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Hi,

The Erica Synths graphic VCO has a built in quantizer. It's easy to select and scroll through the 9 available scales, but is there a way to change the root key of the scale? The manual only answers how to scroll through the 9 available scales, but says nothing about selecting a root key, and I don't find the answer online either.

Hey. Just received a NLC Lets Splosh + Clump from very reliable and friendly builder RTFM (https://www.modulargrid.net/e/users/view/68430)

thank you very much.

• a life without a matrix mixer is possible but pointless -

1) ARP 1023 double VCO
2) ARP 1004T VCO
3) ARP 1023 double VCO
4) ARP 1047 multimode filter / resonator
5) ARP 1005 ModAmp
6) ARP 1046 Quad Exponential Envelope Generator
7) ARP 1016 Dual Noise/Random Voltaqe Generator
8) ARP 1006 FiltAmp
g) ARP 1005 ModAmp
10) ARP 1047 multimode filter / resonator
11) ARP 1050 mix sequencer
12) ARP 1027 Clocked Sequential Controlle

I stand 100% behind my assertion that Hydrasynth is absolutely NOT just 'wavetable + subtractive + linear fm synth' @perilousp, yes there is a similarity to a Virus from a quick look, but it is so much more than that it's silly. I love FM8, but Hydra kicks it's ass in many ways. As I say, 30+ years experience here and it tops everything in this domain - quite literally the best FM synth I have ever used, by far, there are more sculpting options than you can shake a stick at, just one example; check out the PW-ASM [Warp] feature - absolutely out of this world and totally unique as far as I know - it sounds exactly what you are looking for to me.

...but sure, ignore me and carry on, it makes no difference and I wish you all the best :)

Yes - @sacguy71, Hertz Donut mkII is also really excellent for FM and beyond - I use this a lot too - truly outstanding character! When I first got the Hydra I thought a lot of The Harvestman and that it might replace those, there is definitely that noisy racket side to the Hydra - the noise options are excellent, as it turns out several months later they are still different enough, I find them extremely complimentary! It's rare to find a desktop synth that can hold it's own against such exceptional stuff like The Harvestman - but it totally does. I would also be interested to hear your experiences with Elektron, I have used all the old machines and know them inside out, but did reach limits with them and actually it was the Elektron machines that first inspired me to get into modular back in the day. I should probably check out their new stuff more. That little Model:Cycles looks like a fun little box, it would be nice to get hands on so I can actually speak about them with confidence and knowledge, trying to ascertain features, playability, sound etc from a manual is always going to fail. I need to do the same with the Argon8 - that seems similar too @Lugia!

That's a super-cool sounding jam! Well done!

Really happy with all the speech-modules I've gotten so far. A lot of the speech-modules don't benefit from modulation too well as the voices become too unintelligible. So, not your "typical" modular-build. They sound great with manual-tweaking alone, hence not a lot of LFOs or EGs at this point. Though I have a lot sampling stuff, slicing or making beats aren't the primary goals—think, more "sound effects," foley kind of stuff:

waldorf kb37 107hp keyboard: sampling + speech-synthesis bay (100% purchased).

4ms pod60 control-skiff: (0% purchased).

I've had a full-weekend to play with the modules above in my new Waldorf kb37 and I have to say the E950 VCO is the most impressive. The high-fidelity quality it lends to its formant-sounds are really compelling from a sound-design perspective. More fun than I imagined is the lo-fi ISD Sampler. The somewhat dated Phonogene again was another surprise; recording at its highest speed and playing back at its slowest is where this unit shines, even when compared to the far more capable Morphagene (which cannot vary record-speed).

At least for now, my goals here are pretty limited. I just need a Mixology so I can pan my stereo sources around and it's always nice to have more filters (Belgrad is next on the list). I'll either get two Mixologies or opt for one of the expandable multi-channel mixers instead since I'll have a lot of sources to mix

I totally have enough to keep me busy for now, but I'll be looking to add more unusual sound sources (e.g., interstellar radio), and sample-mangling tools as I find them (plus a few essential utilities). In the beginning it was hard to resist also building a two-oscillator set-up with a ton of Intellijel and Xaoc modules (see last modulargrid at bottom), but again, I already own the two semi-modulars, plus a bunch of traditional analog and digital synths.

