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Hey, glad it could help ;)
I fully agree with Lugia by the way. Hard to be assertive about what YOU need because "ambient" can mean a lot of things and I don't know how you like to approach making music, so it's the point of view of a guy who's never patched your system or heard your music. You already have a lot of CV sources with the PNW, Maths and Shuttle Control, I personally feel that it can be enough for the size of your build, but having a CV manipulation toolbox of sorts would allow for more complex "generative ambient" patches. Something that allows your CV sources to interact, so your entire patch movement is an orchestra playing together rather than a bunch of lonely musicians each playing on their own, if that analogy makes sense...
Of course it's harder to get an idea of what your build lacks if you don't have patch ideas in your head. I believe the way to get there is by adding to that "mental toolbox" I referred to above. For me, it works by reading forum posts on here (I had a very interesting discussion about the modulation section of my build here if you want to have a look: https://www.modulargrid.net/e/forum/posts/index/9395, also keep an eye on the Racks section), and pages similar to the ones I listed above. Then try the suggested things, that's the important step ! By actually doing it myself, either on my system or in VCV/Drambo, I get to HEAR what those theoretical concepts can sound like, and also which of those things work best for the sounds I want to make and the way I make music.
Here's another one I learned a lot from:
https://www.noiseengineering.us/blog
The Noise Engineering blog written by Markus Cancilla, a really nice guy whose extensive patching experience is generously dispensed through those pages. Some of it can be really "advanced" and will most likely lead you on other searches for more info, I guarantee it will spur new patching ideas in your head !
What also worked for me to get new ideas was forcing myself to try and use Disting MK4's algorithms I didn't know about when I started modular. What could I use a comparator for ? What's the craziest patch I can come up with using a quantizer ? I saw Divkid experimenting with self-patching modules, so what can I do in those lines (PNW is a nice candidate) ? Those sort of "training exercices" helped me to add things to the mental toolbox as techniques I think of "naturally" when building more "serious" patches later on, maybe that could work for you ? You can of course try the same thing in VCV with modules you wouldn't know what to do with.
Finally, a more obvious one: look at videos and forum posts about the modules you already own. You're bound to end up reading/hearing something you've not thought of, or simply forgot. I'm often guilty of the later, I can't believe I waited so long to use my XAOC Belgrad as a voice, silly me

EDITED Jan 20th 2021, 18:39

Toodee... that’s very kind of you. It does really really help indeed !! I have already ordered the book as well. Thank you.

Thank you again Garfield,

just in the spirit of sharing my process and journey I'll be showing what a relatively small and basic setup can do. Also showcasing my black tape 6,3mm to 3,6mm jack module

EDITED Jan 20th 2021, 15:47

Yes, if you click on the picture of Lugia’s rack, you should be able to select edit/duplicate rack in the top left of your screen.
-- farkas

Thanks

Yes, if you click on the picture of Lugia’s rack, you should be able to select edit/duplicate rack in the top left of your screen.

I would highly recommend QPAS. It’s really just an unbelievable filter. The stereo applications seem tailor made for your purposes.

Good communication and nice transaction with @filipl.
Bedankt Filip.

EDITED Jan 20th 2021, 12:51

Hi there,
my new case will arrive tomorrow and the new setup will look like this:
1. MDLR 14U / 126 HP with 2x1U rows
2. Endorphin.es Shuttle System
3. Intellijel Pallete 62 HP
4. Digitakt

I'm mainly interested in creating Ambient / (Dub) House/Techno. Just for fun and experimentation. No real recording ambitions for now.

Which modules would fit into this setup / what is potentially missing?

Some ideas I have in mind: Rainmaker, Rings, disting EX, a stereo filter like Blades, Ikarie or QPAS, Imitor Versio

Thanks in advance!

Is there some way I can copy Luiga's suggested rack setup to My Modular page so I can work on it please?

