bigger case is not the solution imo... effects i do in daw (save space) and buchla my system is not about tonal music, that i can do in daw as well.. im more of the experimental part hence the buhcla modules
bigger case is not the solution imo... effects i do in daw (save space) and buchla my system is not about tonal music, that i can do in daw as well.. im more of the experimental part hence the buhcla modules
hi, i just wanted to hear your thoughts and opinions on my system that ive built if you would replace/add something.. im a little bit hesitant about maths
why are you hesitant about maths - have you worked your way through the 'maths illustrated supplement' multiple times, paying close attention to what, why and how maths is doing what it's doing? if not, do this and re-evaluate...
I'd want more utilities - see my signature...
I'd also want a bigger case - 104hp &/or another row... quantisers are really useful if you want to make 'tonal music', maybe some effects...
"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
As another forum member eloquently puts it, the utilities are the polish that makes your shining modules shine. T
that'd be me...
I'll refer you to my signature... take some time to understand it...
more modulation, more utilities, another voice would all be great additions...
more modulation - I'd look at both Pam's and batumi
more utilities - vcas (grab a quad cascading one - either a veils (clone) or the intellijel one) "you can never have too many vcas!!!!" , matrix mixer (really useful for so many things - but combining modulation is a standout), an offset/attenuator/attenuverter (happy nerding 3 * mia), sample and hold, sequential switch, etc etc
another voice - it could be anything, but for a second 1 - a couple of simple analog vcos, a simple mixer and a low pass (or state variable) filter (along with the above utilities) is a good call...
I hear you on the knob per function, but a disting or similar is a fantastic learning tool... especially if you make use of favourites and grab actual modules to replace the algos if you start using it on one most of the time
Pams menu structure is quite shallow and easy to use - but it adds a lot of functionality in. a small module...
I'd also want to add delay and/or reverb.. but then I'm a bit of a delay junkie... (& getting more and more addicted to reverb)
personally I'd recommend the fx aid pro as a starter for this - so many algos + a screen so you can tell which one you're using (& a basic scope, which is useful, but noit essential)
I think effects are really useful in sound design - especially in modular - where you can modulate them and have them anywhere in the chain - delay/reverb into filter inot anothe reverb or delay etc etc etc
"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
Not familiar with Bloom, but I have the Blukac's. I've not had a chance to use that case much lately, but when I was playing around with it, I found it mildly interesting, and am hoping the expander will open it up more. The expander comes in two parts (with no directions in the box, btw), with one snapping onto the back of the EP, increasing its physical depth, and another module that increases the hp by 4. It is supposed to add v/oct, which should make it shine, but beforehand you have to upgrade the firmware, requiring an online search to do so. I have not had time to do so, so I can't comment on the expander yet. I did notice that having the expander extension on the back of the module does not seem to affect the original operation, so I've manually installed it (hopefully correctly!) and will eventually get around to upgrading the firmware. You need a SanDisk, btw, not provided, to upgrade. Until then, I'll just play around a bit with the original EP. It does what it says, but I don't think I've used it enough to give an opinion on it.
Good day/evening !
First let me say that it is great your took the time to explain your goals, and also that you plan on taking your time and learning your system before spending too much on stuff you won't use !
Regarding your goals:
For your perspectives:
I hope it's not too overwhelming, sorry for the wall of text but hey, music is my passion so I'm passionate, is that so weird ? :)
Have fun,
D.
