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Thanks for the feedback!

Hey guys,
appreciate your feedback a lot.

Hi @Lugia , thanks for the suggestion, I'll think about it.
I'd like to note my workflow to audio path, usually I make a hard use of stereo path, is for this reason I have 2 veils (for the moment I don't find another solution). I use one veils for left channel and the another for right channel. Sometimes I use HPO as a merger stereo, sometimes I use an external mixer. When I make a recording session I use each out from veils to sending the audio to external mixer. I've spent a while searching a solutions mixer to keep the stereo path in eurorack, and save hp as possible... but I didn't find nothing better, so I continue with this workflow.
Because I'm working with hard stereo path, mostly I use the buffered multi (links too, so useful for those works) as a mixer/splitter/merger the audio path. Sometimes I make a hard use of that, sometimes less. Maybe I should replace the buff mult from wmd to another links better for this kind of audio works.

EDITED Feb 17th 2021, 10:24

Will be an instant classic. Any release date on this?

Hello
Here’s a track I recorded yesterday while jamming on the palette case. Salmple is the main sound source and it’s being triggered by pam and steppy. Ch 7-8 goes true ssf pole zero and fxaid for the reverb.

=clipboard&p=i&c=1

Here’s the case if anyone is interested :)

EDITED Feb 17th 2021, 11:21

Well said Lugia,

I was fortunate to have friends with large modular setups that let me try them out and do lot of research and a small semi-modular before I dove in last year. Now I have lots of modular gear now and just scratching the surface. I can finally create some tracks and fun music on modular but it is a steeper learning curve and higher cost than say what I can do easily on an Elektron Analog 4 for example. That said- for experimental music and my goal of creating soundtrack stuff, it is perfect!

Love this @aphex_goodman, the performative aspect is awesome and the tune rocks.

Hi Gabor,

Oh this is great! Very atmospheric music and a great demo of the Theremin, nice video :-)

Ha, ha, I love the sounds you are using, lots of "sonic fun", nice to listen at! Great shadowplay too!

Thanks a lot for sharing this with us and kind regards, Garfield.

Hi Ivo,

Wow, great track! Impressive show you are pulling of here. What's that module you are using quite a bit in front a bit on the left hand side? Your "control centre", it looks like? Would be interesting to know which module that is.

Thank you very much for sharing this and kind regards, Garfield.

Actually, they seem to have addressed some of these BSP issues in the more recent firmware revisions, notably the pad velocity thing. I use two of these, so I was reading that and going "huh...?" That's definitely one of the benefits of being able to redefine a device's OS via a flash.

Anyway, Jim's point here is well-taken. Small cabs are actually more of an IMPEDIMENT when users pick these for first builds. As a result, a bunch of us tend to advise going with a larger case than you think you'll need...because, inevitably, it's NOT larger than you think you need. The problem of size arises when people begin to realize that their 2 x 84 cab now has all of the major modules they'd been drooling over...and no room left for the utilities and other stuff that makes those major modules do their thing. In that sense, the build I did here is a bit of an anomaly, because I was able to make the utility functions happen because of certain major modules, like the SISM's use here for modulation mixing/polarization/offsets. When you can pull those sorts of additions off, they're a big 'win'.

BeatStep Pro is good, but (you might guess from the name) better for drum sequencing than melodic. Pros :
* good ergonomics for most things
* memory you can save stuff in
* some good performance features
* packs in a lot for the price
Cons :
* drum gates ignore velocity (sad) which makes it less useful for CV sequencing
* entering velocity is not especially quick (though it is easy)
* playing notes on drum pads is possible, but it's not ideal

Depending on the kind off music you are making you can quite far with just Pam and pitch quantised random + looping. And since you have DFAM you can feed its pitch sequencer to a quantiser to get melodies too.

Thanks, helpful to see someone going in a similar direction and some other interesting modules to think about. Yes, agree about the Mutable originals - could be a good use of my spare space.
-- ntrancer

Yeah, jump in! ES9 + Plaits with VCV is plenty to get started. Check out the great M4L utilities for CV in Ableton. Once you've spent some time with VCV you'll have a better idea for the next few modules. Maths (or another DUSG), a quad VCA and effects would be my choices

If you're anything like me, the direction of my rack quickly changed after getting started. It's much more "out-of-the-box" than I expected. Glad I didn't buy everything at once.

