Let's talk modular synths

[GRollins]

5 hours ago, RABid said:

Experience with the system is the only real way to determine best placement. There is no standard formula because not everyone uses modules the same way. The main thing is though experience, determine what module gets the most tweakage and arrange so that the controls on that module remain clean of patch cables.

 

This is part of my conundrum. I keep wanting to find an absolute, iron clad best layout. The reality is that "best" seems to shift according to the project I'm on. Still, I keep hoping that I'll find some sort of optimum that at least kinda-sorta gets me by, regardless of what I'm up to.

 

I should have known this from the beginning. Why? Because the entire reason I started looking into modular is that I needed to rearrange the functional modules on my Moog. Instead of A-B-C-D, I needed A-B-D-C...but couldn't, because the Moog was hard wired in a certain sequence. I'm not criticizing the Moog--nine times out of ten, the stock work flow is just what the doctor ordered, but that tenth time needed something different and I couldn't do it. So why would modular be any different? Well, it's not, of course. And, in truth, with long enough cables and a little dexterity, you can reach around the patching to get to the knobs you need to get to. It's just that...sigh...I want it all.

 

There is a solution--and I've already gone partway down that path. Get multiples of critical items and have one over here and another one over there and...oh...what the hell, let's put a third one right here so it will be closer to the other whatsit. Obviously not a good policy for expensive units, but for smaller items like the little Doepfer mixers, it works like a charm.

 

And yes, I still find myself wanting bigger knobs and a more relaxed layout. I saw a review of the Behringer (aka Moog) 914 filter wherein they were whining about how big the thing was; they wanted it smaller. I wanted to scream at the screen, "You idiot! That's one of the best things about it! You can reach the bloody knobs without hitting twelve other things!" Everyone wants smaller, smaller, smaller... Nitwits. At some point, you really should consider the ergonomics and quit obsessing over the HP count.

 

Don't be surprised if I start a thread about 5U modules at some point.

 

Grey

[RABid]

I used to have a big monster case. It now sits almost empty as I evolve to smaller specialized cases. When I started that direction I envisioned myself building a case for sequencing other cases, a case for effects and output, a case for percussion, etc... What I found that I really wanted was cases built around voices or work methods. I have a case for Mutable Instruments, which is really a case for generative chill. A case for audio modulation rates with my big old AFG oscillators and my Spock and Vulcan modulators. I do have a general purpose case for matching up with other things. It has my favorite sequencer, my DATA module for looking at wave shapes, my favorite output mixer, a couple of Ornament and Crime modules along with my Disting Pro. I've also started recognizing modules that do not belong in the same case. Metropolix is a great sequencer for creating patterns with lots of complicated modulation which can change on each note. Rainmaker is a complex echo unit with 16 taps, each having level, panning, filter type, cutoff and Q. If you feed a sequence from Metropolix into Rainmaker all of that delicate tweaking on Metropolix will be lost. 

[mate stubb]

I added the finishing touch, a 1U row in the middle for attenuators, mults and a utility mixer. The 4 way mults are rewired to act as distributed patch busses, with color coded washers under the jack nut - good for clock signals and long distance patching.

 

[hurricane hugo]

I could use this:

 

[hurricane hugo]

 

[mate stubb]

So I scrapped the Rene in my design because I don't think I'm ready for the complexity - maybe later when I get some of the other modules mastered.  Got intrigued by the Bloom sequencer and the 4ms Ensemble Oscillator so I'm exploring them. I made the 1U row 100% passive so I won't have to run power (it's not in either of the Niftycase cabs.)

 

 

[uhoh7]

Great thread

 

The tractor beam is tugging on me....

 

DM12 taught me synth fundamentals...just recently I got a 2600 and a model D.....so I need some CV control. I bought a Expert Sleepers FH2 and MIDI breakout, and I've just got a Midihub too for 5 pin. MPC1K is meant to be fantastic modular sequencer, I have one with JJOS2XL, but there is a learning curve LOL. Got Zaquencer too, but the Midihub has great arp features easy to map, so I think I'll start there, and FH-2 meant to quantize, scale and transpose polyphony...but I am waiting on a few parts there....

