Thanks for your help!

That rack looks great and I can see so many possibilities with it (love the Sloth and Disting).
If I was to get a slighter larger case is there anything you think I am desperately missing?

I think I'd like to eventually get the Hermod as I like that fact I could save sequences.
Is there anything similar but in a smaller size?

Once again, thanks so much for your help.

Hi Caroline. You will want something for triggers/gates to compliment the Voltage Block. You might want to consider replacing one of the Voltage Blocks with a Pamela’s New Workout and/or a Varigate. It would probably be a good idea to replace the mixer with a quad VCA too.
What kind of music are you making?
Have fun and good luck!

So I made this rack a while ago and I already have Clouds and the 4ms row power. I chose these modules because they were the ones the caught my interest the most. Would appreciate some feedback on my setup, thanks!

The Endorphin.es Milky Way is 6hp and 30mm. You may want to check that one out.

Not really. 2hp verb is a great stereo reverb in, well, 2hp. Not sure if there's a 2hp stereo delay. Pico DSP does both in 3hp but is only mono in.

I'll look into the other VCOs. The first 1U module on the left is the Intellijel Midi 1U. It has outputs for a clock (and at a 1/16 rate), pitch, gate, trigger, cc, mod wheel, velocity, run, and reset. I was thinking that I would use the 4 4-out mults I have (the 2x4 part of the Palette and the 2x4 module) for the gate, pitch, clock, and have a 4th one as patch-dependent. The velocity out I would connect to the 1U VCA (which is the sole reason for the VCA in the first place) which would be the last module in the chain before I send it on out using the Line Out 1U module. I would use this with an Arturia Keylab midi keyboard or one of my other synths that have a midi out. I go back and forth with adding the Dnipro Modular Dot sequencer. If I were to add the Dot module, I would replace the Behringer VCO with a smaller sized VCO (probably a duplicate of the other VCO I currently have in there). I like the idea of having a sequencer but I don't think I would get a ton of value out of one for the kind of sound I would use this synth for.

I didn't know of the Deepmind but now that I have been looking into it I am strongly considering buying it

Thanks, @savagemessiah. Out of curiosity, do you know of any other 4HP modules that offer at least stereo reverb and delay?

I've got an FX AID in a palette and I didn't have to do anything weird to make it fit. It was very close so keep in mind that the tolerances of the metal folding used for eurorack cases are such that there's a slim chance it won't fit for you, though.

Hi all,

I am considering an Fx Aid from Happy Nerding for my Intellijel Palette case. However, I see that the module depth is 45 mm according to ModularGrid, although I can't find confirmation of that on the Happy Nerding website. The case's depth is also reported as 45 mm in the specs, and when I measured it myself and calculated the depth it came to 45.24 mm. That strikes me as so close that I am now concerned about getting the module and discovering that I'd have to damage it just to get it installed. Just how much clearance am I likely to have? Has anyone else successfully installed an Fx Aid module in a Palette case?

I would think that you might want something like a Triple Sloths or Zadar for unusual or evolving modulation. I just got the Ochd, and it is outstanding with eight "organic" LFOs in 4hp.
Yes, I think a different oscillator would be wise. The oscillators you picked out are ok for basic wave shapes, but you probably won't get great pads with these. Plaits is popular in these small racks for a reason due to its broad range of synthesis types. There is even a 6hp micro Plaits that would provide you with more options than the oscillators you have chosen. Maybe even the Cursus Iteritas for a wavetable-ish oscillator that can do evolving sounds with some modulation. For the "pluck" sounds, you might want a low pass gate in addition to VCAs and envelopes.
I'm not familiar with the 1u modules you have chosen. Will one of them provide triggers for envelopes or gates to keep everything in time like a Pamela's New Workout or other master clock/clock divider? How will you sequence or play everything? Do you have something like a Beatstep Pro, or will you need a sequencing module?
Ronin is right in that a Deepmind or something like that will get you closer to what you want for far less money, unless you have plans to expand beyond this palette case considerably. Unfortunately, that's kind of the state of modular synthesizers.
Let me know if I can answer any other questions.

Ronin,

Thank you for the recommendation. I will look into it.

Farkas,

What makes the setup difficult for me get what I am trying to achieve? How would I be able to improve the functionality so that the outcome is closer to what I am trying to achieve? I am not necessarily talking about modules specifically, but what type of functionality do you think is missing that I should try to add (ie: different lfo shapes, a more "flexible" oscillator, etc)?

The input has been much appreciated

What about something like this?

