Hello Garfield,
That rule about drone tracks is very funny indeed :) I will think about making something longer next time if I plan a drone track in future :)
In fact, this time I was more keen to make acousmatic composition in Parmegiani like style more than just drone and noise. Lately I am very passionate about his music and it influences me. This track turned out to be completely different from what I did earlier, you know. I want to try experimenting with such sound more in the future.
Anyway, thank you very much for your feedback. It's always nice to read reviews from different people - it stimulates the creativity!

Kind regards,
Igor

Regarding the 19" rack idea...do you have any idea how much 19" rack gear there IS? Or that the format goes back to around WWII for audio gear (like cool old Collins and Federal comp/limiters, passive EQs like my Cinema Engineering one, etc)? This would make the site into a NIGHTMARE for the admins, make it more expensive for the Unicorns because this would eat up loads more database item space on the server, and so on. I mean...hell...I'm sitting next to 90U of processing gear RIGHT NOW, and there's not a whole lot of repetition in those racks!

And also...where do you stop with this? Effects processing? Lab gear? Tape machines (I have two rackmounted ones staring me in the face as I type this)? Power conditioners? Patchbays? Buehler? Anything you can stick onto a rack shelf, so that we eventually arrive at an endless panoply of stereo gear, home appliances...sure, it seems like a good idea...but it really IS a potential bottomless data pit in the end-analysis. I vote NO on this, if simply for protecting the admins' sanity!

First up, it's a pretty bad idea, when starting in modular, to copy the rig of an experienced user. I would STRONGLY advise against doing this! You would probably find that you didn't understand how the system was meant to be used, resulting in wasting money and effort. BUILD YOUR OWN RIG. And don't try and make some miniskiff, either...putting something like that together and making it function nicely is a very tall order, and requires considerable experience with modular synthesizers to arrive at a useful result. In short, farkas is dead-on when he's saying that it'll be difficult to build something versatile in (actually) 75 hp...because that's what you REALLY have, as the P/S takes up 5 hp right off and your A-119 occupies 8.

Next up: there are not a bunch of different Morphogenes. There's THE Morphogene, and then its sibling the Phonogene, both from MakeNoise, and both initially derived from analog tape devices created by Pierre Schaefer. There ARE other sampling modules similar to the Morphgene...but there really is only ONE of those specific things.

You seem poised to make a bunch of huge mistakes here, most notably by jamming big modules into a tiny cab. Again, if you don't leave space for the various "boring" modules, you'll be left with an expensive and rather unsatisfying noisemaker...NOT a synthesizer. I would suggest two things...

1) Get a copy of VCV Rack. Use it. A lot. This will give you some experience regarding what modules do...and not individually, but in groups and subsystems, which is how you REALLY unleash the power in a modular. Plus, it's free, which is always a good thing.

2) Spend a lot more time doing builds, rejecting them, honing down the ones that work until you arrive at THE SYSTEM. Remember: this is NOT a video game, there is NO score, and there is NO time limit. Plus, absolutely NO ONE gets their initial build right...hell, most of the time, users still don't quite have it on build #10! Polishing your skills at building modular systems is one useful thing you get out of rerererererereREREworking these...and as that skillset improves, you get closer to that perfect build that says "pull out the Magic Plastic". And GO BIGGER...like I've noted, you really DON'T want to do this in a 1-row cab that only has 75 hp remaining. farkas says you can, with considerable effort, and this is true...but from my 40-ish years in electronic music, I can tell you right off that you do not want to do this.

As for what to do with the Rackbrute 3U you've got already...I'd suggest using it with a MiniBrute 2s, then using the Rackbrute to expand that device's functionality. That would then give you a proper sequencer, plus you can use the space (after removing the A-119, which would be useless here) to build up a subsystem to screw with timing, add perhaps a trigger sequencer, put in some logic, etc. That sort of thing...which would be a GOOD use of that Rackbrute. The other build, though...nah. Go with something that's got some ROOM...a Mantis, one of Erica's 126 hp-ers, etc etc. In the long run, it WILL wind up costing more...but then, you'll wind up with something to keep, instead of sticking it on eBay (which is what happens with a lot of users who think they can cook up something usable in a small cab, then they realize they'd basically conned themselves into a waste of time, effort, and ca$h).

