User Posts

@troux, @Lugia
Decidedly, since the bids rise easily here, I will claim in my turn that, in the Western world, the 'drone' was born with the plainsong, in the sacred music, in the Middle Ages.

-- Sweelinck

But then, you have to take into account that Plainchant descends directly from the Grecian Modes. And with those, musicology isn't 100% certain of the lineage. Then you go backwards from there, across other Eastern Mediterranean region people, whose tunings and scales were somewhat more complex...and still are. But also, taking Alexander's conquest travels into account, we're probably looking at some sort of "polyglot approach" to encountered scalar, etc techniques, and those certainly got mixed in with the rest of the goings-on in that area.

But MY big point is that, if you go back to the point where music as we currently know it originated, you're dealing with the Central Asian region, and that back around 5000-7000 BCE their musical elements migrated with various peoples into these different sonic cultures. And back then and back there, the drone was PARAMOUNT. Entire musical styles emerged, with the best known of them being the Mongolian and Tuvan cultures where the drone is also important to the generated harmonic pitches that result in throat singing, which is where I and others think this starts. Given that the harmonic series' first several partials fit Western tunings, it would also explain early instruments that seem to be "close" to present-day tuning, so that these could match up with the harmonic pitches. It's also the source for Tibetan ceremonial music, the drone aspects of Persian and Northern Indian music, and on and on.

And don't forget the WMD MSCL...excellent stereo comp/limiter. The controls could be a little more user-friendly, but the results are worth the hassle.

I can't let a LaMonte mention go by without saying, Tony Conrad did it first and did it better!!
-- troux

Tony Conrad was probably instrumental in keeping La Monte's initial (ie: post-Darmstadt) ideas going, tbh. For one thing, some of the Theatre of Eternal Music releases in recent years (such as "Day of Niagara") were out of his tape library. Plus, La Monte was also engaged in certain...ah..."substance sales" off and on during the 1960s.

Also, speaking of Darmstadt, that same early 1960s course of Stockhausen's was attended by one Holger Schuring...but you know him better as Holger Czukay. Interesting, indeed!

Yep...it's always the simple bits that screw up production. I used to make my own cables years ago, but given the present-day state of the studio, I've had to put my trust in others peoples' solder work.

Hello, good news. I received a shipping notice from Nightlife Electronics in Canada stating the 2 buchla modules have shipped and are arriving next week. Hurrah ...
-- FatBerg

And right on time, too! Tiptop must have some amazing shipping-fu to get all the components they typically need, given the general state of shipping right now. I'll venture a guess that the "Winter/Spring 2022" ones will drop around March/April, then the last ones just in time for summer. And remember, that's just the initial six modules; I was told that they're working out which modules to add to the line after these, and hopefully we'll see some of that before the holidays.

Indeed the use of mostly Intellijel modules comes from an obsession of having something super clean and tidy.
It's completely irrational of course, and maybe I'd gain from trading aesthetic for practicality.

-- Subaphonic

Just remember: the synth is eye-candy for YOU. Anyone else won't give a rat's about what the system looks like, even live. You need it to SOUND snazzy...not to LOOK snazzy. And, the fact is that the stranger the build looks, the more "oooooo" factor you'll get from audiences, as hodgepodge Euroracks actually have that "dangerous rat-rod" sort of thing going on. So go more for the Mad Scientist aesthetic!

As for the cab cost, the 104 is only $100 more than the 62, which to me is a pretty good bargain given that you're getting 42 hp more on the tiles and 3Us, better power, and a few extras in the ute row. They've also got Intellijel gigbags to fit their cabs; have a look at this: https://www.perfectcircuit.com/intellijel-4u-gig-bag-104hp.html The other point is that while 62 hp isn't exactly a "normal" row length, 104 hp is, and if you need more cases to fit that form factor, it'll wind up being easy-peasy to implement with the Palette 104.

Well, for starters, put the Model D back in its own case, on its own power. Using an Eurorack cab to house any full-on synth that has power and housing already is a pretty sizable and potentially expensive blunder. Even in a Uli-case.

As for the clone modules, you should look into Mutable's Beads, which supercedes Clouds. Smaller than that clone, too...which, in a smaller-sized build, you want. Also, jettison the mult(s), as...again...there's better ways to do that, namely inline mults and/or stackcables, as neither of those take up cab space but do the same exact thing.

One other problem that jumps out at me is the disproportion of audio modules vs utilities, modulation, VCAs, etc etc etc. If you keep filling the cab in this way, you're going to have a GREAT audio module complement...which you have no way in hell to use properly as you've neglected all of the support modules that let the others do everything they're capable of. Again, this is another reason why that Model D really needs to get out of there; you NEED that space!

Before revising this (and it needs it!), I would strongly suggest spending some time studying builds by other experienced synthesists to see how they deal with these basics. You might also want to pick up a copy of the FREE version of VCV Rack so that you can dive in and see how all of this should work. VCV even has emulations of hardware Eurorack modules from a number of manufacturers in its 2000+ module library. https://vcvrack.com/ Once you get something like that under your fingers, you'll start to see why each audio module might benefit from 2-3 other modulation, etc sources. Work at both, then come back to this after getting some of what you need to know to make a modular go. You'll be happier in the end, as will your wallet.

Take a look at ‘Synthesis Technology - E352 Drones N Stuff’, a video by DivKid on YouTube. It's quite explicit.

-- Sweelinck

Quite explicit? Mmmmm...hot sexy wavetables...

Nice! That's really right along the lines of having the Main Cabinet as well as a couple of Wings. About the only thing I could thing of changing would be to swap a 1006 for one of the 1047s. That way, you get a stereo pair of Modamps AND Filtamps, and that takes the 1047s down to a stereo pair as well.

This is definitely something I need to consider, also. I have a very fond memory of a concert by David Rosenboom back in 1968 or 69 in which he played this MONSTER 2500 configuration with TWO main cabs and THREE wings. One main was his "playable" with the dual keyboard and some EEG pickup hardware for brainwave control, and the other was for sequencing, plus he also had a telemetry receiver that picked up signals from four different transmitters inside four rather sci-fi-looking columns that audience members carried around in groups with their eyes closed (and, of course, some "minders" to keep people from slamming into the synth). It's definitely part of why I do what I do these days!

