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DFAM? Not a bad thing, that. However, it's more like an "ear candy generator" in amongst the routine drum sounds.

I learned waaaaaaaaay back in my techno days sometime during the Warren G. Harding administration that there's almost a set of subliminal cues to the various percussion sounds. For example, if you put an Oberheim DMX kick on a track instead of the basic Roland X0X sources, the crowd will NOT respond...or at least, not well. Similarly, trap hats tend to be Roland TR-606 ones, maybe out of an 808 set as well. But put a real set of hi-hats on there...and "nope".

However, if you go back and listen to some of the early 1980s breaks tracks, very early techno, and electro such as Mantronix, you'll ALSO find lots of little bleeps and pings and such scattered throughout. To me, THAT is what the DFAM's for. It's a serious electro machine, offering up the little sounds that up the thrill factor.

Ah ok that makes sense - did not compute earlier, I could look into beefing up the mixer and removing/replacing the the fx aid xl for hp space - happy enough to sacrifice that for better integration of other effects including the effects pedals.

I've got to give a shout out to Reverb. Support another musician and save some money in the process. Nothing but great experiences with the used Euro and hardware synth folks out there.

I'm in the US and mainly use Patchwerks (Seattle-based) and Perfect Circuit. Patchwerks I find has a solid selection and great recommendations, service, and ship times. Perfect Circuit has a wider selection. On rare occassion I've bought from Detroit Modular and a shop in Oregon who's name I forget. All 4 of those have been worth going back to.

I buy most of my other stuff from Sweetwater, or less frequently, Vintage Audio King, but both SW and VK are much less knowledgeable in modular than those specialist retailers mentioned above. Hope this helps!

the strymon aa.1 is a send and return or am I completely misunderstanding what you meant?
-- keefo

the aa.1 is a pedal interface - it does send from the modular to effects pedals and return from effects pedals to modular

@greenfly means send and return from your mixer to the aa.1 and any other in-rack effects, such as the fx-aid

Hello!
Ive been transmitting live for a while, so I want to share my channel here.
Instagram username: dadodetres
Ambient, Drone, generative, live instruments, new age.

I needed another case with 1u row for travel and Perfect Circuit besides Intellijel was only place with the 7u cases in stock. I’ve waited a year to find one. I will pair it up with my 4u palette case and Doepfer 6u case for my portable rig.

The modbap Osiris is also worth a look, you can’t go wrong with Plaits though.

I used the attenuverters (settings 1-6) in the algorithm and wasn’t successful. I also found some cheap male/female headphone adapters with volume control and used those as in-line attenuators and they worked but they were a pain to use.

@jb61264 I had a BSP and the same issue with the 12V being too hot for the EX. Attenuating within the EX didn't help for me. I've since upgraded to a Keystep Pro and yes, the gates can be configured for 5V and work great with the EX.
-- jroo

@jroo - thanks for that confirmation...driving me crazy that BSP can't be currently configured for 5V gates as I would assume the circuitry for Keystep Pro and Beatstep Pro are relatively similar. I have a LaunchKey49 because I like the integration with Ableton and don't really want another keyboard.

When you tried to configure BSP for Disting EX, do you recall if you used the "CV Mappings" in Mappings/CV Mappings or the "Attenuverters" actually in the SD Multisample algorithm mode?

Darn it now I need a larger case for 3 rows to fit more modulation like the 4ms quad Lfo sorry just making observation on my part as I’m working on a similar build.

the strymon aa.1 is a send and return or am I completely misunderstanding what you meant?

It seems to me you want to include effects internal and external but you are eliminating send and return
functionality. It's ok to use and effect per voice but it might be more efficient to use them in an aux configuration.

Tweaked your build a little bit,

I dont think I've ruined it, just tweaked, but let me know if you think I've killed some potential here.

I'm still not decided on pam's versus temp utile, but I'm kind of leaning more towards pam's because more outs and can output waves not just trigs.. the only real benefit I can see of temps utile is the sequencing but it seems fiddly and ill be sequencing externally - but let me know if im wrong there.

@jb61264 I had a BSP and the same issue with the 12V being too hot for the EX. Attenuating within the EX didn't help for me. I've since upgraded to a Keystep Pro and yes, the gates can be configured for 5V and work great with the EX.

@Sweelinck - great post, couldn't agree more!!!!

It's how you use the instrument... any instrument (or module) can be used to make any type of music

@gumbo23, @farkas, @Broken-Form: +1 on the Synthesis Technology E352 Cloud Terrarium.

But this fundamental remark: ambient music cannot be defined by an instrument but by the use one makes of it.

Brahms and Debussy used the same violin in their orchestra, but their music is so different... The use of a DX7 by Brian Eno is not the same by Jean-Michel Jarre. And Plaits will serve ambient as well as techno.

