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Is this the expander for Dylan's 1000 VCO monstrosity? ;-)
-- Lugia

Hahaha!

Thanks again for the incredibly kind words, Garfield. I'm glad you've enjoyed it!

I think some of this convo ignores that people mostly get into modular cause it's cool and fun. I have aspirations to actually make music with my gear but I kind of think most people just want to make noise for themselves, or that they're at least happy with that, and hell if nothing I make ever gets any attention I'd still be fine with it, I'm having a blast, and in ways I never did with digital. The only real question from my POV is "Can you afford it?" and if so I say fire away. Just one noob's two cents...
-- troux

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.

Furthermore, most of the artists I follow, and the few I know personally, pretty much universally agree that being in a place of discomfort, trying something new, is one of the keys to artistic growth - is one of the ways to know you're onto something. So, I think being in a sandbox with infinite possibilities is a great place to be. If you get frustrated, well, that's something different that could maybe be worked on outside of the context of music.

I completely agree with just about all of this except #5. I think modular is absolutely stellar if you have don't have a clear direction or idea of what you want to do musically specifically BECAUSE it is a sandbox. The caveat to that, of course, is that one must be comfortable with experimentation. Maybe that's what you mean by having a developed direction, I am not sure, but modular is definitely not for you if experimentation is not something that appeals. Besides, how does one develop or come to recognize limitations without experimentation? Modular, to me, is one of the most suitable milieus for this.

Yes, it is expensive, but, as you say, with a little research one can learn synth basics and start small, and let the system grow organically along with one's musical/artistic direction. A professional-level bass or guitar, amp, and minimal pedalboard can add up to several thousand dollars. If you're a drummer you know how much a good set can cost, especially when add quality cases. As an upright bassist, I can assure you that quality student-level instruments can routinely cost upwards of $5k. So, put into context, modular isn't actually that expensive unless, as mentioned, you want to replicate a Moog One. Which I would agree is utterly insane.

Another track for the next album, like the others it still needs some work. Morphagene, Tetrax, Cocoquantus, Three Sisters, and various Nonlinear Circuits modules, especially the 8-Bit Cipher, and others at play.

EDITED Aug 3rd 2020, 15:07

Right on, thank you!

So many choices!
-- humanoid01

The blessing and curse of eurorack. :)

As for the Folktek pieces, that is merely my personal experience, so take it with a grain of salt.

Yes, you can clock/gate it. :)

https://www.alrightdevices.com/product/chronoblob2

Currently, I have the Make Noise Mimeophon and for the most part it's great for what I do. It can also be clocked/gated.

The Nano Garden is okay, but, honestly, I find it more of an art piece/novelty item as opposed to an instrument, and I have a feeling I'll probably sell it at some point. I got really infatuated with his stuff because of the aesthetics, and the Matter ii could generate some great sounds, but I find the build quality a little suspect for the price. For example, the Nano Garden is over $500. I should not have a tight knob/pot, but I do. In addition, the switch for the power supply was non-functional within hours of delivery. For that kind of money, everything should be perfect, and it wasn't. Please don't misunderstand, I'm really not dogging them, it seems like it takes a lot of time to build their pieces and that carries a cost that has to be recouped, and they are definitely beautiful, but the attention to detail might not be at the level of other manufacturers from a functional standpoint. Caveat emptor.

Honestly, I think the same could be said for Ciat-Lonbarde, but for whatever irrational reason I am more forgiving where his work is concerned and I continue to build my C-L collection.

EDITED Jul 24th 2020, 19:21

Distings are definitely feature-packed, but I find menu-diving on modules to be a pain in the ass. So much so that I'm considering selling my Plonk (well, and the fact that I really don't use it much anymore). Of course, having something like a Disting and setting it and forgetting it seems like a bit of a waste too.... The only module I really tolerate it for is my Ornament and Crime, which I absolutely love.

Personally, I would definitely keep Marbles, I miss it. Also... MATHS. I know, I know, but it, at least for me, truly is a useful module and it looks like you have room. One other suggestion - Folktek stuff is very cool, I've had a few pieces and still have a Nano Garden, but you might be better off with a Chronoblob 2 or something similar. I think they're less hp too. Just some random thoughts.

Just wanted to plug the Mordax DATA. When I was starting out I had a lot of difficulty getting envelopes to work correctly. The DATA helped me immensely in that respect. Being able to see what the waveforms were doing was a game changer for me. It does a lot more than just act as oscilloscope - it's tuner function is also tremendously useful when you want to overdub guitar/bass/tuned instruments or jam with others.

That said, there are other eurorack oscilloscopes, but the DATA is the most feature-packed and useful, imho. For a smaller one, there's this: https://www.perfectcircuit.com/dave-jones-designs-o-tool-plus-oscilloscope.html

EDITED Jul 23rd 2020, 15:38

A fun book that's related to those ideas and discusses them, is The KLF: Chaos, Magic, and the Band Who Burned a Million Pounds by John Higgs.

