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Welcome! Looking forward to checking out your modules.
Have fun and good luck!

Hi,

Just wanted to announce ourselves on this forum. We are a new modular company based in Milwaukee, WI. We've just recently gotten listed on Modular Grid and just today posted 3 new filter modules based on the AS3320 chip.

To start with, we are putting out a line of affordable 6hp modules. So far we have DUAL VCLFO, ADSR, RING MOD, 24dB LPF, 24dB HPF and 12dB BPF and more coming very soon!

https://www.voltatone.com/

Let us know if you have any questions or comments.

Thanks,
Volt-a-tone

Hi Exposure,

Thanks for letting us know the details, I always feel that's interesting to see how people get to certain sounds. The vintage/old recording vibe is a nice thought :-)

Ha, ha, yeah, Arturia choose the "Brute" name very well there.

Have fun with modular and kind regards, Garfield.

Hi Illlumen,

Welcome to modular :-) Did you already both some of the modules? If not yet, you might want to take it easy here. Since you got already a Peak and an OP-1 with a Bass Station too, there is no need to hurry here. You might want to re-considery our choice on the Harmonic Oscillator unless you felt in serious love with it (did you tested it at a dealer?) because it's a large module and looking at the small rack you have, space is something you don't have or at least you should keep in mind your limited HP-space.

I don't have experiences with those modules you mentioned, so I can't comment on them in details, just take it easy and please consider a larger rack. Did you checked out the Intellijel 7U case, 2 * 104 HP? That might be nice to start with.

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

Hi Kel,

Ha, ha, fair enough, only a bit lazy when it comes to think about: "Does this signal contain DC components, yes or no?" ;-)

Cheers, Garfield.

sooooo many notes

I get the impression I am a deep sea diver discovering some ancient underwater music technology!

Very nice :)

I love the Harmonic Oscillator for its organic sound. I am looking for something that could complement my OP-1 and Peak soundwise. As far as I know the E352 Cloud Terrarium should fit the bill quite good. So it would be my first priority. Combined with the Belgrad I imagine wonderful worlds of hybrid drones and moving textures. As third VCO i am looking at a Klavis Twin Wave, especially for its digital "dirt". What do you think?

Hi all,
here a little dark cinematic modular ambient experimentation made with my custon modular sytem mostly based on Make Noise Shared System with some nice additions like Noise Engineering Loqueric Iteritas, mirco O_c and antumbra smog (micro clouds).

The patch idea: Thre are three voices influencing each other. Telharmonic with dpo e telharmonic in ring modulation with the other dpo osc. Loqueric iteritas is the main voice, all passing through clouds. All is modulated by some dependent slow lfos and envelopes.

Hey there,
finally I dived into the rabbit hole and got my first rack. I already have an #OP-1, #Peak and #Bass Station II. They cover a lot of ground and possibilities already - so I wanted my rack to be very precise and focussed. I feel comfortable in a lot genres (Indie, #Ambient, #Downtempo, #Experimental, Techno) but with this racks I wanted something with the possiblity to dive deep without using my mouse. You could call it getting lost in the process. I already had some very deep and productive hours with this rack.

What I am looking for next is a second oscillator. I have the Cloud Terrarium in mind. I tried the #Verbos Complex Oscillator, too. But I think the Harmonic Oscillator fits much more into my acoustic portfolio. I am also looking into getting a #Klavis Twin Wave, which could cover the more digital dirt for me. I was pondering a lot wether I want to have effects in my rack. For now, I want to get the Make Noise #Mimeophone for crazy modulated echo stuff. Sure, I could get something external like Red Panda #Particle - but maybe both sometimes? For reverb needs I have been driving well with plugins, Valhalla and Altiverb. I tend to set and forget them once the setting fits into the track, so no need for CV modulation here.

You see, I have been working (and thinking) a lot about possible next steps.

What do you think? Any special tipps?
What is your experience with those modules mentioned?

Instead on focussing on the original Clouds I would get Typhoon with the Superparasites firmware. You will free up more space and you have much more direct sound tweaking possibilities. Intellijels Quad VCA could be worth a look. I'd save some more money - you'll be in need for more possibilities, soon.

looks like you forgot the power switch?

Hey Garfield,

The cracking noise comes from the filtered noise model in the MI Plaits, I left it there for most of the track as I wanted to give it a kind of vintage / old recording vibe.