Hopefully you'll get lucky and Lugia or another legend will take an interest in your rack and rip it to pieces (with love of course).

EDITED Feb 17th 2021, 04:39

Actually, I see no need for either buffered multiple in this build. You don't exactly have loads of destinations for scaling-critical CV, so since the buffers aren't needed, I'd suggest using inline passive mults instead. Keep the Links, as you've got some need for the basic mixing/distro capabilities it has.

After pulling the PipSlope and both buffs out, this leaves 10 hp. So, down at the right end of the bottom row, add a proper stereo mixer. My suggestion would be the 4ms Listen Four, which gives you two mono inputs with manual panning and two stereo inputs (useful given the amount of potential stereo paths in here), line-level stereo outs, a headphone preamp, and a ganged stereo main level. That's really about the only thing that I see seriously lacking here.

Right...the idea behind the original essay came from a period where everyone and their pet goldfish was WAAAAAY overhyped about modular for some gawdawful reason (probably YouTube-related), and I was trying to pour some icewater on that with a more realistic look at "why modular in the first place". And while I will say that it's best suited for a "...certain type of musician...", that musician in question is one who's gotten comfortable enough with their musical direction that they know what a bespoke system of their own design will allow them to accomplish. Oh...an EXPENSIVE bespoke system. That's important here.

See, this stuff's expensive. People routinely drop thousands on these boxes of circuitry. And just as routinely, you've got people who put these systems together then wonder WHYYYYYYYYYYYY it doesn't sound like the skiff they saw on [INSERT YOUTUBE INFLUENCER HERE]'s channel. And this goes right back to that inexperience. It's sort of like college: people think nothing of dropping tens of thousands on tuition, room, board, and books while, at the same time, coming into that future debt with ZERO idea of what they want to do with the rest of their lives. And naturally, these people either have to figure themselves out PDQ, or they get a clue and get out...or they buy all the way in and get a degree that's about as useful as mudflaps in the Sahara.

"Ultimately I think if you approach it like you would any hobby everything will be fine - do your research, have reasonable expectations, understand what you're investing into, and do it for yourself." And I'm with you there. But I just insist that people really be sensible with this process, so I'm trying to get people to STOP and to THINK before they watch a few YT clips and then decide they're 999% SOLD on this without comprehending that there ARE pitfalls here. And sometimes, that takes a hella WHACK with the modular synth keisaku to snap people out of that mindset.

I may as well have named this 'shadowplay'. This patch is starring the new Atari Punk Console Theremin module by Alizon Devices. More info in the video descirption.

First of all, if you DON'T have anything resembling studio monitors to hear what you're doing with the synth, you have a problem. Secondly, if you have monitors without an amp, you REALLY have a problem. You cannot hook a modular synth up directly to a pair of speakers unless they're powered, and it doesn't sound like those are.

Second, there are some who use headphone-outs for their modular's audio out. I don't recommend this at all. For one thing, the headphone output can vary widely from one module that has that to another, but in all cases you're dealing with a preamplified (and NOT line-level) signal that also probably has an impedance mismatch between its output and whatever line-level input you're using. It's also not impossible for the headphone output to be DC-coupled, which as Garfield mentions, is quite bad...especially if any DC it's passing gets some amplification and then...well, this:

Thirdly, if you're still sussing out how to get audio out of your modular, I would suggest STOPPING those cash-dropping plans for a bit. I'm already hearing how you want to use a Rosie as a mixer...which it SORT OF is (it's more related to a DJ mixer/crossfader), but not necessarily in a way that's useful for all rigs. It also doesn't sound like you have a proper working environment set up, either...some sort of basic mixer might be useful, an amplifier for the whatever-those-speakers-are (the connectors are to connect the speakers to an amplifier, NOT for line-level signals at all), and so on. These are actually far simpler to sort out than the modular itself, so I've got some concerns as to what your build actually looks like and consists of.