--- Voltage control all the things ---
Hey folks, apologies in advance for my newbie ignorance. I purchased a Make Noize CV bus case and have been building up a system as I learn more about eurorack. I chose to get into this hobby because I am not necessarily the most musical person, but I love the process of buiilding sounds and learning sound design, as well as the analog feel of a eurorack system. I use this system mainly for fun at home as I learn more about sound design. I am looking for help building out the next steps of my current system and identifying any major gaps. As I learn more about modular in general, I want to ensure that I am building slowly and not overwhelming myself with features that I will not use or undertand, but still ensuring I have the basic capabilities needed. While I know the system will be constantly evolving, I want to ensure I am efficient and intelligent with the additional space I have in this case. I'll try and lay out my specific goals, but I am mostly just exploring
Goals:
-Learn sound design basics
-General exploration
-Generative / dark ambient music
-Learning how to patch bladerunner esque synth noises and futuristic sound effects
-Trance music
I am considering the following with my limited perspective
-ADSR of some kind
-plaits (seems like a common beginner voice, and I want to create some harmonization with the Mother32)
-More modulation (maybe pams)
-drums of some kind?
Your opinions are much appreciated, thanks to the community! Also if you have any recommendations for learning material such as books, youtube channels, etc I would love your opinions. I currently am reading Allen Stranges "Electronic Music"
Hello there people,
My ambient generative journey continues and am looking to expand into a bigger case. So far this is what I am using https://cdn.modulargrid.net/img/racks/modulargrid_2316440.jpg but feel the need for a module that can expand over time and am currently looking at 2 options, Blukac's EP or Bloom alongside 1 Ochd when able.
Would be grateful for your views on which you have found to be most usefull, fun to use or any issues. Steering towards Bloom at the moment.
Thanks in advance.
hi, i just wanted to hear your thoughts and opinions on my system that ive built if you would replace/add something.. im a little bit hesitant about maths
As de titel says. Seeing there's more and more Precision Adders on the market it would be a lot easier to find them on this website.
Cheers!
hey, I don't know if you are still looking for input on this, but I am using Pamelas in conjunction with a Pulsar and think its absolutely brilliant. It can send out a huge variety of random triggers, gates, sequences, envelopes, lfo's. I am sequencing the pulsar from an octatrack which I run through the mutant brain to also sequence two voices in the rack.
I don't use Pamelas that much for jamming but during production this has proven a mighty addition. Mainly due to HP efficiency, as there's not really anything Pamela does in terms of uniqueness. It also saves a lot of crocodile clips in order to do some modulation straight from pam's. I was also thinking of buying the expanders to send a clock from pams to pulsar without using a midi-splitter, but maybe much of that setup is just unneccesary.
The new version definitely feels more complete. I'm not neccesarily for or against o_C specifically, but this is probably more manageable and playable for now. You can always find some way to fit it in there if you still want to try it later.
-- Zacksname
Fully agree, in fact something I would do if this rack was for me is remove the Dixie 2 in favor of a small O&C, the power of the Phazerville firmware is simply incredible...
--- Voltage control all the things ---
Nice work.
-- wishbonebrewery
Thanks!
Hi, I got the following msg from a user (and down vote), down-voting him for waisting my time, trying to offer a fair 300 (LOL) for the Three Sisters. I mean maybe down voting him was too much, but why do people think they can talk like that in a small community like this, and why do people want to angleshoot on the marketplace lately. Its the third time someone is swearing at me because what he wanted didint happen. People should grow up and learn how to treat each other respectfully.
We have some videos on Youtube showing some examples of uses of Jeweler Cast
have you considered the oboe or the Accordion ?
-- GunnarWaage
no but i have considered leaving this forum just like the OP did because of rude people such as yourself.
"I actually have a pretty high fail/doa rate of eurorack modules in my history. maybe not 40% but probably 25%. and my power situation is just fine thank you hahaha."
With a 25% of your modules failing there is something seriously wrong with your setup. I have to repeat my view on this. There are plenty of users here who don't know much about modular Synthesis, that's all fine. However when people are frying modules instead of playing them, be it at 25% or 40%, one has to wonder, have you considered the oboe or the Accordion ?
My Ochd also failed on me too. One of he outputs just stopped working. Luckly it was in the warrenty period, but my experience with instruo was similar to the OP. I actually have a pretty high fail/doa rate of eurorack modules in my history. maybe not 40% but probably 25%. and my power situation is just fine thank you hahaha.
