My idea got a bit out of hand by including two more rows but I plan to buy it in two periods of time. I hope this revision is better as I took the whole day off to get this together. I still got two weeks till I will start the build IRL. So until then I hope this machine can grow.

Kind regards,

Glenn
-- LNITB

Not out of hand - it's given you an idea of your actual case size and power requirements

Personally I would go a lot slower than this - buy the right case and just a minimum viable synth - 1 voice (sound source, modulation source, sound modifier and whatever support modules you need for that - how to play, how to listen etc)

actually touching modules can change plans quite a lot too - especially once you first start patching

so I would then get used to that for at least a few weeks before adding anything else - and add slowly - make notes of things that you want to do but can't - ask questions etc - this will influence you as you acquire modules

"some of the best base-level info to remember can be found in Jim's sigfile" @Lugia

Utility modules are the dull polish that makes the shiny modules actually shine!!!

sound sources < sound modifiers < modulation sources < utilities


Hi guys!

Link to the second version of "Die welt ist alles, was der fall ist":

ModularGrid Rack

So I took my time and made a revision of my idea. I followed Lugias idea mainly. But still I may have got some weird picks here and there. The cases from Lake Cabs are amazing and so cheap for what they are. They look beautiful too. Really got that natural vibe that gets to me instantly. Thank you for bringing those up. o/

I chose to not include the Instruō arbhar while it all looks and sounds amazing I chose to go for the Morphagene instead (maybe). The sound speaks more to me. I am also not sure about including the Shapeshifter. It is way better for my use-case than SWN but I may still just remove this module. Same can be said about the morphagene and or DPO. I'd love to include all of these but budget and an overload of sound sources do not seem right to me, what do you guys think? Both The Z-plane filter I fell in love with, just wow. Same can be said about the data bender.

The left half of the bottom row I am not sure about. I was thinking of including less chaotic stuff. But maybe this will work just fine... I will do some more research about these control modules. While some look great I do not know if they fit my use case -yet.

My idea got a bit out of hand by including two more rows but I plan to buy it in two periods of time. I hope this revision is better as I took the whole day off to get this together. I still got two weeks till I will start the build IRL. So until then I hope this machine can grow.

Kind regards,

Glenn


Just a quick note:
The Instruō arbhar has an expander that comes included with the module (you don't have to buy it separately), it's another 2HP. It has 8 CV inputs and allows for CV control over all the remaining parameters not found on the main faceplate. Very useful.

https://www.modulargrid.net/e/instruo-arbhar-expander

https://www.instruomodular.com/product/arbhar/

https://www.instruomodular.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/12/Arbhar-Quickstart-Website.pdf


Ahoy there, I've never left a comment before!

Source of Uncertainty - hard to go wrong with this, it adds a lot to the Easel and doesn't have any features you can't use, which is not always the case. Nice to have the sample and hold and slew (integrator) functionality in addition to the noise and quite flexible possibilities of the various random voltages.

Rating: 4/5

SAModular: 140 euro for PCBs + panel or 380 euro for full kit. I can tell you that sourcing each of those 1% resistors is a nightmare, there are so many weird values that are hard to source in small quantities I would be tempted to just get the kit. I have a spare PIC programmed with white noise, just flashed it at Andrew's.

EMS: $149 for PCBs, panel OOS.


Quad Function Generator - No doubt about it that the 208 is missing envelopes. The fact that these have AD/ASD and LFO modes is nice, it takes up a lot of space for four envelopes but there's also CV control over the attack and decay which I think would pair nicely with the SoU. Quadrature mode might be useful in a blue moon, but it's likely it was designed specifically for quad panning. Note that like all of Roman's clones, there are a number of issues with this design, detailed here:
https://modularsynthesis.com/roman/buchla281/281_qfg.htm

Another option would be something based on Aaron Lanterman's adaptation: https://modularsynthesis.com/lanterman/208eg/208eg.htm or taking something from Mutable or 4Ms' PEG and adapting it to 15V. I'd be happy to work on panel stuff if ever that's a concern.

Rating: 3/5

SAModular: 150 euro for PCB + panel. Nothing looks too exotic in the BOM, but I could be wrong since the full kit is quite expensive.

EMS: $130 for PCBs, panel OOS.


Dual Voltage Processor - This is the biggest question mark for me, and I don't see it as very useful given all the hands-on controls on the 208. My recommendation is to sub this out with Model 244 CV Toolbox. You get a dual VCA, quad quantizer, manual triggers, pulse divider, sequential switch and analogue shift register* in 1U. It's a great jack-of-all-trades with no overlap from the 208. There are problems with the ASR, but luckily they have been figured out and there's a well-documented fix here.
https://modularsynthesis.com/roman/buchla244/244cvt.htm - if you like the DVP idea, you could also fit two serge CGS 381 (based on the Serge PRC which inspired Maths) into a 1U Buchla panel - quad voltage processing and only $40 worth of PCBs!
https://www.elby-designs.com/contents/en-us/p560.html

Rating: 1/5

SAModular: 130 euro for PCB + panel.

