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wow 45 minutes of full energy, that's something!

Did you record the sequences in advance or is it all improvised?

Wow! it gets wild towards the end, well done!

I don't know much about the Werkstatt, but the DFAM is an interesting machine for sure.

By the way, I love that top angle from the camera, we get to see the action :)

It sounds great @troux, well done! I'm also getting that kind of Orbital vibes here.

If you haven't listened to the Orbital's In Sides album I can't recommend it enough, it's a fantastic album. Also if you're in an Acid mood Orbital 2 has some pretty cool tracks.

Thanks @mowse, much appreciated.

@sacguy71 I haven't recorded any video yet but it's something I would like to try out.

Would love to be part of it too! I could submit this one I've just uploaded to Soundcloud if it suits the style and requirements.

Ah the kick, yes, you're right. I probably went with a softer kick because of the drone origin.

Also, I'm still having a bit of trouble mixing the kick drums, it usually gets lost in the lower frequencies and I have a hard time making it cut through the bass, so using a softer kick with shorter decay time made the mixing a bit easier. Then I also added some EQ in the DAW to remove some frequencies and make it fit better with the rest of the sounds.

Overall I think it sounds better than in my other mixes, though it doesn't sound strong enough for a proper techno track. Yeah, that's something I'm still working on and needs some improvements.

Hahaha yes, 20 minutes is not a short one. I must say this one started out as a drone but clearly something went wrong along the line, I'll try hiding the drumbox next time so I'm not tempted to add a kick on it.

I think I've heard Mylarmelodies say he practices as if he was performing in front of an audience. So just set a time box, lets say one hour, and keep going no matter what.

When jamming I sometimes stop and repatch, tweak a sequence or whatever. I couldn't do that in front of an audience, you can't stop the music and have to keep it interesting over time. I might try this kind of practice next time, it's a bit like sacguy71's mindless patch approach.

Lately I'm also enjoying some podcasts and talks, the one Mylarmelodies did with Surgeon was great, and all the STOOR's Knob Twiddlers Hangout series are also fantastic, even if they are not specific to modular synths.

I recorded some long loops into Ableton and arranged it like a dj session. I wish I could do it all from the modular instead of using the computer, but I think I would need a few more voices and mixers to do it all in just one take.

Well done Rassell!! I'm loving it and I'm also getting that J.M Jarre vibe. Sounds very professional and the video is fantastic as we get to see what's going on with the modular.

Thanks for sharing.

1. Try to ripoff someone I like and see how I can reproduce their style in modular. This helps me get away from my typical patterns and think about areas of my synth that I'm not working with as much, or different approaches to modules I'm already using. And of course as you do this you end up adding your own ideas and flair, so it becomes a nice hybrid piece in a way.
   -- troux

This is a great idea indeed. I've used it many times when I'm trying to learn new stuff but never though of using it for the modular synth. It's really a good way of learning, at least until you can come up with your own original material.

I often think it would be easier to stay focused if I had a friend who was also into synths, we could work towards something together. Then I think to myself that I could likely find a bud to learn with online someplace, but I feel like I'm at my best when I interact with other people in person. So I end up spending my practice time doing basically everything you listed, but sporadically and without much focus.
-- Footage

Yes, absolutely. It's a bit like when you want to start going to the gym to get fit, it's always easier if you've got a pal who's also doing the same, it's good to have some with whom you can share the experience.

Plus, not recording things can also be a mistake, even if it's obvious that the "screwing around" in those cases is just that. But at the same time, if you have the take in your DAW...well, hell, ANYTHING'S fair game once it's on the hard drive. So it doesn't work in of itself...but what if you dubbed a few more things onto it? Or what if you used it as a layer in some other work? Or chopped it into loops? Or, or, or... This is part of the rationale Brian Eno's used for many years...true, it's resulted in a HUGE library of tapes of all sorts that he keeps track of, but if you know what's on them and how to work with those recordings, they're golden. In fact, whole albums of his have come out of this, with the most notable example being "The Shutov Assembly".
-- Lugia

It makes sense, more so with modular synths as once you un-patch it's gone for good, it's hard to get the same patch and make it sound the same again. I guess I'll be recording more from now on. I'll be also listening more Brian Eno :)

I wasn't aware of the "Oblique Strategies" and I think it's a fantastic idea, I'll make sure to give it a try when I find myself stuck. Thanks for sharing the online version Farkas.