Focusing on the choice of a module too often distracts from the problem of creativity. I am not immune to this either. And the question comes up again every time you power up your modular ;)

I'd really like to see something like the:
https://www.modulargrid.net/e/soundforce-s-909
but with a Teensy like the:
https://www.modulargrid.net/e/music-thing-modular-radio-music

It looks like its possible from this:

There are a number of sampler player modules but nothing thats really DIY and for Drums / Percussion / 1-shots.

Like having say 4 to 6 Radio Music in a row and all you have to do is hit them with a trigger for them to fire off their set sample.

It currently looks like you have to go for a Rample
https://www.modulargrid.net/e/squarp-instruments-rample
or a Squid Salmple
https://www.modulargrid.net/e/alm-busy-circuits-alm022-squid-salmple

It is the one that has in stock the product you are looking for and that you did not find anywhere else.
My own best memories are: Signal Sounds (wonderful Jason), Escape From Noise, and Modularsquare... :)

Schneider`s Laden, Music Store or Thomann if you are located in Europe/Germany

I was very tempted by the Shakmat Clock O Pawn, cool that you can stop it but its still counting so when you start it again you are still on beat.

On a side note, a million thanks to @Lugia for pushing newbies like me to VCV! It's way more fun than I anticipated.

I'm holding off on any music gear/software purchases until I get out of college, so my virtual modular will be standalone for now. But to be honest, I'm pretty content adding infinite Plaits and Permutations to my virtual rack while I work towards a degree.

Also, did you see the "room brightness" setting? So cool!

EDITED Dec 5th 2021, 04:37

Woah that would be awesome use VCV Rack v2 as VST in Ableton and Ableton Push controller. Totally awesome!

fun jam learning to use the Erica Synths Black Sequencer with various patterns and options:

It is a very fun, powerful and easy to use sequencer! Eloquencer shares a lot in common but this is more user friendly with fewer button combos to learn. Hopefully they come out with an expansion module with more cv and gate control.

Will definitely keep and use the 321, especially for this use case with the Disting EX.
@Lugia - I thought I read somewhere where the Keystep Pro gates can be configured for 5V? I thought I recalled you have one?

My favorite to work with so far has been Patchwerks...those guys have gone above and beyond for me a couple times. Also have had good luck with Detroit Modular, Analogue Haven. and Perfect Circuit.

I recently picked up the Endorphin.es Queen of Pentacles and love it has three analog drum voices and four sample drum voices and built in filter and effects. Works great and still modular. I also have DFAM that is great and recently a Roland TR-8 boutique that has classic 808 sounds and can send trigger I think to modular.

I love Pam and have two of them. But recently wanted a simpler clock and trigger device and bought a Shakmat Clock O Pawn and Shakmat Time Wizard. Really love the simplicity and fun factor of the Shakmat for making weird tribal drum modular beats. I clock my VPME Euclidian Circles with it for wild modular drum patterns. No menu diving.

I like his minimalist approach to modular dance music just like how Julia Bondar has that basic focus.

Definitely not Sweetwater! I like Detroit Modular, Patchwerks, Control Voltage, Analogue Haven and Perfect Circuit. Really depends on the sale and inventory as service is good at these places.

And with a bit of re-patching I liberated 3 more Pams Outs that were just shooting a regular clock.

Sweetwater's modular selection is actually fairly slim when compared with dedicated USA shops like Noisebug, Perfect Circuit, et al. They're good for those situations when you need some basic module(s) NOW, though.

@XODES thanks for the clarification above. I did not arrive at that same understanding by reviewing the info & videos available for PV44, so your added text helps. In particular, I had been left wondering how the panel controls relate to one another and to various possible input / output signals.

Might I suggest you add to your manual / videos:
-- a panel diagram labeling the controls and discussing their normal interactions
-- a few patch examples clearly illustrating a few of the main use cases, the required patching and settings
-- a basic "intro" video showing the 2 points above. The existing videos were too "busy" for me to make out the unit's basic functions.

I believe that added text / video would make the unit pretty clear to most.

I do think if I had PV44 in my rack I would learn it quickly.

Again, thanks for your input above, I'll keep PV44 in mind for the future!

that's always a good lesson to learn: always ask can I do this with what I already have? before even looking at other modules

Then realised....

I have 'Pams'

!

there's a list of eurorack shops world wide in the stickies of the eurorack forum on modwiggler.com

it's not 100% complete, but it's pretty good

You might want something to do mixing.

Cool! Drone can come into this setup later. Good point about the quantizer, I have the Intellijel Scales in mind. Any utilities I am forgetting here?

Okay. You'll have to think carefully about a drone voice, and if you want it to be tonal, Mimetic will need a quantizer. I don't think there's anything terribly wrong with what you have so far.