Actually, there is purpose and meaning to those names, but it would be unreasonable to expect them to be apparent to everyone. In the case of these two pieces they relate to the invocation of a spirit and that spirit 'riding' an initiate. That is what the music suggested to me as I was creating it, and it relates to my interest in the realm of ideas and 'magic' as Alan Moore has discussed and David Lynch's concept of fishing for ideas.

EDITED Jul 22nd 2020, 15:16

Thanks for the kind words, Garfield. I'm glad you enjoyed them!

Working up pieces for another album. These both still need some tweaks, but I like them so far.

The background sound in Ridden is from my C-L Cocoquantus playing back and processing some Tetrax and a shaken half-full jar of water. The rhythm track on Invocation is my tongue drum sampled by Morphagene and then modulated by either a Nonlinear Circuits Triple Sloths running as fast as possible or a Hypster running slow. I can't remember. [edited] It was definitely the Triple Sloths, because that's also modulating Plaits in chord mode.

EDITED Jul 24th 2020, 12:56

Thanks again. For various reasons, I'm simply not able to have a 'proper' monitor set-up (space, cost, and most importantly time - I cannot mix 'out loud'). So, I simply have to work around the limitations the best I can.

Thanks!

Disclosures - my room is wholly untreated, by necessity I do my mixing in headphones (dad, full-time job, 'studio' is in the home, not in a separate space) - in short, I am making do with a far from ideal set-up. I've done enough research to know I'm starting out from a disadvantageous point so I'm trying to find some ways to mitigate that.

I do a lot of playing around with panning and gain leveling, then EQ, then reverb, but looking for something like an EQ or filter for eliminating specific frequencies, tape saturation emulators, that sort of thing. The compressors and EQ in Sonar aren't horrid. Thank you for the the plug-in suggestions thus far!

I've been researching how to improve my own mixes and there are a number of techniques to utilize, but I'm also trying to figure out what plugins might also help, perhaps a mixing suite. I use a version of Cakewalk's Sonar Professional from 2017. Can anyone recommend some mixing plugins that might be compatible?

Across several forums, I've yet to find anyone else that uses Sonar, or at least no one that responded uses it. Hoping someone here might have some suggestions. Thanks!

Thank you very much, I'm thrilled you enjoyed it! Not sure I'll go through the mixing and matering process again given the cost, but it was so worth it to do it at least once. I can now cross this off my bucket list.

I can't recommend Hugo Paris for mixing enough, and of course, Nathan Moody at Obsidian Sound for mastering.

Hi all, my album Tides is now available. Thanks for checking it out!

http://baltergeist.bandcamp.com/album/tides

I sold my Marbles a little while ago and, as is often the case, am feeling some remorse. Looking to save both money and space, I'm considering a clone. Does anyone have thoughts on Pachinko vs Cara micro vs the other cloes out there? I'm assuming functionality is identical and the differences have more to do with ergonomics/layout/aesthetics. Thanks!

A simply factual observation: this thread, 'What do you love (or prefer) about modular', totals at that moment 252 views and 9 participants (and thanks to them, 16 posts).
252 views, 9 participants.
3 or 4 percent...

Is modularist community overwhelmingly a nation of music lovers or technicians?
-- Sweelinck

What do you mean by music lovers or technicians? One could be both?

I have a few things I've used a Cocoquantus 2 on, as well as a Tetrax:

And a long one:

These are just doodles/improvs.

I see them listed but not in stock. For example: https://vintageking.com/2hp-loop-sound-looper-module?gclid=EAIaIQobChMIyu3xxcP16QIVQxx9Ch38_wfHEAYYASABEgJ1lfD_BwE

Just curious. I'm enjoying my Tetrax and Cocoquantus 2, wondering if anyone has tips, guidance, enthusiasm to share.

Two words - it's fun.

I find modular to be like finger painting with sound. I'm finally starting to develope some techniques, some ways to get predictable results, but the main appeal for me still is that it's a happy accident machine. I am not an organized thinker and making 'music' via patching is perfect for the way my brain works.

I'd no idea it was that many (MATHS and MG members). I stand corrected!

Well, I don't want to run afoul of forum rules so I can only say that that's a perspective worth considering.

I don't know if your petition helped, but....

Tony Rolando from Make Noise had an interesting take on the numbers. I can't remember exactly, but Make Noise is one of the biggest, if not the biggest, sellers, so far as I know, and even Maths, rated by many as the THE module, hasn't sold ten thousand units yet, I think? It's in his interview with Tim Held on Podmod, if I remember correctly.

Edited to remove any, however remote, wiff of politics.

There will always be boutique builders, look at any corner of the gear world, they exist, from pedals, to synths, to guitars, drums, recording gear, whatever. So, I hope the costs come down. More people making music is a good thing as far as I'm concerned.

EDITED Jun 5th 2020, 15:20

No idea overall, but until the price of entry comes down, it's likely to stay on the niche side.

Right on thank you!

Howdy, looking for chaos CV generators. Have a triple sloths from NLC, thinking about their Hyper Chaos and Hypster, but wondering what else is out there.

Thanks!