Since you didn't mention that you had the cab for this, I went ahead and pushed that up to 2 x 104 hp (Mantis, etc). 84 hp was just too tight to make using the synth any fun in a lot of ways. Once I did that, the design REALLY opened up. Retaining your in-hand modules, I came up with...

OK...so what happened here? For starters, I moved the buffered mult (yes, this DOES need one!) to the left end of the "audio" row, then added a Doepfer Quad Precision VCO so that there's ample oscillators here for both audio output AND audio-range modulation. Your STO is next, then out of sheer experimentation weirdness, the next two modules are one of Noise Reap's bonkers crossmodulating dual VCOs and a Happy Nerding FM Aid, which allows thru-zero modulation behavior in addition to a lot of other crossmodulation functions. The idea there is that you'd wind up with a VERY complex little FM set without too much expense and the advantage of total user-definability. At the end of the VCOs now (of which you now have SEVEN, not counting any other "sneak" oscillator features), there's a 4-in MIX from 2 hp for summing VCOs.

Filters: Forbidden Planet is first up, then the next thing is a After Later build of a Mutable Rings, which now gives you a resonant object simulator. Then there's some REAL strangeness...a Limaflo Motomouth, which is a vocal formant filter...sort of like the Sisters that was there, but on steroids. Veils next, then I added that Cosmotronic Cosmix. Now, right below that, you'll see where I placed the Erbe-verb and the Echoz, and the reason there is that the Cosmix has an AUX send and two stereo input pairs that function nicely as FX returns. This swap now allows you to deal with your effects processing as part of the mix, instead of tinkering with wet-dry balances on feeding your mix through the effects individually. Last up in the audio row is a Happy Nerding Isolator...because it's always nice to have some transformer isolation to help with noise and crud, and to have a little "iron" in the output path that you can overdrive and saturate a bit, plus it offers you a master volume for the stereo output AND the appropriate step-down in levels.

Similarly, I went nuts on the mod/control row. Yarns first, then a Kinks to add sample-and-hold, noise, a bit of logic and waveshaping via rectification. Then a Triatt allows polarization and mixing of three channels of CV/mod signals, then the Wogglebug. The lack of really meaty LFOs prompted me to drop in a Batumi after that, which should play nice with the Maths. Added three VCAs there, which can also serve as a mixer and another polarizer. Then, for the VCFs and audio VCAs, I put in one of Doepfer's new little dual ADSRs. Last bits are the Echoz and Erbe-verb.

The changes I made actually come in at around $800 over the original build, but the amount of functionality added due to that additional space addition is pretty significant. Here's a rundown:

VCOs in the original = 3 -- VCOs in revision = 7
LFO in the original = 2 -- LFOs in revision = 4
VCAs in the original = 6 -- VCAs in revision = 7
Filtering in original = 2 -- Filtering in revision = 3

...and so on. A pretty good example of "go bigger than you think you need", actually. Also, one module in particular had to be eliminated right off, that being the Doepfer A-110-4. Given that this has a 60+ mm depth and most smaller cabs tend to top out around 50 mm or so, this didn't seem like it would work out well. So the revision is missing the quadrature function, plus the Megaslope, but the additions make up for much of this.

Seems better. Layout's definitely better, and there's some sneaky bits in there (like the Noise Reap + FM Aid possibilities) that promise loads of wild sound manipulation possibilities. Some superfluous stuff got tossed, also...such as the passive mult (it makes more sense to use in-line mults for passive splits anyway). Have a look, see what you think...

EDITED Dec 3rd 2020, 06:28

Perhaps I'll go with kyufefe....

Here's a goof with the Cuvave Fuzz on one of two Lorre-Mill Double Knots. They're accompanied by a Plumbutter v2 and a Morphagene playing some noise from a Soma Ether. Copious use of the Wires and Vinyl Strip plugins.

Another vote for 19" rack gear. My eurorack stuff lives in 84HP 19" rackmount adapters already.. so natural evolution to be able to detail/make wishlists for 19" rack synths/etc.

This would produce pretty much nothing, tbh. There's an Arbhar there...but no sound producing modules (as such...I'm not counting the Disting's audio capabilities here, namely because they're a minor part of what the Disting can do) NOR any way to get external audio into the Arbhar itself, since you have no input preamp. Then that negates having any of the OTHER modules; it's not a bad modulation set, but that doesn't help the other glaring issue of no audio generation.

