Thanks for sharing ur thoughts. Is‘nt it possible to use Links as a Mult? I choose 2 Distings because everybody say its a swiss army knife and can do so many things, or am I wrong?

This is a cool setup, for sure. Just a few things I was thinking about as I looked at it: Are the two filters necessary, or would you find any value in replacing one of the filters with a wavefolder like the uFold II? You can patch into your MiniBrute filter if I remember correctly. Also, the Happy Nerding 3xMIA is a 6hp 6 channel mixer/attenuverter/offset/etc. that you may find useful. Finally, I've got a Phonogene (earlier version of the Morphagene) and it's kind of fun for sample manipulation, but if I had it to do over I would have just picked up a decent delay like the Mimeophon instead. Would save quite a bit of hp in a small case.
Just my thoughts, but you know what might work best for your sound and style. Good luck and have fun!

There's actually only one change I think I can suggest here: swap out the Pico Atten for a Pico A Mixer to submix your VCOs before sending them onto the filters. Losing a couple of attenuators is a decent tradeoff for being able to mix your oscillators and beef up your sound with detuning, etc. Plus, I couldn't find a similar set of attenuverters for that 3 hp space; those would've been preferable to the mixer, honestly, because you'd also get the ability to invert modulation signals in addition to rescaling their levels...and inverse mod signals can be quite useful, especially inverted envelopes.
-- Lugia

Yes, an attenuverter would be great. I've been looking around and it seems like Patching Panda has a dual 3hp attenuverter with additional sum and inverted sum outs.

https://www.modulargrid.net/e/patching-panda-flipanda

This could be a good replacement for the Pico Att, what do you think?

Regarding the power supply, I guess I could move the modules around and try to have the power suple next to a modulation source instead. Anyway, as I understand, having it like this could potentially add some noise into the audio path, but it would n0t damage the module itself, right?

Thanks for your reply Lugia, I really appreciate it.

What kind of music/sound are you going for?
-- farkas

Most of the time I'm going for kind of techno and downtempo. Drums are coming from an external drum machine, drumbrute impact, that would be clocked by the pamela's.

Modular drums can be pretty cool, but they can also be quiet expensive, so for now I guess I'll keep using the drum machine.

Two major points, IMHO:
- First, a lot of overlaps here (especially 2 Distings, 2 Links, Quad Vca plus Veils...)!
- Second, you will surely need at least some universal tools like: one buffered mult, one reverb, and a proper drum module (such as Basimilus, or ADDAC 104, see that video: )

I really enjoyed this content, production is really really good. I'm unsure if you wanted to make a piece of art but in my eyes, that is what you achieved, on top of the message itself. Well done, wish I had your talent for video, thanks for sharing !

Audio Damage Eos would be a treat... kinda rare though I know...

Hi Funbun,

Fair enough and I get your point. Good luck with your videos!

Kind regards, Garfield.

Yes, that's my AE Modular Starter 2. I have other modules on order, but this is the basic starter setup.

Well, my videos are about the stories I tell. The storytelling comes first. Everything serves the story. In this case those few shots of the Starter 2 gave the story all it needed. I'm trying to make true documentary films on my YouTube channel. Just sitting there looking at the modular doesn't serve the story.

EDITED Apr 5th 2020, 00:26

Hi Funbun,

Yes you are right, health care employees must be under huge stress now, so it's nice of you are making a video with music for them.

The modular system in your video, is that your AE Modular system? Looks pretty nice and neat :-) I wouldn't have mind to see a bit more of that in one of your videos!

Kind regards, Garfield.

Hi Sislte,

Thanks for sharing your music and your video. I liked your video, gives a nice overview of your modular system :-)

I like the Crenulated Orian, nice track! Messy? I feel it's all right, it's very creative. The creativity you put in your music is lovely to listen at. Unglued? Perhaps at one or two spots but it doesn't really disturb me as a listener. I took the efforts to sit in my "listening chair" and I was swinging in my chair on your music, so yeah, I liked it! :-)

Also those "Plaits random sounds" were nice and enjoyable to listen at. Overall I feel this is a good piece of music and I will be honest with you, I am jealous :-) Jealous that you can make music that currently I wouldn't be able to create/make it. So keep up the good work and I look forward in hearing your next track! :-)

Oh yes, by the way, this track (especially the, roughly, first half of it) reminded me a bit of the music of Pyrolator, for example the Wunderland album. So, nicely done!