Distortions are from the Minibrute. The brute factor know is pretty sweet, between 25% and 45% it adds warmth and fattens the sound, past 50% it goes completely mad.

Thanks for your comments Garfield,

Conceptually, this is interesting, but I'm not sure exactly what this cab is for. Is this a "voice", or is this where you intend to do the signal conversion?

One other point about biosignal work: it's not merely a matter of "connect ficus tree to input preamp". In order to amplify signals of this magnitude, you'll probably wind up needing far more gain than a typical Eurorack input can offer, plus a good bit of signal cleanup. For a decent older example, see l80AAOSwJU5drCq6" target="_blank">https://www.ebay.com/itm/EEG-POLYGRAPH-DATA-RECORDING-MACHINE-GRASS-MODEL-79D-PARTING-OUT/153691498905?hash=item23c8ba2999l80AAOSwJU5drCq6 What you choose for electrodes and leads will also be important; some work well for one application, but are utterly useless for others.

You'll mainly be looking at EEG gear for your signal pickup, since those systems have the necessary amplification factors to bring the biosignals up to a relatively usable level. They also tend to offer the HP/LPFs needed to remove noise and spurious signals on the input...and believe me, you WILL be wrestling with that noise/garbage issue, since it only takes a few feet of unshielded cable to pick up enough electronic crap at the required amplification levels to render all of your bioinput totally useless. However, if you're uncomfortable with electronics that go WAY outside typical synth gear...well, you're just plain screwed. This is very much one of these control methods that requires going outside of most synth users' comfort zones.

It's an interesting idea...one I've tinkered with on occasion. But at the same time, it's an infinite rabbit-hole...so be forewarned!

Um, this is work... need to think about it! Give me a day or so ;)

Oh noooo no no, there is no way you can be into modular synths and be lazy! Some effort is required...!

No wonder you are scared hehe

Come on... you are capable of typing many words, listening to music and saying kind things about it all... not the actions of a lazy person!!

I have no nightmares no, it's not that hard, a little effort and you will also feel confident.

Let me be clear, an oscillator is a device that turns a DC signal into an AC signal - whooooop! Such a simple idea that causes so much confusion! The higher the input voltage the faster the capacitor charges and therefore the faster the release... i.e. the faster the oscillation between charge and discharge... yikes!! Is that it... well, yeah :)

All you need to do to be safe is think about the signal you are generating, is it in audio range? If yes, then, with suitable attenuation (either in the mixer itself or before the signal reaches the mixer e.g. output module), you can almost certainly connect it to your mixer!

I am sure there are folk who will challenge these ideas, but as a working definition it has never screwed me over :)

EDITED May 19th 2020, 00:44

Hi Kel,

Ha, ha, well perhaps with your experience then I would feel confident in being able to make sure that I don't send any DC signals to my mixer but ehm... I don't think I have that expertise yet to be able to do that :-) And on the other hand, my name is Garfield, so I am damn lazy and I don't want to think about... "does this signal has perhaps any DC components, so can I send this to my mixer?"

Sorry, I am too damn lazy for that ;-) I choose my nickname here on purpose ;-)

Ha, ha, 10 up till even 30 outputs to your external mixer... big mixer you got there :-D Well, my mixer is much smaller, so what I am doing is, I am using the Doepfer A-135p (currently two of them) and A-135o so all my "output signals" I mix them with my Doepfer modules (they are chain-able, so if I need to add more voices, I "just" add more of those A-135p modules, theoretically because HP-space & finance might be some issues) and then put them as one (stereo) output to my audio interface. Okay admitted, I got a few audio interfaces, but not as much as handling 10 till 20 voices, maximum I currently can bring to my mixer are 6 outputs (3 * stereo) and for the moment that's enough. Agreed... I am lacking a little bit on Eurorack mixers. I have a Hikari mixer as well (nice one by the way, but not as fancy as the Doepfer) but I could use one more (stereo) mixer. But at least with my current setup I don't worry at all about DC signals to the mixer or not because I forward all the audio output via an audio interface to my mixer. Then again, I guess I mentioned already, I am lazy ;-)

Do you never have nightmares that one day you will overlook a DC component and blow up your monitors? ;-D Well, I had nightmares from day-one since I know about what DC can do to your monitors or speakers...