I have most of the modules suggested here, and I think you could get a lot out of them. Some of the other folks here will likely have other recommendations.
As this is a small rack, I tried to pack a lot of functionality and utilities into your rack so you won't get bored quickly. Maths is great, but you can pack a lot more into that 20hp. Disting can serve as just about anything, so it's almost a must-have in a rack this size. For Eno-esque evolving textures, you will want a lot of modulation sources so I have included Sloths for slow random movement, Quadrax for envelopes and LFOs, and Pique for a little bit of everything (envelopes, LFOs, drum sounds, mini-sequencing options, etc.). The 3xMIA attenuates CV signals, and you will also want VCAs to control volume over time.
Let us know how it goes.
Have fun!

Thanks for the reply!

My plan is to try and make evolving chord soundscapes. (Eno meets Reich?)
Originally the Subharmonicon wasn’t in there but rather than buy a larger case later on I thought I’d put it in there.
Eventually I’ll replace it with VCOs, VCAs, envelopes and filters.

For the moment I thought of using Hermod to sequence the chordal modes in both Plaits and Rings occasionally (or use them as single voices) as the Subharmonicon can produce nice chords.
On reflection, I think you are right, and the 0-control would be better used for its touchplates/keyboard abilities (I currently use it for controlling PWM and cutoff on the Moog as well as sequencing the 0-Coast).

I’ve had a fair bit of experience with synths (hardware and VCV) but am fairly new to completely modular.
I’ve learnt a lot from my 0-Coast and would really love to expand my setup... and knowledge!

My plan is not to really go larger than this though, as I’ll be using a similar sized pedal board for outboard effects and I’d like it to be fairly portable.

Any suggestions or help would be really appreciated!

I've looked at this rack a few times, but I have some questions first so I might be able to offer some advice: When you say "a lot of chordal voices," are you referring to the chord mode within Plaits? Are you planning to add other oscillators, envelopes, and VCAs so that you can sequence those as chords?
How far are you looking to go with this? If you are planning to sequence with the 0-Control, Hermod might be a bit overkill with a rack this small, but it's pretty common to expand beyond a first small rack so it might make sense in the long run. I'm just not sure what you are envisioning long term.
If you are ok with using external gear, why eat up all of your rack space with the Subharmonicon?
How much prior experience do you have with synths?
Let me know what your thinking is on these, and I'll help if I can.
Have fun and good luck!

You're going to burn up $1000 in a heartbeat and not get anywhere. Unless you have a budget of around $3000+, you're going to have more of a novelty than a system that you can use to get the results you want.

Buy a Behringer Deepmind 12D. Tons of modulation possibilities and way under your budget.

It's going to be tough to get what you are describing ("a lot of modulation, bass, leads, plucks, pads") from this setup. What you have built is not too much different than a Behringer Crave, which can be found for about $200-$250. I would recommend picking up a semi-modular (Crave, Mother 32, 0-Coast) for these duties and using the palette case to supplement that with more interesting modules like Plaits, or maybe even an E352? An Intellijel Quadrax or DivKid Ochd will give you a fair amount of modulation. Happy Nerding makes a lot of nice inexpensive 6hp modules like a 3xVCA and many more. I would recommend doing a bit more research before you pull the trigger on this rack so you get the results you describe under your price point.
Something to consider.
Have fun and good luck!

Hi All.

I am in the process of buying/building my first eurorack. I am a music producer and I can get most of the sounds I want from other sources. What I struggle to get is evolving sounds. I need this synth to be able to do a lot of modulation. In addition to that, it needs to be able to cover from bass sounds to leads and from plucks to pads. But I do not need it to be able to make drum-like sounds (which is why I don't currently have a sequencer). I also can only spend $1,000 on the modules.

I am going to get the Intellijel Palette case. In addition to that, there are a few modules I am going to get no matter what. They are the 3 Intellijel 1U modules and the Behringer 150. I also need some way of having velocity control (which is the sole purpose of the VCA but that is only the most effective way I found. I am not necessarily "locked in" to that specific VCA if there is a better way). Beyond that, I want your guys input on if there is anything I should change.

I also don't know how to post an in-line picture in the forum so I have attached a link to the eurorack here: https://cdn.modulargrid.net/img/racks/modulargrid_1232114.jpg?1591801855 . If that doesn't work, you can find my rack by searching "Loiben"

Hi there,

I'm planning on assembling a rack with for ambient performances but with a lot of chordal voices.
Currently I have the Subharmonicon and an 0-coast and 0-cntl.
I plan on using the 0-cntl for sequencing and playing live (but not mounting it).
Also, I've got a large guitar pedal board with a lot of reverbs, delays and loopers which I'd like to use (hence the Rosie).

What do you think of this rack set up?
I'm kinda going round in circles now so your opinions would be great!

EDITED Jun 10th 2020, 20:35

Two words - it's fun.