Kind regards, Garfield Modular.

Hi,

I talked with AL Joelson from Cre8audio about the NiftyCase and NiftyBUNDLE. I saw these at the NAMM show and thought the build quality was great. I'm also considering it as a first case for myself.

If you are interested, here's my article on it https://synthtalk.net/articles/the-cre8audio-niftycase-with-al-joelson?=mg

Thank u so much for your reply! Helped me a lot! Why I have Plaits? lol Plaits was my first Oszilator and I dont really like it as well. Feeling like I clickt trough Presets all the time.

Wogglebug- u a right again! Though about selling it, but sumetime i need a little Woggle in my Patches. Marbles is a bit more organized.

Thank you for your opinion and tips u gave!

Perfect module, I have two!! This module has two types of saturation, one mode awesome for drums (I love it) another for raw sequences (very interesting effect).
Yeah we have M/S it takes me to professional equipment.

EDITED Apr 4th 2020, 14:09

Looks like a solid mutable inspired rack!

I personally don't think you'd need Plaits AND TelHarmonic -- having had both, I would go with TelHarmonic. That's not to say that they are the same, they certainly aren't. However I personally found Plaits to be kind of boring and not something I reached for. One thing I like about Make Noise is that they break it out where you have control over everything. Plaits is nice if you want to have Gameboy Sounds, but otherwise... meh...

Regarding Mutable, I might also suggest checking out some of the 3rd party builds that shrink the modules down to 8hp. Rings and Tides could both be found in 8HP and remain just and functional and accessible.

You have a Wogglebug and so I don't think you'd need Marbles, unless you really want staged out random voltages, which is of course fine if that's what you're going for. You wont need two Links... Chances are you wont even need one. I would go for Mults instead.

Not sure why you have 2 quad VCA's, again I'd go with Intellijel over Mutable -- better build quality IMHO.

That all being said: At the end of the day it's your rack! You might have a vision / sound in your head and based on who you are into, you might have insight into why you built the way you did! When I started, I based my rack on what was already existing -- Verbos Performance, Make Noise Shared Systems, and PGH Modular Systems. Very linear in patching, VCO into Filter, into VCA, Envelope, Delay / Reverb, out, before I started doing the gymnastics! And then it was a matter of figuring out which VCO, Filter, VCA I liked, fit and could acquire! Modular is largely about the journey, and sometimes we forget that there is a destination -- you'll get there! I can also promise you that what you are starting on right now... while almost be nothing like what you end up with!

Happy Patching!

Finally i set up my first little rack and I want to know what you are thinking about it! My Genre is minimal Techno and ambient stuff. I also own 2 Drummachines, Behringer Model D, Octatrack and MPC Live.

Actually Iam planing a second Rack for Sequencing and a few more Effects. Anyway. What do you think about my Rack right now? Is it usable for what I want to do with it? Did I forgot something important to use the Modules?

Thank you so much for your help! Stay healthy! :-)

One of my favorites: powerful, versatile, intuitive. My modular brain in many patches. Complemented by Bloom, a perfect duo.

Thanks so much! I definitely understand its a very long process and journey I'm willing to embark on and i'll continue to ask myself Those questions. Im ready for the years of turning knobs and bleeps and bloops, gotta start somewhere!

There's actually only one change I think I can suggest here: swap out the Pico Atten for a Pico A Mixer to submix your VCOs before sending them onto the filters. Losing a couple of attenuators is a decent tradeoff for being able to mix your oscillators and beef up your sound with detuning, etc. Plus, I couldn't find a similar set of attenuverters for that 3 hp space; those would've been preferable to the mixer, honestly, because you'd also get the ability to invert modulation signals in addition to rescaling their levels...and inverse mod signals can be quite useful, especially inverted envelopes.

The other irksome part here is the presence of the power supply module right next to an audio module. Normally, that's something of a no-no due to the potential of noise creeping into the audio chain due to close proximity to a noisy element of the system. You'd actually want that next to something that's a modulation generator, utility (non-audio) module, etc, but right now it looks like there's no recourse for this.

