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Fun jam session to welcome in the new year 2021 modular style

I realised that if you just want to search for £ or € you can use the browser search in page facility and then just keep hitting CMD-G (on a mac - not sure what it is for windows or linux) to 'find aGain' and very quickly scroll through the items for sale in the UK - well - the ones listed in GBP anyway!

It's not ideal, tend to loop around and sometimes your eye gets drawn to the right hand side of the screen when the search picks up a £ in the description, but it's better than eyeballing hundreds of irrelevant listings (sorry again to everyone in the EU).

Patched up today.
Polyend Present into 2x WMD Sequential Switch works super! Mutes, Build-ups, Effect chains, CV parameters...

Next stage: recording and filming.

Christmas came a few days late. Treated myself a disting mk4 and Mutable Instruments Ears.

After some hours of fiddling with the disting I understand the love and hate for this little module. It is great to take over small jobs in the system but I tend to build my setup around this beast now. But as this thing is for me to have fun, and learn I'm ok with that.

I wish you all a good start into 2021

Hi there,
I'm also interested into this. I'm actually about to sell a case, and I think modulargrid would be the best place to do so !
Cheers !

Hi there,
I'm also interested into this. I'm actually about to sell a case, and I think modulargrid would be the best place to do so !
Cheers !

Whatever CV to VCA Input + Envelop to VCA CV Input = Modulated CV.

If you begin to use VCA to control CV amplitude you will definitely need more VCA's.

Lot of examples in this thread :
https://www.muffwiggler.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=18390

get a bigger case - you will need it in the long term and buying a mantis now will be a better investment and remove the rack wart

do you really need an output module? probably not - replace with a quad cascading vca - veils for example - most will work as simple output modules - and this will allow you to modulate, for example, one channel of ochd with another - if you need headphone output then consider just a simple headphone out like alm hpo

spend the extra few $/€/£ on the fx aid xl - more modulation options!

personally I would swap the ochd out for a pamelas new workout

i'd also strongly consider links and kinks as they will add a lot of functionality for little cash in a small amount of space

my next module would be maths - work through the illustrated manual a few times - it's a great modular patching primer

Sold my Loquelic Iteritas to @Soundmonk
Great communication and quick payer - highly recommended.

Nope, no ES-3. Just do a little scrounging. and you can beat the cost on that thing. FYI, this IS how you'd hook the ES-3 up as well...but we're going "cheap-n-dirty" here, getting much the same result for about 1/3rd the price.
-- Lugia

Ok thanks Lugia, maybe another silly question but, does that mean I would need a load of 1/4 to 1/8 cables? Also if I didn’t want to go down the “cheap-n-dirty” route, would an ES8 or ES3+6 do the job? Just trying to understand ALL the options :)

EDITED Jan 1st 2021, 10:17

Fun jam tonite to welcome 2021

Mutable Instruments Plaits into Rings to Marbles
WMD percussion

how did you record it to your daw? sounds amazing!what sequencers did you use? Look forward to the video.

Hi The Erc,

Wow, 42 minutes of 500 sweaty people in one basement ;-) For those 42 minutes you have tons of variations, full with high energy, amazing actually to come up with such a long track that never really get bored because you seriously full-packed it with one sonic surprise after the other!

And indeed, those hats are lovely, so jealous :-) !

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

Hi Broken-Form,

Wow, great video that Northern Thunder and the music is seriously tense and exciting, a lovely combination the video and your music! That video... is that computer generated or something real? It looks so amazing! And almost kind of scary :-)

I am able to watch that Midnight Moon video too, great one too! It's the same kind of tense music you are creating there too and combined with the lovely video it fits again superb! :-)

Nice work and I am glad you are sharing this with us, thank you very much! Happy New Year and kind regards, Garfield.

Nice sounds and videos
Thanks
-- klodifokan

Thanks mate.Much appreciated.

10 minutes in, great stuff @the-erc, I'm aiming for this range myself, hoping to get there soon.

Thanks @defragmenteur- how would I patch that for a VCA? Would I patch and LFO or clock to the CV input of a VCA?
Care to share a patch example? Sorry, I am still a beginner to modular world.