I find modular to be like finger painting with sound. I'm finally starting to develope some techniques, some ways to get predictable results, but the main appeal for me still is that it's a happy accident machine. I am not an organized thinker and making 'music' via patching is perfect for the way my brain works.
-- baltergeist

Yeah, I've just started and knowing that I can turn my setup on, make a couple of connections and have some fresh sounds going is an incentive to get up in the morning. And the more I do it, the more I start to get it. It's deep and wide and light.

@Lugia
Very interesting real life examples of those everlasting questions about art and technical means: 'Should I retain or break the common rules?', 'Should I use or dismiss instruments and tools I could use?'

History of art, and music in particular, abounds with great examples: the use of a keyboard (an harpsichord at that time) as a soloist in a concerto, traditionally limited to a role of continuo instrument (JS Bach was the first to dare it), the integration of vocal soloists and a chorus in a historically instrumental form (Beethoven symphony No 9), the use of vinyl discs, tape recorders and sampling techniques (Pierre Schaeffer creating musique concrète), etc.

"Don’t be ashamed of your own ideas. Most musicians get applauded for sounding like someone else.

People try something out that they think is exciting, and everyone looks a little unsure. Then they play an old James Brown riff and everyone’s saying: ’Wow! That’s what we want!’

Most of the time musicians are being encouraged to sound recognizable. What I’m doing [as a producer] is encouraging them at the points when they’re not."

[ Brian Eno ]

@baltergeist
And YES, baltergeist, THAT'S REALLY FUN! :))

EDITED Jan 8th 2021, 11:02

Thanks for your answers. I will consider the forbidden planet as well.
In general the rabbit hole gets deeper and deeper. It seems like a mistake to try putting a rack for everything together - every other minute I'm questioning my choices. I definetely have to deep dive in some modul manuals to see if they really fit what is in my head.

I love the tone of the Furthrrr Generator. I use it all the time and would buy it again in a heartbeat. For whatever reason, though, I struggle with the E352. I bought it mostly for drones and textures, but it sounds so much different than everything else in my rack that I have a hard time fitting it in to what I do. I'm not an analog purist by any means, but that thing has a very clean/digital sound. It's so dynamic and every setting seems to fill the entire audio spectrum, so I've found it hard to layer things over top of it. I likely need to EQ it better. I use the FM and morph settings a lot more than the cloud settings. I'm not sure that I would buy it again, but I'm not in any hurry to get rid of it. I think I just need to spend more time with it. It's pretty deep.
Have fun with your new rack!

Hi Farkas,

Oh wow, you got yourself a nice rack there :-) Pretty full too...

I would love to have myself that Furrrrr generator too, with my first test at my local dealer I didn't manage to get a proper sound out of it but during a second test, wow, it literally blew my head off, so nice! But looking at the point of how much it shrinks the bank account, is it still worth it you think?

How about the E352 Cloud Terrarium from Synthesis Technology, do you like it, also worth the investment? I got the E330 multimode VCO and I am quite happy with that one, would the E352 or actually I was looking at the E340 Cloud Generator, be a nice addition to the E330? I just read that E340 is sold out :-(

Well, I could talk all night about interesting modules and stuff but I just reorganised my modules the last few days, since I just recently added a new rack (didn't had for months enough space for new modules), so I want to play a bit with my new setup. Sorry to have to let you go because of that ;-)

Kind regards, Garfield.

Actually, my suggestion would be the Tiptop Forbidden Planet, cosmetic issues be damned. The price is excellent, it's very straightforward to use, plus hiding behind that panel is the craziness that IS a proper Steiner-Parker Synthacon VCF, but with the added fun of being able to input to more than one response curve at the same time. The original didn't let you do that, but it WOULD just about tear your ears off in extreme BP and HP settings...definitely a lead-voice screamer!

Worth noting:

Original Minimoog sales figures, 1970-1981: 12,000+ units.

I see them listed but not in stock. For example: https://vintageking.com/2hp-loop-sound-looper-module?gclid=EAIaIQobChMIyu3xxcP16QIVQxx9Ch38_wfHEAYYASABEgJ1lfD_BwE

It's hard to argue against Mutable Instruments' Ripples for a good all-around filter. The Joranalogue Filter 8 looks really nice too.

thanks a lot @rossduncan . The Disting MK4 is definitely on my list and I will look into the Short Bus. I also added a Mimetic Digitalis for some interactive sequence action.
Any recommendations on another good small filter for this kind of a rack? The Forbidden Planet looks like a bang for the buck but I just don't like the look of it.

Having done the exact same thing I can strongly recommend Pamela's New Workout (which could replace both the Trigg and the Quad LFO). This is more fun than having the DFAM be the master clock because Pam lets you drive the DFAM sequencer with more interesting rhythms. Combined with something like the Short Bus this is very good.

Also : Disting Mk4 is well worth its 4hp because it can do so many things.