Thanks guys much appreciated. Lugia, thanks for spending so much time on it. Much to consider and probably a bit more than I have time or money to achieve it. Looks like a great setup and I can probably take some of that and run with it. I've been thinking about getting an extra case, something small like an Intellijel pallete but I would probably get more bang for the buck from upgrading from 6U 84HP to 104HP, reorganising it and adding some of the suggestions here.

A couple suggestions come to mind:

1) Add something like a DannySound CaliOsc + a Timbre or a Make Noise STO + an Intellijel Bifolder to get into some analog wavefolding and variation territory, I've been doing that with Random*Source Serge modules and really loving it.
2) Get a 4MS Ensemble Oscillator, tons and tons of stuff to explore in it from chaotic drones to lush synth strings.
3) Get a Tanh, don't change anything else and start exploring feedback patching.

Specific additions aside, the main thing that comes to mind for me looking at this rack is actually to set aside the Rings and to keep the Kinks. It's too easy to dial in good sounds with Rings which ends up making me lazy at least. Substituting it with something that requires more effort and skill will bring some of the excitement back into your patching, imho.
-- troux
Thankyou food for thought to check out. I really like Rings but starting to feel I am overusing it. The 4ms module sounds interesting

The Bastl Grandpa granular sampler and Spa expander are an interesting, quirky, 10hp, lo-fi combo. I've been eyeing it for a while myself. Seems like a deceptively powerful texture generator.
-- farkas
Thanks will look into those.

And it's a perfect vinyle record storage!

It's actually an open piece of furniture, with four equal rooms. I probably used the wrong term for cupboard. Just google IKEA kallax.
It will add a piece of retro / high tech / geek touch to any living room. I didn't find any bus board and power supply combo for this size, so I'll be startibg
With flying cables.

Fun jam using my new Winter Modular Eloquencer to create songs and random modes plus scale and ratchet patterns:

I think this is now my favorite Eurorack sequencer as it can create presets, save hundreds of patterns chain them together for future edit and playback plus random, pendulum and other modes to spice up patches.

I think you'll have fun with this rack for awhile and learn a lot. One suggestion: I personally wouldn't duplicate modules this early, instead add an STO or a Dixie II+ so you get a little variety in your analog oscs.

Once you get started let us know how it goes!

Hi Farkas, All,

I gave my above idea and approach a few more thoughts and I came up with this below figure. Please keep in mind this is just an example, I am not saying one must do it like this, just a quick example I could up with.

Now imagine that each of the below blocks is either one row in your rack or perhaps even a rack, how big each block (i.e. a category as per below figure), is entirely up to you. If there are too many blocks then pack some together to reduce the number of blocks till you reach the size in HP as well as in finance-size and voila there you/we are :-)

The examples of type of modules below the header of the categories are just examples and those lists are certainly not exhaustive.

As far as I know of all those examples at least one module of more exist of it, with perhaps the exception of leslie and vocoder. I mean as a (n Eurorack) module of a modular synthesizer, at least of these two I wouldn't know any module in Eurorack format, if you do, please let me know.

Any suggestions, feedback, typo updates, etcetera are very welcome, I will then update the picture and publish here again.

-Hmm... this seems not to work, how to add a JPEG here? Please let me know and I add the figure... -

Thank you very much and have a lovely modular day, Garfield.

Hi Steve,

Ha, ha, indeed a funny and happy accident but a nice one. Lovely surprises that Eurorack often provides us with is one of the biggest charms in my opinion.

Kind regards, Garfield.

@GarfieldModular funnily enough that's a happy accident, I mispatched the CV output from Stepper Acid into the Chainsaw's Detune when I meant to patch it into the 1v/oct input... turning the Chainsaw into a weird tam drum which the filter then distorts. Just another example of why Eurorack is so great 🤣

Hi Steve,

Wow yes! Nice long track, that kind of track that you never want to end kind of track :-) I like the distortion you put on top of a few sounds, nice effect in this matter!

I wish you would kick off every week like this! Beautiful week for me thanks to you :-D

Kind regards, Garfield.