It's EXTREMELY easy to get into an idea that you've got your build sorted out on a first (third, seventh, nineteenth) try and that you're ready to drop some plastic on it. Therefore, it's equally easy to wind up with a semi-functioning build due to that mindset., and also equally easy to be out a few grand when you pay for something that can only semi-function that leaves you wondering why it behaves lousy and sounds like refried poo. Note also that you've been "...reading up over the last month in preparation for my first rack purchase". That's almost certainly NOT long enough to properly come up with something with zero background and experience. Remember: Modulargrid is NOT a video game. There are no bonus scores for coming up with your build as quickly as possible...but there definitely can be one hellacious booby prize waiting if you think you can! You're talking about an investment in a few thousand $$$ here, after all.

One other thing I would suggest prior to coming back to this idea would be to actually get some experience at this via VCV Rack. That's a Eurorack emulator, with many modules that replicate operations (and even some actual modules) found in modular synthesis. It's also FREE, so it's definitely better to spend some time with VCV prior to dropping ANYTHING on physical hardware so that you've got some better ideas of what you actually need before this gets spendy. https://vcvrack.com/

Keeping my Clouds...

Just upgraded my er-301 to an ES-9 and Ableton, so smashing it on the granular synth front

I'm keeping my Monsoon, but have preordered Beads. It's going to be a blast with my banana gear.

Hehe, I just popped by to see how many Clouds were for sale in the Marketplace!

Oh my.... and it's still stereo. Well... we'll be needing this then.

It's here.
https://mutable-instruments.net/modules/beads/

sequencing: yeah, not sure about pitch sequencing to be honest. I havent found anything small and convincing for in rack sequencing, so im considering a beatstep pro.. if u have any leads, let me know! for drum sequencing i will use euclidean circles for kick hats and dfam.

I think you are going about the the wrong way - as are a lot of others - especially those who ask "how to fill my Xhp gap"

start with the modules that mean something to you and fit the case around them (with space for expansion) - NOT buy a case and try to cram everything in - which happens so often - especially with people 'trying to economise' - small cases = false economy
or
just get used to getting more and more cases!!!

Noise Engineering have a weekly question on instagram, a while back it was what is your main sequencer? - my reply - pams, sinfonion, erica pico SEQ, marbles, branches, zularic repetitor, beatstep pro and fader step... they are sequencer modules - that combine to make a sequencer

I can recommend Hugo Paris at Tiny Crush Mixing for the mixing part, and Nathan Moody at Obsidian for mastering.

http://tinycrushmixing.com/
https://obsidiansound.net/

They are both stellar, neither are cheap. Like, not even near cheap. However, they're both worth every penny.

If I do another all-the-way album, I may find someone local to me for mixing, but I will definitely go back to Nathan for mastering. If I had label backing I'd request Hugo again in a heart beat.

One of the things to keep in mind is what you need. Are you looking for MIXing, or mixing? If you're pretty happy with how things are sounding and just need to make sure levels, EQ, etc, are good to go for mastering, I don't think you'd want to go with someone like Hugo. If you want a deep dive though, he's the kind of mix engineer you want.

Nathan's my guy for mastering, period.

There are many, many, MANY others out there though.

live performance of my latest modular track: ANTITHESIS
Full video:

Good luck.

Thanks very much @farkas !

I just would prefer used for money reason, and on top of that, I forgot to mention but I'm in EU (France), so shipping + custom fees $$...

Come on, anyone thinking about swapping those hps ;-) ?

Looks like Analogue Haven still has some.
https://www.analoguehaven.com/audiodamage/adm18/

I'm looking for a Shapes from Audio Damage, now not on production anymore, if anyone wants to sell one.

Take care everyone, and thanks if anyone can reply :-)

This is great, Garfield. Very similar to the layout that I unconsciously ended up with in many ways. And I agree that this is an excellent primer for beginners in the types of necessary modules and functional grouping that should be considered when planning a larger rack.
I've been making some small tweaks to my layout, and even removed a few modules that weren't seeing any use (gasp Goodbye Clouds!). I've come to the conclusion that I will probably never finish tweaking it, as my needs change and I embark on different kinds of projects.
Thanks for putting this image together for us to consider. Have a great week.