EDITED Dec 3rd 2020, 04:27

Better idea, I think: first yank the Kinks and Links and put them in the main cab. This opens 8 hp in the control skiff, into which I would suggest this: https://www.modulargrid.net/e/expert-sleepers-fh-2-factotum, probably placing it at the left end of the skiff to keep the cables out of the way...but to also allow the controls in the skiff to manipulate any of the CV, etc coming off of the FH-2. You could also pull the current MIDI interface in the larger cab in deference to the FH-2, plus you could easily drop the skiff in behind a small MIDI controller (Keystep, perhaps? the FH-2 is USB Host-compliant) and still get excellent ergonomics.

It also supplies some functions a basic MIDI interface doesn't do...check the listing for it. Alternately, one of Expert Sleepers' ES-8 USB interfaces (direct USB to/from CV/gate/trig) would work nicely here, PLUS you can use two "return" channels on it to track the modular directly with your DAW, since the ES-8 is a soundcard-type interface and can easily have two audio channels going back to the DAW while the DAW is busy controlling the synth parameters.

I went ahead and picked up the Cuvave fuzz, can't go wrong for the money. How does one pronounce it, though? Covfefe?
-- baltergeist

That's an interesting thing, actually. Apparently, the company pronounces it "kyu-VAEV", but the guitar crowd actually goes for "kyu-VAH-veh" after 60 Cycle Hum on YT called it that...then Cuvave actually made him some custom-marked pedals that has the Cuvave logo, but with an umlaut over the U and an accent over the E, so I suppose it's now the latter one.

EDIT: actually, I rather LIKE the "kyu-VAH-veh" pronunciation. It sounds like you should have Ricardo Montelban saying it in a sentence that also includes "rich Corinthian leather". ;-)

EDITED Dec 3rd 2020, 07:07

Hi Igor,

Oh a nice and long track with experimental sounds you got there! I guess that fits well with Halloween ;-) Well you know the saying, better too late than not at all :-)

The sounds of some parts are going towards a kind of drone-sound and while you where absent here from this forum, did you heard about the new forum rule here yet? Any drone kind of track needs to be at least 17+ minutes ;-)

I guess you can get away with it because it's not a pure drone, anyway, I still like your track! :-)

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

P.S.: That thingy about 17+ minutes for drone tracks is a kind of fun thing recently introduced so don't take that too serious ;-)

I can't tell from your posts how much you have experimented with synths or modular in the past, but the general idea of a modular rack is that each module is an individual circuit (or collection of circuits) that suit a very specific function. What's cool about it is that you can re-route those circuits to do interesting things that can't necessarily be done with a hardwired synthesizer or pedal.
So, you probably want to control pitch, speed, volume, number of delay repeats, reverb swells, etc. over time without having to turn a knob every time you want to adjust something. This is where your choice of modules is very important (especially in a small 88hp rack). A huge harmonic oscillator will be almost worthless without many other modules to make it sing. There will be no way to modulate volume without a VCA. There will be no way to modulate pitch/play notes without a sequencer and envelopes/LFOs of some sort.
If you are just hoping to modulate piano samples and vocals through the Morphagene, something like Make Noise Maths, the Expert Sleepers Disting EX, XAOC Batumi, or something of that sort may come in handy. Clouds or Arbhar are interesting granular synths that you could use for vocals to maybe get the "cascade" effect you mention. But you will still want VCAs and other utilities to control the levels of your modulation.
Basically, modular allows you to build a completely unique and personalized synth or effects unit one circuit at a time and rewire it as you please to do different things. It will be difficult to build a versatile instrument in 88hp. It can be done, but it will require a considerable amount of research, and perhaps a sizable financial investment. You may receive some good module suggestions from the other folks here.
Have fun and good luck!

Hi everyone,

here is my first modular synth - expected for 2021, as 2020 does not deserve it apparently - and as I am a beginner, I wouldd be really grateful if you can give me your advice.
I began with a Make Noise 0-coast, which made me like spending hours looking for new sounds or original ways to patch the semi-modular. So I wanted to have many possibilities with this one, different ways of modulating, random stuff but still a quiet "normal"synth. Something between experimentation and traditional analog synth.
For information I already have Maths, STO, Erbe-Verb, Forbidden Planet, Doepfer multiple, Veils and Yarns.