Hi, I need this, the smallest possible, or lowpassgates also...
Thanks

Hi Glennbach,

Ha, ha, that's a fun idea :-) ! Though, for my own rack, I would feel it's a pity and hide it in a cupboard, from all of them it had to be Ikea? ;-) I rather like to see it and play with it. That's just my humble opinion.

Still a cool idea though, kind regards, Garfield Modular.

Hi Mowse,

Nice one again! I love that kind of double-calling-sound or would you like to call it, like an electronic owl or something like that, beautifully done :-)

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

Driven by Analog 4

Nice on as usual @Lugia

I had a different take on this. Since much of the architecture of the original build depended on normal-sized Mutable modules (or around that same general size), I opted to yank them and replace them with smaller clone versions. This freed up quite a bit of space, as you could imagine...

So, when you examine this, you'll notice that nothing was really removed as such...but the additional space in the top row allowed me to add a noise/random source, a second oscillator (the Knit, clone of Plaits), a waveshaper that can also crossmodulate signals from both oscillators AND which also gives you an suboctave source. Nanorings, your multimode, then a Monsoon, which is an expanded version of Clouds, ONE, stereo mixer, then Verb. This also puts all of the audio (save for the output module, which I kept here) in the top, modulation and control in the bottom.

And in that bottom row, I went off...first tiny thing there is one of Konstant Labs' PWRcheckr modules, lets you keep an eye on your DC rail behavior. Then I tossed the old Doepfer divider and dropped in a six-way clock divider/logic/multiplier to really punch up your timing control. Sequential switch next, then a dual CVable Boolean logic module for further messing around with timing behavior (plus, Boolean gates can also make for nifty waveshapers in their own right). Then we're back on track all the way down to the Batumi, which now has its Poti expander. ADSR after that, then I shrunk the Veils down to a Codex Modulex clone in 8 hp. Disting's next, then the output module which now has more to deal with, so yeah...it makes more sense now.

Sure, this is a massive reworking, and it does require a number of module swaps. But it also massively expands the timbral and timing capabilities. And in this case, I kept the original cab size...but it strikes me that you might actually do better by first expanding the cab itself to a dual 104 hp, which would allow you to keep much of the original Mutables AND also allow for the expansion. You might even consider one of Intellijel's cabs with the extra 1U (Intellijel format) tile row for additional functionality.

This module is designed to fit within an IKEA Kallax cupboard. You would be able to fit four of these in one piece of furniture.
Put a soft pillow in front of it, and get lost in sound.

So this is the 4th rendition of my past modular builds. I decided to go with a 104hp Moog case, something simple to start with because I'm new to the world of modular. I was looking for basic basic BASIC stuff to start with and still have plenty of functionality. Eventually I'll make a second rack with the same case and power supply so I can daisy chain them together, but that's a couple of years away. So for now, I hope this is enough to start with.

Those're expensive synths, yep. Too bad they weren't expensive before you opted to uncase them and stick them in a 6U Rackbrute.

Nope, not kidding. Let's do some math...

An Arturia 6U Rackbrute = $359. It has 171 usable spaces in it (176 minus the P/S), so 359 / 171 = 2.10 per hp.

Moog Subharmonicon = $699. It occupies 60 hp. 2.10 x 60 = $126.60. This makes the Subby's actual cost $825.

B. Neutron = $299. It occupies 80 hp. 2.10 x 80 = $168. The final cost of the Neutron then becomes $467.

This idea might seem convenient, but as in the rest of reality, convenience has a price. If you keep these two synths in their own cabs, with their own power, you wind up saving just short of $300. And there's another factor to consider: what will it cost if you screw something up in the uncasing and recasing of those synths? You might be able to get Moog to fix the Subby if it gets damaged, but the Neutron? Nah...Uli built those to go in the trash if you blow 'em up.

Frankly, Jim's plan above makes a lot of sense: populate the cab with modules that expand on not just the 2S, but all of these synths together. By not cramming 140 hp of a 171 hp cab with just two patchables, you then have space in which to build a pretty beefy expander system for modulation, timing, extra VCFs and VCAs, etc. But as the build stands at present, you've got a whole 31 hp for actual modules. That should raise red flags immediately...because while the Neutron and Subby already have power and cases, the Eurorack modules you'll want to add do not.

