Ok, here’s the how it’s looking so far. To recap my original post: newbie interested in generative, ‘plays itself while I sort of steer’ compositions. The setup is designed to leverage VCVrack, which is why the ES-9 was the very first purchase.
Still using Lugia’s ideal state as my guide, along with some learning courses by Chris Meyer, his Patch & Tweak book (my bible) and Omri Cohen’s videos for great ideas that make the most of the VCV side.
The focus at the start was VCO + VCF. I added the Disting 4 which has been such an amazing tool to get hands on with so many functions - it’s brilliant. Diverged a little from Lugia’s setup and went with the Voltage Block for CV modulation source. I’m having so much fun plugging it into the Linnaeus every which way. Added some VCAs and the A*B+C, which I don’t fully understand but I know I can use it for more VCAs, mixer, and it gives me a degree of hands-on control over some of the VCV modules.
The new additions are the Rampage and Pam’s New Workout – I think I can also have quite a bit of fun in standalone mode, without the computer. I’m not going to buy any more modules (famous last words) until I fully understand what I have, explore in conjunction with VCV, get an idea of which aspects I want to have hands-on fun with, versus what VCV can take care of. The general approach has been to generate signals in the rack and complete their paths in VCV.
I think the next phase would be to learn how to program generative. The bottom half of Lugia’s layout I do not understand whatsoever, so I want to learn the principles/techniques behind them in VCV and eventually start building some of that into the rack (at which point it’ll surely bust out beyond the 6u case). I love the concept of creating a sequencer by connecting a few modules instead of buying one that does it all for me. The music-friendly generative modules like Marbles and Bloom sound intriguing but I wonder if it removes some of the potential learning if I get anything like that too soon… I expect it’ll take at least a year to get my head around the basics of how the brain works, how to use clocks to spawn a complex sequence etc.
Feedback/Guidance most welcome!