12U 'A' rack: (own: neutron; purchased: interstellar radio, QPAS, roboto, EMY, QMIX, supercell).

12U 'B' rack: (own: airas, system-1m; 0% purchased).

Lastly, I also built a "fantasy" two-oscillator modulargrid monosynth, originally planned for my 107hp Waldorf kb37, but then realized that the sampling/speech modules benefitted from more hands-on tweaking than I had expected. So I replaced all the traditional-synthesis modules shown below with those. If I decide to build this, here is where I would need the most advice on alternative and/or missing modules. I know it's light on utilities and modulation, but remember, I'll have the 84hp Tiptop racks just above, and none of this is set in stone yet:

Dual-VCO Intellijel/Xaoc 107hp build for kb37: (0% purchased).

EDITED Nov 10th 2020, 02:45

I would get neither and go for an Elektron Digitone keys. Then again, I have good experience thus far with my Elektron gear and the workflow is easy now for me. I am exploring the FM model on my new Plaits module. Want a Hertz Donut but need larger rack for that.

Oh btw, this is the latest iteration of what I've got in mind so far:

https://cdn.modulargrid.net/img/racks/modulargrid_1367057.jpg

EDITED Nov 7th 2020, 06:10

Hey guys,

Thanks for the suggestions, but the Hydrasynth just seems like a wavetable + subtractive + linear fm synth. In fact, feature wise, it reminds me a bit of my old access virus, which was a fun rabbit hole, but ultimately a curiosity that didn't last. I see the hydra has a couple of cv ins and outs of course, but I'm not really looking for linear fm. I have some basic 2-voice linear+exp fm capabilities with my dixie and m32 for now. And of course, using the voices on Akemie as additional oscillators (and maths, and Batumi, and my filters) should give me more sources for the same.

So far the only competitor im looking at seriously for the Akemie's is the Quad Op. It looks batnuts. But I'm leaning towards the more musical nature of Akemie's, seeing as though while I love me some drones, noise and wilderness, I do love to snap back to something musical and structured. That's why the dual 1v/oct and chord features sound great to me too.

Any thoughts on these two modules? Or any alternative "operators" based fm? Not really looking for wavetable subtractive, because while it's nice, I prefer (and find far more intuitive) sculpting harmonics with FM over searching through 100+ waveshapes (makes me feel like im searching through presets)

EDITED Nov 7th 2020, 06:12

I am getting the hang of this darned thing and finding ways to use it

Sorry you had a bad experience, that's nothing like mine - quite the opposite!

I think it's just random, you are very direct, like me, I like that very much, but I also think it gets us in trouble when actually we mean no harm ;)

-- Kel_

Maybe. But at the same time, when I contacted Sweetwater to change the order, my sales engineer actually knew who I was talking about when I mentioned the incident...named him right off the bat without me mentioning it, and when I switched the order to the Argon8, his comment was "well...I can understand why you wouldn't want to put up with them". Another colleague who I've worked with for about 20+ years was totally perplexed by the mess, since he always dealt with Glen Darcey himself and not whoever this rep was/is.

It was a really weird encounter, and like I mentioned, it triggered a great deal of distrust in me, to the point of not wanting their synth anywhere near my studio. Modal's people, on the other hand, were the diametrical opposite...I had questions, they cordially answered them, and even gave me a heads-up on the MPE and a few other implementations in the V.2 firmware. But ultimately, I'm pleased with the Argon8...ESPECIALLY after the V.2 update. Modulatable waveshaping on wavetables? Wild! So it's not necessarily a loss here...having the onboard poly aftertouch and the ribbon would've been nice, true, but like I've mentioned, I can get my poly aftertouch and ribbon controller nut popped on a regular basis with my trusty CS-80. And if something goes wrong with the Argon8, I don't have to cringe at the thought of contacting customer service and getting some pissy jackass...because Modal don't play that. Consequently, Glen might want to do a little personnel research on his reps, because if Sweetwater's had issues...well, that is the LAST damn company a synth manufacturer would ever want to piss off!