EMS: PCB for the DVP is $100, panel OOS. For the 244, PCBs are $250 and the panel is $55. It's expensive, but offers a lot more functionality than the DVP, even if you have to throw in a $15 PCB to improve the ASR design.


Touch Sensing Note Memory - Without a Touch Activated Voltage Source this just feels like such a quick victory, and with all the features packed in this is a great fit. I only wish it had 4 more outputs, but no module is perfect. Knowing that the new firmware is going to be ported to the 4U model is just icing on the cake. Don't order one without me ha!

Rating: 5/5


Other (out there) ideas

If you're doing rhythmic stuff and want something cheap and highly effective without the intensity of a 2OC ornament and crime or the 2TT time trigger, there is this: https://modwiggler.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=247453

Have you considered a Signal Delay Unit? Todd Barton has been posting lots of videos with his lately and it's quite interesting, a different palette than what the Easel typically has.

If you do go with the Quad Function Generator, this has just been announced which would offer a lot of interesting possibilities:
https://1979.ws/dual-sequential-switch/

Lots to think about but that's all for now!


Yeah, when I do a rebuild, I do have to settle on some sort of cab to stick it all in. And those Case From Lake cabs are really attractive on a number of levels, so I've been concentrating in that direction as of late, especially when people appear to want something more substantial than a Mantis (awesome tho they are!). My aim here is to come up with a divergent idea with these, which hopefully then jog posters' minds about things they'd NOT entertained as being part of their build. Plus, it's always helpful for people to see a possible goal, even if their end result might be different.


Hi Bleepadelic,

Thanks a lot for the details! Kind regards, Garfield.

For review reports of Eurorack modules, please refer to https://garfieldmodular.net/ for PDF formatted downloads


Thread: Sunday Acid

For review reports of Eurorack modules, please refer to https://garfieldmodular.net/ for PDF formatted downloads


This module should be updated to match the information on the Doepfer website. It has been extensively redesigned.

May the electrons always flow in your favor, and may the voltages remain under your control!


I love my Division6 sequencer, also in an affordable and doable DIY kit


thanks for your answer, I'm planning to use it as a converter, without the mixer, to tame the signal levels (if it does that)


ModularGrid Rack

I give you my nearly finished synth. I just wanted to show this off so that everyone understands that your posts, comments, ideas, and care can help someone else's situation. I got into modular at the beginning of the year and I have my first synth nearly completed thanks to you.


@cameliamusic
I have already heard about that, I would like to rather use the O_c for its complex CV Modulation, or can you use more algorithms at the same time?
-- VincentDano

If you have Hemispheres loaded, both sides can be used independently as different algorithms :)


Thank you for the kind words! I don't remember exactly what I used on this but I think it is a Doepfer 101-2 low pass gate through a Pittsburgh Modular Crow filter. There also might be an oscilator in front of the LPG. It might be a Crow being pinged and run through another Crow. The reverb is a Meris Mercury 7, and it does sound great cranked, but I try not to do that all the time. As far as the voltages triggering and varying everything I don't remember but I usually start with a couple of waves through logic or a clock divider. I spend hours patching and tweaking to get it to sound human and realistic.


@cameliamusic
I have already heard about that, I would like to rather use the O_c for its complex CV Modulation, or can you use more algorithms at the same time?


regarding keeping the Scales in the rack for quantization of random voltage sources, the uO_C has brilliant quantizers in the original firmware & Hemispheres Suite!


@JimHowell1970
Hello Jim, thank you for your comprehensive comment. I already thought about ditching the chord in favour of some utilities.
What would be some good utility options there?
I would still like to have a quantiser to convert any random voltage into musical notes though, maybe there is a smaller, more fitting version of the scales module.
You also talked about a better melodic sequencer, what options do I have there? I also looked into that and saw the Winter Modular Eloquencer, which seemed to be a little complex and not ver intuitive at first sight, but maybe you are aware of some better options!
I also completely looked over the mixing issue, my first instinct would be to add another Mixup, because the are relatively compact and chain together nicely, also open for more fitting options here. I think I could also take out the 1U Outs module by Intellijel, because I just recently learned that you can connect the mixup to the case-internal outs, and put in another Dual 1U VCA to replace it. That would give me a total of 10 Vca's (2x Dual VCA, Tallin, Veils).
About Rainmaker, I once tried it out in a store and instantly fell in love with it, and it seems like a very well thought out and interesting module, but I would still totally be open to any smaller options, since it is quite big.
Thanks again for taking the time.