Well, for starters, that Intellijel MIDI interface is discontinued. They now offer the smaller one in tile format, but if you need something beefier, you'll have to stick it in the 3U row.

From what I can tell, you're looking to build a modulation "auxiliary" cab that also has some FX processing. But limiting yourself to ONLY Intellijel has problems, namely that there's other firms that make similar but better modules for various reasons. For example, you've got an Intellijel Quad VCA. But the topology for that 12 hp module is pretty much the same with Mutable's Veils...albeit that the Veils gives you 2 hp back. When planning a small "mission-specific" skiff, economizing your module sizes without compromising the result (ie: controls that are too tight or too small, overcrowded panels that offer confusing indications, etc). Also, to get a really diverse collection of suitable and interacting modules will probably require more than 62 hp; I would suggest moving up to the Palette 104 instead. Sort of like...(big pause while I rev up the building neurons) THIS:

Bigger, true...but in this case, bigger IS better, as it allows you to build a more comprehensive set of both modulators AND effects.

The "utility" row now has your adders, so no need for that module. It also has your stereo jacks for both input and output, mults, and MIDI port. Then when we get into the tile row, you'll notice a stereo input (fed by 1/4" jacks 1 and 2) and the smaller Intellijel tile MIDI interface (fed from the MIDI port). And then things get interesting; the next thing is a dual noise generator with tilt EQ to alter the noise color. After that is your clocking...an expander gives you four CV ins to the Temps Utile, which I chose over the Pam's because 1) this fits better and 2) if you're looking to ALSO use this as a sequencer, I think it has a better implementation for that. And yes, it can clock and sequence and all that at the same time. Following that is a QuadrATT, which gives you four channels of attenuversion, mixable to a "breakable" mixbus. And then, the stereo out module, which feeds 1/4" jacks 3 and 4.

Then for the 3U row, it looks like this: an SSF Modbox has two CVable LFOs, one of which also clocks its sample and hold, plus it has yet another (uncolored) noise gen and a few other tricks. Then the modulation monolith that IS Maths. After that you'll find a Mutable Veils and a Tiptop MISO...these are intended to work together as VCA control over modulation amplitude and modulation mixing, inversion, offset and more voodoo via the MISO. Quadrax/Qx is next, and then a Make Noise ModDemix gives you a pair of balanced modulators which you can use either to manipulate modulation OR as an audio effect. Then we're into the audio-only effects with a Frequency Central Stasis Leak, which gives you tap-tempo delay, reverb, and chorus, and uses a mono-to-stereo signal path for stereoization. The Purrvrrb emulates a spring reverb, with (again) mono-in and stereo-out. And then the big kahuna there is Mutable's sequel to their Clouds granular module, the Beads. And last, since you'll have three different stereo FX sources, I put in a triple-input stereo mixer so that, if you want, you can mix the FX outputs.

Now, if I stuck to ONLY Intellijel modules here, I clearly wouldn't be able to build this. And this is typical for Eurorack; not all manufacturers have the "perfect" module selection that covers everything, so it's necessary to do mix-n-match stuff like this to really optimize a build. Anyway, this is an example of how I would approach this problem...and actually, it's similar to an actual issue I have in my "modular sandbox", where I've been considering a modulation skiff to fill in a few shortcomings in my 3.5mm stuff (Eurorack, Digisound 80, B.2600, and some other odd things). And this build is something even I would feel at home with...and I'm a fussy SOB about that sort of thing!

EDITED Feb 1st 2022, 01:19

+1 on Jim's suggestion...and actually, the idea of using piles of small skiffs as a single device has a lot of potential for trouble. For one thing, that rig immediately screams "ground loops!!!". Yeah, even with DC, as the system would really need some extra ground wiring to put everything (wallwarts included) on the same groundplane and even if your power is clean, all it takes is one little grounding issue and noise WILL creep in. Or worse, let's say you have a catastrophic power supply issue in one skiff. This could easily, depending on what's misconnected or what failed, cause problems to other skiffs and their modules if something happened that allowed high-current DC onto a patch cable.

I would suggest dropping some money on a unified setup instead of this method. Fact is, a Tiptop Mantis comes in at $335, it's had LOTS of users over time with a lot of pleased synthesists, and you can join them to make a bigger 4 x 104 hp cab. And it's WAY more portable than the piecemeal one you've got currently; Tiptop even sells a custom gigbag for the Mantis. And with that, you can put together a rig with just one that you could even put on a traytable on a plane and work while you fly. That's neither advisable or viable with the current multicase build.

Without naming any names, quite a few of the modular synth build videos are VERY suspect, especially when it comes to cramming a functional modular into a small cab like a Palette 62, etc. It IS possible, but you really have to know what you're doing before attempting that sort of build. Add the wrong module, and you got bupkiss. A better use for these small cabs is for "mission-specific" builds...such as needing a specialized filter setup for incoming signals that you want to modify in real time.

Now, what I would suggest is to get a synth that's easier to learn on. You've got a Neutron, but I don't think it's quite as clear to work with as my suggestion...which would be to drop $650 on a B.2600. Fact is, the original ARP 2600 was THE educational synth in its day. It's what I learned on, along with many, many others. Even Stevie Wonder used them, with Braille markings, because it was easier to program and play than other modular choices for the vision-impaired. Once you've got some of that experience under your belt, THEN implement that skiff build, but turn it into a support cab for the 2600 that gives you extra modulation, sound generation, etc. That's exactly what my B.2600 is set up for, since I can patch anything with 1V/8va scaling and a positive trigger/gate between it and my Digisound 80 as they both "speak" that language.

But that aside, the 2600 is pretty much goofproof. You've got some internal routings that are prepatched, so you can make racket with it right out of the box, but the patchpoints interrupt those and allow you to do oodles of alternate routings or even patching between synths (like that Neutron). As "starting points", they're still unsurpassed, even in Uli's hands.