EDITED Nov 24th 2020, 17:32

I started my modular journey a year ago with zero knowledge of synths, music production or music theory. Everything was kind of esoteric at the time but after reading and practicing a lot I feel more confortable with the synths lingo, now I know what VCO or VCA stands for and I can even patch them to make some noise!

So far I've been practicing by forcing myself to produce full tracks from start to finish, in the last twelve months I've uploaded more than 30 'tracks' to my Soundcloud account. I wouldn't call them 'tracks' really, as they're more like practices or experiments, nothing I would publish on Bandcap or feel proud about. But hey, I'ts been tons of fun so far and I've been learning a lot.

However, for the next months I would like to make an effort to practice in a more focused and deliberate way. Creating tracks from start to finish is cool and fun, but I may end up making the same mistakes again and again and not improving or learning new stuff.

So that's why I'm wondering how do you practice with your modular. If it were a guitar I could easily find practice tips and exercises on the net, practice chords, escales and so on. With modular every synth is different and the kind of practice you do with it is probably different too.

I'm considering this practices myself:

1. Jam: just jam something like 1 hour and record everything. Then listen carefully and see what mistakes I made and try to make it better next time. This might be slow and difficult, without some kind of experienced buddy who can point out mistakes and ways to improve I could feel a bit lost and not improve at all.

2. Module practice: focus on a single module, read the manual and all the information I can find about it. Try to patch it in all the ways I can imagine and use all its features. Having a deep knowledge of individual modules may increase the creative potential and make me feel more confident playing with my synth.

3. Focus on specific techniques: practice on specific techniques, such as drones, percussion and rhythm, acid bass-lines, chords, arpeggios and so on. This will require a lot of research, what makes a good drone? how drum kicks are made? but sounds fun too.

I'm also thinking of throwing in some theory with a couple of books: Music Theory for "Computer Musicians" by Michael Hewitt seems to be an easy introduction to music theory. And “The Mixing Engineer’s Handbook” by Bobby Owsinski, as I find all the mixing and mastering stuff quite hard but very interesting.

How do you approach your learning and practice process? what would you recommend doing first? when you were starting out with modular, what made the biggest impact on your music?

As always, I appreciate a lot your feedback :)

Whoaa!!! this is alien technology!

Sounds fantastic, thanks for sharing.

EDITED Nov 15th 2020, 19:27

Hey again,

I’ve finally decided to go without the Morphagene for now, it’s a pretty cool module but I think this small cab will be much more fun to use if I add a few utilities instead.

Removing the Morphagene frees 20hp in the top row and this is what I changed:

I moved the Pamela’s New Workout to the top row and it now sits between the PS and the VCOs, this should avoid any noise from creeping into the audio chain as Lugia pointed out. I guess the Pam’s will be setup and forget most of the time, so from all the cv modulation modules it kind of makes sense to put this one besides the PS.

Then I added a wavefolder as Farkas suggested, but instead of the uFold II I decided to go with the AntiMatter Crossfold because it can also be used as a crossfader or a VCA, that will surely be useful in this small cab.

In the second row I replaced the Mixup with the Happy Nerding 3xMIA as Farkas suggested too. I would lose the mutes in the Mixup though, but the acid rain Switchblade can swich, mix and mute audio or cv, so far so good. Also adding a kinks to rectify signals, do basic logic or use the s&h and noise. Pretty cool, can’t wait to have this guys in my rack.

Ok, so there’s 8hp left so far. I was planning to add a classic ADSR at this point, something like the MFB ADSR with CV ins for the different stages, but then I stumbled upon the Make Noise Function.

The Function is quite interesting but I’m afraid I don’t fully understand its potential yet and I’m unsure if it really complements this rack. I know it can be used as an ASR envelope generator or as an LFO too, a part from that I don’t know what other tricks it can be used for, but the EOR and EOC outs make me thing there’s a lot of creative patching possibilities in this module.

