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Would you look at that. My lack of experience would mean there are concepts there I would never have considered. Thank you so much Lugia, for taking the time to pull that together. Simply put I now when people are more skilled than me and that is a rack I will work towards...perhaps I may, or may not, change items as I learn more myself but what a target to aim for in the coming months. Thanks again.

Ronin, yes, I love the oscillators but the fact is that I have relatively little experience in this field so very likely do not know what I am missing. How exciting that this is going to change over the coming months.

There's a big change coming in my overall synth setup. I have had a Kronos 88 for 2 years...genuinely great piece of kit but I have found it to be rather unfriendly as far as programming goes, so that is heading to Ebay to be replaced by an old Roland RD250 or 300 so I can keep my hand in with piano playing. My MPC 2500 JJos remains as I am so used to it's sequencing and drum sampling. Plenty of other kit accrued over the years will mostly remain (Bit One, Radias, JP-08 x 2, Prophet 2000 of all things amongst others), but I have a new focus of discovery coming up. How exciting. Thanks so much again and I will be in touch and get more into this community.

Thanks for your suggestions !
My project seems to be more difficult than I thougt :-)
I will check the manuals of the modules you propose and see if I maybee already have some of theese functions in my modules.

Answering questions with questions is considered impolite. Do you suggest Adding more modulation or Swapping a module? Let me know what would you change. I am genuinely interested to know. I am breaking away from daw processing for certain things. I do not use it for music creation, rather musical approach to motion picture sound. This is first set of modules for 12u 126hp case. I want to limit myself to properly learn modules that i choose. Thanks for your input.

So first, let me reiterate what you're saying in case I don't understand correctly.

You want to be able to use a trigger to select different CV voltages. When moving between those CV voltages you want the value to slowly creep to the next value and then remain there until another trigger is received.

So, let's break the problem into the two functions:

The first sounds a lot like a sequencer. You hit it with a trigger and it then moves to the next step that contains a different CV value. In my set-up, I'd use the Noise Engineering Mimetic Digitalis. It will rotate through 16 steps or you can set it to rotate through just four. You can use other lengths if you also supply a "reset" trigger... which you probably want to do anyways. Note: all three examples have reset inputs.

The great thing with this module is that it can store all of the values and you can recall them later. The down side is that you can't accurately change the values as it's running. But it has FOUR channels in it... so you can get crazy if you throw a switch into the mix.

My other option would be the Befaco Muxlicer. It has 8 faders that can output their own CV or take one incoming CV signal and attenuate it accordingly. The upside is that it's really easy to use and adjust on the fly. The bad news is that there's no storage. What you see is literally what you'll be getting. There's only one channel.

My last option is the Ornaments & Crime. It has a dual sequencer. It's more accurate to program than the Mimetic and can even store its settings. But you have to menu dive with a pair of rotary knobs. Not the worst interface... but some people just hate menus...

So whichever option I take... I can trigger specific CV voltages via a trigger.

NEXT... slewing between values.... SLEW RATE LIMITER.

Make Noise has the Maths module. One channel of this is PERFECT for the task. It offers rising and falling slope times as well as different scales of time (exponential, linear, log). Pros: dialing in exactly what I want. Cons: Expensive and a lot of rack real estate.

I also have an Intellijel Noise Tools unit with a generic slew rate limiter built in. I can substitute that for the Maths. Pros: cheap. Cons: only works in an Intellijel case with a 1U rack.

Anyways... that's how I would solve the problem within my own rack. Though there are probably other solutions that would work.

EDITED Mar 13th 2020, 02:59

A stand alone phantom power supply is going to range from $30US to whatever you want to pay... with most sitting around $60.

If you're really digging the features or quality of the build and you really want hook up a condenser mic... that will solve the issue.

Nicely done, Lugia.

Let me throw a penny into your dollar's worth of knowledge.

I own a Z3000. Would I buy another one... no. Do I like it yes.

BUT.... one thing I learned after some wiggle-time, is that I like being able to switch octaves on the fly (usually measured in 'feet' from the old pipe organ standard). When blending two oscillators, there's value in being able to try an oscillator at a different octave instantly and then being able to go back. It's also nice when performing to switch an octave for variation.

The Z3000 only offers sweepable control of your pitch. So it's not a possibility to do this. If I had to do it over again, I'd probably go with an Intellijel Dixie II+.