We can refer here to the music of bagpipes (wind sounds), Ravi Shankar (string sounds), and the historical works of La Monte Young (‘Trio for Strings’) who is one of Eno's references.

-- Sweelinck

La Monte Young is one of the true masters of drone. His work spans decades, and includes work with John Cale (in Young's "Theatre of Eternal Music" ensemble) who would later bring Young's ideas into the Velvet Underground. It's also worth taking several hours to check his work "The Well-Tuned Piano", which involves a specially retuned grand piano on which Young would do a lot of sustained repetition that eventually blurs into a drone. He and his partner Marianne Zazeela (who also works on light projection design for Young's works) even lived in their "Dream House", a combination of a residence and sound installation, with the drone's basis pitch coming from an amplified fishtank pump.

Another great piano "dronemeister" would have to be Charlemagne Palestine, who's also done works for electronics and pipe organ. Palestine's "strumming" method is so hard on the instrument that broken piano strings are a fairly common occurrence at his concerts. And Mazz already mentioned the beautiful and austere works of Eliane Radigue, in which everything constantly evolves toward and away from drone textures.

Also, there's a number of "Krautrock" artists who were/are superb drone creators. In that column, I'd have to mention Klaus Schulze's initial works ("Irrlicht" and "Cyborg"), Tangerine Dream's "Zeit", early Popol Vuh ("Affenstunde" and "In den Garten Pharos") and the dark and foreboding first album by Gunter Schickert, "Samtvogel". Even Kraftwerk's first couple of albums have some heavy drone elements along with really alien soundscaping.

EDITED Jan 31st 2022, 03:22

The only thing not working for me is the ADSR. The light is not on, and I am getting no changes from it or triggers. I will have to check the power cable is in, and that it is working.

-- cj18

Before busting out the M3 screwdriver, try this... Turn all of the ADSR controls to the left (ie: very short to zero envelope behavior), then feed a gate pulse into it. Then, slowly bring up the Sustain level and Release time; your Attack and Decay controls should function as VERY short parts of the modulation signal without touching them. At that point, you should see/hear some proper function from the ADSR when its output is patched to either a modulation input or a VCA although you'll have to patch up a basic audio signal and feed that to a VCA. It can make sounds, but only when being clocked by an audio oscillator to bring the activity up into the audio range (and by using short ADSR values!!!); normally, you wouldn't send an envelope gen's output to your overall mix, as the actual envelope function isn't in an audible range.

The key to interesting drones is in getting movement going inside the texture. There's a number of ways to do this...

1) Modulation. Adding a little bit of LFO to one VCO in the synth will create subtle detunings in the drone itself.

2) Effects processors. Adding delays and/or chorus to parts of the drone increases the timbral complexity and puts movement in.

3) Panning. Don't treat drones like mono sources; instead, using something to modulate the stereo field again increases complexity. Also, pan your internal sources so that you've already got some stereo field action going on.

4) Fade-ins/fade-outs. Set up parts of the drone so that parts can appear/disappear by modulating the VCOs' output via a VCA(s).

...and so on. There's loads more methods, but these are generally variations on the above four main techniques.

First of all, put that Lifeforms synth back in its normal case. When you put something that's already cased and powered into a Eurorack cab, it's worth seeing what that costs. In this case, the Palette 104 costs $399, and the Lifeforms was $599 when it was around, and it takes up 48 hp. Ignoring the tile row in the Palette, this would mean that:

399/104 = $3.83 per 3U hp.
$3.83 x 48 = $183.84 This figure is how much it costs extra to house the Lifeforms, so add that to the Lifeforms' price. Ergo:

$599 + $183.84 = $782.84 This is the ACTUAL cost of the Lifeforms when in the current configuration. And even if you didn't get a case with the Lifeforms, that's still too damn expensive since the Lifeforms has a fixed control density, meaning that you're stuck with the density as specced by Pittsburgh...where if you did this in basic separate modules, you could easily reduce the panel space needed for the same module complement by quite a bit. And in a Pallete, space is at a premium! Hmmm...let's give this a shot...

(several minutes later) OK! This seems to be a lot more functional:

There's quite a few changes besides the Pittsburgh issue. A few functions were shifted into other modules, added a crossmod section for the modulation...

The top row, of course, is the Palette 104 bus module. Then the tiles were switched around quite a bit: Input on the left end, then the two modules that make up the Temps Utile...this is a multifunction thing, with several sequencers, clock outs and so on. I put in a QuadrATT, also...mainly for mixing and inverting mod sources. Next to that is a Pedal I/O, then the Stereo VCA, which can be useful for a number of things...controlling output levels, splitting as VCAs for your Pedal I/O's levels, etc. And then last is the stereo output on the right end. All of the I/Os use the onboard 1/4" jacks.

The 3U row starts with something a bit beefier than a MIDI interface. It IS that...but it has two return channels for situations where you might want the synth to serve as the main clock, etc. And it's class-compliant, so all you need is a class-compliant controller (like a Keystep, etc) and there you are. Next are four "free run" LFOs, then Maths, and then a pair of modules for screwing around with modulation behavior: a Tenderfoot triple attenuverter/mixer and an After Later dual VCA, with the VCA topology based on the Mutable Veils. After this is a Zadar + Nin for your envelopes, then we get into the audio section.

For audio, I went with a pair of Klavis Twin Waves mkii, as these are actually rather complex AND they're quantized...which means you save money and space on not needing a quantizer module while getting a serious VCO complement. These FOUR (yep!) VCOs then feed the four inputs of the Veils, which allows you to either manually control the mix, or you can apply envelopes or other modulation sources for that purpose. Polivoks VCF is next (not a bad choice for a single VCF), then a Frequency Central Stasis Leak gives you your choice of tap delay, chorus, or reverb...and since this has mono-in and stereo-out, it provides your stereo signal via the effects. And last, a Doepfer A-138s is your stereo mixer, with manual level and panning. I would've liked to put in a couple of VCAs post-FX, but if that's really necessary, you can use the VCA tile above.