Hi Vincent

I think you are trying to do too much in too small a space

too many voices - I generally think 1 per row is enough - 1 1/2 at a push - you have 2 1/2 per row

this is because you won't have the space for the modulation and utility modules that are needed to support them - unless of course you aspire to perform like you are on crack - see frenetic modular influencers and 'artists' who constantly touch and micro adjust knobs - this is what modulation and utilities are for people

saying that I think you have enough modulation - maybe too much - but no way of doing interesting things with them - combining, multing, modifying them - not enough utilities - I don't think 6 vcas is enough for 4 sound sources, even if some have built in ones & where are the submixers? and how are you doing final stage mixing? mix up? not enough channels so you can listen to all the sound sources at once!!!

NB regarding vcas - they are useful for so much more than opening and closing audio - they can also be patched as compressors, crossfaders, auto-panners and are fantastic for control voltage

rainmaker is a huge delay - and a lot of people seem to buy it and then not get on with it

midi/sequencer/pams - all have built in quantization - the scales is redundant - especially in this size case

I would keep only 2 of midi/sequencer/pams - I would drop either midi or sequencer and if I kept the midi I would go with a midi interface that can support hte number of voices in the rack - I count 5!

I'd probably also go for a better melodic sequencer - especially if you want to dial things in easily

NB changing 'chord' and keeping disparately sequenced melodies in key - ie changing a major to a minor or vice versa is quite difficult in modular - there is a brilliant solution - sinfonion, but it is large and expensive and only really of benefit once you have a polyphonic voice and at least 3 others

a good ratio to start thinking about when planning a modular is:

sound sources < sound modifiers < modulation sources < utilities

and start with modules you want - add what is needed to support all these modules and leave 30% free for expansion (add 10mA/hp/rail for power to be on the safe side) and then find the right case for you

these last 2 statements will save you money (eventually) - maybe not to start with in that you will end up with a bigger, probably more expensive case - but in the long run as you will not end up buying/builidng cases as a hobby

"some of the best base-level info to remember can be found in Jim's sigfile" @Lugia

Utility modules are the dull polish that makes the shiny modules actually shine!!!

sound sources < sound modifiers < modulation sources < utilities


Thank you so much for all that work. I'l check the rack intesively. After that i'l come back to this thread with hopefully something better. I'l keep all you both said in mind. Thank you once more. I'l have some work to do now. :)


Hello everybody,

I already posted this on reddit a little while ago, but didn't receive a ton of feedback.
I would say that I am pretty experienced with modular synthesis, I just never build anything to that scale before and all the module options seem a little bit overwhelming.

I am in love with the IDM and Outsider-House-Genre and its complex rhythms and textures, muffled fuzzy drums and overall raw quality.
The results should be musical, I.E in a set key, since I would like to further work on it in my DAW. Also, (and I know that this might be a bit more difficult to realize keeping the other goal in mind), I would love to process my guitar and integrate it musically. Maybe even allow other sound sources (like the radio!) to get in. It would be nice, if the build was also be able to be performed on, I.E change chords, melodies bass-lines on the fly, mute tracks etc, although thats not a necessity.
Sampling is also very crucial, I once saw someone sample a Drum and Bass type breakbeat, also vocals, I would love to do similar stuff.
As far as size goes, the Intellijel 104 7u case would be a good guideline, it doesn’t HAVE to be that case, its a good reference to what I am looking for sizewise.

In short:
-Create interesting textures and rhythms (inspired by the Outsider House Genre -> See Four Tet: Pink (Album), pretty much EXACTLY what I want to do on there.
-Play in a set key, to further work on it in my DAW
-Process my guitar and integrate it musically, allow other sources for example the radio to get in and be manipulated
-Finally, being able to be performed on (change melodies, mute tracks on the fly), although thats not a necessity!

I feel like I am not quite there yet: ModularGrid Rack
Thank you for your time reading this and have a nice day.


I have a tex-mix setup - theres a tiny bit of bleed at higher volumes

not sure about with DOUTS - I have 2 3hp ones to build but that won't be for a few months yet

"some of the best base-level info to remember can be found in Jim's sigfile" @Lugia

Utility modules are the dull polish that makes the shiny modules actually shine!!!

sound sources < sound modifiers < modulation sources < utilities


Hi Lugia !
Any feedbacks aboute those tesseract modules ?
I'm particularly interested in the DOUTs to multitrack my modular, no bleeding ?

thx !


great advice there, as usual, @Lugia

"some of the best base-level info to remember can be found in Jim's sigfile" @Lugia

Utility modules are the dull polish that makes the shiny modules actually shine!!!

sound sources < sound modifiers < modulation sources < utilities


I had a quick skim through Lugia's reply too

almost everything he says is spot on - almost always in my opinion

better to start without a planned case and work out the modules you want and the modules you need to support them + 20-30% free for expansion - rather than starting with a specific case

"some of the best base-level info to remember can be found in Jim's sigfile" @Lugia

Utility modules are the dull polish that makes the shiny modules actually shine!!!

sound sources < sound modifiers < modulation sources < utilities


Also a BIG thank you to SCALEBRAIN for designing this rack, I already see that it's better than mine and as I said I will pull the DFAM out once I can get enough money. I wanted to start this project and build on it gradually!