My initial advice here would be to proceed SLOWLY. The process of creating a modular system isn't simple, and you can't distill everything down to a few seemingly-apparent choices and slap something together off the top of your head. If you spend two weeks on MG and toss together a single build and say "that's that!"...well, that's what I would call a "hideous mistake".

There are two things you MUST know before proceeding down this long and expensive rabbithole:

1) Your own work. What about it suggests to you that you need a bespoke device to take it to the next level? IS this a proper course of action, or are you just following hype? Are there specific elements that a modular system would bring to what you do that you feel are necessary, given the expense and technical requirements? Those (and more!) are all questions you need to be asking yourself before proceeding here.

2) Synthesis. Do you know your synth architecture "basics"? As in, what HAS TO be there, as opposed to what might wind up being an expensive space-waster. Or moreso, what do you have to have to make a modular work on its most basic levels...while leaving stylistic considerations out of things at this point. That's important, because the best way to proceed here is to build a basic system, then start augmenting it. Plus, when doing this, OVERSIZE your rack selection...because the next step is to take the unworkable mess that results and pare it back down once more to arrive at something more workable. Remember: you can always shrink or enlarge your MG racks, but it's not so easy to do that if you've gone all in on hardware before getting sorted on here. And that "do/enhance/undo/repeat" method, done again and again, is how you whittle down 7000+ module choices (in Eurorack alone!) to a set that YOU can work with perfectly. But it's NOT an instant gratification exercise; expect to fiddle with MG builds for potentially months before the "real deal" pops up on your screen, the one that says "OK...whip out the plastic!".

So, it's not a simple process to create something like this, which is one reason that I and others here often dissuade starting users from bonking around in the Grid for a couple of days and then declaring that they've found "IT". Because, quite often, that "IT" is aptly-described by that term...as the result isn't what you'd exactly call a "synthesizer". Take your time, ask questions, explore, and again, take your time. It may have taken you (like many of us here) years or even decades to develop your craft; why should the process of creating an instrument that's ALSO "you" take a few days?

Huh, makes sense. I didn't think that it'd automatically adjust levels.

Hello world! Recently dove into the deep end of modular synthesis and am looking for done advice as far as what are the best and/or affordable modules to start exploring.

I’m thinking of getting Doepfer A-100LC6sw case to start off with as ii was recommended a bigger case is better to start with. As far as modules people mostly recommended doepfer modules as well. Im looking to create ambient and glitchy type soundscapes with my system so i want modules that would give me some weird sounds. It was also recommended to look into building modules myself but i don.t know too much about reading schematics.

Exited to be a part of the modular world !

My music:
Sadnoise on spotify

Instagram:
https://www.instagram.com/femifleming_/

What kind of music/sound are you going for?

So This is my current rack, which I'm using with an Arturia Minibrute 2S.

So far so good. I intend to get rid of the Minibrute at some point and replace it with some more modules, I'ven been trying different options and I came up with this one that I think would work fine for me.

Would this rack be any good?

I know a larger rack would be much better, but I already own the Rackbrute and I plan to keep using it until I run out of space. Anyway, I'm pretty sure I'll need to get a second rack if keep going down the Eurorack rabbit hole.

When you press multiple pads, cellz starts arpeggiating between the notes.
I can't find any documentation on whether the speed of this arpeggio can be clocked.
Yes, the speed can be set with the left knob, but can it be clocked?

You're not going to be bored, there are tons of modules here to get to know and explore. I would suggest (as many others before me have) taking your sweet time, as your goals are going to change over time—modular does this to you, and before you know it you'll be aching for utilities, mixers, quantizers (you might want to keep Braids for this), and all kinds of things that keep the voltage flowing in interesting ways.

Alright Devices Zzzorb in Black and Gold would be lovely

Best stereo mixer in eurorack. No noise, clean design, nice knobs. Make knob.farm rich!

...it's an exceptionally rare case where some filthy-rich fruitcake hoards Trent Reznor/Richard D. James quantities of truly exquisite gear and can't/won't do anything with it. In the majority of cases, people are spending their own money on readily-available equipment. Equipment they sell at a discounted price to YOU if/when they realize they're not making it as Prurient 2.0 or whatever. This is truly a non-issue.
-- jingram

Dunno about that "non-issue" part. Sure, others' mistakes might fuel the used module market. But at the same time, I would be a bit nervous about buying a used module from someone who got it because "it looks cool" and NOT because of what it does, what it can do with other modules in a build, and so on. What if "I never could get the sound I wanted out of it" actually turns out to be "I plugged the ribbon into an unkeyed header backwards and hopefully you won't notice that when you buy it"? Definitely seems like a latent issue to me.