Though, come to find out the original poster already has his two Z3000s. How do you like them, Pauly?

Thanks for the feedback Ronin1973

Well. You're on the right track.

A common timing source is a good first choice. A master clock could be something as simple as an LFO or a dedicated clock module. You can use a dedicated clock divider if you wish. But a good alternative would be a Pam's New Workout or a Temps Utile. They can divide (and multiply) a clock as well as perform other duties like trigger sequencing, Euclidean patterns, etc.

As far as mixers, you'll want at least two... both should be able to handle CV AND audio.

The quantizer is always a good move. So are effects like wavefolders, waveshapers, distortion, general effects (reverb, delay, etc.), and even distortion modules.

A dedicated sequencer to centralize control over all of your desktops would be nice as well... especially if you're performing or triggering things live.
-- Ronin1973

Well. You're on the right track.

A common timing source is a good first choice. A master clock could be something as simple as an LFO or a dedicated clock module. You can use a dedicated clock divider if you wish. But a good alternative would be a Pam's New Workout or a Temps Utile. They can divide (and multiply) a clock as well as perform other duties like trigger sequencing, Euclidean patterns, etc.

As far as mixers, you'll want at least two... both should be able to handle CV AND audio.

The quantizer is always a good move. So are effects like wavefolders, waveshapers, distortion, general effects (reverb, delay, etc.), and even distortion modules.

A dedicated sequencer to centralize control over all of your desktops would be nice as well... especially if you're performing or triggering things live.

Instead of posting a picture of your rack... post a LINK to it.

What will this external rack do for you that you can't do with your DAW?
How do you plan on effectively modulating your modules? By the looks of things, you'll be dependent on your DAW for pitched sequences.

Updated! Now THIS is a superior piece of kit!

OK, let's check this out...this now has two discrete "voice" channels, one being a 303-style and the other being a more conventional dual VCO lead/bass synth. Both of these are serviced by an extensive modulation and timing section in the lower row.

Top row: retained the Tiptop power inlet. Then the SEEK is a much-shrunk TB-303 style sequencer with quite a few more amenities than the Acidlab one. This feeds a Klavis dual VCO...onboard quantizing, ring mod, loads of waveforms, sync modes, etc. Then the dual outs go into the dual ins of a Tiptop Wavefolder, which interpose the incoming waveforms against each other AND provides a suboscillator divider. A pair of AR envelopes, next, and then an excellent multimode VCF which also incorporates a VCA for punch on the ACC outputs from the SEEK. But also, the ACC can be fed to the 2hp COMP, which lets you mash the crap out of your accented notes for extra JOYREX-style filth and nastiness. The A-130-2 is the end of the TB voice, also providing a second VCA for the lead/bass. That part uses the two Tiptop VCOs, into a Wavefolder yet again to mix and modify those. That then hits the LP VCF.

Bottom row: the little 1 hp sliver is a Konstant Labs power monitor, with pilot lights for your P/S rails to check for problems there since the Tiptop uZeus inlet is missing these. MIDI next, with a mini clone of the Mutable Yarns. Then a very twisted little dual clock/logic module, which is where the timing fun begins. A Hikari Euclidean sequencer then provides conflicting pulses, which can then be combined and resolved in the Boolean A-166 to create strange, new timing variations. The Toolbox provides a bunch of useful little bits...comparator, switch, summer, rectifier, etc. Then Doepfer's A-118-2 provides noise, random voltages, and either a sample and hold or track and hold. Triple linear VCA/mixer next, primarily for modulation level control. The mod sources themselves consist of a Maths (natch!) and a Zadar + its Nin expander; between these two, ALL envelope and LFO activity for the build gets generated and spread for the entire build's uses. Another dual VCA next, this time with variable response to allow it to be used for either audio or CV/mod, then after this is a 2hp Verb, usable for stereoizing/deepening a mono voice coming from that dual VCA to feed to the Clouds clone. That module's stereo output then feeds a Happy Nerding stereo transformer isolator + level control, which can just as easily be repurposed for dual mono use for the separate voice sections to have individual outputs.

How's that?