I agree with Lugia - also note standard size for rack cases is 19" which gives 84hp a row - not about 100hp - so unless it's a special order you may be disappointed - or you are confusing us (me) with thon rack case and purpose built 104hp thon eurorack case

also had a quick look at ASEC - music was ok, but I hate that frentic constantly micro moving knobs and touching the modular for no purpose performance style - the only module he really appeared to be paying any attention to was the erica bassline - by that I mean he twiddled those knobs for at least 2 seconds continuously at one point - he seemed to spend much more time interacting with the elektron boxes than with the modular

also I'm not convinced the DFAM is that good for "riffy hypnotic leads" - I think you would probably be better off with something else for this and for "hypnotic" I usually think of modulated reverbs and delays

-- JimHowell1970
ASEC is not the only one that inspired me I also did a lot of research on Blawan, Ansome, Surgeon and Benki.
As far as I checked DFAM is really good for this kind of techno as it's not just a drum synth, but again I may be wrong about that as I am completely new to all this.


If you don't have the $$$ for two cases, then don't put the DFAM in the cab. It's that simple. It already has power and a housing, ergo it doesn't need one, and by putting it in the Eurorack cab you're not only inflating the cost of the DFAM for no good reason, but you're taking up much of an entire row of the Thon cab that should be filled with modules that need both power and housing. And 60 hp is NOT a trivial amount of space! Same advice applies to the Neutron as well.
-- Lugia
I don't even have enough to fill the rack all at once so I want to have at least two functional synths in it for now. As I would progress with filling up the rack I would eventually take it out and replace it with other modules.


top stuff sir! thank you very much for all your help. I'll make sure to post the system once it arrives


sounds sources < sound modifiers < modulation sources < utilities

due to the < 's needing spaces around them

"some of the best base-level info to remember can be found in Jim's sigfile" @Lugia

Utility modules are the dull polish that makes the shiny modules actually shine!!!

sound sources < sound modifiers < modulation sources < utilities


Thread: Sunday Acid

Though I think @TumeniKnobs cat's Poo-patching is a step too far, might need to ad a Instruo Scion for some bio-feedback!

Enjoy your spare HP, don't rush to fill every last space, this is not like filling sticker books. Resist the urge to 'complete' your rack, its never complete so just relax.

https://youtube.com/@wishbonebrewery


Hi Jim

Thank you so much for your time and reply as it helped me out alot. Tomorrow I will have more time to go indepth but for now I changed things up a bit. The biggest change would be removing swn. From all sound sources it is the one I need the least. After that I added a bunch of utility: (The ones you named I will research them indepth later since I just got of work.)

The thing I am not quite sure about are LFO2 and ST mix. I dont think they are ideal to handle that many mono outputs even though SWN has been removed and I have added Shades. I'm guessing I must search for some summing mixer...

And btw I just loved Zadar. It is exactly what I need. Thank you very much for that and your info I'm just curious what you meant by your last sentence as it got cut of for some reason?


Add me to the "DON'T" column where these mini cabs are concerned. They exist for very specific types of builds...say, if you want to add a modular modulation setup to an existing synth with the proper I/O. But they 100% SUUUUUUUCK for building a proper modular synth. Since you only have at most about 60 hp to play with, you can either build

1) a really disappointing modular with a lot of the necessary control functions missing, or

2) a really disappointing modular that DOES have all of the necessary control functions, but unless you've got fingers that are the diameter of chopsticks, you're going to have a VERY bad time controlling/adjusting things.

I know that there's a Certain Synth Retailer that does a lot of these minicab builds for YouTube demos. And sure, they tout 'em up real good. But in case you've not noticed, look again...by the time the demo clip is done, after some 10-20 minutes, they've exhausted the possibilities for those builds. And with a well-implemented modular system, that should either NEVER happen, or you'll be old, grey and wrinkly by the time it does.