EDITED Nov 7th 2020, 02:05

Hi Gabor,

This is a very intriguing track, so many interesting sounds to listen at. That sound that starts to kick-in around 1:15, that's so great, it gave me goosebumps! Seriously fantastic.

He, he, then around 2:30 you started to play on your OP-1, yeah, I still like to see you are using the OP-1, nice to look at it too.

If every weekend would start as interesting as this weekend... ;-) Thank you very much for sharing this, have a good weekend and kind regards, Garfield.

Hi Mowse,

Oh yes, great stuff! :-) You got a nice stereo effect in there too!

I am getting jealous about your Moog setup :-) Sounds good. I just received a double-record (LP) of Klaus Schulze and Pete Namlook, from the series "The Dark Side Of The Moog", this particular one is volume 5: "Psychedelic Brunch", great album.

This "The Dark Side Of The Moog" series has eight volumes, why do you not create another 8 volumes ;-) You are able to do that! Lovely stuff as always and kind regards, Garfield.

Post edit: There seem to be more than 8 volumes, but I guess you get my point here :-)

EDITED Nov 11th 2020, 01:21

Hi Scott,

For a "student" rack you got yourself a quite nice rack here

Is it the large Doepfer "Suitcase" - A100PMS12?

Have fun patching and kind regards, Garfield Modular.

Hi Zuggamasta,

You are welcome! Filters, yeah you are going to need them :-) There are two filters I would like to recommend, the Doepfer - A-124 Wasp filter (or if that one is "too heavy" for you consider then the Doepfer - A-106-5 SEM filter) these both are lovely filters, affordable and easy to use. The second one I like to recommend and if you are going to look for a dual filter, you might want to have a look into Erica Synths - Black Dual VCF, it's a bit crazy one but I love this one. This filter is just lots of fun to use it and puts a smile on your face while using it.

Naturally there tons of filters but don't start with too expensive filters and too "wild" ones, start easy then look around for the more "adult" stuff ;-) Once you gained more experience on filters, then you might want to look into QPAS from Make Noise, a special filter as I may say so but don't straight away buy that one, it's not recommended for beginners however you could consider to put it on your watch list for later.

Well have fun, enjoy your modular system and good luck! Kind regards, Garfield.

Sorry you had a bad experience, that's nothing like mine - quite the opposite!

I think it's just random, you are very direct, like me, I like that very much, but I also think it gets us in trouble when actually we mean no harm ;)

So... come on... I see MG as a freaky nerdy pacifist super dudeism reverent chill place for chat, people are genuinely weird, strange, helpful and kind - so... we can laugh about these fascist fcks hey? I should send you my sh!t list of total asshole companies and people in the music retail scene - there's a good few of them about haha - total egotistical assholes! but... that's just *my experience - it's a shame, I genuinely wish it wasn't like that... but it is and yet I still guarantee there will be plenty of folk who will have had the exact opposite experience with these exact same people -

    ...see what I mean?

All that is to say it's a shame if you were put off, in over 30 years of messing with synths, I can honestly say this is by far the most incredible machine I ever laid hands on! As a complete package, from the key bed and ribbon controller, through the UI, the truly polyphonic sound engine to the FX and the IO - it just shines on every level!

Mind bogglingly good! 10/10 from me!

Thanks Lugia,

Good stuff and using the switch with Pamela New Workout is a very powerful combo for a small setup plus modulation from Kermit, Quadrax and logic modules.

The new firmware (1.5) for the Disting Ex comes with a new dual mode algo, the dual wavetable vco. I loaded it in both dual mode slots and ended up recording this 4-voice polyphonic patch. The 5th voice is the Instruo Ts-L. Details in the video.

My advice is...

If you like FM ... buy an ASM HYDRASYNTH instead ;)
-- Kel_

Just don't talk to anyone FROM ASM, as you stand a chance to wind up dealing with the same jackass I did. Not fun, and it'll put you right off that synth. I had mine on order for three months, paid, at Sweetwater and after that fiasco, I cancelled the order and switched it to an Argon8.

Yup...treat it like the "poor man's ARP 2500 Mixsequencer". Of course, we should have the ACTUAL poor man's ARP 2500 Mixsequencer before long, so I'm told.