Absolutely! Why, when I moved into this house in 2012, I had an upstairs room that was 17 x 24. And now it's full of gear. Should've started with a larger studio...

-- Lugia

Yeah, much to my wife's dismay, my record collection has its own bedroom. I may have mentioned before that I sold off all my old synths and gear many years back. I was paralyzed by options and just gave up. Modular brought me back to the dark side.

A couple suggestions come to mind:

1) Add something like a DannySound CaliOsc + a Timbre or a Make Noise STO + an Intellijel Bifolder to get into some analog wavefolding and variation territory, I've been doing that with Random*Source Serge modules and really loving it.
2) Get a 4MS Ensemble Oscillator, tons and tons of stuff to explore in it from chaotic drones to lush synth strings.
3) Get a Tanh, don't change anything else and start exploring feedback patching.

Specific additions aside, the main thing that comes to mind for me looking at this rack is actually to set aside the Rings and to keep the Kinks. It's too easy to dial in good sounds with Rings which ends up making me lazy at least. Substituting it with something that requires more effort and skill will bring some of the excitement back into your patching, imho.

EDITED Jan 19th 2021, 17:20

The Bastl Grandpa granular sampler and Spa expander are an interesting, quirky, 10hp, lo-fi combo. I've been eyeing it for a while myself. Seems like a deceptively powerful texture generator.

As often as we recommend that beginners start with a bigger rack, that same advice applies to those of us with larger setups.
-- farkas

Absolutely! Why, when I moved into this house in 2012, I had an upstairs room that was 17 x 24. And now it's full of gear. Should've started with a larger studio...

Robert Leiner, aka The Source Experience, not only made ample use of a Digisound 80 system on his releases, he's sort of an authority on Digisound in general. He had a few releases on R&S back in the early/mid 1990s which still have a devoted following among those from the old-skool rave scene.

Hi

This is my current rack about two years old now. I'm starting to feel a bit stale with it. I think I have a good basic set-up with a bit of everything and am happy with most modules. I'm thinking of ditching the output module and MI Kinks which will give me 14hp total spare. I am looking for ideas to fill that with something to give me a bit more excitement. I am mainly into ambient and drones, industrial and very much into experimental stuff using reel to reel tapes/loops, circuit bent toys and other sound mangling devices and home made instruments. As well as what is in my rack I have a passive self built unit giving me attenuators, mults etc numerous guitar fx pedals - delay, reverb, chorus, tremolo etc and also I have a Arturia Microbrute semi modular and Beatstep, and a Yamaha reface CP piano keyboard. So what do you think would give me a step up the ladder and some new inspiration please. Much appreciated.

I would do some more research first - specifically reading a load of other newbie with semi wanting to get into modular posts - here and muffwiggler are both good starting points

as farkas pointed out there is no point racking the semi-s

if you already have the semis - then it maybe an idea to concentrate this rack on modulation/utilities/effects/mixing

the first modules I would get would be links, kinks, shades, a quad cascading vca, a filter (non-moog inspired), maths and something that can do delay and/or reverb (FX Aid XL perhaps)

and nothing else - play with that until you know it back to front and expand slowly and organically from there based upon your own experience

at the very minimum download the maths illustrated manual and work your way through the patches in it a good few times with the modules you do have - probably one of the best learning techniques for modular there is!

use the output of the vca as a final output stage for now - most will drive headphones or speakers - output modules are a weird topic - those who have them swear by them and those that don't generally say - they are superfluous, unless you absolutely need balanced outs (which you probably don't)

EDITED Jan 19th 2021, 16:48

Good communication and nice transaction with @Buio.
Grazie Alessandro.

Thanks @farkas, I was trying out some new stuff here and am pretty proud of it!

Oh, wow. I'm listening now. The progression and development of this one is fantastic.
Great job!