This is a really open-ended build, which is a bit surprising for a one-row cab, but the tile row really takes up a lot of slack, plus your bus row also gives you buffered mults and adders for a bit more tampering with the CV. Plus you now have a proper sequencer in there that can be used like the Steppy that was there, but also as a CV sequencer, which allows you to set up sequenced ostinati over which you can solo...ala Klaus Schulze, but all in one little cab. Not too shabby, I think!

EDITED Jan 30th 2022, 02:42

Hey...$4k for actual rubber in the form of an actual chicken WITH VOLTAGE CONTROL should be something that everyone'll want. I'll wait until Uli puts out a knockoff for $99, tho...

The big question I have to ask here is what did you have the resonances set to? It could be a problem...but at the same time, if the resonance controls on the VCFs is set too high, it can start to make a VCF behave like a VCO, which might explain the sweep sounds. Plus, if the ferrites are doing their jobs, that would tend to eliminate external sources as the cause. Try turning the resonance all the way down on those VCFs, then feeding them the sweeping LFO. You also might try feeding the VCFs' modulation via an attenuator between the LFO and VCF, as the incoming LFO might be a little too hot for the VCFs. Just use the attenuator to back down the LFO's level...this will result in a bit less span on the sweeps, but this may also keep the sweep sounds out of the VCFs.

UBMs are no joke.
-- Vtapes

No lie! I've got two of these monsters living in here, tech-matched. And they don't just do kick drums, they can tweeze out some very strange metallics, percussive clicks, and so on. Stocki had the right idea, using these...but he didn't have a TR-606 laying around. I discussed my (ab)use of these with Cholly's assistant, Bryan Wolf, when I was over for studies in 2001, and mentioned the "damage potential" and his eyes got wide. I just smiled and said "yeah...well, I like the sound of shattering plaster!" Which they found to be quite cool, actually; remember, this is the period where Stockhausen and a certain Mr. James from Cornwall were in fairly constant contact.

Actually, you can make a very workable one in LESS than 62 hp + tiles. The build below is designed for a 4ms 48X Pod:

Temps Utile for basic sequencing/clock, Delptronics LBD-2 set which contains a number of classic electro-style circuits, Doepfer Quad Decay to give percussive envelopes off to the Mazzatron Quad Lowpasses, which can process up to four of the drum sounds from the LBD-2, then this all gets mixed down to mono with an Erogenous Tones Levit8, and the mix then has a Zlob 3-band "tone stack"-type EQ at then end to manually emphasize various different timbral accentuations.

Pretty easy, really. Took all of 10 minutes. HOWEVER...with the Pod, this would run you over $1k. And THAT is one of the big reasons why drums belong in drum machines.

EDITED Jan 26th 2022, 04:31

Yeah, leave the Frap stuff in there if you're comfy with it. And to build onto it, you might want to have a look at the Tiptop Buchla collab modules, which are starting to show up now. Hell, this is awfully West Coast as it is, and if you go with the Buchla stuff, you can take it right over the edge into that! Maths is also a great fit into that, too...plus there's a few more Buchla-esque things out there (like Feedback's timbre shapers, etc) that can nail it right on down. But those Buchla modules are missing one critical thing...the HIDEOUS pricetag! The 258t, f'rinstance = $200. Which is utterly BONKERS!!! And they'll also integrate nicely with the sampling aspect, as something like their 281t ($220!!!) is perfect for elaborate keying envelope patterns via the quadrature function.

The Pulsar's a really good idea, too...I've found over the years that "compartmentalizing" the different musical functions, while it results in more gear laying around, does make it a lot easier to keep your mind focussed on the task at hand, instead of trying to do several things at once in the same box. One thing I'd suggest adding to the Pulsar, though, would be a more "conventional" drum machine...you'd use that for the obvious sounds (kick, hats, etc) and then the Pulsar can take care of percussive noises, weird hits, and other things it likes to do. I actually just picked up one of Uli's RD-8s (TR-808 clone...and rather convincing-sounding at that!), and that might make a good pairing with a Pulsar in that sort of usage.

NB: I'm also actually a tad AFRAID of the RD-8, for one specific reason: there will eventually be a point in time where I'll get curious enough to run its kick through one of my UBMs, and an UBM can turn a 606 "blip" kick into Marvin the Martian's "Earth-shattering KABOOM!". If you hear something about part of downstate Illinois being reduced to a smoking hole of rubble, that'll probably be the result.

Yeah, there's a lot missing here. For one thing, if this is to do all of those things you want, well...it's doable, but not in that cab. Gonna poke at this and get 'er set up right...

(a few minutes later)

OK...kick and bass. This has those in spades! I rebuilt the whole thing in an A-100 2x84 cab, for starters...and that's important, as the Jomox module you want is pretty deep. Given that the whole draw is nowhere near a Doepfer A-100P6's current load limit, plus the roadcase build on the cab itself, means that this is pretty much a goof-proof rig that'll work for both studio AND live use. Here's what's in there...

TOP: First up is an EMW trigger sequencer, with 8 steps for each of 8 memories. This is for the Jomox, right next to it. Then a Bastl Popcorn handles your pitch sequencing (and it's internally quantized!) for the thing next to it...a Buchla 258t from Tiptop's collab line with Buchla USA. This oscillator is the grandpa of most complex VCOs out there, because it can internally modulate VCO1 against VCO2, or you can use one as a modulating suboscillator to get huge subbass notes. Or a lot of other things, for that matter. And to help do that, there's an Intellijel uVCA that'll allow you to impose modulation onto the output levels of each 258t VCO, so you could have VCO1 sounding, and then let VCO2 fade in its audio modulation to modulate it. Loads of possibilities...and if that's not interesting enough, the Antimatter Audio Crossfold wave processor allows you to create a composite waveshaped signal by having inputs for both 258t VCOs. Last up is the classic Wiard Dual Borg Filter, which is actually not merely a filter pair, but the individual filters can be switched into lowpass gate mode. This means you can use VCF1 there for timbral shaping, then set VCF2 to the lowpass gate mode and send it some fast envelopes for PUNCH.

