So lately I've been trying to create patches with this thing solely inside the box. I understand that it's a small rack, and limited in capability in many areas. But I've seen so many videos of people who seem to be pulling much more interesting stuff out of similarly sized setups. I'm thinking of switching a few things up. But before I do that, I wanted to pick the brains of the much more experienced here and just kind of get some idea on how y'all would go about patching something up using only whats in the box here.
-- enlargedgarbage
Actually, I wouldn't...at least, not without some significant changes. The most likely reason why others are getting more out of their similarly-sized builds is because those contain the proper "utility" modules alongside these others. Without those, you're drastically limiting what the main modules are capable of.
The other issue here is that you've opted to put a bunch of very large modules into a small box. This never ends well. Invariably, the utility modules and other little boring-looking widgets get crowded out by the big "sexy" stuff, usually because...well, utilities are boring, they lack lots of lights and such, so they're generally the first to (incorrectly!) go. On the other hand, I'm NOT advocating that you should jam a bunch of 4 hp and down modules in here. But you've also noticed that this is a problem, apparently, since you're opting for chucking some of these. Hm.....
OK...what I opted to do here is to follow your ideas of what needed removing, then I went further and rethought how the degree of functionality could be upped to the level where you've got a REAL laptop troublemaker. And this is that, I think...
Many things got changed, partly to avoid leaving out various utilities, but also to shrink/alter a few things so that there's more going on. Plus, I added an external processing bit so that, if you're feeling like adding some external creepy noises and then screwing with them, you can. So let's start there...Doepfer A-119 + a Happy Nerding TriTone parametric EQ with CV control. You can send things into the synth with this, extract envelopes and gates from the audio signal, and then mess with this timbrally via the EQ. Grabbing a contact mic would be recommended, also.
After that, we get into the synthesis section...the first thing there is a Cavisynth Bufflide, a buffered mult (needed now) plus a slew limiter for portamento effects. Then the big bank of VCOs, courtesy of a Doepfer A-111-4 Quad VCO. Four VCOs is nice, especially if they're matched so that you can do some neat detunings. But I wasn't content with that, so next to it is an Antimatter Crossfold. This is a very interesting waveshaper/folder/combiner module that can take TWO oscillator outputs and more or less slam 'em into each other for radical timbre changes before you even get to the VCF. Right after this is a little 4-in mixer to sum the VCOs/Crossfold down to send to the VCF.
The VCF here is a very versatile, complex one...Xaoc's Belgrad. This thing loves external modulation, has lots of different modes, and can do vocal formants and some odd crossmod and internal feedback, in addition to being a dual-peak multimode VCF. But I wasn't content with JUST that, so for some percussive sounds I put in a Make Noise Optomix, which gives you a pair of lowpass gates. These can be fed by the noise generator for electronic percussion sounds, or you can process most any other audio source with these, plus they sum down to a single output if that works for a given situation.
I put in a Codex Modulex clone of Veils next so that you can actually have a degree of VCA control over audio levels going into the Doepfer A-138s. Then the audio path actually moves down to the Mimeophon (replacing the Morphagene, which loses a bit of functionality but which allows for more space) and the uBurst (replaces the fullsized Clouds clone) before it goes to the Happy Nerding Isolator for a stereo output level + transformer isolation. The nice thing about that, also, is that you can overdrive the transformers for some extra warmth. The idea here, though, is that these three modules are after the A-138s above them, and you can control the balance between effect and dry via the wet-dry controls on the modules themselves.
Bottom row: added a Doepfer A-118-2 so that you now have a noise source, plus a random voltage source and a sample and hold. I left the Maths (why not, right?), then added another little Doepfer module with four free-run LFOs. And right after it, there's a Tenderfoot attenuverter/mixer that allows you to break out each attenuverter, if needed. But the next thing is just nuts...
That next thing is an After Later BLEND, which is just nuts, really. It's a dual VCA, but it also contains a minimum/maximum discriminator and a comparator, all of which has plenty of abuse potential. Then, envelopes...I opted here for an Intelljel Quadrax with its Qx expander, which gives you four AR, or ASR, or looping envelopes with several shapes, plus the Qx allows these to be chained in different ways to add yet another complex modulation source.
Now, you'll notice that most of what WAS there now ISN'T. And a lot of that comes down to those modules being just too damned BIG. Especially in a 2 x 84 cab. With a situation like that, it's necessary to squeeze things majorly in order to get everything needed in there, to say nothing of trying to add functionality. I also got rid of some things that were rather unnecessary, such as the Strymon AA. But the major thing that was removed, and which I had some misgivings about removing, was the Hermod. I really did NOT want that out of there, but it's such a huge honker that if I was going to set up any sort of workable modulation chain, it needed removal. My suggestion with it would be to either put it into a powered 4ms Pod of an appropriate size, or consider going to a different outboard multichannel sequencer, or perhaps even a sequencer/controller combo such as an Arturia Keystep Pro.
Now, if this were in a 2 x 104 cab, things would be rather different in what could stay and what would have to go. That might allow the Hermod back in, allow the Morphagene instead of the Mimeophon, etc. But I'd still strongly recommend eliminating the Clouds clone in favor of the uBurst and adding the u4xVCA instead of a Veils because the space saved here would still be useful for other things. And as for the Quad VCO, the Doepfer VCOs might be a little basic-sounding, but with the Crossfold plus the Belgrad, they won't sound basic at all. And you get an external in with some CVable timbral control so that you can mic up acoustic sources. Like I mentioned earlier, these things are excellent with contact mics, and you'll be surprised at just what creepy and weird sounds are lurking right at hand, all ready to be fed into this thing. Lots of possibilities here now...