Yes, the question of cable management has to be front of mind! In fact, that's a big reason that I felt the need to rearrange everything. It wasn't so annoying when I was just tinkering around, but as I develop a more performance-oriented approach, I found that the typical signal flow layout made less sense to me. Thanks for bringing this up, the-erc.

Coming from the perspective of a small, performance-oriented rack, an important consideration is : where are the your hands going to be and where are the cables? They had better not be the same place.

For my two-row setup this means that modules with the patch points at the top should be in the lower row, and modules with patch points at the bottom should be in the upper row, installing the module upside down if necessary/tolerable. Modules with the patch points along one edge (like the classic Doepfers) ... well they are a pain. This does tend to create an illegible mass of cables between the rows but the controls are usually not obstructed.

My rack has been hacked by a previous owner to have some horizontally oriented 4hp spaces above and below the rows. While this seems useful I still haven't figured out what are ergonomically acceptable ways of using it -- actually patching something in there would require cables across the controls of the adjacent row (or else very long cables) and the lip of the case makes getting fingers in there a bit tight.

I don't have the space to leave the modular set up permanently, which implies a very brutal approach to patching : one patch, one recording, pull the cables and put it away, usually the same night.

Welcome Wonderof42!
If you are concerned about wasting money, do NOT put the Neutron and Subharmonicon in a eurorack case. They already have cases and power supplies attached. Don't pay extra to rack them twice. They are SEMI-modular synths, that will be fun to integrate with the rack, but it's definitely a waste of money and space to rack them twice. They're still portable and easy to incorporate as-is.
What kind of music are you making?

Thanks dude i will checkem out

Hello and good day anyone who reads this! I’ve been playing around with stand-alone analog synthesizers for quite some time now and I’m wanting to move further into the modular euro rack world because that shit is awesome. All I have right now is a MiniBrute 2s and a handful of other analog synths and drum machines and a couple different midi controllers. My goal here is to make a super synth I can take places and do things with. My idea is to get the rackbrute 6u, fill it with modules, and attach it to the minibrute 2s. Bearing that in mind here’s my rough draft of a modular case for the minibrute 2s. Any input or advice is greatly appreciated! I’m a newbie and I don’t want to waste my money building something that doesn’t make any sense or is sorely lacking key features.

Thoughtful responses senor-bling, Lugia, troux, and GarfieldModular. As often as we recommend that beginners start with a bigger rack, that same advice applies to those of us with larger setups. I definitely wish I had invested considerably more in extra rack space to begin with, even though my original plan was fairly large. When I was first starting to build my modular, I didn't like seeing empty space between the modules. Unfortunately that led to a few impulse purchases that didn't work out for me. As we all know, impulse eurorack purchases can be expensive and a waste of time (I'm looking at you, Loquelic Iteritas Percido...). I probably should have invested in more empty rack space instead of more modules.
As far as mission-specific rack builds, I have thought about putting together a 104hp live skiff (inspired by @troux). That would be a fun and difficult exercise. I've also considered a small skiff of modules that I want to spend more time learning. For instance, I have kept Phonogene and Clouds in my rack because I see their value, but I rarely patch anything into them and haven't discovered their subtleties yet.
I remember Mowse's excellent layout post. Great advice on module grouping. As the rack continues to grow, it will be important to keep those grouping and signal-flow ideas in mind in the planning stages, while still taking into account our personal preferences and evolving music and individual workflows.
Thanks for the responses!

Hope IG link is ok for you, these are my "lower tempo" kings on that network:

https://www.instagram.com/tl3ss/
https://www.instagram.com/snakesofrussia
https://www.instagram.com/voltagectrlr/

I don't know of dubstep artists who use modular, but I'm not into dubstep so that's probably why :-D

Hi folks ,
Looking for suggestions for the above...artists who use modular to make lower tempo or 140bpm darker beats...any live sets out there? Specifically not techno...as thats everywhere in modular.

Modular Therapy..... Sounds expensive, I know my 'Treatment' has cost a load! :)

Cheers

A quick patch and jam session tonight.