Excellent! Yes, all of the above are highly recommended and will add a lot to your little rack!

I hear you, I use have effects on sends too, but I tend to set and forget, so I think you will get a lot more from a delay in your modular than you will on the mixer because you will probably start to modulate more and play with it because it is just there, but maybe that's just my way of working?

EDITED Nov 6th 2020, 20:03

Just seen your edit, yes, that definitely looks like a LOT more fun!
-- Kel_

Thanks for the advice. This is all good stuff to think about while my country hopefully straightens itself out election-wise (not getting political here, but it's been a roller coaster week!). Modular therapy.

I had wondered if you proposed the Elephant LPG to increase flavors--you were right in thinking that's why I had proposed the envelope VCA combination. Which is to say, you got it right.

The Berlin reference is spot on, that's a lot of what I'm going for. I'll check on Tapographic and Chronoblob, at first blush they both look very interesting. While I initially leaned a little bit against adding delay since I do have a send delay that's a distinct pedal, having something very exotic and expressive in the rack has a lot of possibilities.

Just seen your edit, yes, that definitely looks like a LOT more fun!

Oooh I did not know that - I did just have a read of the description for it though and confirmed what I thought in that it is a complete voice.

I don't think you necessarily need more, but with the envelope VCA combination I assume you are looking for different flavours of envelope which is why I suggested the things I did - does that make sense?

If you are happy with the sound and are looking for ways to extend the functionality, I would probably go for more modulation, maybe some S&H, maybe another flavour of wave folder and definitely some kind of FX, my natural choice would be a nice complex delay... DLD, Rainmaker, Tapographic, 1-Bit, Chronoblob, any of them are awesome and will let you do incredible things with those bongo hits, have a listen to this to hear the effects you can get with a delay, my favourite is the Berlin style syncopation where the delayed notes interplay with the newly generated notes... magic!

Hi Kel,

Thanks for the reactions. The Helix does have a LPG at the end of the chain (I think it's the same as the standalone Pittsburgh dynamic impulse filter), but I'm wondering if you were suggesting that more LPG options are in order? I like the one on the Helix very very much, but after checking the Rabid Elephant Natural Gate out for a minute I start to wonder if I should make more space for that (and then lose the Ripples filter in the process).

For delay, I agree with the sentiment for sure. I had very seriously considered the Mimeophon. It would eat up a lot of the rest of the space (so it would be Helix and Mimeophon and not much else), but the Mimeophon itself has so many possibilities!

And now the "you're gonna need a bigger rack" idea starts to come into play, eh?

Here's a possible alternative that does incorporate the delay, keeps the Joranalogue contour, and loses the Ripples:

Natural gate would replace the Mimeophon, I guess, with a smaller delay unit.

EDITED Nov 6th 2020, 19:37

Yup that is what I have tried to do in my setups for easier workflow- voices/filters/vca top row and tools/lfos bottom row.

I am so glad that I paid attention to the sage of experienced modular folks here like Lugia and Jim and bought support modules like Kinks/Links so powerful in complex patches. I have a Doepfer sequential switch and clock on the way to improve my setups. Then a matrix mixer and more tools like more attenuators and sequencer in rack future once budget allows. I found that I can use the support modules to make one voice sound so amazing and rich.
-- sacguy71

i have a matrix mixer on the way,i wonder what support modules would make most sense in this setup for Dark Ambient?

Thanks for the compliments @aphex_goodman 🙇‍♂️🙇‍♂️🙇‍♂️, it's exciting to see everybody learning and growing here. This vid of yours actually inspired me to break down my last acid patch and start over again, so hopefully I'll have something new to share soon.

Take care,

@troux

Totally going against the modular aspect here, but I see you are not averse to other gear so...

My advice is...

If you like FM ... buy an ASM HYDRASYNTH instead ;)

(You can thank me later!)

Also, I think you really need a delay :D

I hold a personal belief that a modular is not a modular without at least one delay in there somewhere ;)

If you want bongos you're looking to hear, you want a nice set of vactrols, no?

For a digital solution I really rate MI Streams - the emulations in that thing really are super and cover a lot of ground in the bongo field!!