Now this is along one - 42 minutes! The first time I've tried to play a whole set this long. If you feel like dancing your way into 2021, this might help! Assuming you like minimalistic 145bpm acid techno that is. Just pretend you're in a basement with 500 sweaty people and no fire exit.

You can hear :
* Noise Engineering Basimilus Iteritas Alter : the kick and nothing else.
* Tiptop Hats909 : the hats!
* The magnificent SSF Entity Percussion : everything else, sometimes assisted by Nano Modules Font and the Sherman Filterbank, and lots of modulation.
* Oh, the pads at the beginning are from an Ensoniq ESQ1, played badly with one hand.

I have a video which I will post once it is done uploading!

I also have an MDLR case and love it, mine is just 14u but the 1u tile rows are ace for adding modules that won't take up the prime real estate. Nice build! For logic, I am having fun with Intellijel Plog in my setup.

Just a question.
When say dark ambient you reffer to bands like Lustmord, Inade, Kammarheit, Land Fire, Northaunt, Schloss Tegal, Trepaneringsritualen and many other one?

X1L3 Shard is a great module.
Schlappi engineering and Noise Engineering modules too.
Plus a good filter and a huge reverb everthing is said.

Nice sounds and videos
Thanks

Thanks @the-erc! And I've got Insides at the top of my list, seems like some good NYE listening 🕺

nice one

I can't see the video, it tells me it's unavailable, is it just me ?
-- toodee

for some reason i can only link to the one video

A little starter system, paired with a Keystep, that I suggested over here: https://www.facebook.com/groups/euroracksynthesizers/permalink/5101738319843796/?comment_id=5107993799218248 (screenshot: https://imgur.com/qSSy902)

EDITED Dec 31st 2020, 14:19

Smart contact and good transaction with @evzone.
Thank you Julien.

You can also use VCA's to control modulation sources (not just audio signal level).

I can't see the video, it tells me it's unavailable, is it just me ?

Nice one @troux!

I second the recommendation of Insides -- one of the all time great records in electronic music.

My first dabble in some Dark Ambient

For some reason i can only link to the one video(FIXED)

if you lke here is my facebook
https://www.facebook.com/BrokenFormAudio

EDITED Dec 31st 2020, 15:21

And fixed it!

Hi Lugia

Thnx very much for the feedback. I'll look into logic for sure. Thnx for the tip. Looking at the ARC Logic module video now. I'm a little intimidated bij logic to be honest. But you are right, with much sequencing it becomes handy!
I'll move the uZeus away from sound modules!! Or better: move the gallops to the right ;-)

After my x-mas spending i'll check out the doepfer filter! But for now: patching up and play!

Thanks @Garfield, maybe get two Happy Nerding 3xVCA modules? That would give me an additional 6 VCAs.

@Lugia, great idea! I have flexibility in changing the layout in the MDLR since I still have plenty of room left in the case and the WMD Metron sequencer won't arrive until January 4, 2021! I sure as hades won't ever do a pre-order again. Been waiting since November for this darn thing. I will look at the Doveman SHFT module to pair with my sequencers and move the Plog to where you recommend. I also have a Winter Eloquencer sequencer and some other goodies on the way for my Doepfer monster base case. That will keep me busy for most of next year and beyond before I need to worry about another case :-)

Do you think my setup needs more VCA and if so, what options would you recommend? Also I tried to find the Doveman eurorack modules and looks like the company unfortunately may have gone out of business as their website is gone and I cannot find their modules anyplace for sale. So another vendor would have similar module?

EDITED Dec 31st 2020, 04:17

Thanks @GarfieldModular, and dang does that sequencer look nice. So many good tools nowadays.

I see a layout thing...shift the Plog down so that it's next to the WMD Accent module, then slide the Stilson in next to the Plog. That puts all of your timing and sequencing into one easy-to-work zone. And for a little more fun, you might want this between the Plog and Stilson: https://www.modulargrid.net/e/dovemans-shft That's a dual window comparator...it reads incoming voltage levels, and can give you gates on "below thresholds", "between thresholds" (or the "window", hence the name) and "above thresholds". Now, where this gets fun is that you can output a channel of the Stilson to this, and depending on how you set the threshold levels, you'd get TWO channels of voltage-conditional gate generation (in SIX ways!) which can then be tossed around in the build to operate even MORE things. The abuse potential within this sequencing environment would be pretty massive!

