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After some further digging, I'd say the term polarizer is a bit of a grey area in eurorack. When googling, I see several discussions on Modwiggler where people are debating whether the word polarizer is equal to inverter OR attenuverter.
The brand Doepfer consistently uses the term polarizer only in the context of attenuverters.
If search for the keyword "polarize" in the free text input field here to search for modules that have that text somewhere in the title or description, it only shows modules with attenuverters.
On the other hand, if I search for the function "Polarizer", it also shows modules that only have an inverted out and no attenuverter, which is in line with using polarizer as synonym for inverter.
I guess if everybody would agree on only using the terms attenuverter and inverter from now on (and abandon the word polarizer), there would not be any confusion, but that is probably never going to happen :-)
1) Think of ergonomics and playablity. If it's not easy and fun to play, you won't end up using it. Good on 2hp for doing an amazing job filling a niche, literally, but you really need to think about the playability of lots of little knobs next to each other. Are you really going to be able to comfortably tweak a parameter without knocking a different knob by accident? You should be thinking about spacing and tweakability as you go, so the system doesn't end up being a pain to play.
2) VCAs. I think a cascading VCA has more potential than 4 independent VCAs. Hard to beat 8 VCAs in that footprint, but you're missing out on some interesting functionality.
3) Drums in rack. People often caution against going drums in rack cuz it's not the most price or space effective way of getting drums, but hey, you do you. Personally, I think they're fun. However, you might want to consider a cv controllable sampler like vpme.de's quad drums, a bitbox, or the assimil8or (which is an absolute dream, by the way). They aren't analog, but they will give you a tremendous amount of flexibity in a relatively small footprint. They tend to be pricey, however.
4) Too much hp spent on sound sources. Sorry, but in a rack this size, you should be limiting your oscillators and sound sources so you can spare room for the other types of modules (like utlities) that really help set modular apart.
5) Utilities! You have attenuators and VCAs and mixers, but there are some interesting other options that can play nicely with rhythm based music. Logic modules, comparators, clock modulators, routers/switches, and sample and holds are just a few types of modules that can really help add intricacy and complexity to your sequences and rhythms and give you a ton of flexibilty. Take some time looking through the different utilities listed on here, or watch some videos about the types listed above. You'll probably be getting ideas popping off in no time.
6) Computer connections. Depending on what you're aiming for you might be interested in connecting your system directly to your computer. That way you can record directly to your DAW or, more interestingly, use your rack in conjunction with software modular programs like VCV rack or voltage modular (I think there are a few others now, too). Something like Expert Sleeper's ES-8 or ES-9 (both come in black) do this magically.
Suggestion: add 'Inverter' to the list of available options for module functions.
-- MPCman
it's already there, although not as 'Inverter' - Polarizer - means the same thing
-- JimHowell1970
Thanks for mentioning that. Interesting, I thought that polarizer was synonym for attenuverter, but it apperantly is not :)
It looks like there are currently a lot of modules with inverter/polarizer functionality that do not have that Function label in the database.
after beeing very interested in eurorack for some years now I finally put aside a little bit of money to start my first rack. Since I am on a budget I want to make a 6U/104HP.
I made a first concept here and would like to hear your opinions and advice
My idea for this rack is to be a solid studio companion and analog sound design tool for somewhat harder techno. For that I wanted the Mindphaser since I just loved everything I heard about it :) I also liked the sound of the black polivoks and the wasp filter.
But I also just want to have fun with it and be able to jam without to much trouble. So I included some Drums and percussion as well as the bassline module.
Since the size is a bit limiting I decided to use a Beatstep Pro as the main sequencer and record everything directly into an external mixer. The Rack will only be making an manipulating sound.
I wanted to include some effects and use the Ghost mostly for my drum bus and the noise engineering effects for synth voices. But of course thats interchangeable. I like the Quart and ochd and was always amazed of the possibilities of Maths (also I'm a mathematician^^) . The rest of the space, I tried to fill up with as many utility stuff as I could.
So what do you think? Is this a good setup? Am I missing something? Can I improve things? Do I have a decent amount of VCAs?
I also made a bare minimum set with wich I plan to start and expand it over time. So I can get into the workflow and better decide what I really need. And also I don't have to spend so much money at once. I would also love to hear what you think about this setup :)
sent 330€ with friendly payment.
registered package is lost (at the moment they are searching for it), not even got over his local post office checkpoint.
he refuse to refund in case the package is lost forever claiming it's not his responsability.
not even considering or proposing a partial refund or something similar.
the package could actually reappear and be found by LaPoste(french postal service) but anyway his intentions and ethic i think is worth to be aware of.
you can read more on this thread: https://www.modulargrid.net/e/forum/posts/index/12592
updates: after threating going to kick his ass at his address he refunded half of the money
here the new answer from Mr "hundred of transactions"
Listen, i will answer you with some points :
-First, the adress was correctly indicated. I don’t make any mistake. Also, if the adress is wrong , the package would return to me.