Absolutely! And to clarify this a bit more, I don't need to play them simultaneously. I want to learn Modular Synth and to some weird, cool sounding stuff with it as a new way for creative expression. And if I have something where I think a hard riff would fit, I would let the rack do its thing and play a over it.

But to come back to what I want soundwise from a rack I think harder techno-ish beats with filled with some madness, weird accents or sometimes unpredictable patterns. Again, thats why I like the NE soundscape and my music background is more in the harder genres of rock. But then again, I don't want to follow a pattern or genre but want to explore my own creativity and what I can come up with. This first rack will be the starting point, there are for sure changes along the journey but I want it to be as goood as possible now so that I can start learning, exploring and eventually finding the music I want to make with it. Hope that makes sense

What do you envision your rack doing, beat-wise, that you can't already do with your Digitakt? Keep in mind that if you're playing guitar, you're not really going to be playing either the Digitakt or your modular.

Thanks again for your responses! I thought about the db-01 and put more thought into the direction I want to go. I think I was a bit misguided that I want/need to have a similar sound in my rack. I don't. I want something more experimental with a clear focus on harder beats/synth. This is why I want to go with the Noise Engineering BIA (Although I am not totally clear this is the NE voice I wanna go with, maybe I will end up with the Cursus Iteritas Percido or even add the Erica Synth Bassline Module). I also choose a bigger case and I am not totally fixed on this design yet, but this also comes down to the cost of such a case.

I added the Pamela New Workout as I like the module after researching it. It seems quite deep so that I will have to learn a lot while using it (Goes basically for every module here). Also, I added a Quad VCA, here the MI Veils. Moreover, I still keep the Desmodus Versio as I like the fact that you can change firmware and transform it into a different module. This seems quite usable!

I added the MUM M8 Filter but would like your thoughts about this. I also had my eyes on MI Ripples and others.

Finally, I like what Mimetic Digitalis can do so I kept it in this setup. Since I have the Pamelas New Workout in there as well I wanted to ask if you think it can replace the Intellijel Steppy? I like the straightforward way to control a sequence with steppy and based on the intellijel case you can easily multiply its clock to trigger for example Mimetic Digitalis.

I hope that I can evolve this setup into something I can use in a live setting to play harder beats (not necessary fast) with some drone atmosphere (need to maybe add a second NE voice or MI Elements). On the other hand, I want to be able to play on my guitar some hard fuzz riffs while having a nice hard beat sequence running on this beauty. Would be also cool within my band as additional instrument. If you think there is something missing to achieve this goal further suggestions are very much welcome.

The Expert Sleeper FH2 offers a lot of functionality as far as a USB MIDI to CV converter. You can use your DAW... OR... any standard MIDI controller. However, you'll find programming it or changing the settings from the front panel to be a real pain. Programming it from your computer using the a web-browser isn't so bad. But to make changes using your computer, you'll probably have to quit the DAW so the web browser can take control of the MIDI device from the DAW.

-- Ronin1973

So true, I've got one and it can do so much but setting it up everytime is killing my will to play with my eurorack. Definitely need to find a better solution to interact with Ableton.

thank you all for advice. i just found some old computer screws which work fine. they look like mainboard stand-offs but in silver and can be handled like knurlies. happy twiggling !

Sweetwater?

I suppose the disting attenuverter is entirely implemented in the software. The issue here is probably in the analog part of the module.

All inputs on the disting are analog meaning the input circuits see only analog signals even if it is a logic/digital signal you feed it with. The setup of the disting defines how the signals should be interpreted once they are digitised and ready to be further processed in the digital domain.

From my experience in electronic circuits design (a long time ago) I know that if you exceed the input specs, there’s all kinds of issues that could happen and could result in a digital representation of the input signal that is totally corrupted and seemingly uncorrelated to the input signal.

This needn’t be the case with the disting, so you could try using the internal attenuverter.
But I think it will prove you'll need the 321.

It's interesting to see how PV44 can appear to be cryptic to some.

The concept is pretty simple though : 4 trigger inputs select between 4 sets (columns) of 4 voltages defined by the knobs/switches. If 2 or more inputs are triggered simultaneously, it will prioritize (4>3>2>1) which set of voltages is sent to the outputs.

It was primarily developed to be used with drum/percussion synthesizers so that multiple parameters could be modified at once, and this is why it responds to triggers, have prioritization, and includes an output which is an OR of the 4 trigger inputs.

It can be used in other contexts, yet it might not be for anyone, as it's more of a companion to a trigger sequencer.

EDITED Dec 4th 2021, 10:23

He was really interesting to listen to on the Mylar.Melodies Podcast too

Though back in the day Surgeon wasn't my listening of choice, thats got nothing to do with Talent or Creativity of course.