I would strongly suggest deleting this build, for starters. Instead of trying again immediately, though, get a copy of VCV Rack if you don't have one. Explore that, and you'll eventually start to notice that getting really incredible results hinges on matters of scale and not having one or two specific modules in a "beauty case". Give VCV a real thrashing, get a much better idea of what's needed and WHY, and THEN come back to trying builds here once you're armed with a much clearer vision of what needs to be in them, and therefore, what sort of build size you're REALLY needing. It'll help you avoid some very expensive mistakes! https://vcvrack.com/


Ripped into this...since the aim was to make a creative device for granular and wavetable synthesis, but there was an awful lot wrong with the implementation, I jumped in and came up with a little something that goes in one of Case From Lake's 3 x 104 cabs (see https://reverb.com/item/36194432-9u-eurorack-case-powered-84-or-104-hp-desktop-synth-modular-synthesizer).
ModularGrid Rack
OK...so, let's have a look at this thing...

Top row: This is almost all audio, save for the Ladik dual slew limiter at the left end. Starting from the left, you'll find a dual input preamp specifically for feeding external audio to the various sampling-type functions in the rig. Then the dual slew, and after that is Mordax's new GXN granular synthesis/sampling module. Then for wavetables, I put in an Intellijel Shapeshifter. Since these are both stereo-out modules, there's a Veils next and a Doepfer A-138s for spatializing the sources before they're fed to the Rossum Morpheus. That stereo digital filter is a modular version of the "Z-Plane" filter found in some of the later E-Mu Proteus synths, albeit without the "brakes" that E-Mu originally had in there to keep things more or less under control. Then as if that wasn't enough, the Qu-bit Data Bender is a stereo digital audio "buffer" which can be abused in numerous ways to mangle audio prior to feeding that to the mixer in the bottom row.

Middle row: Modulation, except for the effects at the right end. The little white sliver is a Konstant Labs PWRchekr, which is a VERY useful way to both fill 1 hp AND to keep an eye on the health of your DC power busses. Then the Qu-bit Nanorand gives you a bunch of random options ranging from noise, to random outputs, to sample and hold, and the like. The Shifty is a neat little thing that'll probably be useful with the GXN, as it's an analog shift register, a series of cascaded sample-and-hold circuits that store-and-forward CV values that makes for a very effective arpeggiator-ish module and which can allow for a degree of hocketed polyphony. Then the Maths, followed by a Frap 321 for manipulating modulation signals, and a Happy Nerding 3xVCA for linear-response VCAs for controlling modulation levels. Both useful for LFOs and envelopes, a Quadrax is after those, along with its Qx expander for cascading the EGs, etc. Then another expander is after that, the Nin, which is for the Xaoc Zadar quad EG. And while that's it for the modulation, there's still a couple of effects: a Calsynth Monsoon (an expanded variation on Mutable's Clouds) and an Instruo Arbhar, both of which offer a wealth of granular-based transformations.

Bottom row: Control, pretty much. An Erica 1 or 2 voice MIDI interface also allows you to lock up your DAW clock to the clocking environment in the build as well as providing two channels of CV and gate for DAW-controlled sequences. Then next, there's a pile of clock manipulation tools: a Frequency Central High Towers provides four channels of clock division, then the Eowave Swing offers another four channels of delayed pulses. The Ladik Skipper is a dual-channel stochastic pulse skipper, which can be CV controlled to add random dropped notes and/or rests. Then Frequency Central's Reset Simulation provides Boolean logic for tampering with clock behavior. After that, a Xaoc Bytom works as a "diode-OR" summer set for clock pulses. After all of that, then we have the NerdSeq tracker sequencer, which can NOW be used in some much more complex ways thanks to all of the clock manglers. Following it is a Frequency Central effect module, their Stasis Leak, which gives you a CV-controlled stereo reverb, tap-tempo delay, and chorus, and since this uses a mono-in/stereo-out interface, it works perfectly with the FX send/return on the Toppobrillo Stereomix2. That mixer contains VCAs for individual levels, panning, and AUX send levels, plus a CUE bus, headphone preamp, FX send/return loop, mutes per channel, and one or two other surprises. Lastly, since we now have a situation where you'd want to split the Stereomix2's output to one or the other (or BOTH) the Monsoon and Arbhar, I changed out the Befaco output module for Bastl's Ciao!, which gives you a mixable pair of stereo inputs, your balanced outputs, and another headphone preamp (post-mix and post-FX).

So...why is this so much bigger? Well, when you start playing around with these big, complex stereo source and modifier modules, they tend to require a lot more to wring every last bit of strangeness out of them. And that "more" is, naturally, more modulation and control signals. So this got a big kick from a two-row design to three rows so that this can be accomplished effectively. Thanks to Case From Lake's crazy AF prices for their well-powered and well-designed cabs, this isn't so much of a budgetary "hit" as, say, going from a Doepfer A-100 2 x 84 to a 3 x 84 (which would cost $145: from $530 to $675). Plus, it also contains a lot of what Jim mentions above, which also takes space to implement. But at this point, this is a pretty solid rig as it stands here. You might run out of ideas with it eventually...but that's likely to take YEARS, since this is so full of possible uses and/or abuses.