I'm not trying to put a stop to wackjobs like the Swiss Guy With Too Much Damn Money above, though...although, from experience, they're A LOT MORE common than one might think. There's still a lot of synths hiding in stashes in Japan, for example, because you had buyers over there scooping up gear from all over when their economy was still on a roll, and then squirreling it away in climate-controlled vaults and the like back in the 1990s. Much of that hasn't seen the light of day since. If the majority of it still works and isn't dead due to component degradation, I'd be surprised. "Synth-flippers" are another flavor of synth-hoarders, also...they go around scooping up anything that they think they might be able to curbstone, but in the process these types wind up stashing away a lot of gear that might've been usable for a musician...but which they see as "parts hosts", scrapyarding literally tons of devices. Now, yes, there NEEDS to be SOME of that going on...but the scale to which I've seen in several cases (a couple of them quite recent, I note), there's no real love for the instruments there, as they just get dumped all over the place and often never see any use or, sometimes, never even get broken down for parts. But again, you can't "fix" that...it's shitty habitual business practices at work, and I've seen that particular set of practices more times than I'd care to count since Mark Vail's effin' book wrecked the used market in the mid-1990s.

What I am trying to rein in, though, is people jumping into this and then finding out that they'd mistakenly leapt into the "1,000 feet" end of the pool, with a lot of general frustration following shortly afterward. That's not good for music, period. Plus, the systems bought in that way tend to NOT go up on the market, because the original purchaser is...well, sort of embarrassed, as a rule. So that doesn't supply much of a backflow into the used market, either.

How would one drop levels down or raise them up with the 4I/O? I'm not seeing any knobs to adjust levels like on some of the eurorack pedal interfaces.
-- Thatdummy

It doesn't use them. Instead, the 4I/O is a bit more "automatic"; all voltages are constrained to the AE's "operating window" of 0 - +5V. For additional gain inside the AE environment, you'd then use the 2SIGNALAMP to get more level, and on the "outside" you'd just need to turn down your effects' gain, since the voltage difference between the AE standard and typical line level isn't as potentially extreme as in other modular formats. See here for more: http://wiki.aemodular.com/pmwiki.php/AeManual/4IO

But where does "using gear 'incorrectly'" end and "using gear in a way I don't like, or under conditions I don't like, or to create sounds/styles I don't like" begin? How big a problem is someone with their Altoids tin shaker-thru-DigiTech Death Metal harsh noise project, really, even when they branch out to buying boutique equipment?

It makes no sense to labor that particular point as it's an exceptionally rare case where some filthy-rich fruitcake hoards Trent Reznor/Richard D. James quantities of truly exquisite gear and can't/won't do anything with it. In the majority of cases, people are spending their own money on readily-available equipment. Equipment they sell at a discounted price to YOU if/when they realize they're not making it as Prurient 2.0 or whatever. This is truly a non-issue.

The one exception, perhaps, being common, "overnight cult successes", most of which are purely hype-based gimmicks to begin with (Sitar Swami, anyone?). And we have only the Internet Buzz (Bull) Machine to thank for that.

Yea, I was just thinking the USB module could be used to power the pedals that would then interface with a different module. How would one drop levels down or raise them up with the 4I/O? I'm not seeing any knobs to adjust levels like on some of the eurorack pedal interfaces.

Hey. Not sure if you're still thinking about doing this or not, but you should know about Kong.
https://bastl-instruments.com/eurorack/modules/kong
"Kong amplifies the drumpad signal and also converts it to trigger and velocity CV signals"
So this would get 2 drums into the modular environment without much hassle! from there you can do whatever your heart desires with those signals.
All in just 5hp.
Imma get one forsure.

The USB module is just a power connection for things like controllers, etc that can be powered over USB. It doesn't pass any signals.

