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Erm, I'm confused. Either you miss-typed or I'm missing something. The PanMix IS Euro level? Surely that means I DO need a drop it down to line level before hitting external gear. No?
-- rextable

There have been quite a few discussions about the necessity of euro-to-line output modules in beginner rack posts on this forum over the past year or two. In general, most people don't need them. I've been at this for a few years, and I still don't use one. I just monitor levels into external gear closely. You can take a look at my rack and those of the other commenters by clicking on their user name. Some users have invested in output modules, many haven't. I do use a Strymon AA.1 for an effects pedal send/return, but otherwise I haven't needed a dedicated output for recording, etc.

I don't know, man... 10 buffered mults? Two Pam's?
The folks that commented before are definitely pointing you in the right direction, especially for a case this size. Everyone is going to do this modular thing differently, for sure, but I can't imagine this is the best use of the limited space you are giving yourself. Are you planning on using the PNWs as your main sequencer, or do you have something external to sequence pitch more effectively?
I'm not a Maths disciple, but since you brought it up twice, it is excellent as Jim said for grasping and accessing the fundamentals of MODULAR synthesis. You may have years of experience with synthesis, but trying to cram all of the functionality of a fixed architecture synth into the small euro case you have selected is very difficult (impossible?), hence the Maths love. Need a mixer? Need a subharmonic generator? Need to attenuvert four different envelopes? Need a basic logic function? Need to create a weird shifting bouncing ball envelope? Maths... It doesn't have to be a complex signal chain. It just gives you all of the stuff you are ultimately going to need more than 10 buffered mults.
The PanMix is euro level. You probably won't need an external output module.
Have fun and good luck!

Outstanding. Seriously, I'm very impressed. Well done!

I found this video useful. Sampling a mult-ed pitch CV to a separate oscillator or chord module (like Plaits or Chord Organ) allows you to have a related note with a longer envelope ring out underneath a melody line. I use this trick a lot.

I'm a big fan of Klaus Schulze's "Body Love" soundtracks (the one with the white cover and a song called "Blanche" especially). Highly recommended.

GAS combined with limited space can be frustrating. While it's fun to dream up a full rack, in practice I always recommend not planning too far in advance. Play around with what you have and when you reach for a function or sound that's not there, that's the next module to buy. Repeat, repeat, repeat.

Seems like a more limited and convoluted Voltage Block to me.

Always love a good experimental use of the Amen break! Thanks for sharing.

The Arturia controllers are tailor-made for this environment, very powerful, and relatively cheap. When I was getting started, I considered a Keystep/Beatstep Pro setup much like Lugia's, but I have very little desk space and needed some other outboard gear in that space. Otherwise, I probably would have been perfectly happy with a similar setup.

Yeah, this is kind of a case of making it more difficult than it needs to be.

Easiest option is a keyboard with an arpeggiator into your MIDI to CV module. I use the arpeggiator on the Sequential Prophet Rev2 into an ALM Mmmidi, but a Keystep and any MIDI to CV converter would work. A second option is to run an arpeggiating sequencer into a precision adder along with your MIDI to CV signal from your keyboard to transpose the sequence, but you are still going to have to adjust your arpeggios (up/down/random) in the sequencer. Voltage Block or Arpitecht might be worth looking into for arp modules.

I was just messing around with Makrow again and was having fun running a few of its outputs to the exp fm inputs of a few oscillators to quickly switch from unison to chords. It sounded really cool after I got it dialed in.

It’s probably not the most creative use, but I love adjusting VCA decay, filter cutoff, and reverb or delay feedback simultaneously. I tend to patch that up pretty often.

+1 to everything Jim said. That is the exact feedback I would offer as well.

Hmmm... that's a shame. I've had nothing but good luck with AJH modules.
Looks like you may have found your answer in that MW thread. Reach out to AJH and see if they can offer you some guidance.
Good luck.

Soooooooo...where are the attenuverters? Yeah, I know...attenuators and the like are dull and boring and they've not got all the blinky lights and crap, but try using the "big stuff" without them and you'll discover the exercise in frustration that's waiting for you here.
-- Lugia

To be fair, Maths can serve as attenuverters, though you then get into the whole "but now you can't use all the neat functions Maths can do" argument. I always recommend the Happy Nerding 3xMIA for any and all racks regardless of size. Such a handy module.
Warm Star's The Bends is also a handy but overlooked module for CV controlled attenuverting and matrix mixing.