BOTTOM: Pam's. You've got two sequencers, so you'll probably find it useful for those as well as other clocking/sequencing duties. The uMotion is a clone of the Mutable Tides; I'd have rather put in the actual thing, but the space dictated otherwise. Then a Mutable Shades and another uVCA handle the modulation treatments. An Intellijel Quadrax/Qx provides envelopes as well as further looped envelopes in case more LFOs come into play. And with the Qx, you can "cascade" envelope triggers and turn the whole thing into a really complex modulation source. Then we get into FX...the Stasis Leak gives you a tap-tempo delay, plus stereo reverb and/or stereo chorus, and the Messor is the stereo compressor with sidechain that you need to get that French House "pump" going. Branch off a signal from the kick, and there you go! For mixing, I went with a Tesseract Tex-Mix, so there's four mono inputs (with VCAs...these are your final audio chain VCAs), and the master module for that contains two AUX send/returns, your headphone preamp, a monitor/cue output, and pretty much a partridge in a damn pear tree! And last, a Happy Nerding Isolator...which you'll be very glad of if you take this to live gigs, with their typical janky AC. The Isolator does two things: 1) - it kills DC, and you want DC killed as excessive DC in your output will kill things like amps, speakers, etc. But it also 2) - prevents crud from getting into the modular via the outputs (ie: everyone's fave - ground loops).

So, yeah...it's bigger and it costs more. But it's now COMPLETE...and as low-end instruments go, this one might have what it takes to give ME and my top-secret CZ-101 subsine bass patch (has been known to cause structural damage! really!) a real run for the money. Plus, this is no sonic one-trick box...the bass voice architecture is loaded with modification tricks, the sequencers let you do set-n-forget setups, there's ample modulation and modifiers for that, and you get a true performance mixer on top of that that can be expanded with more Tex-Mix expansion modules when "M0AR" happens.

EDITED Jan 25th 2022, 02:58

I think you'd be better off without trying to do drum sounds in the build. The Taiko does take up a load of room, but the better reason is that you can get much more mileage out of a prebuilt drum machine and some FX than you would with trying to replicate drum functions in the cab. A few more things that could go include the Nerdseq expanders, all of the mults (you shouldn't need buffered mults...there's not enough CV scaling stuff in here to justify them) should probably be removed in deference to some inline mults and/or stackcables. Another thing: the VCAs in the Tangle Quartet are linear VCAs, and while you can use them for audio, it's much better to use logarithmic VCAs for that, as those have a response curve that more approximates how we perceive loudness. Or better still, something based on the Veils (or the Veils itself) where you've got an adjustable response that can go anywhere from linear to logarithmic.

As for the Akemie's, that thing is such a CHONK that you might be better off just sticking it in one of 4ms's powered Pod cabs and treating it like a standalone instrument...which wouldn't be a bad thing, as algorithmic FM in of itself doesn't need filtering, etc. If necessary, you could even go with a Palette 62, as that'll have enough room for the Akemie's, plus an Intellijel Quadrax/Qx for the envelopes needed for modulating the index, etc. And you can use the tile row there for your I/O and a few other useful things (like a Quadratt for mixing envelopes with inversion if needed).

OK...it's late January. And late January is normally when Winter NAMM would be happening. But it's not...they postponed it to midsummer and combined it with the Summer NAMM stuff, presumably all out in LA.

SO...what this means is that if module manufacturers want to drop something new at NAMM, well, that's not happening for a hot minute. So users here might take some time to check the newest offerings in the different formats, Eurorack especially, as my bet is that those companies won't want to wait 6+ months. This should be quite interesting, since this IS the most logical place for new modules to pop up, and I'm already seeing some neat new stuff that's here and not out in Anaheim!

+1 on the Tool Box. Frankly, I'm amazed that all of what it's got fits into just 6 hp. It's perfect for adding lots of functionality to a small build.

Sounds like something's misconnected. Did you verify the polarity on all of the ribbon cables? Given that this was a result of a rearrangement, that would be my guess.

...or you could just go with something so overspecced that you can use it as the system grows (which it will!). Trogotronic has their m/15 supply, which has 5 AMPS on each of the 12v rails and 1 amp on the +5, and it's expandable. That might sound extreme, but when you have a P/S like that running at a very low draw, the result is that the P/S puts out less heat...which can affect the overall performance of the build. You also eliminate gradual damage to the P/S's components due to heat, which is a significant synth-killer. And the cherry on the cake is that with the above build, you eliminate all current inrush overloading...which will also pop your P/S if the overage is high enough. No chance of that with the m/15 in that build.

The best solution to power supplies is really simple: get the beefiest one you can! Even if you DON'T use all of the current capacity, there's still some major plusses to having a big honker like the m/15 and other hefty P/Ss out there.

DFAM really doesn't belong in there, and right now, it's crippling the modular because it cuts 60 hp out that this build REALLY needs so that you can put in some proper modulation and other "helper" modules. The layout is also pretty jacked...I don't see anything that indicates signal flow paths, which is going to result in a rather confusing to use result.

As for not having too many oscillators, well, my AE system has a huge amount of them, somewhere around 24. But it's a 180-space system, so the oscillators wind up occupying only 1/9th of the build. It would be better to go with a ratio like that than to have the VCO overkill that's here. Sure, your build's got a lot of VCOs...but the amount of OTHER modules along with that is really out of whack. Also, the thing that you can't have too many of are VCAs. And THAT makes perfect sense when you start poking at what VCAs are actually capable of besides amplitude control.

Damn, that's spendy...but given that high-quality pitch-to-voltage conversion has been a "holy grail" of sorts in synthesizers, it's not surprising. The big problem lies in tracking...for example, with a lot of synth sounds, there's some significant manipulation of that sound's fundamental and harmonics. What eventually results, if one harmonic really pops out, is mistracking. Sometimes this is interesting...but most of the time, it's an annoyance.