Hi guys,

I am building my first eurorack system, primarily focused on playing audio into it for processing and recording it back into daw. What do you think about this build? Anything you would do otherwise? Would you swap/remove or add modules? Much appreciated

EDITED Mar 13th 2020, 06:19

Thanks for so much detail and suggestions! I thought and made some changes to the plan. Zadar looks amazing for ambient/drone/generative/noise which is the aim of this rack.

quadra is sufficient for regular envelopes when paired with zadar, rather than quadrax
contour is gone - can use ASR from quadra
maths is gone - big call, but quadratt does cv generation/attenuversion, pnw does lfos, plog covers the logic, quadra & zadar do envelopes, not too much missing?
added zeroscope to help me figure out what the hell is going on with my signals, and to tune oscillators (any midi sequences will be coming in from an octatrack). Once I’m more experienced this could be replaced.
buffered mult is now 3u, that’s a great call!

this leaves a nice 36hp at the bottom for synchrodyne+expand in the future - it would be a while before I can afford that anyway, and buying more modulation and EG first will get me more out of what I have already, just as you said.
Logic I will need to look into in much more detail including the u4r. For now I can get a random stepped voltage out of Pam’s and a bunch of triggers from plog.

This also leaves me with some kind of structure L-R of (midi/triggers/gates)-envelopes-oscillators-vcas/filters, which feels better thought out and tidier than before:
https://cdn.modulargrid.net/img/racks/modulargrid_1144817.jpg

EDITED Mar 12th 2020, 14:33

Hi, I currently have some desk top modular synths: moog werkstatt, m32, Grandmother, Lifeforms Sv-1, Make Noise 0-coast.
I would like to (eventually) expand their possibilities with some extra modules.
I am a fan of self generative Krell-type stuff.
In the jpeg link below you can see the types of modules I might be interested in. I'm not saying I want all of them, as there are some similar ones. But here's my thinking, I can use an oscillator from the desktop to go into a randomiser module.
Whilst the Grandmother has a random arp or sequencer and the 0-coast has a random clock function (I would like to continue using them too), I would like something extra to send an oscillator into for extra variation.
I would like a pitch quantiser to make the randomness more musical.
A mixer and a random sampler like Marbles.
A clock divider, sequence switch to trigger envelopes at different clocks?
And I added swirls and wave warping modules to change the wave forms.
A small rack with maybe only four or five modules might be ideal.
It would be my first rack and why I'm throwing out my vibe for feedback before I waste any money buying something I regret.
Any advice would be awesome.
Thanks for your time.

https://cdn.modulargrid.net/img/racks/modulargrid_1151024.jpg

EDITED Mar 12th 2020, 12:55

Makes for great reading and some modules I have not heard of - I will take a look. Thank you.

Hmmm...OK, well, I still hate that Acidlab sequencer being in there. If you had the ability to trigger some of the other states it has via trig/gate pulses, it would rock. But they obviously built this to be as close to the TB-303's underimplementation as possible...which isn't good, given that you're talking early 1980s sequencer tech, and things have gotten a lot more interesting since then.

So...keepers: all of the Tiptop modules, the 2 hp mixer, and the A-130-2.

Now...things that have to be replaced are the weird 3-pole VCF (or something suitably acieeeed-ish) and the sequencer. And that weird filter ain't easy to replace...but this is EURORACK, dammit, so...yep, replacement exists! Check out DinSync's VCF303. Yeah...the filter AND the oddball EG/accent circuit that it also needs to get that sound. Perfect! Smaller, too! As for the sequencer, it needs to output that important accent pulse AND have the proper glide behavior...which gets us to the Copper Traces Seek. Multiple sequence memories, all of the outputs needed, plus a bunch of extra trickery for less $$ than the Acidlab, and in far less space...but doing an improved version of the same thing.

That's just for starters...I'm thinking that I'm going to bang on this for a hot minute, see what I can toss out...

I just hate seeing people make mistakes that'll cost them both money and their enjoyment of music. That doesn't further things at all...it just results in gear sitting in closets and frustrated musicians, and I don't like the idea of either. And since I've got some 40-ish years of synth experience, it would be irresponsible as hell for me to NOT pay what I know forward.

Pam's IS a good choice, don't get me wrong there...but my concern is the lack of both LFOs and EGs. Your best bet is something which can combine these functions; as of late, a lot of people have been gravitating to the Xaoc Zadar, but Intellijel's new Quadrax + Qx expander might be a better choice from the standpoint that there's no menu diving involved, plus there's a lot of interesting functions there. At the same time, though, the Zadar has crazy-long cycle times that run up into the tens of minutes, plus it also fits into 13 hp with its Nin expander, while the Intellijel requires 18 for the Quadrax + its expander. More or less a "what feels better" sort of issue. Do keep the Pam's, though...as a clocking device and trigger sequencer, it's superb.