Kind regards, DC-scared and lazy Garfield ;-)

Thank you Kel, this is the feedback I’m looking for. I was trying to squeeze a quad VCA into the rack but can see I can do a bit more with MI Blinds. If you needed to adjust the rack to fit it in, what might you do?

Er... so don't send Envelopes, LFOs, Gates, Triggers and other modulation sources to your mixer!

You should never send a DC signal to your mixer/sound card!

That's just knowing and paying attention to what you are doing :)

To give you some kind of idea, I typically use between 10 and 20 outputs from my modular straight to the mixer - sometimes up to ~30 - trying to accommodate all those signals through dedicated output modules is impractical to say the least :D

Hi Kel and Ez_bois243,

Just out of curiosity, how sure can you be that your mixer is properly filtering away any unwanted DC signals? Or are you saying that all (modern) mixers do that by default on all their inputs? Unless of course you checked your mixer specifications on that. I couldn't really rule it out on my mixer though.

Once I got to know about those DC signals, I am, being honest here :-) pissing my pants, and not daring to put anything to my mixer before let it go through a proper audio output interface, making sure that any DC components are gone.

Kind regards, Garfield.

Yeah - check the specs!! Attenuate your incoming signals completely... and slowly bring up the levels - you'll get it :))

Hi Ez_bois243,

Yes the Stereo mixer of Toppobrillo will give you good mixer possibilities, absolutely however it's not an audio (input/output) interface as such. On the other hand if you feel as comfortable as Kel to leave it out and you can handle it directly on your mixer then that's fine of course as well. As mentioned it was just a thought :-)

Enjoy your modular and kind regards, Garfield.

Hi Exposure,

Thanks a lot for that nice treat :-) I enjoyed listening at it, very slowly you build up the tension in your music, more and more and... my heart was beating overly excited by your music so much tension was there for the listener, yeah, I like that! :-)

Just one question, on one of your main voices there was a kind of cracking/sizzling noise, did you put it there on purpose, or did you overlooked it? If you put it on purpose there, how did you managed that? Quite curious actually.

Ha, ha, and you definitely know where to find your distortion knobs on your modules ;-)

I look forward in hearing more of your music and kind regards, Garfield.

Hi Garfield it's good to be here. I actually already have a little home studio going including an audio interface and monitors. I believe the outputs of the Toppobrillo will give me a good clean signal for the interface unless I'm mistaken.

An audio interface module is great for starting out, but I let mine go in the end... why? I got a mixer that has tons of headroom and the capability to attenuate incoming signals - it's perfect!

Having said that, I still have an input module for external sources because they do need amplifying considerably to make sense in the modular world.

Gain staging is one of the mot essential skills in music production, if you pay attention to this, and make sure you never clip your signals - you will get better results faster. I spent years messing up before I fully understood this simple but absolutely critical process.

Hi Ez_bois243,

Welcome to the modular world :-) Most has already been said by Kel and Farkas, so please follow/consider their advice, that's spot on.

One little question, just as a kind of food for thought... how are you going to output your sound from your modular rack to your (I assume: external) mixer?

What I am trying to say is :-) That you might want to look into an Audio Interface module. Unless I have it overlooked in your rack. If you have a guitar somewhere laying around and want to use that here and there for some input music into your modular system as well then you might straight away want to consider an Audio Input/Output interface module; otherwise just an output interface might be sufficient.

As already mentioned, take it easy, just a few modules in one go, and start experimenting and playing around with them and enjoy the modular journey into the sonic-cosmic :-) Kind regards, Garfield Modular.

Take your time, follow the triple check protocol when connecting:

Look before you connect, look after you have connected, then check again to make sure you have the power cables the right way round!

Never, ever, deviate from this and you will never fry a module!

Seriously, I will reiterate, you have so much already, obviously up to you... but I strongly recommend you hold your horses going for more modules - you will appreciate everything so much more :)

Hey thank you so much both of you, for taking your time to go over this build with me. I appreciate how you've already honed in on what I need. I agree the MI clones are probably the direction to go if I want to actually keep this within my budget. I did however purchase Veils, Shelves and Maths last night, since I found a few good deals locally. Also it looks like the Knit Plaits clone is almost as expensive as an original Plaits model now so I might just go with Mutable on that as well. I found a marbles clone called Pachinko that's slightly cheaper than Cara. However I can't tell if it lacks any functionality that Cara has. Does anyone know?