What do you think of it ?

Thank you,
Alexandre

Hello Internet,

This is my second build on the site, the first was received with some great feedback.

I'm back again to ask the community what they think of this new configuration, I'm very new to the module world and still in the learning stages.

Can I please get some input and ideas for this current setup, limitations, ideas on what the function of this setup would produce.

Thanks in advance.

R/

Orium

I love it. It is a different thing though.
The Morphagene is a lovely thing but I had it for a few years and needed something fresh. If I was rich I had them both!
MNM is really good to get fast Ambient textures. Also getting random sounding stereo effects can be created fast with it. The Autoleveling function is killer.
The Nebulae is a completely different sounding modul. It is in general a bit more musical and hands on. You have pitch and speed seperate. It is perfect for glitch and IDM with the right samples and patch. The sample lenghth is longer and you can just have a USB stick full with samples without having any special naming of the files ( like in th MNM for instance 'mg1.wav, mg2.wav... ')
Another cool features are the alternate firmwares.

Tschüssi ;)

If it were mine, I'd cut Kinks (and put it in your main rack) and substitute in a quad mute module (the DivKid one is the one I use... Happy Nerding also makes one). The DivKid module is very much a performance tool... three settings, and a very pleasing vatrol effect when muting channels... so it would make sense amongst other control tools.
-- Shakespeare

Thanks! Good tip. I previously had two Ears modules in place of the Kinks/Links pair. a 4hp mutes is another good idea.

I want to play Steel Battalion now :-)
-- Quantum_Eraser

This guy gets it

We now have the option to disable the shortcuts entirely. Find the button top right where you can enable/disable Popovers, Space Guides, Panel Selector.
Message me, if it is not working for you.

Option to turn off Keyboard Shortcuts

There are some nice keyboard shortcuts like copy, paste, duplicate, etc. in the planner.
But unfortunately users reported issues where the shortcuts interfere with the search form.
We now have the option to disable the shortcuts entirely. Find the button top right where you can enable/disable Popovers, Space Guides, Panel Selector.

hello Farkas!

Regarding small set ups. I was inspired by loopop’s video, where his audio in is a midi keyboard (connected to computer) into morphogene and out from morphogene to mixer. I would add to mine audio out from the MG to pedal chain and then to mixer. You can see it here.
https://m.

His HP seems a lot smaller than mine, I have 88. So looking for complimentary morphogen modules (that don’t need to be delay or reverb as I already have those in pedals).

Another example.
Here is Thom York using a simple morphed piano loop with the Make Noise Black and Gold shared system. I believe the morphogene is making that loop with some ecophon in the mix.

https://m.

This is a similar effect I’m interested in. Not using the eurorack as my main instrument but part of a set up.

Do I need a sequencer and LFO? What would the VCO’s add to this?

Thanks again for taking the time to answer!

Hello and welcome, fuzzylogic.
As far as a functional modular system goes, you are missing almost everything important. Without utilities, VCAs, LFOs, envelopes, a sequencer, etc., your oscillator will just make a single tone that you can tweak by hand. A single (huge) oscillator in isolation will not add anything to your setup. What you seem to want are modulation sources for the Morphagene.
Can you give us a little more detail about the sounds you are hoping to synthesize from your rack? As you mention, you have plenty of effects for your vocals, so what do you envision a small eurorack synth to add to your setup?
Have fun and good luck!

Any info on eta of the TM7J? MG info updated sometime this October says avaliable but noone seems to stock the module.

EDITED Dec 2nd 2020, 10:11

I was planning to post this video on Halloween, but for technical reasons I had to reshoot it, so I'm posting it only now :(

It's a simple generative minimalistic noise/click'n'cuts composition built with just three modules: Soma Lyra8 FX, Xaoc Batumi and Mutable Instruments Clouds.
Inspired by Bernard Parmegiani Incidences/Résonances piece on De Natura Sonorum 1978.
Not an attempt to recreate sound, but a desire to rethink the ideas of the master.
Better to listen with headphones to hear a lot of micro sounds and glitches. You can find all explanations on YouTube, if needed.

I want to play Steel Battalion now :-)

This looks pretty awesome, honestly. If it were mine, I'd cut Kinks (and put it in your main rack) and substitute in a quad mute module (the DivKid one is the one I use... Happy Nerding also makes one). The DivKid module is very much a performance tool... three settings, and a very pleasing vatrol effect when muting channels... so it would make sense amongst other control tools.