That stereo VCA...hm...you tend to see those for dynamic control on outputs, but in a rig like this, I'm wondering how useful it really is. There's other things that could be in there, especially if you swap that buffered mult (yep, there's enough CV destinations that you NEED it here) down to a 3U row and make it fit in 2 hp, which you already have open. With that gone, and after pulling the Stereo VCA and the 2 hp blank, you have 24 hp in the tile row to play with. If it were me, I'd have that row look like this:

Stereo Line In / uMIDI / Transient Modules u4R / Noise Tools / QuadrATT / Stereo Line Out

Now, what's that new u4R thing? Ahhh...another bit to go in between timing and logic. Have a look at it...makes lots of sense.

And speaking of logic, while the Plog is a really nicely-featured module, it's just the gates. You'll need a few more toys, such as comparators (which can generate gate info from CV/mod voltage curves), a diode OR for combining gates (see the Doepfer A-186-1 for an example), pulse counters which allow you to specify a trigger/gate to fire on a specific beat, maybe a derivator (something like Ladik's J-110, which fires pulses based on CV movement direction...crazy useful for tracking EGs and LFOs) or something probabilistic to screw with clocking, like Ladik's S-090. As regards the comparators, though...there's a specific type of these called a window comparator, and these allow you to output several different pulse signals as a voltage curve moves through a user-defined "window" of upper and lower thresholds. Dovemans' SHFT is a good example of these. Basically, the point of logic is to take the timing and sequential info moving around as pulsetrains, and screw with it all, while also generating more pulsetrains via comparators and the like, and then mashing all of these through a Boolean module like the Plog, et al to "smooth" the behavior between pulsetrains. Boolean logic takes a pair of incoming pulses, then subjects them to a logical test to arrive at a pulse output that happens on four specific pulse states: OR, AND, NAND, NOR. Or, more clearly...

OR: Pulses present at either input result in an output gate when both inputs do NOT concur.
AND: Pulses present at either input result in an output gate when both inputs DO concur.

...and the N states are these, but inverse. NOR (also known as XOR), for example, outputs a pulse when neither input has a high state. These tricks can be used to alter sequencer behavior, fire other events within a patch, screw with ongoing activities, etc etc etc. They open the lid on timing within a modular environment. Now, one other not-logic-but-really-it-is thing that fits here would be ratcheting, which is a triggered repetition of a pulse, usually via a sequencer. But with that pulse counter I mentioned previously, you can patch out a single clock step to fire the ratchet/clock multiplier (have a look at Doepfer's A-160-5 for reference) and get a rapid-fire pulse train with X number of pulses in subdivided time whenever that 7th beat gets fired. This is how Tangerine Dream gets those rapid repeated sequencer notes...albeit a bit simpler than you'd have to do it on Moog hardware. And it's also how you wring every bit of timing functionality out of your build!

Hi Wishbonebrewery,

Ah yes, the STO, I should have known. I love to use the STO and indeed you can go nice deeply with that thing :-)

Let's continue enjoying our modular synths :-) Kind regards, Garfield.

Thanks Garfield, the deep tone is straight out of the sine wave output on the Make Noise STO with slow clocked Turing Machine taking gates from the Noise Engineering Bin Seq and straight to mixer on a mono channel. No midi keyboard or anything.

I should have Tamed the levels a bit before recording!!

Hey Wishbonebrewery,

Oh my goodness, that deep bass sound! It's something I almost want to kneel down for, that good and that deep :-)

By the way, how do you create your tones, using a MIDI keyboard? Or somehow randomised?

Pity you got at a few moments of a bit of a noise-crackling sound over the song, otherwise I enjoyed it very much.

Kind regards, Garfield.

Hi Rookie,

I personally don't have experience yet with the Ladik brand so I can't comment much on it. I would like you to advise to try this module out at your dealer or in case your dealer doesn't have this module, you might just want to give it a try, the module doesn't seem to be overly expensive.

Good luck and please keep me updated, Garfield.

This is a cool idea. There's now a DSO188 Mini kit that would make this even easier.