Or maybe if you are feeling flush, a juicy Rabid Elephant Natural Gate? That think kicks ass and I absolutely love the responsive stuff it does - very nice indeed!

Looking for general reactions on the following basic rack. I already have Subharmonicon, 2nd case, power, and the helix; this will be paired with an SQ-1 sequencer, and external patching from Reaktor (through cv.ocd). Audio out to a mixing board with send effects (Strymon El Capistan).

My goals are relatively "conventional" in the sense that I'll mostly be doing music with discrete pitches, manipulating melodic and harmonic polyrhythms, some of the good old LPG bongos. I have mucked around briefly with the sub+helix combo, and can clearly see the need for an additional envelope generator and VCA/mixer (which I guess I knew in advance). I'm not in any rush to complete the case, and am deliberately limiting myself to one module at a time until I've learned it well.

My question is for those with more hands-on long-term experience:
--Does this make sense as a unified system? Is anything clearly missing?
--Are any functions seemingly redundant? Some switch out you'd suggest?
--Is this ergonomically sensible?

EDITED Nov 6th 2020, 16:26

So I made good progress learning the Doepfer quad sequential switch that I added recently:

I clock it with PNW and like a 4 step sequencer in many ways. I fed various VCO and wave shapes into it.

Mult in top row = C105 I/O, sample freq @ 6.5, irrelevant, irrelevant.

Hey Tobi,

First of course, thanks for the detailed reply, I've definitely taken a few things on board!

Second... I think I've found the golden combo! (have adjusted the grid if you see)

So I dumped the oscilloscope, because for now the system is connected to Ableton, and I have a decent oscilloscope there. Also dumped the pressure pads, and added the buff mults to the 1U rack (only $39 each?!). I already have one 1U buff mult so this makes sense.

I replaced the 2hp mults with 2x 2hp ADSRs which along with maths and Zadar should cover my envelope needs I think.

And finally.... 2x Doepfer A-121-3 !! Analogue, dual-mono or stereo filters with grit, aaandd great cv control too. Check !

Regarding the Bloom, I chose this because I like the idea of writing a "riff" which I can go mad with, and then quickly snap back to. Very useful compositionally. That, along with the Keystep and maybe Ableton, should give full freedom to go totally nuts, and then come back to a motif nicely.

As for MATHS, unfortunately it's very very difficult to sell any module as I'm in India, so I'm stuck with it. Not to say that's a bad thing, it's a super module, but more spending + no returns = :*(

I forgot to mention, I actually have a great interface (Antelope zen tour), which has an insane routing matrix. This means I can route vocals/guitars/other instruments directly into my modular, or take my modular signal and run it through an instrument level fx loop and back in, and monitor all with zero latency. Very cool. Only limited by your imagination!

Heheh yes, the case took me quite some time. Because first I was going to get a 4U skiff from Intellijel. Too small. So I looked at the 7U skiff from them. Not deep enough for the Expert Sleeper modules. So then I did some research, and built this case for $250, power included :P

I like this system too, because it makes expanding very easy, just buy rails, power board, and build with home made materials. Add some latches and rubber feet, (and maybe a stand soon...) and voila!

Thank you Garfield Modular,

It is great to have such a warm welcome after Lurking around here for ages. Without building the kit I already spotted the big hole: I havent planed for a nice filter.
But I will take your advice by heart and first get up and running with the most basic setup, so I can judge the further build better.

yours

@Lugia & @troux , thanks for your feedback and kind words.

Re spaghetti-related debris, I hear you Lugia. Sometimes I end up growing a jungle on my rack. Those are not my best patches :) These days I try to focus on a few selected modules in a given patch and get the best out of them. And, on a sidenote, I hate cables and cords - the primary reason I'd stayed away from modular synthesis for years. Then the 0-Coast came along and I was soon lost :)
troux - visited your bandcamp page and really love your music (listening to live sets as I'm typing this).

Thanks again!

EDITED Nov 6th 2020, 18:03

Just jamming on a Mother 32 and the Behringer Model D.