Hi Garfield,

I do like Noise Engineering but dialing in Clep Diaz and Cursus Iteritas are very tricky compared to Basilimus Iteritas Alter (BIA).
So far, I like Harvestman/IME and Mutable Instruments modules the best with Intellijel and Rossum as superb as well.

Hi there! I've been following your design for a while. I'm assuming you swapped out the Morphagene for the Nebulae. Are you liking the Nebulae? What's your favorite thing about it so far?

Hello all!

I’m new to eurorack, I’m a vocalist looking for ethereal vocal and piano cascades as background tracks for my songs. Basically looking for a rack manipulate my voice. It won’t be my main instrument, rather to accompany my vocal loops.

I’m new to the eurorack world, I have a lot of great guitar pedals (reverb, delay, midi murf, pitch shifters), that I hope to integrate with the eurorack, so I guess I don’t really need more EFx modules.

I already have an Arturia rackbrute 88HP 3U with a Doepfer A119 (audio in my voice with some pre-amp) and a morphogene. I would upload a photo but not sure how!

To fill up the rest I was thinking of the verbos harmonic ocillator, strymon aa.1 (to integrate with my pedals), mimeophon.....

I’m looking for a small solid set up that I can experiment and learn with and build from there.

Am I missing something important?

Any advice greatly appreciated!

EDITED Dec 2nd 2020, 01:00

Hi Sacguy71,

Looks like you like and enjoy Noise Engineering modules a lot :-)

Kind regards, Garfield.

BTW, this is what it would be controlling one day. Although this rack is still only half-built thus far and is also very likely to change by the time it gets built...

EDITED Dec 1st 2020, 23:14

I mean... I would probably pay for a commercial controller product with this much power for about $1500. and it's basically the only justifiable usage for the lingering Niftycase. I could use the case I/O for main clock to the other case and a few cv/gate lanes for playing with the control skiff. And it would free up the remaining hp in the main rack for strictly sound production and signal processing/routing/logic. (Obviously, the easy thing to do with the NiftyCase is to sell it. This is just a fantasy that I think has become a long-term goal).

Now, there is the matter of the 2 Doepfer Joysticks being a bit overkill but... I want a modular cockpit one day just leave me alone :)

It's definitely a bit absurd and it would absolutely take me years to even begin putting modules in it. By then, who knows? Maybe there'll be DIY biometric interface builds for sub-$100 and something like this would seem rudimentary and yet still indulgent lol.

EDITED Dec 1st 2020, 23:17

Really digging my new Clep Diaz modulator that came yesterday and put into smaller case for travel jams:

It really breathes life into the tricky Cursus Iteritas since I moved larger modules like Kermit and Bionic Lester into my 14U MDLR case for using with Hertz Donut and Stillson Hammer, wanted smaller modulation in the 6U Doepfer case.

The ALM S.B.G looks great! Added it to my whishlist! Thank you.

Ah, thanks for the clarity and information. I'm new to modular, and detailed incite like this is very helpful. Thank you. I've started revising with a different mindset, namely not imposing a size restriction needlessly on myself. I started a new 2x104hp rack, but I know things are subject to change as soon as I get my first few modules.

For in/out for effects use, I like the ALM S.B.G. I have two in my now minimal eurorack set-up. Gain control for send and return, plus some CV control. I'm finally exploring plug-ins (hello Hainbach's Wires), but I still prefer pedals. I'm a gear fetishist, so I'm drawn to shiny boxes and blinking lights.

I went ahead and picked up the Cuvave fuzz, can't go wrong for the money. How does one pronounce it, though? Covfefe? I think that's how I will. Thanks again for the heads up on these, Lugia! I'm digging the Box of Metal, the built-in gate is a really nice feature.

Amazing patch with lots of suspense.

Now, are there any common tips when designing such machines? Is there a common rule for all arduino projects? What are some pitfalls that you got into when sketching?
-- Wiktorion

If you need CV output you need a proper MCP49xx DAC, the Arduino pcm outputs won't do it. There is an Arduino SPI Lib available for this. Arduino is nice to tinker around but I have read somewhere that Mutables Émilie classifies 8bit controllers as waste of time because you hit the limits very soon.

