hey, just entering into the modular world with a vague understanding of everything thats going on...

these are what i've got so far (apart from the 1u and ansible)

  • my plan is to hook up crow to ansible for additional outputs via i2c and then use all these to trigger stuff from the disting ex via patching, like in sample playback mode or the poly wavetable algorithm for example - and with aditional lfo's from ochd for modulation and/or as a clock source for crow (this would be my first use case)

my second use case, is to use ansible on its own with a usb-midi keyboard plugged in to trigger the disting ex for a more simplified plug and go situation (rather than writing scripts for crow)

i also plan to add the quadratt 1u utility module to act as a uni or bipolar switch for any addition lfo modulation from ochd if needed (or other stuff i might add)

so first question is can ansible still be plugged into crow via i2c if i want to use it in my second use case?

second question would be what else would people advise i get in terms of utility 1u stuff, like mixer stuff?

im also quite partial to the idea of additional ins and outs to record audio in and send stuff out to pedals

any ideas or inspiration from what i can do with this extremely minimal set up thats not too intensive for a noob (i am also aware the crow and disting have a very steep learning curve and am happy to take time getting used to these before exploring other modules)

hope you guys can help!


I may be the only regular with a Crow (in fact I have two) so I'll chime in with basically one high level thought. I really like what Crow adds to my racks, but I'm also using it within racks that are 90% tactile, and same with Disting, so: when you are thinking of next steps I'd encourage you to get things with touch control or some knobs, something intuitive and analogue and tactile so that you're getting the other side of Eurorack too and not just doing stuff you could do on a computer. Maybe something like this:

ModularGrid Rack

1) From my experience, Maths is the OG bad boy of "turn a knob and something cool happens." It's big and will take up a lot of your space, but it does a ton and either it'll resonate and work or you'll flip it and get decent money back. It also has a fantastic illustrated manual (kudos to @JimHowell1970 for introducing me to this) that will help you work through and understand a ton of analog computing/synthesis concepts. It's a great module and would be a good contrast for you here.
2) STO + Polaris: having a good analog oscillator and filter is pretty fun, sometimes they just sound * so * good and they both have a lot of range across all their controls (Polaris alone has like 64 functional variations I think). Also, they both have big old knobs.
3) Ears has a pressure sensitive contact mic, letting you manually trigger events and control sounds of parameters, and it can also be used for external input.
4) I added the 1U Noise Tools and some VCAs for additional flavors of control and cause you always need a few VCAs.

My 2 cents, fwiw!

Edited to add: I was thinking about this rack and decided the Quadratt might be overkill here so I replaced it with a Duatt and a Zeroscope. Being able to watch your CV is pretty dang cool and can help a lot in the process of learning.