It’s my opinion that if a module is failing this is exactly the place to talk about it. It doesnt matter who the manacturer is. If the gear has issues I’d like to know about it.
The new version definitely feels more complete. I'm not neccesarily for or against o_C specifically, but this is probably more manageable and playable for now. You can always find some way to fit it in there if you still want to try it later.
Hi all,
I've recently purchased a second-hand Moon Phase stereo filter. It seems to not working properly, but I'd like to see if I can fix this issue myself first :).
The module was a DIY kit, which, according to the docs, doesn't have a whole lot which you need to solder. LEDs, jacks, potmeters and one big button in the middle. Fairly straight-forward, all SMD parts are pre-soldered. So logicially I'd think if it doesn't work properly, it's somewhere in there parts.
The issue is as follows:
The left audio channel works as expected. Filter opens and closes and has the desired effect on the incoming audio. However, the right audio channel doesn't have any resonance on it. The difference is quite audible when I put the filter mode select to both lowpass filters.
Also, probably related, when I have all the knobs at 12 o'clock and start turning up the stereo frequency control, the right audio channel pops at around 4 o'clock (so when it's around 80% open) and the audio seems to glitch out and gets heavily reduced in volume. This audio change doesn't sounds intentional (not like the low frequencies that are reduced on certain filter with a high resonance). It pops really hard (like a click sound) and then the sound get very noisy and high-pitched, it doesn't sound intentional at all.
I've messaged Patching Panda right away through their contact page but haven't got a reply yet, tried Instagram DM but no reply on that either (yet).
I've DIY'd modules in the past and have some electronic background. To me, it sounds like some signal path is short-circuit, as the right channel doesn't pass through the resonance, but I'm not sure.
Does anyone have an idea what can cause this and/or how to fix this?
In my humble opinion, much better !
The Klavis Quadigy seems like an ideal choice for your rack, it's incredibly powerful and despite the existence of menus, the UI/UX design is great.
XAOC is also a great choice, and you might have gone for v1 in order to grab one in 2nd hand for cheap, but v2 seems like a great improvement, particularly the v/oct tracking with audio rates capabilities...
Finally, great utilities choie with the Quadratt and Noise Tools.
You seem set for a lot of sonic exploration, so ground control says "Good luck and Godspeed".
--- Voltage control all the things ---
https://cdn.modulargrid.net/img/racks/modulargrid_2393267.jpg
How about now?
Thank you for your reply. It's really helpful. My aim of using Ornament and Crime was mainly to provide additional sequencer/random and some lfo. Looking into space in the rack, maybe I can add modules I've mentioned and get rid of O_C.
Looks good to me so far. It could probably use more modulation. Some LFOs and envelopes (or something like the Vostok Fuji, which offers you the choice of either like the envelopes on Maths). Sample and hold/random would also be good to explore.
Do you like the Dixie and the Twin Waves? Your oscillators and filters are entirely up to you, and as long as you keep them balanced relative to other stuff like modulation and utilities, the two oscillators and two filters here can definitely sound great (and can even be used as four voices if you patch them cleverly - those are two great filters for experimenting).
What do you generally use Ornament and Crime for? Modules like that are great because you can try every function on it, and anything you use a lot or want more control over could be a potentially wise purchase if you get a standalone module for it.
Other than a bit more modulation, though, this looks good to me. Not too much for this size of case or anything. Are you having issues with it? Is it fun to use so far? That's the important part.
https://cdn.modulargrid.net/img/racks/modulargrid_2393267.jpg
Hi there. What do you think about my current setup? Does it make sense? Is twin waves + dixie a good combination or would you suggest to replace them with one complex oscillator? What do you think of having 2 filters? Thanks for any of the comments.
Try to do a fresh reformat of your card with SD formatter, check for any metadata in your samples they can cause problems like this hiss or not loading at all, you can remove the metadata and do a clean .wav exporting with audacity
Nice work.
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.