Any news about this module? It was announced for April initially but I'm guessing COVID-19 screwed up their plans since I can't find anyone selling it.

Just curious. I'm enjoying my Tetrax and Cocoquantus 2, wondering if anyone has tips, guidance, enthusiasm to share.

Cheers. Yep, that's likely what has happened.
I have had another one today! They've messaged me to say it was an accident.

Two words - it's fun.

I find modular to be like finger painting with sound. I'm finally starting to develope some techniques, some ways to get predictable results, but the main appeal for me still is that it's a happy accident machine. I am not an organized thinker and making 'music' via patching is perfect for the way my brain works.

I'd no idea it was that many (MATHS and MG members). I stand corrected!

Hi Modulargrid,

62k active members or 62k sold items on Market place?
-- GarfieldModular

62k members that managed to click on the activation link in the registration mail

62,000 users? That's hardly believable !
-- fredeke

You can see them all here and write them a PM :)
https://www.modulargrid.net/e/users

Maybe ask the person kindly why they did that? I accidentally rated someone negative when viewing this site on an iPad. The device is pretty good at preventing unintentional button presses but they do happen.

EDITED Jun 9th 2020, 07:22

Hello, everyone,

after quite some time with VCV, and reading hundreds of threads, posts and articles, I want to enter the world of real knobs and controls. I put this rack together, but honestly I'm torn which modules are really must-have and what is still missing.

With this rack I want to add new layers, textures, simple melodies and basslines, besides my DFAM and various synths - so it should be a starter (budget) allrounder rack, which is also suitable for a jam session on its own.
I'm mainly interested in the initial start with the rack, surely more modules, second voice, effects and modulators will be added later. (like the Disting and so on)

Especially in combination with the DFAM I'm not sure what the best modules are for the beginning, to experiment with them but still create good and rich sounds. Not to mention the choice of filters and VCO (any recommendations?) - the market is simply overwhelming. Unfortunately I don't have a shop near me to test modules.

I am interested in your help, experiences and some feedback.
thanks

EDITED Jun 9th 2020, 08:22

62,000 users? That's hardly believable !

Thanks for listening, Garfield. The reggae vibe just started flowing, so I went with it.
Because the lighting around my synth is pretty poor, I usually put effects on any videos I upload to Instagram. You should be able to see my current rack if you click on my Modular Grid profile (though I haven't bought the Eloquencer yet).
Take care!

Hi Farkas,

That's quite funny that dub reggae type of music, never expected that for a modular system, but why not, right? :-) So I liked that quite a bit!

Only pity I didn't see much of your setup since you made the video pretty "unclear" ;-)

Thanks a lot for sharing and kind regards, Garfield.

Hi Rookie,

He, he, yeah, it might indeed take 40 additional voices or something like that to realise a symphony... not to speak of the x-number of large additional casings you are going to need to put those 40 voices into it...

That's perhaps a con of modular ;-) But it would be funny and cool to see a complete symphony played by a modular system. Must be one or two walls full of modular stuff I guess...

Well it's nice to dream, I continue dreaming and I guess & hope you continue making nice music ;-) Kind regards, Garfield.

Hi Baltergeist,

Well... the Maths module, if the serial number is any indication of sold/produced items (which I somehow believe it might do), I got a serial number in the 10 thousands, 17-thousand-something is mine one. Whereby indeed other modules of Make Noise are rather in the few thousands and not in the 10-thousand area. Dynamix serial number is even lower than 700. So it could be roughly an indicator of quantity sold or at least produced?

Kind regards, Garfield.

Hi Modulargrid,

62k active members or 62k sold items on Market place?

Kind regards, Garfield.

https://www.instagram.com/p/CBMIx4tBpZ6/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link

Here's a dub reggae type thing I put together using the DivKid Ochd that arrived today. I liken this module to the lightning that brought Frankenstein's monster to life. Probably the best 4hp module you could buy outside of a Disting.
Thanks for checking it out.

Hello.

I have been rated negative by a user I have never even conversed with.

Please advise.

Searchable User Messages

You can now search in your private user messages. This feature will be probably used by myself the most.

I keep coming back to this concept to think on it. What I'm going to do right off is to be more intentional about how I manage and separate sound within my modular. Mixing and levels, but also use of filters to control range and separation more effectively. I feel like I'm a being lazy here, especially allowing bass and mid-range sounds to run over everything else.

When I listen to some of my favorite synth artists on my current monitoring setup, their presentation is cleaner, crisper, and more polished than my own. I don't think I'm making the most of what is it front of me. I'll start there.

-mowse

Happy to share :-)
I also love to read how people are making music, so interesting to discover many little differences and ideas.

Cheers! ETA is mid July.

On ModularGrid we are currently 62.000.