I love the Lofi junky idea, I'm a fan of Zvex's guitar pedals and I think this is an effect that I'll get a lot of mileage with. The Milky Way also looks useful so I'll probably snag one at some point. The Stereo Mix 2 is exactly what I was after, thank you for bringing it to my attention! Also pretty stoked about the Varigate 4+ as it looks like the perfect sequencer for this build.

Here are the changes I've made including a few of the modules I've already purchased for myself:

Please feel free to share your thoughts if you have any! I am SO excited to power these up and hear what they can do!

Quick side note: I am in the US. Demand seems high over here right now? Maybe not, but I can't find a reasonably priced Mantis so I'm probably going to pickup a Behringer Eurorack Go. I'll just keep the DFAM and Neutron out of the skiff.

A few days back Reaper stopped working on my computer for an unknown reason, I remembered my audio interface included a copy of Ableton Live Lite so I decided to give it a try and record something.

I used the modular to record some clips and then added effects. Sound sources are MI Plaits + Intellijel µVCF and a Minibrute S2.

Still a lot to learn regarding modular, ableton live and music production in general, but I had a good time recording this one.

I like the idea!

Unfortunately, unless I am missing something, you don't have enough CV utilities for attenuating, inverting and mixing your CV signals. Maths, sure, all well and good, but for the number of modulation sources in there I would say you need at least a couple of extra CV processing modules - say something like MI Blinds.

You're almost certainly going to become very frustrated very quickly without these!

If this doesn't make sense to you and you don't understand why you absolutely need these kinds of utilities, please say so and I am sure someone, possibly myself, will point you in the right direction :)

Haha, I knew I was missing something else - yes - the other aspect of thing your time and going slowly is that it will definitely let you know what you need rather than just what catches your eye/ear :)

I definitely recommend this approach very much!!

Good advice Kel. I forgot to include a disclaimer that by slowly buying one or two things at a time, you start to realize what is really missing from your rig. It's often not what you thought you wanted in the first place. Thanks for the reminder.
I like the few Mutable modules I have (except Clouds. Can't seem to click with that one. haha), and I definitely get a little frustrated by the space constraints of the MI clones. It's definitely worth having a discussion about the compromises between cost/space.

To counter this and give a different (not better - just different) perspective, one of the most compelling features of the MI modules is their ergonomics - there is a reason they are laid out so beautifully - it makes them easy and fun to play!

My advice is that you already have an awful lot of functionality in the Behringer Neutron and Moog DFAM, so pick just one or two modules from your selection and really get to know them inside out. This will do a couple of things, one it will stop you from being overwhelmed (and finishing off your bank balance ha!) and make you really explore all the possibilities of those modules in combination with what you have already - I think you will be surprised how much difference just one or two modules makes.

My choice would be Maths, because it is a perennial favourite and for good reason, and for practical reasons the Mutant Brain!

If you would really like to go one further, I am going to make a shameless plug and mention that I have an original MI Elements in perfect condition for sale at a very good price and i could use the cash heh ;)

Wish you all the very best whatever you decide!

Also, the Peaks clone (Pique) has a lot of features including a Turing Machine, drums, LFOs, and more in a tiny package.

Hmmm... To keep it close to your budget, you will probably want to stick with clones of the Mutable Instruments modules. They are smaller, cheaper, and sonically identical. The only real downside is the ergonomics because of the diminished size. I would recommend a Marbles clone (Cara) for your random gates/sequencing interests. I believe it quantizes. I always recommend the Malekko Varigate 4+ sequencer for small builds as well: 4 CV or 4 gate or 2 CV/2 gate sequencing with quantization.
In regards to the video you shared and the Boards of Canada interest, you may want to consider the ZVex Instant LoFi Junky and a small multi-effects unit for the warbly, wobbly vibe. You could substitute a Rings clone instead of the Elements clone (Atom). I would consider adding some sample playback capability too (Disting Mk 4 and Radio Music) for the BOC feel.
I put together a quick rack based on your ideas with a Toppobrillo Stereo Mix 2 instead of the PanMix, though the PanMix looks cool. All of this would fit in a TipTop Mantis, supplementing what you already have, and still leave you a little room to grow.
Have fun and good luck!