Well, now I've replaced clouds, by Prism. Yes, I know, they aren't the same thing... but I'll keep it for the next rack. In this one I've notice I don't use it so much, clouds sounds too much to clouds :D

In this rack after de replacement, I have 6 hp free. At the moment, I've thought to add a pip slope and another multi (buff multi from intellijel), but I'm not sure if I'll need it, unlike my first config I've missed a lot more modulation, in this case I think I have a lot, so add another more it seems no sense. In other hand another FX Aid seems interesting to me, but anyway I don't know. Or maybe an uFold from intellijel give me another tool to audio sculpt.
What do you think? If you have 6 hp free in this rack, wich module you miss?

P.S. I try to make ambient, experimental and idm stuff with the rack.

EDITED Feb 16th 2021, 10:28

I absolutely agree. One doesn't need to set out with the goal of becoming the next Subotnick or Ciani or EDM giant. You don't need to have any goal at all beyond wanting to check it out. There is an air of gatekeeping here that I don't think is necessarily intentional but is present nonetheless. Curiosity as a starting point should never be discouraged.

-- baltergeist

While I'd agree with most points, aren't people overthinking their music-making a little too much?
It makes the assumption that every musician's goal should be becoming successful or having some kind of mystical experience out of it...
I don't know, some of us just make music because it's our favourite thing to do in our spare time. I learned decades ago that my music is nothing special and is going nowhere, yet precisely because that wasn't my goal, I'm still at it 35 years later, and enjoying every minute of it. For the sake of it.
I'd say, yes be aware of your budget and measure how important things are to you, but don't overthink it. It's just a hobby like any other. If you lose interest after a while. Sell on and move on.
-- Mazz

I'm glad this thread popped up again because I remember reading last year and being put off by it. I think Mazz and baltergeist have it dead on - for most of us, modular and music making is a hobby. If it's enriching your life in some way and you can afford it, then go for it. You'll probably make mistakes, get frustrated, spend too much money, and make mediocre music, but if you enjoy the journey, I think it's time well spent.

I think Lugia's original post is a useful discussion on the limitations, misconceptions, and general pitfalls of modular. I think if this post was called "Things to be careful of before you start your modular journey" I wouldn't have such a problem with it, but unfortunately as it stands it reads a lot like "modular is very serious business and is for a certain type of musician". It seems to minimize the many different reasons one might take the modular plunge. I hope thats not the intent - I hope its just a veteran trying to compile and share their wisdom with the community they so obviously love. I certainly wouldn't be where I am without the thoughtful contributions and feedback from the more experienced folks around here!

I got into modular because one day the YouTube algorithm showed me Rings making beautiful sounds next to some succulents and I just HAD to learn everything about it. I had never thought much about synthesis, but as an engineer and hobby musician, I discovered that the modular world (especially patch programming and generative music) really scratches all sorts of itches I didn't even know I had. I jumped in and spent more money than my partner wanted, but it's been an incredibly rewarding journey.

Ultimately I think if you approach it like you would any hobby everything will be fine - do your research, have reasonable expectations, understand what you're investing into, and do it for yourself.

I'm down @Greenleo, I'll send something over in the next few days!

Sent link via Twitter. Thanks a bunch for putting something cool together.

I do have an email setup: CMEdemos@gmail.com. Most people seem to like shooting me a DM with a link and that works just fine too. Harsh Noise is welcome. This is a wide open no holds barred culture jam. What ever moved you enough to capture on a recording is awesome!

Hi Farkas, All,

I finally got this picture and I hope it works here below:

Ah, it works :-) So, please keep in mind this is just an example, it doesn't have to be exactly like this but that you just get the idea of my above post.

The idea here is that for each "functionality" block you see here, you could take, if you have a lot of space, one rack, or if you have less space consider each block as a row in your racks. With two large racks or with 3 small racks this is getting quite realistic. If you have less space then use for each functionality block a certain HP space reserved; at the end, it's up to you. It's just to give you an idea on how a (medium till large) rack could be rearranged.

For beginners it might be interesting to see what kind of functionalities one might need to think about, it might give ideas and also perhaps a perception on how much HP/rack space you might required.

Farkas: Good luck with the rearrangement and please keep us updated :-)

Kind regards, Garfield.

Some dude on the Facebook eurorack forum said I need to shave my arms lol in the video that was too much hair.
Guess people are super weird these days!