Yes I apologize for not explaining it in the post. So I have an separate groovebox (EMX-1) which would be for making drums and some synths (speaking for a live situation). So the eurorack would be for more percussive sounds, leads or riffs. Wanted to do it a bit like ASEC (check him out on youtube).
DFAM would mostly be for riffy hypnotic leads.
I would also like to use this setup in my studio for now as I do not have enough money to make two cases (one for studio and one for live).

In conclusion the rack would serve as the main synth and percussion part for live techno.

-- Obscur

So - if you are using an external midi capable device in any way, I would recommend a midi to CV/gate converter right off the bat for a few reasons. The first being obvious CV/Gate patterns via existing Midi machines. Another is for setting up utilities like clock dividers, reset trigs, slow/odd sequence steps/timings, and I'm sure there is more that I am forgetting but external midi sequencers are highly capable of providing great utility to your modular setup (especially if you want one modular case for everything).

ModularGrid Rack

I cooked up a little rig quickly attempting to use some similar modules and some completely different ones. The artist you posted is a fairly popular style of techno so you should easily be able to achieve that with the DFAM. Using it in combo with the Morphagene might yield cool evolving patterns as well as an audio sampler so I kept that in there (and for background textures etc.). Mimeophon is great for an effect as it is delay/reverb-like.

The midi thing is just a decent midi module I have personal experience building. Pretty simple to work and good build quality from Befaco (I get the DIY kits). Muxlicer is a great sequencer as it has lots of utilities built in, as well as the ability to be manipulated via LFO to totally mess up the sequence order in-time. So plugging percussion trigs from the channel outs summed down into the Bytom and you get cool trigger sequences for drums/bass - mute/swap/mix them w/ the Mutes/Switchblade modules. Also swapping the CV from either the Mux or the DFAM or Midi pitch CV is great for getting a live groove vs a pre-recorded groove.

I'm not familiar with the Basimilus, but I know it is a drum module that can be 'struck' or 'trigged' so that's a bonus. You can plug it into optomix and get even chirpier 'plucks' and run it wide open/drone, or use the onboard decay control to shorten it up within the module itself. I kept the Belgrad filter in cause its multi-mode which is good. Optomix for the ability to 'duck' voices via CV or audio/mixing/vactrols are sweet. Maths cause maths.

Mutes for audio muting and then Mixer to finish it off - I didn't know what you would be into, but I find I like blending the audio together and summing down when I perform so I can get total control - so I threw the ALM mixer in for spatial and volume easy mixing solution w/ Ext In for external gear (not sure if the gain will be high enough though - didn't read the manual).

Mimeophon as a end of chain effect for good measure as it covers delays/reverb washy stuff.

There isn't a lot of "voice's" here - but if you pulled the DFAM that would give you more room for extra LFO's, some type of Turing machine sequencer would be ideal, maybe more elaborate mixer, sample and hold, and maybe another standalone voice in there if possible. With clever use of the Morphagene, you can get away with less modulators, as you can record knob movements and then play them back with audio recordings that layer up on stuff which could be awesome. Or even use Morphagene for drum loops along the rest of the stuff - who knows.


I agree with Lugia - also note standard size for rack cases is 19" which gives 84hp a row - not about 100hp - so unless it's a special order you may be disappointed - or you are confusing us (me) with thon rack case and purpose built 104hp thon eurorack case

also had a quick look at ASEC - music was ok, but I hate that frentic constantly micro moving knobs and touching the modular for no purpose performance style - the only module he really appeared to be paying any attention to was the erica bassline - by that I mean he twiddled those knobs for at least 2 seconds continuously at one point - he seemed to spend much more time interacting with the elektron boxes than with the modular

also I'm not convinced the DFAM is that good for "riffy hypnotic leads" - I think you would probably be better off with something else for this and for "hypnotic" I usually think of modulated reverbs and delays

"some of the best base-level info to remember can be found in Jim's sigfile" @Lugia

Utility modules are the dull polish that makes the shiny modules actually shine!!!

sound sources < sound modifiers < modulation sources < utilities


Thread: Sunday Acid

Hi Wishbonebrewery,

Ha, ha, or on purpose leave your cat unsupervised at your rack and perhaps it manages to change the patch in an interesting way ;-)

Kind regards, Garfield.