This patch was inspired by hours of listening to Morton Feldman’s exquisite music. It ended up quite different harmonically from Feldman’s pieces, partly due to the limitations of a modular system. The envelope generators and attenuators required some tweaking to get that balance between repetition and divergence, revolving and evolving. In retrospect, I could have left longer silences between notes.
I had this problem,,try reloading SD card,,samples maybe too long?....different sd card?,,i went through three or four cards until it finally worked properly..PB
500 series section needs to be scrubbed for duplicates, several uploads of the same module.
Thanks. I never knew Vowel could do whole words!
I get a buzz of static hiss, rather than the sample playback. It still responds to pitch control - yay, pitch-controlled hiss.
I have two Plays in the same rig and the other runs fine. I've swapped the microsd cards, so that's not the issue. Checked the power connection and that seems fine. The pcb and pots and components look clean - no scorching to suggest I might have somehow fried it.
Does anyone have any thoughts on this?
Thanks
I guess sometimes modules just die?
Hi !
I made this cheatsheet for my own use, and I'm sharing it here. I hope it will be useful to others.
Here's a google drive link to a higher-quality PDF (vector images) :
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1MoVTx4lnHU1ooN_W3id6O5T2tNeHgdDG/view?usp=sharing
If you have any comments, corrections or ideas for improvement, don't hesitate to comment.
Cheers
- Top-right : Harmonnics
- Bottom-left : Timbre
- Bottom-right : Morph
- Dark-grey : AUX Output
A waveshaper today. Very fast build, mostly surface mount already installed. Was missing a power header, but I had spares.
Very interesting folds, a nice unit though I didn’t do the Bias function correctly. Well worth it, and a great first kit.
Thank you very much fro your kind answers
If you produce industrial rock music (excellent! We can also like ‘country rock music’ but some Skinny Puppy or Front Line Assembly titles are no less interesting than Harvest by Neil Young) I'm surprised not to see Noise Engineering modules in your racks. Basimilus might be more appropriate than Plonk (despite AAS's wonderful technology). And a Loquelic or a Manis might suit you.
-- Sweelinck
Ahah ! I was staring at the noise engineering stuffs, I've just fill the rack with functional modules. The only one that I will buy for sure are the one listed in my first post. For the other stuff, I'm not 100% decided of which module to go to. Noise engineering is probably a better choice for me, you're absolutely right.
I will also double check the power cosumption...
Thank you !
Unless you already have the Rackbrute, my experience with that case wasn't good and I ended up returning it even after they said they had fixed it. It got really really hot for me which wasn't happening with my TipTop uZeus power supply so the only thing I could think was it was the rackbrute power at fault. So hot it smelled like melting plastic all the time stinking the room out.
Now I run 2x TipTop uZeus for my small cases and some nice Konstantlab power for my main case.
-- wishbonebrewery
Oooops... Hopefully your unit was faulty, because i've already ordered the 2 cabinets...
Cheers !
Unless you already have the Rackbrute, my experience with that case wasn't good and I ended up returning it even after they said they had fixed it. It got really really hot for me which wasn't happening with my TipTop uZeus power supply so the only thing I could think was it was the rackbrute power at fault. So hot it smelled like melting plastic all the time stinking the room out.
Now I run 2x TipTop uZeus for my small cases and some nice Konstantlab power for my main case.
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.
I plan to start my eurorack journey soon. At 50, it's almost time !!!
Making industrial rock music (sorry ;) with regular hardware synths (moog/sequential/korg/waldorf) + Ableton Live and Push, I would like to add something more "raw" and "roots" to my setup, something to experiment with and lots of fun.-- ouatataz
It is never too late to do the right thing :) I started modular at 62, long after my first synthesizer (1979, Arp AXXE). So there are cases much more desperate than yours :))
Without carrying out a complete review of your system (which overall seems well thought out and quite coherent), these few remarks...
Row 2 of your RackBrute 6U is a little too loaded: be careful, do not go beyond 80% of the available power (here it will be 640mA per row).