Thank you both for your time responding to my post. I know you have lots of insight as demonstrated on other threads so it is of value to me. I think I was possibly not clear in my first post - this is actually my rack - I was given the 'rack' itself and a number of other modules and already had the System 1m (which I really love) hence it lives in there, but as you can see I am out of room. Not an issue as such as I am slowly learning what I have and am not in a rush to expand. As you noticed I entirely agreed with the point that the 1m need not be in there, but your points regards the Autobot and M303 are well made. They were bought several years ago on something of a whim and sat awaiting the rack. I do love them but if they take up room that is not required then it is a fair point well made.

On the other hand as I already have this rack and the System 1m removal frees up some space, perhaps my asking what could be of value to you in the space it leaves would be a fair question?

Thanks again - a pleasure getting to know you all.

Paul

EDITED Mar 11th 2020, 19:52

The Mimetic is a $260 module. So it's not terribly expensive. But if the funds aren't there... understandable. I watch a lot of Ricky as well. He is great about making a lot of music out of a tiny amount of kit.

No point making another thread to post this new Patch...

Yep I've got the 2hp Euclid at work too, it just needs a bit of gentle modulation to keep it evolving. I think the first thing I did when I racked up the Bin Seq was drive it from the Euclid, I guess something like the Befaco VC Slew would be nice for sliding between the pitches along with the Bin Seq.
I'm going to say that Mimetic Digitalis is a little out of my price range at the moment though i have been watching a few Ricky Tinez videos with it in.

Cheers :)

I don't wanna get into why one would want/need any of those devices.
It just so happens that I use an OT, an A4 and a modular rack. Both Elektron devices offer unique ways to control a modular. It depends on your modules and what sparks/stifles your creativity on which approach is best for you.
A4 not only offers note CV, gates and sequenced manual cv, but also LFOs and envelopes. All of them plockable. Really cool.
The OT needs a Midi to CV module (like Garfield mentioned). There's no need for an 8 channel interface. You can absolutely use the OT to control just one or two channels. It's hard to recommend a single interface without knowing what should be controlled. Multiple voices using just note cv+gate? Or rather one voice with lots of midi CC to CV? The expert sleepers FH-2 is very flexible, but requires quite a bit of setup time and planning. Something like LPZW's Tram8 offers 8 gates plus 8 CVs (in a special OT optimized firmware), but no note CV at all - might be totally sufficient for a drum rack, or for sequencing eurorack sequencers via OT.

The Behringer 303 clone is $150 and comes with Eurorack patch points. It won't bolt to a Eurorack case... but for that price... not a bad option.

For the limited space that you have, putting gear into the rack that already has its own case is a very expensive and limiting option. They are eating up your entire case... as well as the huge, retro sequencer that doesn't really offer all that much in terms of size vs. functionality.

Which modules do you already own? I noticed the old build of the Tip Top ADSR in the rack.

The Disting makes for a good assortment of programs. If you're really loving the clockable LFO, I'd suggest getting an LFO module that supports that.

Check out the Euclidean mode on the Disting. If you're having fun with Turing and the Bin Seq, a Euclidean sequencer might be your cup of tea as well as the Tip Top Trigger Riot.
EDIT: just saw the Euclid 2HP module in the rack... you know this already.

You may also want to check out the Mimetic Digitalis from Noise Engineering. It pairs well with trigger/gate sequencers.

EDITED Mar 11th 2020, 16:40

You guys are so awesome for helping out us newbies design our first modular synth. Thank you!

Thanks Lugia for taking the time to comment! I don't have the synchro/cyclebox + expanders, or plog yet so there is space to spare and balance with some modulation sources. I thought Pam's was a good start for this but I will look into the EGs, you are right. There is a small 1u VCA in the top row but I had also thought of an Intellijel Linix, then that space could be used for another line out module giving 4 outs from the 7u case.
Do you have any thoughts on logic?

Would like to hear some breakcore from it :)

Oh yeah, the "Breakcore" one is the fantasy one that I've planned the most, "My Actual Eurorack" Is the one that is real and that I use currently.

I've just had one of those moments where something feels to click into place with the direction you want to go in Eurorack, this is probably coupled with me reorganising my rack into a second TipTop Happy Ending kit, getting a Make Noise STO and the brilliant little Noise Engineering Bin Seq which is letting me have long gate lengths and slow note changes when clocking the Turing Machine (2hp TM) with the long tied notes from the Bin Seq.

Next steps are toward more modulation, probably an Ochd, so I can leave the Disting on Sample playing duty, though I do like the Clockable LFO on the Disting, the Noise Engineering Clep Diaz does do a nice job of clocked/stepped/LFO.