For review reports of Eurorack modules, please refer to https://garfieldmodular.net/ for PDF formatted downloads


Hello Bleepadelic,

Nice first post/track you have here! Interesting, experimental jam, especially since one knowns that this is made by a self generative patch :-)

+1 for TumeniKnobs, I would like to see some patch notes on this too, it would be interesting to know how you did it :-)

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

For review reports of Eurorack modules, please refer to https://garfieldmodular.net/ for PDF formatted downloads


Hi Glenn

have you bought these modules or are you still thinking about it?

you seem to have a lot of sound sources (morphagene, dpo, panharmonium, SWN), a few sound modifiers (panharmonium, morphagene, wasp, ripples), a sequencer and almost no support modules - including (but not limited to) modulation sources, vcas and mixing

how are you going to mix these sound sources - you have an output module? but no way of mixing to stereo (3 out of 4 your sound modifiers are mono) and no way of mixing waveforms from the dpo (other than 'final' I guess) - the only mono sound source - or combining say the outputs from swn before sending the signal to a filter

there are no delays or reverbs - really useful especially if you want to do what you have stated - you can't go wrong with an fx aid xl

not enough modulation - Stages is a great module - but it is enough on it's own for that number of modulation inputs and it is not necessarily a great first modulation source, especially for you, yes it can provide 6 envelope, but they are very short and patching it to do something else quickly eats up channels

perhaps you should look at zadar - you can get very long and varied modulation envelopes out of it

I copied the rack so I could make sure it was an swn hiding and found a load of modules hiding out of the rack - the cat was unhappy to see me! - the only module that I would recommend that you add to this rack is Maths - it's a particularly great module - especially as there is the maths illustrated supplement which documents 32 self patching ideas - and as such is a brilliant primer for modular synthesis in general - even if you don't buy the module - read the supplement!

VCAs - the vca appears to be an afterthought - VCAs are fundamentally important modules - they control the amount of a signal going through the module and they allow you to do this with a control voltage - so you don't have to do it with your hand - when patched with appropriate (and essential) modules (an lfo, a mult and a polariser/offset) you can turn 2 vcas into an auto panner, use a cascading vca - you can also use them to change the level of control voltages going to modulation sources

I would dump the pico one and replace it with something like veils (a quad cascading vca) which will also work as an input module if needed as well as a mixer

I always strongly recommend a starter set of utilities - links, kinks, shades - or similar modules (kinks has been discontinued recently - buy one if you can find one!) and a quad cascading vca (as mentioned above)

I also often recommend following this ratio to get more out of your modular for less cash:

sound sources

"some of the best base-level info to remember can be found in Jim's sigfile" @Lugia

Utility modules are the dull polish that makes the shiny modules actually shine!!!

sound sources < sound modifiers < modulation sources < utilities


If you don't have the $$$ for two cases, then don't put the DFAM in the cab. It's that simple. It already has power and a housing, ergo it doesn't need one, and by putting it in the Eurorack cab you're not only inflating the cost of the DFAM for no good reason, but you're taking up much of an entire row of the Thon cab that should be filled with modules that need both power and housing. And 60 hp is NOT a trivial amount of space! Same advice applies to the Neutron as well.


In the end - modular sequencing/utilities is really where eurorack starts to shine in my opinion
-- SCALEBRAIN

absolutely sequencing, modulation and how you combine, modify (via utilities) and use these to control the synth are often more important and interesting than which modules you are using to create the sounds and/or modify them

"some of the best base-level info to remember can be found in Jim's sigfile" @Lugia

Utility modules are the dull polish that makes the shiny modules actually shine!!!

sound sources < sound modifiers < modulation sources < utilities


could we please have the any incomplete rows left-justified rather than fully justified?
that should work now. > -- modulargrid

Thanks!


Thread: Sunday Acid

Thanks :)
This cat in particular likes chewing cables, her favs are USB but I have teeth marks in a few patch cables too! Not to be left unsupervised!

Enjoy your spare HP, don't rush to fill every last space, this is not like filling sticker books. Resist the urge to 'complete' your rack, its never complete so just relax.

https://youtube.com/@wishbonebrewery


Hi,

I would like to ask if this is an acceptable setup? I did my research well. Except I am having a hard time figuring out to make an end product that works well.

My intentions for this machine are to make it a sampler/mangler and wavetable synth. Planning to create ethereal but also obscure sounds for my production. On the software side of things I use Renoise|Reaktor 6 so I am used to using tracker interfaces.

In the end to repeat myself I am looking for a versitile non creative restricting machine.

Thank you for your time reading this and have a nice day.

Kind regards,

Glenn


Thank you very much!

Inscrumental music for prickly pears.


As Jim mentions - its a pretty small space for a full on system, and it will certainly lack quite a bit of control of which makes modular worth the plunge to begin with.

Another good starter case might be the ALM DIY cases, as they start at 3u 84hp, and 6u 84hp - this is a little more room to get a few more necessities into the case to make your first full case patches worthwhile/exciting to come back and learn with. Decent price if you are okay with the small amount of building it requires.