Btw this is my Atmega project: https://www.modulargrid.net/e/gezeiten-ultima-ratio-2016

I'm looking at building a case, going the Peli cases (or alternatives) route, buying a case (Doepfer, MDLR...). I agree on spending time on research before spending a lot of money, but I gig on a regular basis and won't my gear to be protected in a roadworhty case. Anyhow: thanks for your advice and inspiration!

Hi Lugia, thank you for your answer! I'm aware of the four-tier rack (I own a two tier) but IMO that's not portable and/or secure for touring: it's simply huge, because of the form factor when having the 3 Moogs in a tier rack with an extra skiff on top. That's the main reason I'm looking for a case: to put them flat with a lid (with the added possibility to keep 'm patched in the case).
-- 3SGCC

I think you might want to poke around this website for a while before dismissing the quad-tier idea: https://www.plattcases.com/ Platt almost certainly has a case available in their many lines that will make a quad-tier VERY portable. And, depending on the line you choose, pretty damn close to smashproof. Or, you could just go 100% bespoke here and put some rails, distros, and a suitable P/S in one of their off-the-shelf cases.

I gig out as well, sometimes. But this has less to do with that and much more with the idea that you can't 100% rely on music retailers for music solutions. Remember: they sell the majority of their gear to the usual MI crowd...which we pretty much AREN'T part of. And that determines what's available in their inventories. So, the sooner you get used to working outside of that set of constraints, the better, because your available options to solve technical issues go WAY up once you're able to do that effectively. Honestly, the amount of "sweat equity" one outputs in music these days NEEDS to include time/effort spent in researching potential options; with electronic music, good technical research goes hand in hand with the usual musical points of practice, performance, and study.

A few things...first up, this thing is NOT going to behave the way you think it will. You're missing far too many of the various utility-type "non-sexy" modules here. Sure, it'll make sounds and such...but so will a kazoo.

Second, this doesn't appear to be very specific, and I see a lot of "let's jam ALL the functions in this box" going on. Given that this is actually a rather smallish build, you don't have that luxury...unless you like the idea of conveniently-housed noisemakers. It's far more advisable to pick a functionality...and then stay in that lane. If this were something in a huge Doepfer Monster case, sure, yeah, go ahead and put the drums AND the bassline AND the lead AND the effects, etc etc, in one box. But this isn't that.

Third, you don't have the luxury in this space of adding "superfluous" modules. Lose the LINK, lose the Paratek meters, and lose anything else that doesn't fit into a tighter definition of what this build should be. For example, you've got 58 hp dedicated to drum modules; if you can fit that into HALF the amount of space, it would make more sense to retain the drums...but right now, given the relative absence of modulation sources, the lack of any VCF at all, and so on, the smart move here would be to scrap this build (not a bad thing...NO ONE gets an initial build right -- EVER) and step back for a few. What does your music NEED from a modular rig? Are there other solutions that make more technical AND MONETARY sense? How do I set up a very basic patch? ALL of these...and buttloads more...are questions you need to sort out before ever getting a build close to a physical purchase. If not, you stand to lose a pile of ca$h on a box that you'll discover pretty quickly is NOT ALL THAT.

Before picking this back up again, I'd also suggest you spend quite a bit of time with VCV Rack, which is a pretty accurate "virtual" Eurorack system implemented in hardware, and is a very good tool for sorting out what one needs when they get around to hardware. Plus, it's free...which is EXTREMELY useful if you get it to avoid making costly mistakes later on. https://vcvrack.com/

Oh yeah, pedal talk! I'm admittedly a bit of a cork sniffer, but I'm very curious about those pedals Lugia mentioned. Quality for cheap is excellent! Chase Bliss is awesome, no doubt, though I've sold every CB pedal I've owned. Haven't tried the Mood, though.

I'm a huge Fairfield Circuitry fan. Speaking of fuzz/distortion on beats, I have a used Zvex Box of Metal inbound that I'm dying to run one of my Double Knots through. Could be cool on the Plumbutter too.

As an aside, Lugia, I picked up a Moffenzeef Kricket. Thanks for the recommendation, it's fitting in nicely!
-- baltergeist

Good call on the Moffenzeef...their stuff all seems to be designed using ultra-wacky EE methods designed to get everything BUT a "proper" electronic percussion sound...which is GOOD!