-Secondly, all your explainations about responsability and rules were quite non respectfully acceptable. I already explained to you how things work usually and i manage an hundred of transactions here without any problem
-Thirdly, about my local post, i can only say that they suck because i don’t have any answer about my case and no, they don’t gonna refund me, becauseif it was the case, of course i would refund you ! I’m not a thief !
So yeah, this situation sucks and for now i can’t do much more unless wait an answer.
That’s all i can tell
Sorry about that… I will keep you in touch if something comes in
Have a nice day
For my Palette 62, I got a Befaco AC/DC. It has 4 ins and 4 outs, so 4 to PC and 4 back to modular. I like its size and functionality, but I need to say it's very noisy. I found this out the hard way and found discussions about it on the forums as well. I contacted Befaco about it but no reply yet. But if you can live with that (which I can, because the Befaco is in it only when I'm out of the house on holiday and taking only the Palette case), the Befaco is a nifty small module that's not too deep for the Palette cases.
The ES-8, as well as the ES-9, have a depth of 50mm. There is this solution: 4ms Pod34X or Pod64X (Powered): 55mm of available depth. The advantage is also that you can place it halfway between your modular and your computer.
I'm playing around with an Intellijel palette case (62hp) and wondering if there is any sort of alternative to something like the ES-8 that would allow me to get audio into my DAW? I have the ES-8 but it is too deep to fit into the palette case.
In the end I do have a spare Focusrite audio interface and I can just get the 1U stereo line out and use the Focusrite but was curious if there might be a different option.
There are several modular synth renditions of Terry Riley’s “In C” out there, but none (as far as I know) of his keyboard studies. So here's my take on the first of those studies. I'm using multiple MIDI files and random S&H to turn this into more of a generative piece. Further patch notes in the video.
Matrix mixers are recommended pretty frequently here, and I would suggest investigating how you might use one of those to inject some life into your current workflow. They're fun for feedback patching, combining modulation sources, and using as parallel routing. The Doepfer A138 is awesome but large at 20hp. I'm sure there are smaller options.
Have fun and good luck!
Hi everyone,
I am starting to build my modular system but, since I am a newbie, I need some advice.
I just bought the Intellijel 7U Case 104 HP so I would like to make use of the 1U for utilities and mixing.
I need to mix 4 inputs (VCOs and drum modular) and then to output the mix to the PA and headphones.
What mixer/utilities would you suggest to buy, in order to take advantage of the case features?
Thanks in advance!
Giamnaria
Hi, anyone using the Bluebox Eurorack Edition – Compact Digital Mixer? Is it rock solid or buggy like the desktop version?
I've previosly owned the deskop version and on a good day it was was fantastic. However, it was a bit unreliable and froze too often. I've owned a BlackBox and currently use a BitBox without drama. There was some online discussion about problems with BlueBox deaktop beesion and its USB power supply. I'm hoping new one is more reliable.
Some wild responses here. Obviously the law should be considered here, considering it is a matter of law when there's a conflict. Something being lost, that sucking, but the retailer fixing the issue doesn't count as a conflict.
In the US it is quite clear. Sellers ship, sellers insure (even if they ask you to pay for it), sellers are the ones who have to file lost package claims, etc. It's on them. The one case it becomes the buyer's responsbility is if the buyer specifically waives a signature delivery. For example, Perfect Circuit requires a signature by default, but you can select the option to have your package just dropped off.
Private sales are the wild west, though. Always confirm terms in writing. I'm sure you could civilly sue someone, but you'd have to have been screwed out of quite the expense for it to be worth it to hire a lawyer.
I've had packages lost and the sellers immediately replaced or refunded, without question. Because it is the right thing to do. It isn't the buyer's responsibility to insure anything. It is the seller's. And they, in turn, charge the buyer. If they don't offer insurance, then it is on them. Period.
I will now use this thread to inform my fellow Gridders that I purchased a pedal from COAST SONIC (don't ever buy from them!!!!!). It was a Chase Bliss 1978 Reverb pedal ($900 big ones!). They provided "free shipping" but I never got it. The post office simply left it outside (no signature required, no insurance). We were able to use their GPS pin (they do that now) to pin it down to the approximity of my address (actually said next door). Either way, they refused to replace it, citing that it is MY responsibility to purchase insurance (which they, of course had never offered or even mentioned.)