Hello everyone! I am in the process of building my 1st eurorack with biofeedback from plants and humans. It will consist of atmospheric, pscychedelic, grooves from plants, sensors and various outboard gear. This first stage is mostly for ambience with various percussive rhythms and building up to have a plant band.

I currently own a Structure 208hp case by Pittsburgh Modular, 2 Instru Scions, MI Rings, Strymon Magneto and Roland 531. And also have a 2.4sink for more biofeedback on order.

The pieces I picked out for the eurorack are close to what I could imagine it doing but would greatly be appreciated for more input and discussion on this rack, patching, links, and future ideas.

Thank you, SvenZ

https://cdn.modulargrid.net/img/racks/modulargrid_1210552.jpg?1589737465

EDITED May 17th 2020, 17:45

Hello, I have decided to put together my first modular rig. I have a lot of experience with Analog and software synthesizers but modular is still pretty new to me. I have been playing around with VCV rack for a while, as well as consuming hours of youtube tutorials/demos. At this point I just want to shut off my computer and dive into the modular world.

My goal is to be able to create generative ambient and psychedelic music. Boards of Canada's sound comes to mind. I also really like the sounds Emily Sprague of Florist comes up with, although her setup is a lot larger than I am looking for at this time.

I want to try to keep it around $2000-$3000 for now.

I already own the Behringer Neutron and Moog DFAM, those are here to stay for a while at least. I also plan on getting an Arturia KeyStep midi controller to create some sequences and patterns. Does anyone see any glaring issues with this build so far? One thing I am still looking for is a stereo mixer with sends/returns on it, as I plan on incorporating some FX modules in the future. Any recommendations there?

Thanks for your time, I am so excited about all of this and I'm looking forward to getting feedback from the community here.

*Edit
I made a few changes but they don't seem to appear in the image above. Looks like you need to click the Img link to see them.

EDITED May 17th 2020, 18:56

Liking it :)

Now, wait a sec...if the Dyson runs on DC, then wouldn't it possible to DIRECTLY connect it to the modular? Sure, you'd have to add a CV In jack to the vacuum, but hey...something akin to a DC Servo module could pull this off...

Hi Quantum Eraser,

Ha, ha, what a creativity you must have, to come with an idea like this! If I hate something seriously from the household stuff then it's the vacuum cleaner but the subtle way you did it here, I shouldn't have worried. I don't know how you did it (okay with the Arbhar ;-) ) but you managed to keep it subtle while still... how shall we call it... powerful? to listen at! Yeah, there is definitely a "dark tone" to it, but I like it.

Nicely done, I enjoyed the entire track!

What can I say? I hope you are going to try out a lot of "lousy household" apparatus and I look forward to more funny, creative and yet beautiful/nice tracks from you :-)

Have a nice Sunday and kind regards, Garfield.

Just a litte Experiment :-) Recorded my Dyson Vacuum Cleaner into Arbhar with the built in Microphone and made some Dark Drones out of it. Reverb from Mutable Instruments Clouds

Headphones recommended

You mean there are people here who can afford modular and don't have a Unicorn?

It's 10. My hp measuring eyes tells me.
-- KNYST
OK. Thanks.

It's 10. My hp measuring eyes tells me.

Sorry, is it 8hp or 10hp? At the Erica Synths website is described as 8hp. Some shop in my country too. I'm really interested about the combo Black HADSR+Expander. Thanks in advance.

https://www.ericasynths.lv/shop/discontinued/black-cv-expander/

EDITED May 16th 2020, 15:30

Upgrade your account.

Very nice - thank you for sharing :)

Hi Funbun,

Nice video! Around 2:30 when I saw those rocks on the other side of the river, I suddenly went back in time, on Mars when there was still water running, beautiful! I also like the subtle sounds of your AE modular system, goes well with the video.

Nice flowers and nature impressions by the way, from your own garden or from the area of the river you live nearby?

Thank you very much for sharing and kind regards, Garfield.

Hi, same problem here, 4 row limit on any device/computer... :(
-- Oracio Hi, this is easily solved if you pay to upgrade your account to UNICORN level! ;-) See this link:
https://www.modulargrid.net/e/users/pro_index