Its nice that I've managed to creep closer to my aims, thanks to reading the internet and watching Youtube :)

EDITED Mar 11th 2020, 15:54

You seem to have many racks though. I guess they are not all physical realities yet?

Definitely, seems pretty perfectionist. I feel like these kind of racks are a meta for eurorack in general. Mine is pretty similar, except I went a bit more down the Monome / Mannequins / OD path.

Thanks. Certainly is a bitch to get right. So much ocd with this thing :)

Awesome + Inspirational rack

An EG with AHDSR seems to be the solution!
Most of the modules I find only have Hold times in a few seconds but Ladik C-215 AHDSR
seems to have Hold time for hours? But I’m not sure as the information about the module is not very precise.
But one of the labels is ”hours” but I am not sure if that even refers to Hold time.
What do you think?

Good thing you're already down with removing the System-1m. Devices that have their own cabs and power don't belong in a case that's intended for things which don't have them. It also sneakily increases the cost of your System-1m, as you're now housing and powering it twice.

I've spent a hot minute here looking at this build, sorting out what bugs me about it. And then it hit me...that 303 sequencer. First of all, it takes up about 1/4th of the entire build. Second, it's sort of an anachronism...it's something from the period where there were no decent TB-303 emulations or reissues, and while the voicing had been sorted out by that point in time, the sequencer was still defying redesign. And third, it costs half a grand, which I suppose is cheap when compared to a $3k original Roland 303, but which is dumb as hell when you can get Cyclone Analogic's TT-303 mkii for $300-350 street, brand new. And yeah, it emulates the original device almost perfectly. It would make a lot more sense to me to outboard one of those, then have a suitable MIDI interface in a smaller build overall (maybe as small as 1 x 104, even) so that you can pass note data from the TT-303 to the modular. Want to filter it further? Then add a Doepfer A-119 for an input pre + envelope follower. And THIS way, you can build a more general-purpose modular that 1) costs less, 2) isn't so huge because of huge modules, and 3) dovetails nicely with anything laying around the studio, instead of being mission-specific.

Np...feel free to PM me if you'd like a little assist in the search. After all, I just dropped a huge 48-frame Soundcraft into my own studio back in January, and that sucker only ran me $750 + whatever it took to transport and move it from Indy to here.

Hello everyone. New member here, so nice to meet you all. As a long-time synthesist with a history dating back to my Roland HS60 purchased in 1986 I have only recently taken the road of the modular and am finding it very interesting although am still very much the student, learning as I go.

Here's my rack below. At some point I am sure the System 1 is going to sprout wooden cheeks and sit atop the rack at which time I shall be putting other units in the hole where it once sat. Would be interested to hear what you might add yourselves over time?

Oh and yes, I am partial to Acid and classic Techno. Thanks for your time.

Thx, Lugia! I'll keep a look out on eBay for one of those.

I'd have to disagree about the MG06X here...it has effects, and as a rule you're better off using higher-quality outboard effects or doing your processing in your DAW. Also, it's missing the big draw for the Yamaha mixers: the one-knob compressor. Normally, these are useless for music...but for voiceover, now, that's different. You'll want your voice levels to stay in place against your background...and while the real device needed here is a ducker, compression on the voiceover goes some of the way to fixing your mix. Instead of the MG06X, I'd suggest the MG10...it doesn't have the onboard effects, but like I said, you're better off using something else, plus great rack processors are dimes on the dollar right now on the used market. And the '10 DOES have the compressors on two inputs for voiceovers, plus it's only $40 more than the 06.

Now, how to implement this...step one, get a decent ducker. Again, cheap rackmount stuff on the likes of Reverb or eBay are your best bets here, and something like a Symetrix 522 would run you $100-125. You'd sidechain this from your AUX off of the mic ins, and this would be able to lower your music bed if you run it through the ducker before the mixer. Perfect voiceovers! Then, if you want to add a bit more dynamic control, you could send your stereo output through a second stereo comp/limiter and smooth out the dynamics further, which also works nicely to keep your sound for picture nice and hot while not getting too punchy.