Hi Diego,

Yes good point to chew for a while on something before buying it, can't harm :-) Just don't wait yet another year because then indeed it might be difficult to get that Black Dual VCF module...

Thank you very much, I wish you, Lugia and everyone here in this forum a Happy New Year too and let's keep CV-ing in 2021 ;-) Kind regards, Garfield.

Plus, using an external drum machine (or two) is much more "idiomatic" to techno. Even new styles can have "performance practice" aspects, you know...they're not just for Early Music these days.

The ONLY things I would have different in this version is that I'd yank the rightmost buffered mult and adder on row #2 so that you can put the Qx back in for the Quadrax, and the extra 1 hp can go back at either end for one of those Konstant Labs PWRcheckrs. If you need a mult at the right side, just shift the Links over there where the adder/buff pair is currently. Another potential change might be to remove the Kinks in the bottom row, since the one above it makes that redundant...this would then give you 8 more hp, not four...and I can think of something crazy-useful utility-wise that fits in 6: SSF's Tool-Box. Tons of useful circuits hiding in there... Then, as the cherry on the clocking cake here, put the Adventure Audio Count in that leftover 2 hp, which then gives you clockpulse counting, and this can be used with the Plog and others to fire off "conditional" gate pulses for events which need to happen on a specific beat, such as an accented note, etc.

Other than those easy swaps, it's looking like it might be time to dust off the Magic Plastic...

Hi Sacguy71,

Or an extensive dual VCA for stereo purposes for some stereo fun might be an idea?

Kind regards, Garfield.

Hi Gabor,

Wow, this is good fun and a great track! I love this one, thank you very much for sharing this with us at the end of 2020 :-)

Thank you very much, I wish you and everyone a Happy New Year and some more happy modulation and modular synth fun in 2021 too! Kind regards, Garfield.

Hi Sacguy71,

Thanks a lot for sharing your experience between the Befaco and the Intellijel joysticks, very interesting to know.

Indeed Intellijel and Make Noise seem to have some serious availability issues :-(

Kind regards, Garfield.

When planning rack layouts, sometimes it can be a challenge to verify if your choice of modules in a rack is heading in the right direction. There are a few rules of thumb out there around counting mod sources/VCAs/Oscillators/etc - and these are helpful - but one thing I constantly wish for here is something like a simple function count/missing function list for a given rack.

This could easily be provisioned by counting the functions for each module, and also offering a list of anything missing.

For example:
I build a rack with Tides, Plonk, Maths, Quadratt & Veils.
Somewhere there is a screen (maybe on the Data Sheet screen?)
- It shows me what functions I have and how many, eg. Oscillator x2, Envelope Generator x2, CV Modulation x2, LFO x1, etc.
- It also show me what functions I'm missing, eg. Effect, Equalizer, Filter, Sample & Hold, Waveshaper, etc

It would help a lot to make a quick assessment if my rack is heading in the right direction, and if I'm missing something critical.

Thanks for considering.

-- stok3d

I think you'd be better off just asking actual people (possibly on this forum) regarding the specific rack and genre(s) of music - absolutely none of these modules are critical in any way - so all you would likely get is the list of functions minus the ones you have and with a little note saying "we see you have added a (insert list of functions iinn rack) to your rack perhaps you would like to try one of these (insert list of functions not in rack)"

EDITED Dec 31st 2020, 03:25

Hi Troux,

Yeah, a nice long enjoyable track from you again, lovely! :-)

He, he, the first few moments, I actually thought I clicked the wrong button or something and I thought I was listening to the demo track & video about that Toraiz - Squid Multitrack Sequencer:

One of your sounds sounds quite similar to the main lead voice/sound of that above demo :-)

Nice one and I can't wait for your compilation file. Kind regards, Garfield.

A few notes here...