It's also worth noting that trying to adequately implement p-2-v tracking is one of the main factors that wrecked ARP c. 1980. Look up their Avatar guitar synth for a dive into music business HORROR. Also, Korg's tried this twice...once with the MS-20's input section, and the other was the X-911 guitar synth. Neither worked as advertised on that one point, but they're great for glitchy chaos on unpitched signals such as electronic percussion; this is, in fact, much of the secret behind Aphex Twin's ear-bending drum patterns, as he used (and probably still does use) drum machines through an MS-20 and some "creative" settings to generate those distortional and damaged drum bonks and snarls. This is a lot of the reason why the reissue still has that section.

I don't know if it's a EU/US thing, but if I google DeoxIT I get tons of WD-40 results in front. Is it the same product? It's certainly cheaper.
-- Mazz

Oh, HELL no! WD-40 is basically spray-on cutting oil, like 3-In-1 Oil or Liquid Wrench! Get that into a pot, and you're going to probably need to replace that pot soon after that. The only similarities to DeoxIT there is that both come in a spray-can...and that's IT.

Now, as for cleaning panels...I use a rather small shop-vac + a couple of tight-space brush attachments. Even with that vacuum, it still takes a brush to knock the dust up so the vacuum can deal with it. Note, however, that a vacuum will not deal with bloodstains...although, that will probably be of more concern to the 1st-gen Industrial and Power Electronics crowd.

I will be in contradiction with most suggestions on this forum but anyway...

Buy a smaller case
-- defragmenteur

Or just get one of Syinsi's tile-only cases...

EDITED Jan 16th 2022, 21:17

For cleaning — DeoxIT
https://caig.com/deoxit-d-series/
-- cmb_

I use and endorse DeoxIT, frankly! My can of D5 is currently sitting next to the Digisound 80, in fact. The stuff might seem like it's just basic "contact cleaner", but it goes a lot further than that...it adds lubrication to a pot that doesn't gum up after time, for one thing. And then, yep, it's got some anti-tarnish ingredients to help keep contacts from getting crapped up again.

It was so ubiquitous in Nashville back in the day that, if you ran into a crackly pot or intermittent switch with the resulting noise, everyone would be lunging for the DeoxIT can, unspoken rule-style.

Threaded rails (or threaded rail strips...similar idea) are definitely solid, but if you're doing anything DIY or want to use an Analogue Systems module or two, you'll be very grateful for those sliders. Any time you have the potential for a module NOT matching the typical Eurorack spacing, that's when sliders become a godsend!

Optimize, actually. I did a rework of this, came up with...

Audio in the top row, modulation/control in the bottom. By clarifying the signal paths in this way, it becomes much easier to wrap ones' head around what's actually going on. There's really only ONE change I would suggest as far as modules, that being to replace the Zeroscope with an Intellijel Dual VCA ii, then placing this alongside the 3xMIA so that you've got your mixer/distro AND your modulation amplitude controllers all in one place. The Zeroscope is sort of a "luxury", and in smaller builds, it's important to minimize/eliminate things like that so that everything has actual synthesis functionality. Other than that, it's a pretty solid build.

Actually, it might not be the computer that's at fault here. My bet is that this disconnect is due to the DAW, and not the computer itself. I myself went through this when I kept trying to figure out how to integrate ProTools into a compositional workflow...which would never work. As a compositional platform, PT just downright SUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUCKS!

Ableton, on the other hand...that's a whole 'nother kettle of fish. It does everything that PT doesn't like to do just fine, and a lot more besides. And if it DOESN'T do what I need, I can fix that, thanks to its integration with Max. It takes far less effort to figure out than PT, too. However, I should note that I like to mix in analog...I just prefer having the sounds under my fingers, so I get that. You might try a "hybrid" setup like that yourself...multitrack in Ableton (and this works so much better with a proper multichannel interface), then mix in analog to a digital 2-track. This way, you get that same incremental control...but you can ALSO make use of outboard processors with ease, which also has the effect of reducing the processor load on the DAW. Sure, it has a learning curve like most anything else, but it works more "musician-ish" if that makes sense.

Several observations...first up, put the Lifeforms SV-1 back in its case. This seems to be a common issue when people get patchables that can be put into a Eurorack cab. Well, just because you CAN do something doesn't mean you SHOULD. Right now, that one "module" (which it's not...it's actually a patchable standalone synth) is taking up 48 hp that modules which DON'T have power or housing should be in.

Second...you can guess where this is going...VCAs!!!! Sure, there's a Tangle Quartet there...but you need to remember that it's populated with linear VCAs. For audio, as a rule you want exponential VCAs, as our sense of hearing perceives apparent loudness on an exponential (the Decibel curve) curve. Keep the TQ...you'll want it as a dedicated modulation VCA for controlling modulation amplitudes. But for the AUDIO...get a Veils or something rather like it.

Third: submixers. This is another "utility" that is pretty necessary. Or they would be, but there's not enough...

Fourth: modulation sources. This is something that even the SV-1 is lacking in. Aside of it, there's no LFOs here, only one (ADSR) EG, and so on when you take the SV-1 out of the equation. And by using submixing specifically for modulation (see these examples: Tiptop MISO, Frap's 321, and the like), you can take a handful of mod sources and "create more". Add VCAs to this, and then you've got a serious modulation section.

Lastly, the SOMA Lyra-8 delay is neat, to be sure...but it's also pretty huge, and in a small build like this one, it's critical that you condense things down so that you can have an ample complement of functions. If you can do the same sort of thing in 10 or 12 hp, that's more advisable, since you can probably emulate the sound of the Lyra-8 delay by other means.

Now, one thing that IS right in here is the use of the Malekko sequencing system. Sure, it also takes up a chunk of room...but it's justified here due to the tons of functions that the Voltage Block and Varigate 4+ bring to the table. One thing I'd suggest, then, would be to extend the Malekko "environment" so that you can have it "memorize" your critical settings. For example, they've got the solution for your LFO shortage in their Quad LFO...which ALSO connects to the Varigate 4+ to give you four "hot" memories for LFO behavior. Frankly, I'd also suggest adding the Varigate 8+; when you look here: https://malekkoheavyindustry.com/product/varigate-8/ you can see how potent that ecosystem is.