If you produce industrial rock music (excellent! We can also like ‘country rock music’ but some Skinny Puppy or Front Line Assembly titles are no less interesting than Harvest by Neil Young) I'm surprised not to see Noise Engineering modules in your racks. Basimilus might be more appropriate than Plonk (despite AAS's wonderful technology). And a Loquelic or a Manis might suit you.
µMidi is perfect for transmitting the clock and much more.
Sincere advice: start with a minimum of modules, play this little setup with your other synthesizers. Take your time to choose what you really need for your music: you will always come back to this, music is the only thing that matters.
'On ne devrait jamais quitter Montauban' (Fernand Naudin).
https://soundcloud.com/petrus-major/tracks
Hi there,
I plan to start my eurorack journey soon. At 50, it's almost time !!!
Making industrial rock music (sorry ;) with regular hardware synths (moog/sequential/korg/waldorf) + Ableton Live and Push, I would like to add something more "raw" and "roots" to my setup, something to experiment with and lots of fun.
After lots of research and youtube videos played, I ended up with this potential (expensive) combos :
Bottom 3U = Arturia RackBrute 3U / Top 6U = Arturia Rackbrute 6U
=> 3x 88hp in total (-10hp for power supplies)
I wanted to start with: Hel + Odessa (+ Metropolix as sequencer for it) / Zagrzeb/ Blck_Noir (+ Steppy + Dot as sequencers for it) / Zadar / QuadVCA / Mixup / Outs / 8-multi / MixerSplitter. Odessa will bring some west coast vibes to my stuffs :)
Quadrax + Batumi would also be good to add some more modulations, but I'm on a limited budget now...
I plan to upgrade this system little by little.
Also, I'm a little bit confused about the necessity or not to have an audio interface module like those of expert sleepers. In fact, I don't need this modular to be fully controlled by my DAW, sending a clock will be enough for now (the µMidi will do the job ?), to keep this system relatively autonomous. I already own an audio interface with 8 DC-coupled outputs, maybe I could use it later on with the CV_Tools of Ableton Live ?
Could you give me your expert opinion about this setup ? Is it balanced enough ?
Do I miss some important modules, maybe some utilities ?
Thank you very much in advance for your kind help !
Hi there, I have my M8 that i really love and im thinking of maybe integrate that with my eurorack set up instead of just playing alone. Whats your experience with that? im thinking to add the CV OCD as bridge between M8 and modular..
Video premiere!
Igor Yalivec - Petrichor (from 'Etudes' LP, Whited Sepulchre Records)
This video was created manually by norwegian based artist Sasha Lukjanenko.
She made many paintings with her own hands, digitized them and created animations.
This resulted in a very meditative, symbolic, conceptual work.
Update:
I picked up a few of these pieces last month!
I also learned some quantizing tricks in the new Nerdseq firmware that have me feeling less GASy about sequencers / quantizers (though still would like to try something more performable one day).
I'm thinking that my next move is going to be to pick up a Contour 1 and lock in this config for the Mantis for the next year or so:
Going no-Maths seems fine given that I have plenty of other attenuation/offset options, plenty of envelopes in Quadrax, a Contour for one Maths-style envelope, and an extra slew circuit in the URR. Of the samplers, I think Nebulae is the one to keep in the rack for this config since it's less liable to distract me making "beats" and more focused on use as a looper, single voice, or fx. It also strikes me as neat to have three stereo effect outputs for Vortices's three stereo inputs -- not that I'd necessarily patch it that way, but it seems balanced. Steady State Gate is a sad cut but between that and Nebulae I'd rather keep in the Neb.
From there, I'll be selling off some of the stuff I'm not using and keeping the ALM case as overflow / a home for OPTX, or to re-rack subsystems for travel every now and then.
Mainly posting this for closure on the thread, but all ears if anybody has feedback!
I think you have all what you need. anything more will be luxury and G.A.S.
but if you have the money
Filters:
I like bastl Ikarie - 8 hp stereo filter with drive
or Winterbloom Neptune
Mimeophon, Nautilus or Sealegs could be an idea depending on your taste.