So, does this rack still make sense? what about the Function? Should I replace it with an ADSR or with something completely different? I think the rack kind of makes sense for its size but your feedback is more than welcome.

Well done! that frog gets really crazy towards the end of the track, and the percussion is fantastic too, what are you using?

Since you're not using a DAW and you have to redo the entire track if you want to change it, how are you dealing with the patch? do you leave it patched until 100% happy with the track or do you take notes so you can patch it again?

Anyway, great work on this track!

Hey GarfieldModular,

I've never heard of Pyrolator or Kreidler, I'll check them out.

Thanks,

Hey,
I just wanted to share my last track / experiment.

Bass is from the minibrute 2s and drums from drumbrute impact. The rest is from a MI plaits modulated by a Zadar and filtered with a µVCF.

It occurred to me that it would be fun to crossfade the lowpass filter and the high-pass outputs with and LFO. So the patch goes like this:

• Plaits out to µVCF input.
• µVCF lowpass out to the Intellijel Quad VCA input 1
• µVCF high-pass out to the Intellijel Quad VCA input 2
• LFO 1 from Minibrute 2s split; 1 to VCA cv 1 and one inverted in Minibrute and then to VCA cv 2

Sure this technique is pretty basic but it's the first time I'm using it and it was quite fun. You can listen Plaits in chords mode going from low to high in a kind of wave. :)

A part from that, I'm still struggling with my mixing skills. I think the low frequencies in this one are a bit too busy, maybe I should go easier on the Minibrute next time.

Hey GarfieldModular,

It sounds pretty cool, that frog must be from outer space!

Thanks for sharing.

Hey Garfield,

The cracking noise comes from the filtered noise model in the MI Plaits, I left it there for most of the track as I wanted to give it a kind of vintage / old recording vibe.

Distortions are from the Minibrute. The brute factor know is pretty sweet, between 25% and 45% it adds warmth and fattens the sound, past 50% it goes completely mad.

Thanks for your comments Garfield,

A few days back Reaper stopped working on my computer for an unknown reason, I remembered my audio interface included a copy of Ableton Live Lite so I decided to give it a try and record something.

I used the modular to record some clips and then added effects. Sound sources are MI Plaits + Intellijel µVCF and a Minibrute S2.

Still a lot to learn regarding modular, ableton live and music production in general, but I had a good time recording this one.

Hey Lugia,

I'm not the original poster but I wanted to thank you anyway, I really like it when you re-work other users racks and then explain what was changed and why. It is really useful for less experienced users like myself, it allows me to understand how different modules play together to make a good rack.

Thank you

Thanks for your take lovscho,

For this small rack I think I can use external splitters instad of mults, that saves some space. I agree on the LFOs and ADSR thing though. I'll see if I can manage with the Zadar and the Batumi, otherwise I guess I'll have to replace the Morphagene with some other modules.

Maybe you can look into something like the MI Grids or the Eucledian Circles. Mylarmelodies has an interesting video about Eurorack drumming:

Also you may want to check out how he is using switched multiples:

Adding something like this into your workflow may allow yo to achieve what you need, or at least give you some ideas of what kind of modules can work for you.

EDITED Apr 11th 2020, 19:52

Hey Farkas,

The Happy Nerding mixers are really interesting, in fact I used the 3x stereo mixer in the first draft of this rack but finally replaced it with the Intellijel Mixup because it can do 2xmono and 2xstereo plus it has mutes, which I think I'll be using quite often.

I've heard mixed opinions about the Morphagene and I'm eager to give it a try anyway. I'll be purchasing it last, just in case, because it takes a lot of space which I may decide it's better used with some other modules.

Thanks for sharing your opinion!

There's actually only one change I think I can suggest here: swap out the Pico Atten for a Pico A Mixer to submix your VCOs before sending them onto the filters. Losing a couple of attenuators is a decent tradeoff for being able to mix your oscillators and beef up your sound with detuning, etc. Plus, I couldn't find a similar set of attenuverters for that 3 hp space; those would've been preferable to the mixer, honestly, because you'd also get the ability to invert modulation signals in addition to rescaling their levels...and inverse mod signals can be quite useful, especially inverted envelopes.
-- Lugia

Yes, an attenuverter would be great. I've been looking around and it seems like Patching Panda has a dual 3hp attenuverter with additional sum and inverted sum outs.

https://www.modulargrid.net/e/patching-panda-flipanda

This could be a good replacement for the Pico Att, what do you think?