Sure, but veils can do both linear and exponential.
-- Cormallen

And a whole lot of response curves in between. This is one thing I like about using the 1/2-Veils clones...if you want to mess with the way the VCA is handling modulation levels, it's just a tweak away. Plus you'd be surprised at how quickly you'll go through a Veils-worth's of VCAs for just audio duties alone.

While people definitely poo-poo Behringer stuff, I have their 2600...and I would say that THAT would make a better choice here than trying to smash a build into a tiny cab like that. For one thing, it behaves and sounds spot-on, and that's based on having used rev.2, 3 and 4 2600s over the years. Some might claim that it doesn't sound like a "vintage" unit...but that's because it's NOT a "vintage" unit. However, I did use a rev.4 that was only a couple of years out of the box back in the early 1980s, and I think I would be hard pressed to tell that from the B.2600's present-day version.

Plus, it "talks" the same interfacing as Eurorack...1V/8va scaling, positive triggers/gates, and so on. And as far as I'm concerned, the original ARP 2600 was one of the finest teaching synths ever created...hell, it's what I learned on. So once you go for that bigger build, you can still use the B.2600 for a number of things, such as MIDI-CV conversion, extra patchable modules to go alongside the Eurorack, and the like.

I'm not sure you need the DCA half-veils in there, especially with two FULL veils! That would save another 4HP, leaving 10 total free for something else.
-- Cormallen

It fits, though. Given that the topology of those VCAs has that variable curve, it's best to have dedicated VCAs for the modulation as those will need to be used in linear mode (or something weird), while audio requires an exponential VCA so that the level changes conform with the psychoacoustics of how we perceive loudness.

Had a look, tore it apart, rebuilt it. Here we go...

LOTS of changes. For one thing, the original had a bad case of "sexy module syndrome" (ie: too many "feature" modules, and not hardly enough "helper" modules to use with those), so I did some major rebalancing of the module types. Also, it was possible to condense some functions down to ONE module, such as using the Hermod (yep...added a sequencer!) as a MIDI interface.

TOP: PWRchekr is the little sliver at left. Then instead of your complex VCO choice, I went with the OG...the Buchla 258, and since Tiptop'll have these for only $200 when they drop in a few weeks (presumably), why not TWO? Well, why not indeed...so there IS two, along with plenty of trickery to make them do lots of Buchla-ish mojo. After that is the first of two quad VCAs, which also sums things down to one or two outputs, depending on what you're up to. After that is a Modbap wavetable VCO with some lo-fi settings, and the ability to blow samples into a microSD card, plus some weird modulation schemes such as phase mod (best known from the Casio CZ-series), a suboscillator, and lots of other tricks. And it's smaller than the Shapeshifter. Then the Joranalogue Generate3 gives you a complex TZFM-able VCO. Then another quad VCA...same deal as before. But the thing after it isn't exactly a mixer; rather, it's an omsonic Panning expander, a fixed-level mixer with stereo panning to stereoize your voicing...mainly because after that point, the audio signal path is stereo out to the main mixer. And right on cue, the first of the three stereo VCFs...Dave Rossum's Linneaus, which is a killer stereo VCF with TZFM capabilities.

MIDDLE: A Doepfer Quadrature LFO is first here; this will be useful for when you want separate LFO outs from the same LFO, but with each out at a 90 degree phase rotation so that you can have multiple sweeping LFOs with different phase relationships (like with the quad VCAs, or quadraturing modulation for the Linnaeus's TZFM scheme). Then four more LFOs with the expander in the Batumi, and after that, Maths. This gets followed by a dual VCA (same topology as the Veils VCAs) and a Frap 321; these are for tampering with modulation behavior, combining mod signals, and so on. Next, Quadrax and the Qx, which lets you do some interesting chained behavior with the four EGs. All your other envelopes are in the Zadar, with its Nin expander. Then an alternate stereo filter, good for some strange timbral behavior (would pair nicely with Beads!) that's also from Dave Rossum and the E-Mu Morpheus. Then the SCLPL is down at the end, which makes it easier to drop into the mixer out as a global filter...and it's ALSO a good pairing with the Beads.

BOTTOM: Hermod...this functions as a MIDI interface AND an eight-channel sequencer, so...yeah, it's got a sequencer now with some serious power. Then "effects", which includes the Beads, plus an Alright Devices Chronoblob2 (stereo delay with an insert point in the feedback path, so it's all set for some serious timbral delay mayhem), and a Happy Nerding FX Aid XL for reverb, flange, etc etc. Then for a mixer, I specced a WMD Performance Mixer because you'll need ample inputs for your sources while, at the same time, having a good AUX send/return setup, a CUE bus, muting, and on and on. Yes, it's big, and it's expensive...but it's a mixer that you can grow into, instead of having to put one mixer in one cab, another in the next, and so forth. This makes it easier to plan expansions. Then down at the end, Happy Nerding again with their OUT module, with transformer balancing, 1/4" TRS outs plus a second headphone preamp (the other's on the WMD mixer, that's the one that can be switched into CUE mode to check various issues on the fly, such as tuning, setting VCF cutoffs, etc). But this also has a second parallel stereo input, so that if you wanted, you could fly in yet another stereo signal from a voice or an FX module.

You'll notice that in a number of cases in here, I made swaps that consolidated several functions. I also got rid of most of the HUGE modules in deference to getting more panel space for modules that were QUITE necessary (all of the VCAs I've added, for example). Other modules got "shrunk" (the Batumi is a good example: 4 LFOs with complex interaction capabilities jammed into a mere 13 hp), and a few just got tossed altogether (for example, the mult...on something this size, you're much better off using inline mults or stackcables). But overall, your primary functions are still intact and, in fact, rather enhanced now that you've got the right supporting modules. Plus the layout makes far more sense by grouping primary functions so that everything moves around the front panel in a pretty good "left-up, right-down" formation for patching clarity. And even with all of the changes, the new/different modules, all that...it still came out only $800 more than your incomplete original, but now the whole cab is full, with lots of possibilities there.