EDITED Nov 14th 2021, 12:20

I think you've already pinpointed the concern I would have with this rack: the layout and cable management.
I would probably group this by function, i.e. all oscillators/sound modules together at the top, then filters and effects, then modulation, and all sequencing and mixing at the bottom, with sub-mixers and mults interspersed throughout.
Your rack may be a little voice heavy, but unless you feel like you could use more VCAs or a 3xMIA or something like that, I don't see much trouble with your module choices.
Have fun and good luck!

Hi Radar. What kind of music are you doing? Do you have any external gear?

Edit: Here's a link to the rack instead of a pic.

EDITED Nov 13th 2021, 17:10

Wow, man! I love october 9th acid, but you completely raised the bar with serena. Seriously, I am really impressed. What a great accomplishment.

It sounds like you are using the CVilization as a sequential switch to alternate between waveforms into different filters. I'm not familiar with that module but I think what you would want to do is go VCO > CVilization > filters > VCAs with your Beatstep triggering an envelope that would go into the cv input of the VCA (and filter if desired).

Envelopes and VCAs.

Well, I'm working on a Berlin School project. My professors are Schulze, Froese, and Hoenig. Please finish this assignment for me and I will evaluate the quality of your work.

Congrats @troux!!!! That's awesome.
Looking forward to listening over the weekend.

To add to what Jim mentioned, I would really recommend revisiting what kind of gear bands like Tangerine Dream were working with. It was often very simple analog gear, at least in the early days. A few analog oscillators and filters (Moog, Roland, Arp, etc.), simple 8 step sequencers like the Doepfer or Behringer (though I would recommend the Winter Modular Eloquencer for your purposes), dotted eight note delay, etc.
I would go back to the drawing board on your plan. You can likely achieve what you want to do in a much less expensive manner.
As a follow-up question, what gear do you already have?

EDITED Nov 8th 2021, 20:17

Do you already have all of these modules? What is it that you feel is missing? Are you having trouble getting the tones, sequences, or mixes that you want?

From my minimal research, they look to be fully Eurorack compatible. No odd conversion necessary.

I appreciate the guidance, Jim. I'll take all of this into consideration. Thank you.

Hey all! I've never picked up a soldering iron in my life. I'm a reasonably intelligent guy so I suppose that I could probably figure it out without too much trouble. Thought it might be fun to build a few modules beginning with a Befaco InAmp.
To any of the experienced DIY'ers, would this be a decent project for a beginner? Thanks in advance!
https://www.modulargrid.net/e/befaco-inamp

The Rossum Panharmonium is fairly expensive but excels at texture.

I’m sure I could find some creative uses for Tempi, but I don’t know why anyone would choose it over Pamela’s New Workout with the Pexp-1 expander. I think ALM really nailed it with PNW. It’s an essential module for me.

Here's an interesting anecdote: I placed two orders with Perfect Circuit over the last two weeks, both of similar size and with the free shipping option from California to Ohio. One was shipped FedEx on October 29, the other was shipped USPS on November 3. Both are scheduled for delivery today (November 5).
I guess the moral of the story is that shipping is unpredictable at best since the pandemic began, and everything will eventually find its way to you regardless of the carrier.

Beautiful! Really captures the spirit of Syd Mead too. Great job.

Thank you so much for the feedback and support @Sweelinck. This really means a lot.
You bring up a great point about the sense of place coming through in our music, whether intentionally or not. Our musical heroes are just a small part of what influences our artistry, and as much as I love the music of Berlin, Manchester, NYC, or Rio de Janeiro, I will only be able to authentically express what it sounds like to be in this Midwestern place. There are two pioneering Ohio electronic/synth-punk bands (Devo and Brainiac) that I always thought sounded so out of place for the landscape and culture of Ohio, but I realize as I'm getting older that they are exactly what Ohio sounds like.
Again, thanks for taking the time to listen and respond. Hopefully, the next time I share something I will have my ideas fleshed out a bit more. I really love this idea of capturing the local environment and "zeitgeist". :)

DFAM was my first purchase when I got back into making music a few years ago. It's definitely a fun, quick, groovy idea machine though a bit limited when it comes to traditional drum sounds. I ended up selling it to fund a polysynth, but recently realized that I've been subconsciously rebuilding it much more expensively in my rack. Haha
I'd say it's a modern classic if you aren't hoping for 808/909 sounds and workflow.

Love all of that stuff. Coincidentally, I was listening to Ashra's "Correlations" album on the way to work this morning.