My first case was 84hp and had a similar module compliment (Make Noise Telharmonic oscillator + Maths + MMG + Optomix) - within the first month or so I had another 7u performance case on order, as well as another 84hp of Roland system 500. A small amount of modules can certainly breed creativity, but it can also be a real nuisance when you can't achieve the sound in your head simply cause you lack needed utilities you don't have room for. I would constantly patch simple ambient drones that sounded cool, but ultimately a lot of money for the result. This is something you will learn over the course of messing with your first modules - you currently have the idea of creating a relatively complex synth voice, but the choice of modules will inevitable end up not providing much in that small case/setup without significant external control / constant hands on modulations. You may find after some initial experimentation that you want a completely different system, which is fine, but hard to achieve if you stick within a certain size constraint, and something you will never know without taking the initial plunge to start. There are always newer/smaller/more feature packed modules at any time that do what you want but better.

As for starter modules as an option - I would suggest the Dreadbox Chroma series, as bang for the buck they have a lot of good functionality and features for small systems.

The Intellijel Palette style cases are pretty shallow (I own both the 62hp and 104hp) - so I find keeping a pack of m3 standoffs can be helpful to raise the module up a bit to remove pressure on the power connector (won't sit flush with the other modules however).

Switches/VCAs/attenuators & attenuverters are your best friend for modular, as they allow you to patch/setup a modulation depth - and then turn it on/off as needed at any given moment (some are CV controlled to which is great - Acidlab Switchblad or ADDAC VC Rotator for example).

In the end - modular sequencing/utilities is really where eurorack starts to shine in my opinion - all my smaller cases have been relegated to control or mixing skiffs for larger systems I own.


Yes I apologize for not explaining it in the post. So I have an separate groovebox (EMX-1) which would be for making drums and some synths (speaking for a live situation). So the eurorack would be for more percussive sounds, leads or riffs. Wanted to do it a bit like ASEC (check him out on youtube).
DFAM would mostly be for riffy hypnotic leads.
I would also like to use this setup in my studio for now as I do not have enough money to make two cases (one for studio and one for live).

In conclusion the rack would serve as the main synth and percussion part for live techno.


I listened a few times now. Nice, aptly named track. ;-) I might like it even more swimming in reverb, but I always overdo it, so maybe you're right. Can you give us some patch notes on this?

And welcome!


Whenever I design a case, I'm always asking myself - what is the general use-case or ideal system for the task at hand.

It would appear to me you're looking for a complex synth voice of some kind in the first setup and not a full on groove-box style approach. Where the second iteration looks a bit more random/percussive for whatever reason.

I've found that since the Mother32/DFAM come with a powered skiff, that I end up pulling it from my larger cases to use externally, but still patched to the system to save space. My question would be - what do you hope to get from the DFAM in the case? If its just for modular drums, it is really best at handling 1x drum tone at a time in a small system. You can do a little patching hack where you use the sequencer to control noise level - but its pretty simplistic with only the 8 steps to work with and no reset input for the DFAM (shame). Great for 4/4 kicks/percussion however - or if you modulate the 'time' w/ CV you can get more complex rhythms, however extremely hard to work with to get in-time with the rest of the setup (if that's indeed an issue/goal for your system). More complex systems with more CV control/switches allows greater possibilities of utilizing the DFAM as a full on drum voice, but takes some sophisticated patching/sequencing of CV inputs to get unique per step drum sounds.

The second system seems a lot more drum/percussion oriented setup to me given the main sequencing being the Varigate 4 / choice of sound modules. Is the idea to use the system in a live composition context? or just for patching in the studio to get cool sounds?

Based on module choices, I couldn't say whether the systems would work for any given idea, as we don't know the overall goal for use.

What is your reason for going modular in the first place? - just to break the building blocks of normalled synths, or for a specific purpose (ambient wave machine, groove box w/ bass & drums, complex synth voice, etc.) In my personal experience w/ modular, over the years I have drifted towards setting up standalone systems that complete a specific task. I have my main groove box system w/ everything needed for a live improvised set in 2x 104hp (Intellijel 7u performance case), but I also have a second case dedicated strictly to drum voices/sequencing w/ modular control, another case for sequencing/mono bass voice, and another for mixing/fx. It is called eurocrack for a reason!

You can certainly get all of the functionality you need in one case, but you have to know what the goal is, and that will drive your choice of modules over pure aesthetic/price, but for utility as it is needed to make the sounds you want to make with adequate control.


Listened to both of these the other day - two great tracks! Both have amazing atmosphere.


Thread: Sunday Acid

Thoroughly enjoyable! Love the squelchy filter stuff going on here. I was listening at work and had to look over so many times to see what was going on. Love the cat too. :-) Sadly I had to ban them from my basement after one of them peed on the power strip that was running my main mixing board, shorting it out and causing it to start making a very alarming crackling sound.


Thank you!

Inscrumental music for prickly pears.