Regarding the power supply, I guess I could move the modules around and try to have the power suple next to a modulation source instead. Anyway, as I understand, having it like this could potentially add some noise into the audio path, but it would n0t damage the module itself, right?

Thanks for your reply Lugia, I really appreciate it.

What kind of music/sound are you going for?
-- farkas

Most of the time I'm going for kind of techno and downtempo. Drums are coming from an external drum machine, drumbrute impact, that would be clocked by the pamela's.

Modular drums can be pretty cool, but they can also be quiet expensive, so for now I guess I'll keep using the drum machine.

So This is my current rack, which I'm using with an Arturia Minibrute 2S.

So far so good. I intend to get rid of the Minibrute at some point and replace it with some more modules, I'ven been trying different options and I came up with this one that I think would work fine for me.

Would this rack be any good?

I know a larger rack would be much better, but I already own the Rackbrute and I plan to keep using it until I run out of space. Anyway, I'm pretty sure I'll need to get a second rack if keep going down the Eurorack rabbit hole.

Hey Rookie,

I'm using the 2S sequencer too, so far I've been using the LFOs as a kind of triggers, it works for simple things. Otherwise I've been considering adding a Steppy (https://www.modulargrid.net/e/intellijel-steppy) to my system, it's a bit more expensive than the comparators but it has four independent gate tracks, so you may want to check it out too.

Thanks for the replies!

I think the varigate 4+ might be a better choice for my needs, the Qu-Bit Octone looks great too and I'll check it out, thanks for the suggestion.

I'm planing to add a Mimetic Digitalis to my system, I would use it to sequence the MI plaits model and pitch.

I've been reading the manual and it seems like you can press and turn the knob to have semi-tones, does that mean the pitch would be on tune? what about randomising the sequence? Does it stay in tune when creating random sequences using the shred button? Also, can the Mimetic Digitales be used as a gate/trigger sequencer? From reading the manual I would say all that is possible but I'd appreciate if any of you have used the module and can confirm it.

The Mimetic seems straightforward and easy to use, my second option would be something like the varigate 4+. What are your thoughts about this modules?

Well done, it is really groovy. Is the bass coming from the dfam? it sounds sick.

By the way, how did you record the video? I'm thinking of using an iphone to record my jams but I'm not sure how to get the audio in.

Thanks for sharing defragmenteur, this links will be really helpful!

Hey GarfieldModular,

Thanks for the kind words. To be honest, I’ve never thought of the muddiness as an issue with the gear but as a lack of knowledge when mixing or equalising. Anyway, I’m using Befaco cables which I guess are fine and shouldn’t add any noise or muddiness to the sound.

Senor-bling I’m happy to see I’m not alone in this and you could clearly identify the issue. You certainly described it better than I did, muffled sound and missing crispness, yes.

I’m currently using a semi-modular Minibrute 2s as an output, so my modular’s VCA output is going to the Minibrute’s master input. From there it goes to the Focusrite audio interface and to the computer via USB.

In the computer I record using Reaper and amplify / compress the final mix in Audacity. My guess Is I’m doing something wrong in the DAW, but I’m not sure what. However, it is completely possible that the Minibrute is adding that character to the sound too.

I’ll be adding an out module to my system soon, I guess that would allow me to check if that muddiness is being added in the Minibrute or in the DAW. Let’s see if we can figure this out.

Thanks for the replies

I started my modular journey earlier this year and as part of my learning process I’m forcing myself to create tracks from start to finish.

This is working fine so far as I now have a better idea of what modules I need and how to better use the ones I already have. However, I’m having a hard time with the mixing part of the tracks and I’m not able to get the sound I’m really after. All tracks I record sound a bit muddy, and the sound is not as clear or as loud as I would like to.