The problem with interfacing AE to anything else is that the AE likes to see a very specific range of incoming voltages, namely 0 - +5V...and this goes for ALL incoming signals, whether they're CV, mod, trigger, gate, or audio. This means that you either have to use a buffering module such as the AE 4I/O or a Soundmachines Nanobridge to constrain and offset signals properly. Plus, you have to establish a groundplane between the AE and other devices, sort of the same thing that's needed with a banana-patcher such as the Kilpatrick Phenol, Serge format gear, et al. Without that last detail, you won't have a signal return and your connections between the AE and whatever it's hooked to won't happen.

Actual Buchla format (as in their split-signal patching method, which separates CV/mod/clocking from audio) would be doable...but again, buffering would be necessary, and in this case you'd be dealing with two different buffering methods: one for the CV banana jacks, the other for the 3.5mm audio lines. Messy but possible.

As for pedals, sure...you'd just use a 4I/O to drop your levels for the pedal's input, then raise them back up to synth levels when they go back to the AE.

A better Panel Selector

Every click on the tiny arrows in the Panel Selector now actually shows a new, different panel version.

In the former approach the system just rotated through every version change of a module data entry, no matter if only a text was changed or in fact a new image was uploaded.

And that's the biggest problem I have with the Disting. .... if you use it to emulate a couple of transformers and four diodes...I dunno, it just feels like a misuse of the module.
-- Lugia

I take your point, but it seems impossible to get even the simplest passive module for less than £25 (if you want a front panel, which maybe you don't) and it doesn't take too many of those before you've paid for a Disting. Of course you can use them all at once, assuming you had enough space in the first place... which I don't. Anyway the Disting earns its keep for me.

I don't really want to say any more since I'm sure there is another thread about Disting somewhere else :)

Thanks for your help! I tell you that it is not a dream because I have all the forms except plonk! My fear is just boring me after all this money!! I’ll get to 3x84...but not immediately, in the meantime I can recover hp changing Braids with Plaits! And if you still want to help me recommend what to insert in space to not bore me...Tanks!

Funnily enough, it looks like some of Buchla's Red Panel euro modules would play rather nicely with AE. I don't know about AE and actual Buchla format though. I wonder how well AE would play with pedals. I saw an AE module with USB power sockets. I think they make USB to 9volt center negative cords. EDIT, they as in somebody somewhere, not AE

EDITED Apr 2nd 2020, 01:54

Buchla isn't merely expensive. It's LAMBO expensive! Which is a tad weird, because the original SFTMC "box" was built for a pittance taken from a Rockefeller Foundation grant in the mid-1960s. So...why am I expected to spend $500 (the amount of the grant!) on a new 158? R&D? Nope. Components? Nope. HYPE??? ....uhhhh...

The same problem exists all over in modular, though. Things that Roger Arrick can make for sensible prices are also (pretty much) made by Moog for insane nosebleed ones. If you could even get them as separate modules from Moog, that is, and not part of a massively-overpriced "vintage reissue" model. Or I could buy Serge stuff from STS up in Wisconsin...but why would I if I can get Serge-based gear from elsewhere, since Rex wants to go nuts on prices while still maintaining their costly fixed-module-panel form factor? And then there's Cwejman...don't EVEN get me started there!

Robert at AE is definitely making money...but it's ETHICAL money. The AE stuff doesn't require mindwrenching price-tags, so it doesn't have them. The "hype factor" about their stuff isn't something based on pure hype...but on the enthusiasm of their user base, which keeps growing. I feel loads better about supporting that sort of thing...and besides, his gear rocks.

Music gear is a finite resource, so no matter how much you can afford, it's still not cool to hoard unused gear in ur basement or misuse it.
-- reidv

Hell yes!

Over the years, there's been a number of gear hoarders who pile up rare stuff and then never do anything with it. And this is NOT GOOD...because disused electronic components gradually decay from that disuse. Capacitors are perhaps the worst about this, but resistors can also degrade over time, plus control devices can break or freeze up, etc. Plus, some of these hoarders do a lousy job of conserving their "collections"; I recall a story many years ago about a certain "Synth Museum" which had some rare and often prototype gear, but the space they were housed in was so decrepit and dilapidated that water was actually getting into some of the synths...and most disturbingly, the "curator" wasn't the least bit apologetic about any of this.