Another possibility: https://www.modulargrid.net/e/wmd-sclpl This thing is a very shrunk-down variation on the Serge Resonant EQ, fits in 4 hp, is full stereo, and it can morph between settings which gives things shot through it the ability to have seamless and wild timbral shifts.

As for sequencing, my suggestion would be to go with a Make Noise Rene/Tempi pair. Those two have some backplane connections that allow them to get into some more advanced functions. Plus, if you add a Brains (only 4 hp), you can also make the Pressure Points function as another sequencer...only four steps, sure, but if you need sequenced transpositions, it's perfect.

Speaking of guitars, think of how you are going to get to the right signal levels. If you use an external preamp anyway, a good line level IO should do.
-- AcdNrg

Not so much. See here: http://www.ovnilab.com/articles/linelevel.shtml But the TL;DR there is that instrument-level signals require much more gain than incoming line-level signals. For one thing, they're typically -24 dB down from pro line-level. Also, the impedance on that input will need to be different from a typical line-level's input, and that can cause signal loss, or if the input preamp doesn't have the necessary gain, you'll wind up amplifying a lot of noise along with your desired signal. Also, with an external input, I think it's important to have something that not only amplifies, but which also has an envelope follower, such as the Doepfer A-119. Being able to modulate with the envelope follower is a big key to getting instruments such as guitars to be fully-functional controllers in addition to signal sources. The A-119 also has a comparator to extract gates from signal levels, and this comes in handy for firing off envelopes, LFO resets, etc.

Oooo...so it's an actual HN port? That's quite cool, would make Igor one of only a few manufacturers to tackle multiple formats with the same circuits. I'm used to seeing a lot of UNofficial ports and modded modules over on MU, so I figured it was something like that.

It's an "unofficial" port of the Eurorack version, apparently. There's quite a few of those in the MU format pages. I'd suggest checking the "usual suspects" in 5U DIY to see if someone's got this as a kit, although my bet is that that listing is of a "one shot" porting of the original circuit.

Couple of suggestions...first up, you might have a look at Adventure Audio's Merge. This is a module specifically designed for working with guitar, etc signals. It's got a send/return path for external FX, plus a proper instrument preamp that feeds into an envelope follower. And that last bit there is how you can use the guitar's amplitude curves to control pretty much anything that you'd feed that signal to...filters, VCAs, all sorts of possibilities. Right now, this is what the Ears is for, but the Merge offers way more flexibility and modulation potential.

Second: you can tighten up the tile row by removing the buffered mult (you really don't need it, as you don't have enough pitch CV destinations to cause voltage sag) and then adding that regained space with the gaps, and maybe by removing the USB jack tile. That would give you 20 more hp in the tile row. And you could even strip out the headphone preamp tile by going with a performance mixer that has a headphone output. Plus, you can get these with some very useful functions, such as Toppobrillo's Stereomix2, which has CV over level (and these would serve as your final audio level VCAs), panning, and each strip's AUX level. It has a mono AUX send with a stereo return, which is perfect for "global" effects such as reverb, etc. Oh, and clickless mutes, plus a CUE function associated with them that'll let you audition a channel separately via the headphones, which can be invaluable if you have a tuning mishap live. That's a far better solution, IMHO!

+1 on dumping the mults. When you've got smaller builds like this, the better strategy is to use inline mult widgets or stackcables. And with the space, you can drop in another 4 hp per row. So, down in the bottom row, I'd recommend a Ladik J-120 comparator. This module will let you generate gates depending on the voltage level it's reading, so you can use that modulation-derived gate to fire off other processes in the patch, which is super-useful in generative patches. And up top, Konstant Labs has their Baxandall EQ module that'll be super-useful at the very end of the audio chain for "sweetening" the modular's output just before it goes to the output tile.

DO keep the second set of Veils, however. I can see one immediate use for it with the Doepfer Quad LFO, feeding an LFO to each VCA and then firing off the VCAs with some sawtooth wave LFOs or envelope generators. That way, you get level control over those LFOs which the Veils can then sum to give you some VERY complex modulation curves. And there's more than that, as well.

Otherwise, TOUCH NOTHING!!! Aside of the multiples issue, everything here is SPOT-ON. The module order is kinda in need of streamlining, but I wouldn't change any of the modules themselves. You did it right!

Just get a DFAM. That was what the BFAM developed into, probably with quite a bit of information gathered from those who built the BFAMs at Moogfest 2016.

The one we're REALLY waiting on is the Spectravox. This is a small variation on their huge Vocoder, with the same form factor as the other 60 hp Moogs. Given the amazing results that you can get from that $5k one, I and lots of others would love to get our hands on the variant.

There's a definite problem here, and that's a lack of modulation sources for the two Akemie's to chew on. These are at their best when you can use various envelopes and other mod sources into the various level and index inputs to create very complex textures. Using them this way, you miss out on much of that capability.

I would suggest dropping the second Akemie's altogether, then putting in Erogenous Tones' RADAR and Blip modules instead. The RADAR module gives you eight AR envelopes with a lot of abuse potential, and the Blip works as something of a sequential controller for the RADAR, plus it provides some global controls you don't necessarily get with the RADAR alone. THAT pair would be more than sufficient to get the remaining Akemie's into its full capabilities.

The Doepfer A-119 is sort of the "industry standard", actually. Typical 1/4" input jack and amplification of external signals to synth level. But the A-119 has a few other tricks...

First up, it's got a comparator which keys off of the incoming signal dynamics. As long as your input signal is over the level you've set on the threshold pot, the module will output a gate. Then there's the envelope follower itself, which translates dynamic levels into a modulation curve so that you can impose the incoming dynamics envelopes onto some other device in the build. Now, where this can come in handy is when you've run out of comparators, or if you just want dynamics without the signal, you can use it for that as well.

Actually, if the designer there would've just staggered the knobs to the left and right, you WOULD have ample room for fingers. Too much attention paid to electronics and NOT ergonomics is how you get unplayable modules. For example, my AE system uses those little marked-shaft pots, but they were designed with ample space so that you can get into through the patchcord (actually pinwires in the AE) snarl and the other controls around.