I’m sharing this track and asking for advice as I’m not sure what should I do to improve my sound. I’m not particularly fond of this track, it’s just part of my the learning process as I said.

The first one is the original one, it sounded fine on headphones but then I realised it did’t sound quite as good on the monitors. I tried removing some elements to make it simpler and I mixed it again, but it still sounds a bit muddy.

What do you guys think are the two or three main things I should focus on to improve my sound? I would appreciate any tip you can give me.

A couple of days ago TechCrunch published an article about Eurorack, I thought it was worth sharing it here.

https://techcrunch.com/2019/09/28/meet-the-makers-of-modular/

When Dieter Döpfer, the founder of music instrument manufacturer Doepfer, decided to launch a brand new modular synthesiser system in 1995, no one could have predicted what would follow.

Hey Davidaellis,

I own a MiniBrute 2s and you can patch it to external modules easily using the patchbay indeed. Both VCO1 and VCO2 have outputs you could send to your reverb module. You can return it back using the master or ext inputs, master will mix your input to the final audio signal from the MiniBrute, the ext input will send your signal through the MiniBrute's filter, envelopes, brute factor and everything else, this can be controlled with the ext fader in the VCO1 section.

The MiniBrute's manual is pretty easy to follow and there's a full section on the patchbay, you may want to check it out.

Have fun.

Very interesting indeed! thanks for sharing Lugia.

There seems to be a problem with the link, try using your racks URL instead and modulargrid will automatically show an image of the rack.

I wasn’t really satisfied with this rack and I gave it another try. I added the ErbeVerb and the Shapeshifter back, and as a plus I think this one would allow me to get rid of the Minibrute easily if I decided to do so, and maybe replace it with a second Rackbrute.

Right now I’m using it for techno, but it would be great if I could use it for some ambient too, I think there’re enough modulation sources but maybe it would need more effects?

I already have the Plaits, Quad VCA and Zadar, but the rest could still be replaced. I’d appreciate your opinions on this one as I’m still learning and I might be missing something.

Ah yes, the modular news sections is really cool and I've been using it a lot lately.

I'm also adding https://llllllll.co to the list as I think there're pretty interesting posts over there.

Ah, it makes sense.

A few days ago I was watching DivKid’s video on the Joranalogue Filter 8.Tthe filter has two inputs and I was expecting it to work as a regular audio mixer, but it kind of adds one signal on top of the other and drives the filter, which is also interesting.

However, other filters like the Tonus VCF also have two inputs and the resulting output doesn’t seem to sound louder, so I guessed these are different types of mixers.

Doing some research on this topic this morning I’ve seen some mixing modules calling this ‘unity’ and ‘average’ mode mixers, I’m not sure if that’s the official name though. Anyway, I would say the ring modulator outputs the sum and difference of an ‘average mix’, right? That’s pretty cool.

Regarding the VCOs tuning, I’ve started doing some of those ‘ear training’ exercises and so far is proving to be much harder than I expected, I guess I’ll get it at some point but for now I won’t relay too much on my ears.

Thanks again Footage,

That blog is very interesting indeed.

Thanks Lugia,

It seems like I got the whole quantizers thing wrong and now I see how I'd still need to tune the VCOs. In fact I've listened the "180db_" track many times before but it never occurred to me why it sounds like that, VCOs out of tune, that makes sense now.

Up until now I've been using an app to tune the VCOs, I guess I'll have to train my ears a bit if I want to do it your way. Time to practice I guess!

Hey thanks for the links,

I'm a big fan of MylarMelodies and Divkid, I already knew about the Why we bleep podcast but I wasn't aware of Esoteric Modulation and I'm enjoying it a lot.

I was wondering how do you guys tune your modular synth. Some systems have quite a lot of VCOs and tuning may take some time, do you tune them one by one? also, do you use something like a guitar tuner or a mobile app?

There seems to be some modules to help with the tuning, are they worth it? or is there any other way to automatically tune the VCOs? I'm not sure if you could just send the VCOs through quantizers and have them tuned with no effort.

As for modular synths my main source of information so far has been youtube, but sometimes I’d rather read an article than watch a 20 min video, but the only blog with up to date information and interesting articles I know is perfectcircuit.com’s Signal.

