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Hey everyone,

I’m trying to build a coherent performance system for IDM / acid using a Pittsburgh Modular EP-270 case. This is mainly a practice live-set system before I eventually move to an Intellijel Palette performance case.

I have a big “parts bin” of modules and want to form them into a focused, playable, musically coherent live instrument — not just fill space. I really value performability, hands-on modulation, and classic IDM drum programming (Aphex / Autechre-ish).

I’m thinking of adding the Modbap Trinity 2.0 for drum duties (love the classic glitchy/IDM drum vibe) but I am open to ideas for drums. I really don't like the sample drum and was planning on selling it

Goals

Live IDM / acid performance (sequenced + hands-on modulation)

Punchy, glitchable drums

Melodic + bassline voices with motion

Deep modulation playground, but not chaotic

Good mixing / utilities for performance

"Playable", not academic — I want muscle memory and flow

Gear Info

Here’s my currently owned modules rack

I’d love suggestions for:

Which modules to include

Row layout for best playability

Which utilities / modulators to prioritize

Anything in my rack that is better left out for a live setup

Optional: if anyone feels like actually building me a rack mockup from my available modules, that would be amazing.

Thanks for helping me whip this chaos into a real performance instrument. Looking forward to your ideas.

I’m still having a lot of trouble with external pitch tracking.

the Hector it doesn't track pitch very well. The pitch tracking is so off that I can't use it unless I use CV from inside Hector.

Even after calibrating Hector using an Ornament and Crime, it won’t play in tune when receiving external CV. Notes are noticeably off, even within a single octave. I’ve confirmed that the CV signal from my Bloom sequencer is accurate—other oscillators in my system track perfectly—but Hector does not track properly unless I route the signal through a quantizer.

While that workaround helps, it uses additional CPU, which I’d prefer to avoid. Pitch tracking seems fine when patching internally within Hector—it’s only with external CV that I’m having this issue.

also, when you output pitch from a quantizer app, the destination synth does not patch.

just for simplicities sake, if i take an lfo, feed it into a quantizer(everything internally in Hector), then output the quantizer to output 1 then patch output 1 into an external oscillator it will always be out of tune.

i have emailed poly effects and they have not been helpful whatsoever. I am not buying a poly effects anything in the future because there was little support. I watched the videos and I still don't understand.

"You'll need to run into the pitch cal modules first for external pitch CV. This is because we use the same inputs for CV and audio, so we can't calibrate them by default as it would distort the audio. So you need to run into pitch cal and then get your fixed up pitch from that. There's instructions in the video series where I talk about those modules."

I have done this and it works for external pitch cv coming in but i have to calibrate it literally every time i turn it on and i dont know how to send pitch cv out of it. its not very useful if i cant output pitch cv or play it without having to calibrate it again.

is there any way to get accurate pitch cv coming out of it to sequence an external module?

EDITED Jul 23rd, 01:34