That was a $900 loss for me. I will never forget.
why such a small case? I'd go bigger - 104hp - that way you have room to expand once you realise theere are more modules you need, without buying another case
why do you think that the main purpose of a waveshaper is as a vca?
I would suggest looking for similar threads on modwiggler - I know there's at least one good one where a lot of euroserge 'experts' discuss recommended 'smallish' systems
"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!!!
Hi,
just one thing about insurance:
you can pay insurance when you ship something, but in case of loss or damage you have to prove the value of your gear.
So you must have the original invoice to prove it.
If you don't have any invoice you will receive the fixed compensation. Even if you have paid an insurance.
It's useless to pay insurance if you don't have an invoice.
I don't know if the seller has the original invoice, but if he has it he should have pay insurance.
No need for the buyer to ask it.
In France, fixed compensation is 75€ + shipping paid for the parcel (for a module most of the time it's ~15€).
That means, if your parcel is lost, the seller will receive 90€ from La Poste...
so next question is...
if the package will be lost and the user is not refunding me, do i have the right to write his name/username in the "bad trader list" here on MG explaining the situation?
this is his full response on my complain about not wanting to refund:
I know well how it works, and when people want to use paypal protection service or ask me for insured package (and so they pay for that), i make sure that the package is insured at the value of the material. I make a lot of transaction in France and EU via multiple platform and i never had any problem with that. If you don’t pay for an insured shipping, you take a risk, and it is what it is unfortunately. I know it sucks but i’m not a shop so if people want security for shipping, they have to pay for it…
Hope they will find it, of course i will keep you in touch of the news.
Sorry about this situation but i can’t do much more
there is no benefit or standard in patching a lpg and a filter together in any particular order - more often than not just an lpg and no filter as a low pass gate is a vca and a filter in series with the closing of the vca and the cutoff frequency of the low pass filter linked (often using a vactrol or something to emulate a vactrol) so that as the vca closes, the frequency of the cut off reduces - the vactrol (or substitute) acts as a decay envelope
the lpg is more 'west coast' - think buchla - where theere was less use of deedicated filters as 'west coast' synthesis was more additive (wavefolders etc) - ie add harmonic content
patching vcas and filters is more 'east coast' ie subtractive - think moog - in the minimoog architecture the filter is before the vca - which imparts the characteristics of the filter on the oscillator 'drone' before the amplitude is effected by the envelope (in this case an adsr) which means that the filter will be driven, especially noticable with a resonant filter... if the vca is before the filter then depending on the envelope applied to open the vca, the vca will not be as driven - the same would happen if you use an lpg instead of a vca
as you said the only answer is which ever sounds better to synthesist in the context of the piece of music they are making
"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!!!
Well done for not getting shot down for being a Reason user, I seem to recal when i made my first post I didn't fair so well with certain people's comments.
Welcome to the addiction and the quickly emptying wallet!
-- wishbonebrewery
I used to use Reason years ago... it's great & it's one of the things that got me into modular - that along with the realization that some of the guitar pedals I was using were effectively (part of) a modular synthesizer...
"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!!!
I'm sorry you had to deal with that kind of behvior. We are all just trying to express ourselvs as artists, and how you do it should not matter. It's pretty juvenile and quite embarrassing for the community I'd imagine. Anyway, still not quite sure about the modular step just yet. They say do a ton of reseach before plunging in, so that's the stage I'm at now. I have and always had musical direction so that's coverd. I'm not doing this because it's "cool" and everyone else is doing it. I'd just like to create a performance Dark Drone/Ambient case I could knob tweak along with a couple other pieces of gear, away from the PC. I really don't have an addictive personality and I really don't want this case to go beyond the Tiptop Mantis's capacity. This will only be one component (Drones) of a larger picture. Not a closed, self contained monstrosity I could could barley manage, financially or mentally. What I'll probably end up doing, to start, is just get the two Groan modules I mentioned with a zlob diode chaos for each (maybe), KM mixer,and the reverb and delay. Mixer has a line and phones out so that will save me on an out module for now. Once I learn those few things I'll check out the suggestions offered here, for support and modulation modules. If anyone has any other suggestions... I'm all ears! I hope to become a valid member of the community some day if I venture into Eurorack.
-- CadaverKev
I think this is a good idea.... at the end of the day the things I recommended above will add massively to the usefulness of your rack... as would some filters... but aren't 100% necessary... twiddling knobs is great, until you realise you need 16 hands to get where you want to go... adding the odd module from time to time (especially used) should be within anyones reach - even if it is 1 module every 6 months or even year...