Thanks Garfield! Yeah the Richter modules are wicked crazy and especially when fed into FX processing like Mimeophon create some wild soundscapes. I am saving for a Doepfer 14u monster case to stack on the base case after I move to larger studio later this year then can get more sequencers, effects, support modules, mixers and some more percussion and few more sound sources and some granular sampler modules like the Instruo Arbhar or Qu-bit Nebulae for chopping up and processing audio in modular.

Hi Steve,

Oh that's a nice "playful" track. Nice to listen at, gives a positive feeling, I like that!

One little thingy... where are the other 14 minutes? 17+ minutes...? ;-)

Nice little jam, I hope this leads to more? Thank you very much and kind regards, Garfield.

Hi Sacguy71,

Ah, now I know what I missed from your videos, some rough sounds from the Borg (Richter) module ;-) Nice to have a video with this module back into play!

Thanks a lot for sharing this and kind regards, Garfield.

Hi DesertS,

Welcome to modular :-)

The best way is, to get an audio interface that has at least (stereo) output. If you like to have input possibilities as well then you need both input & output. A nice example is Intellijel - Audio I/O.

Eurorack signals are (much) higher than line audio signals hence the need of an audio interface module. Some members here save money on such interface and by turning down the gain completely on the external mixer and then slowly pulling it up to see if it goes well.

If you are going to do a lot with DC signals, it's recommended to use an audio interface so you wouldn't have DC signals towards your speakers (since DC would destroy your speakers).

Up to you. Have fun with your modular system and kind regards, Garfield Modular.

Hi Greenleo. Thanks for letting us know.
I have a harsh noise wall style track if you are interested in including it on your comp.
Have a great week.

I run a netlabel of all free releases called Community Modular & Electronic. I'm putting out a compilation of modular noise that is set to be finalized in one week no matter what.

All are welcome. These are just for fun jams to be used on a free comp.

Let me know if you want to be a part of it!

https://communitymodularelectronic.bandcamp.com/

I run mine through a sound board with phantom power. You can get a phantom preamp by itself for like 20 bucks. Not sure if its a necessity though. Might work without it. Just bear in mind you are going to get mono out.

Hello,

I am new to modular synth and have been reading up over the last month in preparation for my first rack purchase. I am fairly confused on one area that I have had trouble finding info on. How do you send audio "out?" I am looking at the Make Noise Rosie to send the sound to headphones. However, if I have speakers I want to send the audio to do I need an inline amp? On the mentioned module, I only see headphone jacks. My speakers use BPA-38G banana jacks which requires 4 out (2.LxR). Any way to dumb this down for me?

Some thoughts:
1) I think I'd swap the Nin and VCF3 for an analog oscillator, maybe an Instruo Ts-L. IMHO Nin loses it's oomph in a generative rack, and you don't need three filters, so an analog oscillator (always a nice thing to have around) is a nice replacement that can help create some contrast with Plaits and Rings.
2) I like Cold Mac, but for your purposes here I'd probably just get a Links and Kinks, they do a lot and it's all grok-able.
3) Rosie seems too big for what you're aiming for here, I'd replace it with an ALM HPO which gives you 6 more HP.
4) Since the quad VCA cascades I'm not sure you need the mixer. I'd pick something interesting like a wavefolder or distortion module (Instruo Tanh or something from Noise Engineering maybe), or pull some more effects into the rack like an FX aid (a common recommendation).

Hope this helps!

Took another crack at this patch, I think it needs a third voice, or a little different development, but sound wise it's pretty nice... Serge rules.

https://stevehand.bandcamp.com/track/staging-acid-2

Props to @Ideo, @DirkB, @mopoco, @WarpHead and @mech808.
It's been a pleasure to deal with you guys.

To chime in with Lugia, here is a minimal FX setup: I have 4HP of multi fx processor (Disting MK4) which is fun, too.
For a minimal setup of pedal board FX I send things out via a headphone Cue and returing it via Mutable Ears. In my case it worked great with the BOSS DM-2W Delay, because I could also mix it back in the FX loop for well controllable feedback :)

PS.: Next up will be an FX Aid as dedicated processing module ;)

Good communication and nice transaction with @exzs
Danke Simon !