Lama's Fav Modules by Function

ModularGrid Rack

First, this represents an abbreviated set of functions. Second, these are modules I own or have experience with. Since I started with Eurorack, available modules and functional density have gone through the roof. There are probably better modules for each function out there.

I should have stuck in the Eurorack version of the Innerclock Sync-Gen II - probably the single most important modular piece I own for tracking into a DAW. (That and the indispensable Roland SBX-1 that distributes it all and functions as live sync....).

Except for the 95e analog oscillator, I did not count anything from my 24U "pure Asys" modular, a Moog Voyager CP system, and Ken MacBeth system with 3 Single Oscillators and a Backend. I did not count my Boomstars either. And they are kick ass machines with CV/Gate I/O. Nor did I count my Dark Time - another desert island piece - or any external cv sequencers.

The problem with a lot of ocsillators is lousy-goosy tuning knobs. One little bump while patching and you're screwed. The 95e - besides being one hell of a great analog oscillator - has a locking 10-turn pot. And for a digital oscillator - the Braids (and pretty much anything Mutable makes) continues to amaze me.

My favorite contemporary module maker is Mutable. But I have to say that Grant Richter's classics still go head to head with a lot of stuff out there. The envelator is a good example of that. I added one as my LFO. For uncertainty and so much else I dig the Noisering.

WMD's Multimode VCA is everything I could want in a VCA - it eliminates tons of other stuff, it's clean, and easily makes interesting stereo out of a mono signal. The Cwejman ADSR is always the output VCA EG I go to first. Suit n Tie's Post-Lawsuit filter is the most non-skiff-friendly module I own. (Nothing a couple trips to the hardware store can't fix...) But I'll forego all others to have it in my rack. That said - I'd def like to hear the Euro versions of Boomstar filters...

I don't MIDI my modular much anymore. But MIDI In/Out and Audio In/Out would go to Vermona. Built like a fricking tank - they ooze quality. They cost as much as a tank as well....

I love Makekko's little 8NU8R. Attenuator, voltage source, half wave rectifier, and probably something else as well.

For logic - if Intellijel's Ploq doesn't do it then tell me what does. I don't know what I'd do without Division VI's back-routable buffered mults in 2 and 3hp. But my favorite is WMD's 4hp 3x buff mult.

That's my story so far and I'm sticking to it. If I could do one thing over again I would have gone Buchla on day one. Other than that - I would have waited a few more years before getting in to Eurorack. Now is definitely a great time to be starting out in modular!

Shanti x 3, Lama

(I decided to review this list of my favorite modules in honor of this most important week in synthesizer history - the week that the modern-era POLYPHONIC MOOG became public knowledge. This amazing journey started for me in 1975 with a Minimoog... I was 14. I begged and cajoled and, when I got my mom to the music store to look at a Rhodes I saw the Mini. ("But it only plays one note at a time....") More begging and cajoling led to a most merry Christmas. Like the Christmas 1974 when my brother gave me 2 LPs by this English band called Yes - it was a gift that literally altered the course of my life. )

I wrote this more then 2 years ago. Since that time there has been an explosion in Eurorack. Regarding my comments above - not much has changed. My Braids has become Plaits - truly my be all and end all digital oscillator. As for filters - I discovered the Deopfer A-108. I now have two. Updates to Intellijel's Metropolis have cemented it's place as my favorite sequencer. For final stage VCAs - the WMD Multimode is still my go-to module. In fact, I believe that Multimode VCA is, quite simply, my favorite Eurorack module of all time.

My statement - "If I could do one thing over again I would have gone Buchla on day one." is even more true today. I don't generally believe in regrets - but I truly regret that decision. In my case it was greatly impacted by timing and when I started to get into this stuff. This was at the start of Buchla's transitional period. I remember a time when I could hold all the names of Eurorack module makers in my head. And the purveyors of this magic were Haven, Big City, and Noisebug. Now Sweetwater is selling Eurorack for crying out loud.

I used to have a collection of pretty decent modules. These days that collection is looking a little long-in-the-tooth. That said, you really can't go wrong with almost any Doepfer module. Thanks, D.D. - you started this avalanche...

Lama Out