Morphagene or Nebulae
for great sounding percussion, SSF Ultra Perc is the shiiiit in my opinion
for dark stuff - SGR 20 from Knobtechnology
its my favorite new toy. Its a analog vco, noise maschine , Industrial drum voice, drone maschine
The vco is a variation of the buchla triangle and it has some buchlataste in it.
I think the SGR gives a new special flavour and im a big fan of it.
Sry if this goes to far, but I just want to share my euphoric
get a SGR 20 😁
Greetings
Chris
https://open.spotify.com/album/7h724zB5ISc0ViQg2yf1dI?si=flSXhUIZTPi7sh2WbiOXcQ
My new IDM/Experimental Electronic Music release is a trip through our algorithmically enduced social media dystopia.
"The utopian promise of social media connecting the globe on the basis of common understanding of human worth was a noble and enchanting proposition. If “sunlight is the best disinfectant”, then having more engagement should have allowed the truth to rise to the top. But we’re painfully realizing that the more appropriate quote describing our situation is “a lie can run half-way around the world while the truth is still putting on its shoes”. As long as algorithms don’t perfectly align with the ideals of human flourishing, consumers and creators alike will fall deeper into the feedback loop of audience capture until we reach critical mass, causing our civil societies to erupt, then collapse. There is still time to course correct, but we must learn from our mistakes before we become totally distracted by the looming revolution in A.I."
www.macromicromusic.com
https://www.instagram.com/macro_micro/
www.macromicromusic.com
Does the SSF Ultra perc replace the Ultra kick?
I had a run with the Ultra Perc and Im very impressed.
You can do great kicks and whole drum kit whit it.
It just makes me smile.
Im asking myself, if there is a need to keep the ultra kick, if I have a ultra perc
Honestly I didnt dig deep into the ultra kick. It just delivers a instant awesome kick, that is always great, but I didnt go much further.
I like it very much and it does percussion sounds as well.
What do you think?
Maybe you could tell me how you use them?
Maybe I overlook something and leaving the UK for the UP is a hastly decision?
Greetings
Chris
Greetings
Chris
I'm fond of this filter:
https://www.modulargrid.net/e/eowave-tempete-magnetique
and one that is smaller:
https://www.modulargrid.net/e/supercritical-synthesizers-neutron-flux
For "dark ambient" the Nautilus as a delay processor would be a good addition:
https://www.modulargrid.net/e/qu-bit-electronix-nautilus
Now that you are "down the rabbit hole," you'll constantly switch modules and such in search of what is best for you.
Have fun 8'). Think of it all as a haiku poem, getting as much out of a small framework as you can. Going big prematurely
costs a lot and can be wasteful. Concentrate on one module type at a time, and winnow things down.
You're absolutely correct, I was wrong. Octave offset and key/octave are shared by all voices.
I've had this one some time ago and thought it could do that independantly for all voices.
Hi both!
It´s not that clear ...
I´ve read the manual but doesn´t appear to allow independent octave transposition accross channels.
There is a octave offset, but it´s not per channel i guess, just an overall transpose of the octaves.-- redsquares
I have a faulty O&C, that used to work well, but one moment stopped sending correct voltages out.
I used it mainly as a quad quantizer and worked fine.
One day pitches were all over the place.
I tried to calibrate it but couldnt do it properly.
The voltages i set didnt reach what was supposed to go out, according to the manual for calibration.
It might need another main processor, but i dont know how to do that, and dont have one to test it.
Also, might not be the processor that is faulty. So i would need someone who knows how to assemble them, and has a spare processor, in order to test, make sure that is the case, and repair it.
Of course i am willing to pay for the work.
I am in Portugal and can ship the module within the EU.
Thanks in advance for your help!
Peace
Hi both!
It´s not that clear ...
I´ve read the manual but doesn´t appear to allow independent octave transposition accross channels.
There is a octave offset, but it´s not per channel i guess, just an overall transpose of the octaves.