OK, Chinese pedals...aside of the GLORIOUS Cuvave rip-yer-face-off Fuzz (PUT IT IN A EURORACK MODULE, CUVAVE!!!), there's a lot of not-so-expensive goodness out there. F'rinstance, the Joyo Classic Flanger...sonically, there's a lot there that I remember from the old MXR plug-it-in-the-wall Flanger, but there's settings that the Joyo can get at that the MXR couldn't...it's especially good at long, rubbery sweeps with a lot of really extreme resonances. Or the really weird Aural Dream pedals which all seem to have settings that start where the source for that "clone" end.

Others...Daphon comes to mind, although their boxes are getting harder to find. Daphon was the OEM for Ibanez's 1980s-vintage bulbous-looking plastic-coated pedals...and they continued the production on these under their own label for a while. But the Daphons I dig are all housed in this unsmashable hammertone steel housing that resembles an industrial machine control pedal; the phaser is SO nice...not very extreme, but more in that "just right" pocket. And then, there's "it does something else"-types...like the Mosky Spring Reverb, which supposedly reworks the Malekko Spring Reverb...but DOESN'T, because when you turn the "dwell" up too high, the box will start to self-resonate and create some rather controllable feedback. On a synth.

Sure, some of these are, at worst, really mediocre. I don't have anything here (I don't THINK) by Kmise, for example. But even those you'd dismiss on appearance alone can still whip out surprises, such as some of the ugly, tiny Azor "tombstones" (their Delay in this line is just as solid as any other basic delay...but costs about $20-ish). The nice thing is that they're cheap enough that if you DO get something you just can't get happy about, it's not like you're out $200-400 (or worse!) for some boutique stomper. Or if you feel creative with something that turned out to be "meh.", you don't risk a lot of expense if you pop it open and start having at it with a soldering iron (provided you're used to SMDs...a lot of these use those).

Is there any reccomendation for signal hottnes when going towards the pedal? I'm using the outs of my befaco output, but always checking with my interface that the signal doesn't peak etc. How would a pedal I/O module modify the signal (except from also accepting somethingback from the outside)
-- zuggamasta

Pedal send/return modules (if designed right) do TWO things. One of these, of course, is level matching; modular and "instrument" levels are VERY different, and as a rule, a direct output to something expecting the sort of level that would be incoming from a guitar pickup would result in a lot of distortion...and even if you could deal with this appropriately, there's the OTHER issue: impedance.

Impedance differences can majorly screw with your sound. They can skew frequency response, mess with level matching, and/or potentially introduce noise into a patch (some of that depends on the stompbox in question, though). So a properly-designed S/R module needs to address both the level AND impedance mismatching to be optimally effective. The only time you might want to circumvent this would be if you're shooting for a really nasty, overloaded sound...and if you do, I would STRONGLY recommend running a compressor as the first thing in the stompbox chain to get some control over the level swings. Still doesn't fix the return levels, though, unless you've got an actual input module.

shh!

I'd want more mixing capabilities - mostly for submixes, but also for modulation (matrix mixer) - also possibly some way of placing things in stereo (panning mixer) - possibly sacrifice one of the modulation sources - quad cascading vcas are also really useful - veils for example

possibly replace the dual fx with a couple of fx aids

how are you intending to sequence?

it may be an idea to look at a trigger sequencer - metron appears to be good - also eloquencer and erica synths do one - some of these will also sequence v/oct and/or modulation - which is useful

what to buy first - a way to sequence - kick, snare, hats - mixer (or quad cascading vca) - an effect - a modulation source

Hi Arrrrrr,

Welcome to modular synthesizers! :-)

Well... everything is possible, there are members here who take a rack and put them just full with only VCAs because the motto here on this forum is: "You never can have enough VCAs"... now that's kind a of a practical joke, so just ignore that ;-)

You can take a rack like your above rack or a rack with just 5 oscillators and nothing else, everything is possible...