First of all, with this much sequencing and clocking, this build SCREAMS for a serious Boolean logic module to take the clock manipulation to the next level. If you can mash it in (that black blank panel in the 3 x 84 cab looks possible, might need a little shuffling), I'd suggest the ARC Artificial Neural Network. Does Boolean, some Neural Net tricks, plus you get a comparator, a couple of Schmitt triggers (sort of like decay-only EGs) and a lot of unconventional tricks.

Next, the B. Highpass VCF at the bottom...I'd consider something else, actually...since that's intended to emulate the 904 Moog VCF set HPF, which would have it working in tandem with the 904A, via a module that's curiously absent: the 904C filter coupler. How Uli gets a pass for saying he can emulate a System 55 without that key device is...well, it's ULI is what it is. He probably has no clue as to what a 904C IS. Fortunately, Dieter Doepfer's got yer fix...which actually is BETTER than the 904B...in the A-123-2. More cutoff slopes, more control, all that.

However, there's another problem sitting right next to the 904B...the power supply module. As a rule, you never want a power component adjacent to an audio module. The audio path is too easy to contaminate with P/S hash and garbage, plus whatever line frequency hum that manages to leak past the DC converter and into the uZeus. Now, you can fix the AC ripple with a ferrite on the power input cable (you'd put it right where it LEAVES the DC converter, not by the uZeus input itself), but not the switching supply hash...which CAN sneak in as ultrasonics and those can screw around with the audio result. Easy solution, though...just move it to the OTHER END of that row, as the crud leaked by cheap switchers won't affect anything in the White Gallop.

Other than that, the only other issue I see here is ergonomic: you should probably make the build's layout more coherent by doing some specific functional grouping...VCOs go here, VCFs there, etc. It'll make this loads easier to navigate; right now, it's a real hodgepodge, and that's never useful nor intuitive to use. Otherwise, it's got the goods!

Thanks Garfield,

Yeah the Intellijel Planar 2 is my favorite joystick module but alas it is out of stock for quite a while like many Intellijel modules and cases. I did get to try one out at a friend's place and it is really fun being able to record gestures for playback and looping plus the joystick remains in place when using it.

Anyways the Befaco joystick is a lot of fun and affordable. I love the trigger buttons makes me feel like playing a classic arcade video game especially if you send gates out to percussion modules like I did in the video. It was weird mix considering I took various sound sources and blended them together for sonic mayhem. The only thing I don't like about the joystick is that when you move it, it does not remain in place like the Intellijel Planar joystick. Still for live performance adds some nice variety to patches.

When planning rack layouts, sometimes it can be a challenge to verify if your choice of modules in a rack is heading in the right direction. There are a few rules of thumb out there around counting mod sources/VCAs/Oscillators/etc - and these are helpful - but one thing I constantly wish for here is something like a simple function count/missing function list for a given rack.

This could easily be provisioned by counting the functions for each module, and also offering a list of anything missing.

For example:
I build a rack with Tides, Plonk, Maths, Quadratt & Veils.
Somewhere there is a screen (maybe on the Data Sheet screen?)
- It shows me what functions I have and how many, eg. Oscillator x2, Envelope Generator x2, CV Modulation x2, LFO x1, etc.
- It also show me what functions I'm missing, eg. Effect, Equalizer, Filter, Sample & Hold, Waveshaper, etc

It would help a lot to make a quick assessment if my rack is heading in the right direction, and if I'm missing something critical.

Thanks for considering.

Here is my MDLR setup and open to feedback suggestions on VCAs and anything that I need from a support view:

I have 8xVCA module and 8x attenuator/attenuverter module and mixer but thinking maybe another quad VCA or two. The percussion modules technically don't need a VCA and go directly to attenuator and mixer since they have envelopes built into each module due to WMD superb design.

Hi Sacguy71,

I even didn't know Befaco had a joystick module, so far I was always thinking of Intellijel versus joystick module hence Planar II. Nice demo video, thanks for making the Befaco joystick known :-)

Ha, ha, you got some really funny & weird sounds in that demo! :-)

Recently I heard that Doepfer is coming up with a joystick module too (A-174-4), I might go for that one but let's see first.

