, modulators...but NO submixers, only two VCAs, very little in the way of other utilities/control devices, no proper EGs, and the like. Sexy Module Syndrome in overdrive.

Since the focus here seems to be in sound generation/modification, start being hypercritical about everything that's NOT that. You need to ask yourself if any of these things can be made smaller, or...probably more sensibly...whether they even need to be there in the first place. For example, why a double sample and hold? Would a simpler module make more sense here? Why use a CFM rectifier instead of a proper waveshaper? Do those sequential devices really belong in here? Why do you need a contact mic and not an audio input module? And so on...

Another suggestion prior to this, also...increase the size of the cab to much more than you think will work, THEN add all of the necessary utilities, VCAs, etc etc...and once that's done, start paring the whole mess back while maintaining the functionality. That's not easy, but it's a good way to proceed; you're likely to find that trying to do all of what you want in this small of a cab is NOT going to work, even after trying to remove all of the extra "fat".

Also, think simpler. This looks like there's so much going on in a tight space that working with the build will actually wind up being more difficult than you might realize; remember, what you see here will be dripping with patchcables when it's in use, and that obscures the already-tight control and marking layout. Again, this runs into the possibility of having to go to a bigger cab...but trading off size for playability is always worthwhile in the long run.

I also wondered if some modules WOULD fit the rightmost 15HP, but just upside down? Wouldn't be a deal-breaker, depending upon which modules?

I also wondered if some modules WOULD fit the rightmost 15HP, but just upside down? Wouldn't be a deal-breaker, depending upon which modules?