Then there's this:

On first glance, both we AND the presenter are super-jazzed at seeing something this amazing. But when you start getting a closer look at the gear, it slowly becomes apparent that whoever this rich person is who owns these doesn't actually give a rat's ass about them. It's important only that he HAVE them. And sure enough, we find that exact bit of info out as the video progresses...the owner is some Swiss nutcase who buys equipment and DOESN'T USE IT. He just WANTS it. And since he clearly has more money than you or I, he'll GET it...and none of the rest of us will.

Not that I would EVER advocate criminal activity...but I'd just like to say that if anyone reading this knows where this warehouse is in Switzerland, well, you'll know what to do.

I acknowledge the AE is cheaper, I will likely start with it and Eurorack. I was just having a bit of fun imagining a frankenrack with Buchla, Euro, and AE all working together with adapters. Hell, throw in an Expert Sleepers ES-8 and incorporate VCV rack. Isn't Buchla supposed to be really expensive?

And that's the biggest problem I have with the Disting. When it's doing some high-end function, you feel like it's justifying its expense. But if you use it to emulate a couple of transformers and four diodes...I dunno, it just feels like a misuse of the module. MY ring modulators, for example, are all Tenderfoots...typical dual balanced passive ringmods, since you don't need power or really anything else to make 'em do their thing.

I should also note that NONE of those Tenderfoots are in a cab, btw. Both modules live inside patchbays, wrapped in electrical tape (sounds vaguely kinky, actually!) to protect the circuits, and with no external power. Gives me a stereo pair in my FX patchbay and also in the lab-gear one, and they work like a charm.

If you don't have an original Braids, you're going to have more than 8 hp. Mutable discontinued that module quite some time ago; if you don't have one on hand, you'll have to use a third-party build instead.

Otherwise, this is kind of a mishmash. Some things in here don't seem to have a clear purpose to them, there's a number of important basic modules missing, and it feels like you're trying to cram too much into too small a cab. For example, there's only two VCAs in this entire thing, and both of them are dedicated to the audio path because they're not even separate modules in of themselves. Also, there's multiple audio sources here...but no mixer. How's that supposed to work?

Also, this build is way too small for multifunctional use. It either needs to be drums, or a synth...I think you're opening yourself up for a lot of annoyance with this small cab if you're trying to get this to be an "all-in-1" box. It's DOABLE...but you'll have to go bigger to get all of the necessary modules in the same cab, or just scrap this idea and build a proper synth in the 2 x 84 and leave the percussives for some other machine or software.

They DID...but you'll pay through the nose for one. As I recall, the total number of Analog Outfitters' MIDI controllers probably numbers in the "couple of dozen", and all of them were pretty much one of a kind builds. Finding an iteration of Doepfer's controller would likely be an easier task.

Exactly...the AE stuff definitely has its own sound to it. Like I noted before, there's definitely some of that old EML "grit" there. But there's no need to house any of it in a Mantis...AE has six different cases already, Euro adapter modules notwithstanding.

It's also worth noting that you can't necessarily patch a Eurorack module directly to an AE one. The AE system is rather different...it doesn't want to see negative CV values, and all CVs must be between 0 - +5V. Most Eurorack modules, however, can deal with up to 10V bidirectional. In order to interconnect these, you'd have to either...

1) attenuate the voltage levels AND establish a common groundplane for both systems, or...

2) use an adapter device. AE has the 4I/O, Soundmachines makes the Nanobridge (I use both, depending on what I'm trying to do). These correct voltage levels AND polarizations, with the Nanobridge making use of the AE's bus +5V and ground as references.

Well, the whole point of AE Modular is that you don't need much money and still sound as good as Euro, Buchla or Moog. It's up to you, but for me I don't have much money, and I'm getting exactly the sounds I want fro ma Starter 2. Will probably double that over the course of time, but no money, wan ta great sound AE Modular is it.

EDITED Apr 1st 2020, 21:38

Looking around at that AE stuff, I'm wondering if I ought to make my first rack an AE/Eurorack hybrid. Maybe a Tiptop Mantis with an AE adapter or two? Also, I feel like it'd be ridiculously awesome to throw a Buchla into the mix, just for shits and giggles. Three formats working together. Wish I had money.

What module do I put in those 8hp??

Hadn't realized Analog Outfitters did a midi controller. That thing looks gorgeous. I reckon I'll have to keep that and the doepfer in mind.

Or maybe that:
Instrument interface (befaco) through a little bandpass filter, through disting for pitch and cv tracking)...