You have to have the Audio I/O, yes. The reason there is because your incoming audio signals need to be boosted up from line-level to synth-level, and then back down again at the output. It's a decent interface for this sort of use, but you need to keep in mind that its inputs don't have envelope followers, so if you wanted to patch up something dynamics-dependant, you either have to add a couple of these or jettison the Audio I/O and go with separate inputs that have the envelope follower (the Doepfer A-119 is sort of the bog standard here) and then a stereo output with transformer isolation. That last bit is useful to keep noise and crud from passing from the synth to your mixer and vice-versa.
-- Lugia

Thanks for this advise Lugia! Hadn’t even considered that so very much appreciated. Is it possible to add a module that does this specifically after the Audio I / O?

-- TMR1984

Do you mean the output isolation or the envelope follower? If the former, there's no point...you'd be feeding an output module into yet another output module. No point to that whatsoever, as it wastes space and adds nothing.

Now, as for the envelope follower...yes, there ARE separate envelope follower modules, and you'll find them in their pulldown category. But the issue there gets back to "real estate"...would it make more sense to have a dedicated input module with the envelope follower in 8 hp, or to take another 4-8 hp for an extra module whose function would be covered by the former example? As long as you're in a smaller build scale like this, panel space needs to be treated like it was made of platinum.

The problem I see isn't with a lack of processing. Rather, this build is really short on modulation sources. You only have the Maths, Contour, and Benjolin here, which makes up one complex LFO, one envelope source (really?), and the randomness that is a Benjolin. No VCAs here, either; I'm not counting the Optomix, as that's really a pair of lowpass gates, and neither a proper VCA nor mixer. Your observation about excess audio sources is spot-on, actually, but the excess is really cramping you here.

Things to lose immediately: the DPO and the very discontinued Cyclebox and its expander. You have a full WMD Synchrodyne setup here, which makes both of those rather superfluous. That's pretty much a modular in of itself...but it DOES need more modulation sources to really do what it's capable of. Even so, it's powerful enough that it would admirably make for this build's "core". Also, given that this module pair is 36 hp, you need as much free space as you can snag, since that's quite a chunk of real estate...so delete whatever is possible, and shrink whatever's left. The Contour, for example...one ADSR in 8 hp, and you desperately need more EGs. While you might have that module on hand, it's not space-efficient here; you could drop in a Doepfer A-141-4 and have four ADSRs under common CVs in the same space, which strikes me as more effective for experimentation purposes. Again, scrunch EVERYTHING down as best you can. Even if you have modules on hand, they're not going to be useful if they take up huge amounts of space when you're in need of other functions that have to be addressed to optimize this.

Yeah, I'm having trouble with the mix. I plan to buy a mixer. My Tascam DR-40 is doing some funky things. I eventually had to run it in MS decoder mode to get both channel running anything at all. I bought the stereo out module and well other module, but they won't be in for a while. Also I plan to buy a Yamaha MS06X mixer. Bewteen the new modules and the new mixer, it should make it up to par on the sound.

I just received two 3.5mm jack to XLR cable to run into the Tascam, but somehow the level drop. Hopefully a preamp on the Yamaha mixer will fix much of this whenever I get it in.

I plan to save my patches and record them later this year for an album on BandCamp. For now I'll just patch, tweak, refine and advance until I get it sounds exactly the way I want. That's how my videos go to where they are.

Hi Rookie,

Yes of course you are right on the size and the expense of the Sinfonion, it was just an idea.

Did you tried it with an AHDSR envelope? That might do the trick too, perhaps not up till the 100% you are looking for but should give you a good start into the right direction, isn't it? Put Attack to something of your liking and set the Hold to the maximum. Depending on the AHDSR module this might work (or not...).

Kind regards, Garfield.

Hi Funbun,

Wow! You barely got your AE Modular Starter 2 synth and you produce already your first video with guiding music, nice! Beautiful river, but I think I mentioned that already :-)

You managed your music nice subtle yet impressive! One little feedback though (or was this just me?): I only heard your music on the right stereo channel, I don't think it was audible on the left channel, that makes my left ear missing something. Perhaps for your next video you can take care of both of my ears? :-D

Keep the nice work up and thanks a lot in advance for your next video/music, I barely can wait!

Kind regards, Garfield.

Sinfonion looks great but is a little bit to large and expensive for me :-(
And chords is not the main purpose for my goal. Just an example of what I wish to achive.
I guess there is no easy way to get what I want as only you have proposed any suggestion.
But I will try to find out a way. And that kind of work is one of the great things with modular. Even if I don’t achive what I want I’m sure I will learn a lot on the way :-)