Really nice - has me wondering how to make something similar on my system ...
-- gumbo23

Thanks @gumbo23. I have had almost zero time to work on music since August. I do still plan on sending you some sounds to work with at some point though. I'm hoping to have a bunch of free time in December.
Take care!

Wow. That sounds incredible! I imagine that you will have endless fun with your Blue Marvin.

Funny you should ask this question because I'm currently rethinking my FX setup. I have the FX Aid XL and Milky Way for eurorack multi-effects, and haven't been 100% happy with the results. I'm also not a big fan of Clouds as an effect. A lot of that probably comes down to me and my creativity, as I have heard good results from all of those in demos. I do have the 4ms Dual Looping Delay and it is more of an instrument than an effect, and the Qu-Bit Data Bender which is pretty unique in what it does, so I'm happy with those. I also run my signal through some guitar effect pedals (most notably EHX Oceans 11, Warm Audio Jet Phaser, and Orange Kongpressor) with a Strymon AA.1, and prefer that route to the in-rack effects I currently have.
I think I would prefer something like the Springray that Garfield mentioned or Erica Black Spring Reverb as well as an analog BBD like the Pittsburgh or XAOC Sarajewo (expensive!) for the type of sound I usually aim for. I don't really use any plug-ins/DAW effects.
The one benefit of euro FX that I take advantage of is cv control over delay feedback for dub style swells, but I'm mostly hands-on, preferring to adjust effects on the fly.
I'll be watching this thread to see what others are doing.

• Kinks is taking up a lot of space for the sake of a single min/max gate. If could magically combine the Divkid S+H module with Kinks I'd do it. Any ideas?

-- rextable

Are you really going to need four sample and hold circuits in a build this small? I would hold off on the DivKid S+H and just use the one in Kinks for now (if you can find a Kinks, that is).
Have fun and good luck!

You could probably get some cool percussion sounds with a Schlappi Interstellar Radio and Patching Panda Punch v3 combo too.

I've got a Mito and had a Muskrat. I'd say Noise Engineering gets pretty close to that glitchy drum vibe with some of their clock dividers and modulators, as well as Basimilus Iteritas Alter. I've been using their Ataraxic Translatron with a VCA to get some glitchy drums too. ALM's Dinky's Taiko and Tyso Daiko might get close too. Lots of options out there.

I’ve had the Steady State Fate Vortices on my shopping list for a while for this purpose. Really cool mixer. As far as doing it in the rack vs. plug ins, etc. the benefit is always cv and hands on control for me.

I always thought that was an interesting set of chaotic modules. I can't say that I completely understand what they are doing, but Fourses and Sprott appealed to me when I was looking into them. I think they're getting harder to find nowadays.

The BIA is wild. It can do all sorts of different percussion, bass, and lead sounds. It's got a modern digital/FM kind of flavor, so I have to work to get it to fit into the analog sounds I usually focus on. Definitely check out some demo videos.

Yeah, that vactrol feedback loop looks pretty cool.

My tip for filling the remaining hp is to fill it with blank panels until you get to know the modules you have. As soon as you reach for a function that isn't available, that's the next module you should buy.

I actually have a separate private rack that I add planned modules to for this purpose. This has worked well for me.

With the RD8 and RD9, you are getting a much more limited set of internal sounds. I love the sound of an 808 and the RD8 sounds awesome, but I still need to process individual sounds externally. The TR8S has extremely reasonable approximations of all the classic Roland drum machines as well as sample playback capability.
I bought the RD8 mainly as a performance tool, to use the 3 trigger outs to interface with my modular. I have some decent 909 sounds in the Pique and FX Aid XL module, as well as the Blck_Noir, Crucible, and Basimilus Iteritas Alter. I don't really need the RD9. I can't say I'm unhappy with anything the RD8 offers at the price.

Aside from your issue with the lack of ‘true’ Roland sound, how do you feel about it’s capabilities to integrate with a modular setup?

-- jb61264

Integration with modular seems good to me. You have multiple assignable trigger outs as well as individual outs per channel to externally process your drum sounds. I think the stock sounds are pretty darn good, but you will probably want to process them externally either way. I think you might be able to run your external synths through the TR8S's onboard effects too, but don't quote me on that. You also get an FM synth, sample playback capabilities, and a refined live performance tool with decades of Roland's experience designing X0X interfaces.
The more I think about it, the more I want one. Haha

I’d say the TR8S is the best drum machine available. If I didn’t already have an RD8 and some modular drums, I would buy one in a heartbeat.
Have fun and good luck!