Have fun with the joystick module and kind regards, Garfield.

Ok Lugia. I wish I could get my head around what you’re saying, I’m really trying, but with little success! Do you mean an ES3? Can you give me any examples?
-- clivevass

OK...on the back of the Fireface, you'll see some lightpipe ports (probably with little rubber covers to keep crap out of the optical path), probably labelled ADAT. That's where you'd connect any OTHER interface that ALSO has the same ports. So, once you've got the Fireface AND the inexpensive, used, and (for audio) "obsolete" DC-coupled interface you snagged on Reverb or eBay, you'd hook 'em up with a pair of lightpipe cables. There might be a sync lockup issue, but checking the Fireface's docs should help with that. Once the interfaces are happy and talking to each other (you should see the new I/O ports in the Fireface's control/routing app...when you do, everything's cool), you can assign the new ADAT ports to CV Tools' use.

Nope, no ES-3. Just do a little scrounging. and you can beat the cost on that thing. FYI, this IS how you'd hook the ES-3 up as well...but we're going "cheap-n-dirty" here, getting much the same result for about 1/3rd the price.

Hi Sacguy71,

I fully agree here with Farkas. One can't say, if you have (just an example here) more than 10 oscillators but only 4 VCAs then you don't have enough VCAs... it's not that straight forward. It depends completely on the patch you are currently busy with and if you feel that you are missing a few VCAs and that kind of feeling/experience repeats with other new patches then indeed it's time to get a few more VCAs :-)

But if you insist on checking on the oscillators per VCA rate... I don't feel it's "fair" (for calculation purposes) to count percussion/drum modules as an oscillator as well. So if you stick to pure oscillators versus VCAs only...

Ha, ha, very coincidentally I am exactly to a 1:1 rate, so my number of oscillators is, at my current setup, exactly (not even a difference of one) the same as my number of VCAs; interesting/funny exercise. The way I counted is for VCAs: I only count pure VCAs, no overdrives, no mixers that have VCA functionality in them, though a dual VCA I count for 2, a quad for 4, etcetera. The same for the VCOs/DCOs, no matter if they have multiple outputs, I just count them as one unless it's a dual VCO then I counted it for 2, etcetera. As mentioned as well, I didn't count other modules like drums/percussion and sample modules as being an oscillator, otherwise I would have a bit more than VCAs indeed.

Though, again I don't think you should approach it this way.

For my own setup I sometimes still feel I have too less VCAs; recently I bought a few extra VCAs because before that I definitely had too less VCAs. Now slowly I feel it's time to get a few more oscillators ;-) You should follow your guts when you are patching! If you are during patching in the urge of some more VCAs and you ran out of them... well, that seems a clear signal to me that you need more VCAs, and vice versa of course if you feel you have a lack of oscillators.

Good luck with the module planning and kind regards, Garfield.

Partly. Remember, if you have the attack all the way down, that actually equals the SAME amplitude change but at an extremely fast rate. Also, if the envelopes seem TOO punchy (sounds like that's the problem), adjust the CV input level on the VCA downward...try to NOT run VCAs wide-open, as a rule.

What's actually going on is that, without turning the decay up, you've got an envelope outputted that's actually too rapid for the VCA's latency. But when you increase the decay TIME (and not amplitude!), you actually are outputting the full amplitude swing on attack slowly enough to overcome the VCA latency. It SEEMS like the problem is the EG...but it's actually the CV input level to the VCA. Reducing the VCA's CV input level will get that under control.

FYI, the difference between linear and exponential actually has to do with whether or not you're using the VCA for CV/mod use, or for audio. Linear VCAs change level in a 1:1 proportion to the CV level. But exponential VCAs change level in an asymptotic curve that mirrors our perception of absolute loudness...which also works in an exponential manner, just like the decibel scale which measures loudness according to the same physics circumstances as how we perceive it. As a result, you use exponential VCA curves pretty much for AUDIO ONLY...as the exponential curve distorts the 1:1 scaling that VCAs...and their normal "client" signals...require for linear voltage changes.