The big question here is... does it make sense? On top of that you have to ask yourself, what do you want to do with that rack? If you like to share with us what you like to do with your rack (what are your expectations?), then it becomes significant easier to check if something makes sense :-)

Anyway, having all that said. Regarding your above rack, assuming you have nothing else, just planning for that above rack, my comments:

• More than enough modulators for a relatively small rack, could consider perhaps a bit less
• You could consider to get a bigger rack (one more row at least; for what you are all planning to do here)
• Keep at least then one row of that bigger rack free for (near) future usage, don't buy everything in one go, start small, gain experience, adjust your planning/assumptions, buy a few more modules, gain more experience, etcetera
• I do see enough "fancy looking modules" (some call them sexy looking modules ;-) ) so you might want to consider to start with a few less of those
• And start with a few more classical components, for example:
• You could do with at least one more "normal" oscillator to start with, that Snazzy FX thing, is most probably nice (I got the Kick_Me module, nice module!) but it's not a "normal" oscillator as such
• Get also a more "normal" or more default filter, consider a WASP filter for example (Doepfer - A-124) or SEM filter (Doepfer - A-106-5) both good filters. If you want a bit more fancy stuff consider the Erica Synths - Black Dual VCF, though being a bit more fancy, still a bit of a classical filter too
• I don't see any VCAs, right? (you need VCAs, that practical joke about you never can have enough VCAs still has to make a point)
• Instead of that Erica Synths - Link, you might want to consider an audio interface module instead, depending on what exactly you are planning to do with it (some members here think/practice to live without an audio interface, that's up to them. I want to have a more worry-less-life and therefore I advocate to use an audio interface module; but at the end, it's totally up to you :-) )
• Other than the Maths you might want to go for one classic ADSR; at least consider it

Well I guess for starters that should help already a bit. Keep an eye on the classic build up of a synthesizer and look less towards those fancy looking modules, then you should be fine.

Have fun, good luck and kind regards, Garfield.

Let's talk pedals then!
I'm also a big fan of the Digitech Whammy series already mentioned here, mainly for guitar, but also mangling any other sort of sound source I had so far. But I yet have to slap it on the small modular setup I have.

Is there any reccomendation for signal hottnes when going towards the pedal? I'm using the outs of my befaco output, but always checking with my interface that the signal doesn't peak etc. How would a pedal I/O module modify the signal (except from also accepting somethingback from the outside)

My humble recomendation for use with modular is the TC Electronic Arena, which is nice to create all sorts of Plate/Room/Church/Custom Reverberations and just giving a mono out some stereo width. I'm currently also using a custom Setup that takes all the attack and dry signal out to drone all the input.

best
alex

Oh yeah, pedal talk! I'm admittedly a bit of a cork sniffer, but I'm very curious about those pedals Lugia mentioned. Quality for cheap is excellent! Chase Bliss is awesome, no doubt, though I've sold every CB pedal I've owned. Haven't tried the Mood, though.

I'm a huge Fairfield Circuitry fan. Speaking of fuzz/distortion on beats, I have a used Zvex Box of Metal inbound that I'm dying to run one of my Double Knots through. Could be cool on the Plumbutter too.

As an aside, Lugia, I picked up a Moffenzeef Kricket. Thanks for the recommendation, it's fitting in nicely!

Hi Every One.

As starting a 88 HP rack with 2 synth voices + 1 sampler module, and having a pico DSP module (which is great), I asked myself this question.
Grabbing a second pico DSP would give me 2 separate fx units in only 6 hp, whereas the dual FX is 10 hp.
For those who know both of them : Are the FX the same in the two units ?

Kind regards,

Cédric

Hey Garfield,
Thanks for your feedback. You're a good observer - these girls do have some talent and lots of stamina ;)
Best wishes, G.

Hi Lugia, thank you for your answer! I'm aware of the four-tier rack (I own a two tier) but IMO that's not portable and/or secure for touring: it's simply huge, because of the form factor when having the 3 Moogs in a tier rack with an extra skiff on top. That's the main reason I'm looking for a case: to put them flat with a lid (with the added possibility to keep 'm patched in the case).
I'll have a look into Clouds and other options, but I think the Arbhar is just the next step in granular processing. I don't really mind having bigger modules, but I get your point...
The Catoff looks perfect for my needs, with built in balanced line outs and expandability. It's also great to have two aux sends (for extra delay etc). Thanks for your advice.

Yes, I'm really feeling this track. Now I need to get my soundcloud up to speed to bookmark this.

Thank you for sharing!

Oh yes, this is really giving me some good vibes, the sound colors you create at around 3:00 and going on are really something. I'd also be here for a full version of this ;)

best
Alex