"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!!!
could anybody comment on which order to patch and lpg and filter please?
obvious answers i expect would be patch both ways and see which you prefer - and there is no 'correct' order that's the beauty of modular
but i wonder if anybody could define the benefits of patching order with these two. is there a more 'standard/classic' order? why is that considered the standard?
if so what would somebody lose / gain sonically by patching in the other order?
I'm sorry you had to deal with that kind of behvior. We are all just trying to express ourselvs as artists, and how you do it should not matter. It's pretty juvenile and quite embarrassing for the community I'd imagine. Anyway, still not quite sure about the modular step just yet. They say do a ton of reseach before plunging in, so that's the stage I'm at now. I have and always had musical direction so that's coverd. I'm not doing this because it's "cool" and everyone else is doing it. I'd just like to create a performance Dark Drone/Ambient case I could knob tweak along with a couple other pieces of gear, away from the PC. I really don't have an addictive personality and I really don't want this case to go beyond the Tiptop Mantis's capacity. This will only be one component (Drones) of a larger picture. Not a closed, self contained monstrosity I could could barley manage, financially or mentally. What I'll probably end up doing, to start, is just get the two Groan modules I mentioned with a zlob diode chaos for each (maybe), KM mixer,and the reverb and delay. Mixer has a line and phones out so that will save me on an out module for now. Once I learn those few things I'll check out the suggestions offered here, for support and modulation modules. If anyone has any other suggestions... I'm all ears! I hope to become a valid member of the community some day if I venture into Eurorack.
Well done for not getting shot down for being a Reason user, I seem to recal when i made my first post I didn't fair so well with certain people's comments.
Welcome to the addiction and the quickly emptying wallet!
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.
Absolutely get a matrix mixer (for example the Doepfer A-138m). It won't seem sexy or all that necessary until you start messing with it and then it will open up worlds of possibilities.
Based on your last post, maybe a small rack just for mixing/sculpting the sounds produced by your other devices, and for creating/manipulating modulations that end up feeding your other stuff, would be worthwhile. Your rack doesn't necessarily need to produce any sounds on its own, if you have enough other gear to do that. For example, even if all your rack does is create and manipulate modulation that then feeds the other gear, it could provide a great way to interact and control things in a tactile way. Off the top of my head, maybe include the following:
A joystick for creating and manipulating modulation directly (for example, the Intellijel one)
A matrix mixer for mixing modulation sources (again, the Doepfer one is a great example)
Attenuverter/offset for macro control (for example, Happy Nerding 3x MIA)
A sophisticated envelope generator like the Xaoc Zadar
Some LFOs (lots of great choices here)
Probably some kind of function generator like Maths or Rampage
You could pack all that into a relatively small case and have loads of hands on (and hands off, if you choose) control over all your other gear. And then later if you feel like expanding your eurorack capabilities all of these will be essential anyway.
Hey Jim! Thanks for all the info/input. I'm glad I looked more into it with the equipment you suggested before I started building this thing, but unfortunatley, this is surely going to be beyond my paygrade. I'm probably realistically better off sticking with Reason and maybe looking into a decent hardware synth for untethering from the PC. I was under the impression that knob tweaking the Groan instruments would be enough to produce interesting drones and soundscapes with the setup I planned. Thanks for your time anyway! Cheers!
modulation sources because they are what create movement
utilities because they create opportunities for patching...
take a look at my signature, especially the formula and see how you can apply that to your rack... it will exponentially improve it...
I'd add at the very least a quad lfo, a simple matrix mixer (for combining modulation sources), an attenuverter/attenuator/offset module and a quad cascading vca and probably a function generator or envelope generator (with at least 2 channels - so something like maths or zadar)
these will stop your drones being static and boring
there's a very good chance that you won't need the compressor...
"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!!!
A compressor, like WMD MSCL or Cosmotronic Messor.
A resonator, like Rings, great complement to any percussive audio source.
A low pass gate, like Optomix or LxD... There are many options up to the small (and passive) but very efficient DPLPG.
There is a new version of BIA, the Basimilus Iteritas Alia. I did not test it but the alliance of the first version with Jasmine & Olive Trees Traffic is ideal.
A logic module, like XODES LB5!
Last suggestion: I also share a dislike for ‘menu diving’ and I was slow to approach Pam’s... Today I would refuse the divorce if I may say so ;)
Maybe you could consider to spare the buffered mults and use stack cables, if you dont like it to have it in the case. Would save you 8 hp. But I guess you thought about that, already.