Thanks Garfield,

Yeah it is meeting far beyond my expectations not a cheap module but considering that it can do way more than just delay stuff, I am pleased with it. Almost like create another set of voices far above what a normal module contains. Plus it is stereo unlike Echophon which is mono I believe and lots of modulation patch points. It is almost like NIN in a module. Trent Reznor and Alessandro Cortini would be pleased.

Hi Sacguy71,

Ha, ha, "Holly cow!" :-) Yeah, nice module that Mimeophon, it's on my wish list too!

Thank you very much for showing the Mimeophon, makes my appetite for it even stronger :-) Have fun with your Mimeophon and your modular synth and kind regards, Garfield.

Hi EroGrumby,

Hey, that sounds cool! Some nice sounds, here and there a bit towards spooky and a real fun sound I heard as well, yeah, few more of such great Techno jams and I am the biggest Techno fan here ;-) (Says the one who doesn't like Techno)

No seriously, well done, I enjoyed it and hope to hearing more of your fantastic work. Thank you very much for sharing this and kind regards, Garfield.

Quite nice @aphex_goodman, thanks for sharing! Now if only I could find myself a VCFQ too...

Why plan for a bigger case? I'd suggest scrapping the 84 hp skiff and moving up to something MUCH bigger. This would be good: https://www.ericasynths.lv/shop/enclosures/studio/1x126hp-skiff-case/ Has ample power, still fits the 1 row form factor. But at that price point, you could also step on up to a 2 x 104 hp Mantis, which is also powered but is even beefier on that aspect than the Erica. Plus, Tiptop has a mounting bracket that allows you to tandem TWO Mantises into a four-row configuration. This seems more sensible because of that as well; if you find that you want to expand the Eurorack to more than just a sidecar for the Moog, this sort of advance planning is critical at THIS point in the process...don't try to retcon your case configuration in mid-build!

Oh, and if you do go to something larger, DON'T put the M32 in it. That's a waste of money, tbh, since the Moog already HAS a case and power...and those Moogs work nice together, so keeping it in its 60 hp cab for later Moog expansions would be a smart move.

EDITED Nov 5th 2020, 22:51

Totally agree and for routing paths the sequential switch is quite powerful when paired up with a clock and sequencer. I made a fun random noise generator pattern today with Pamela New Workout, two VCOs and the Doepfer Sequential Switch. My second rack is now pretty much full except for 3HP but next rack will be much larger and feature more sequential switches, logic modules and support tools as I plan to get a few complex oscillators and more percussion sound sources that all require these things.

My AE is quite infested with sequential switches...with the big purpose being to automate the generation of sequential structures that have more or less infinite iterations, or at least, damn close to infinite. And yes, there's several sequencers that make that go, but without the AE 3VCSWITCH, this sort of thing would be undoable.

Magnificent...and as a modular demo, it also excels. For one thing, we can CLEARLY SEE what's going on...the patchcords aren't matted all over the patchpanel like some sort of spaghetti-related debris. And another...and IMPORTANT...point made here is that the patch doesn't have to stop at the edge of the Eurorack cabs!

Love the frenetic percussion...about all it lacks would be a Minipops-type "fingersnap", but that's a matter of personal taste...

I think I agree LYFoulidis, the one thing that annoys me about the SSM is that I nearly always want more IO hehe

BTW, the SSM also has CV addressable scanning too - you can use a sequencer to sequence the sequential switch :D

Thank you MG!!

Please DM me for help with the unresolved problem if you would like to, I can usually fix these kinds of things - if they are actually fixable anyway ;)

I think with modules like these quantity matters. I’d rather have to Doepfers than one Boss, and let them do phase shifting patterns - 3 over 4 and such. But that’s just me, I enjoy the simple things 😉

Boss’ voltage controlled scanning is really cool though, and opens up another set of possibilities!

Switches are fun! I have the WMD SSM but this caught my eye recently:

https://www.modulargrid.net/e/addac-system-addac214-black

Super cool!

thanks! I will try these out. I almost wish that I had spent more on the ALM Busy Circuits Boss Bow Two sequential switch as it has many extra features missing from the Doepfer sequential switch as well as better integration with Pamela's New Workout. Well any case, I may do that later on and use the Doepfer sequential switch in another setup as it will be useful in any case.