What is your source of information and how do you keep up to date with module releases and music production news? Is there any website / blog or app that I should know about?

Also, how do you learn about modular synth artists and new music releases?

Yes, it makes sense to move the P/S to the bottom, good idea. Thanks Lugia!

Just a follow up to keep this rack up to date,

So far I’ve bought the 6U rack, one MI Plaits and the Intellijel’s Quad VCA. It seems like I’ve taken Ronin1973’s advice as a mantra - ‘Once you feel you've mastered these modules, you'll be in good shape to decide what's next’ - and I’m allowing myself plenty of time to learn how everything works before deciding what’s next.

Right now I feel I’m short on modulation sources and my next purchases will probably be the Zadar or the Batumi, and one filter too, as I’d like to use different filters for the Minibrute’s VCO and the Plaits.

Regarding the filters, I reconsidered the Polaris and I’ll probably get one of the G-Storm filters instead. I’ve been listening a lot to the System80’s Jove recently and it’s totally rad, the G-Storm’s JP6-VCF is only 8hp and it should sound pretty similar as both are based on the Jupiter 6 if I’m not wrong. Also the JP6 includes a small mixer which will be very useful in this small system.

Although I’d rather avoid using the computer at all, I find it useful to record some sessions to track my progress and see what sounds good and what doesn’t. Once I’ve got it on the DAW I can’t refrain myself from adding some effects, and I like to use a lot of them! So I though it would be a good idea to add a Clouds clone in the rack too. The Monsoon looks pretty cool and would fit perfectly in the rack.

I’ve also seen the Levit8 recommended in a different thread, and I think it’s something I may need at some point, I could use it as a mixer but also as an attenuator. I’m already short on attenuators as I’m currently using the ones in the Minibrute, and as I add more sound sources I’m probably going to need some kind of mixer, so the Levit8 seems like good choice for this rack too.

Anyway, I’ll probably keep updating the rack as I’m getting new modules and learning more about modular synths.

On the other hand, I’ve been reading it’s not a great idea to have the sound sources besides the power supply, should I move the Plaits to the bottom row instead or is this something I shouldn’t worry about?

Thanks Ronin1973, all that information has been super useful!

So far I've been able to sync my synth with Reaper. In fact it was easier than I expecte, both the Minibrute 2s and the Drumbrute Impact have USB port and all I had to do is select the device in the Reaper settings and send clock signal out from the DAW.

I've also been experimenting with recording my songs in multiple tracks, one track at a time as I don't have any audio interface yet, but it has allowed me to test things out and make sure I understand why I need the audio interface and what I need it to do.

I also have more doubts and questions though, how do you guys do the multi-track recording? do you group multiple instruments in one track or do you strictly use one track per instrument? I find myself easily mixing more than 5 tracks at a time, would I need to get an audio interface with that many inputs? or should I be doing overdubbing with the DAW?

In my mind I would be doing everything with the modular synth and once ready, I would use the DAW for recording all at once in multiple tracks, so I can do the final equalisation in the computer. But I'm not sure that's doable with an audio interface that only has a couple of inputs.

I'm also facing an issue I forgot to mention in the original post. It is about the volume of my recordings, when I listen any of them, all sound way lower than any other audio so on my phone I would need to go full volume to listen it properly. I'm already 'normalizing' the audio in Audacity, I'd expect it to bring the sound to the max volume, but it doesn't seem to work that way, what am I missing?

Hey thanks Ronin1973,

I've been looking around and it looks like something like the Focusrite Scarlett 18i8 would be a good place to start, what do you think?

And if I understood correctly I could plug my gear into the Audio Interface and then to the computer via USB, I wouldn't need the mixer at all. This way I could even record multiple tracks at once using something like Reaper, which looks great by the way, thanks for the suggestion.

Then, having the sound in different tracks would also be easier to equalize, right? let's say I record the mix using Audacity and all I have is one audio file, no tracks and so, could I still equalize it properly? I guess it's more difficult and the results wouldn't be as good.

Anyway, do the same concepts regarding equalization and compression apply when playing live without a DAW? do I need equalization modules and so on? or is it something completely different?