 

Anyway I'm hoping the 2600 will keep me occupied for a good while.....with other stuff I already own....

 

The one module that really is a siren to me is......Sinfonion

 

Pamela on steroids....and shrooms....?

 

The bear in the the bar:

 

The chip supply sitrep for eurorack is .......having drastic effects....explain some players here.

[mate stubb]

Sinfonion looks interesting. i saw a vid using it with some interesting music from the creator Mathias Kettner. He's doing more chordal and melodic and dare I say funky music with modular synths than the ambient folks.

 

Check out the groove at the beginning of this clip. I think Sinfonion exists to facilitate the kind of music he wanted to create.

 

 

[mate stubb]

Well, crap. Only 4 modules into my adventure and I have already run into a depth issue. My NiftyCase is 2mm too shallow for the LPG module I selected. I like everything else about it and it is affordable but now I'm eying a 7U Intellijel or similar. I wouldn't kick a 104hp case out of bed either.

[uhoh7]

A new potent gateway drug has emerged......note extensive Midi to CV, and hella arp onboard:

 

 

Another "explanation" with some very nice sounds:

 

 

[mate stubb]

Saw all the vids that dropped yesterday. Sounds pretty good!

[uhoh7]

1 hour ago, mate stubb said:

Saw all the vids that dropped yesterday. Sounds pretty good!

I thought I was all done buying things...I've been on a binge after about two years of acoustic only buying...I even bought a MP-7 two days ago...my old proteus one is aghast  The new possibilities which Sinfonion shows off...are baked into (in part) some recent modules, you guys know better than me, FH-2, Pamela's, and the AI jams are morphing in some pretty cool ways, Random against Scaling, Midihub has a bunch of these options built in also, so maybe I can finally put my multi-timbral stable to some, hopefully not too muddy, use  Was that a Rompy kick.....or the 2600? A Virus Ti cackle or some random CV sweep in the Taiga? I think I have the hardware to support 32 channels, and my sequencer collection impressive on paper....I may need another mixer though....and even a patch bay...passive I think, as the power bill already has too much potential. 

 

Maybe I can generate some house cleaning music in between real practice sessions. I had my alto out today terrorizing the neighborhood with union folk, like "Which Side are You On?" Pushing that kind of air actually wakes me up pretty well. The WX-7 and WX-5 (recently acquired) are like cooing in comparison, but I'm hoping to get them at some of the synthy bits in new ways MIDI to CV. 

[RABid]

Not sure what you already have now Matt but I want to mention that some of the Mutable Instruments clones are running out of stock because of chip shortages. CalSynth is out of Typhoon and the chip supplier for the main chip does not expect delivery of chips until November at the earliest. A lot of MI modules use the same chip so if you want some of the MI clones, put them at the top of your list.

[mate stubb]

Talk on this forum made me do just that - fortunately I didn't want a Typhoon.

 

I have a Rangoon, Monsoon, Pachinko, and uPlaits already on the way. I plan on adding 2VCA and uPeaks modules soon and Mbrane and uGrid later. But I hopefully have the critical modules covered.

[mate stubb]

My Mutable/Calsynth modules showed up today. They are just so musical sounding - I immediately loved Plaits and Marbles is a riot. I still have holes to fill in the design, but it's time to pause and fundraise.

 

 

 

The bottom horizontal row has got to go - can't see past the cable forest. I'd probably prefer a flat surface that can tilt like the Intellijel case, except that I want 2 1U rows between the 3U rows. Guess i'll end up making something.

[GRollins]

Are you, by any chance, having trouble with the ear pads on those Grados? I bought a pair of 325s (I think that's the right model number) and the pads felt like I was wearing sand paper, then decomposed to dust in just a year or two of very little use. One of the kids had trashed a pair of headphones and I scavenged the pads off of those because they coincidentally fit, but they're too small and the speaker cups aren't stable on the sides of my head.

 

At one point I wrote Grado about the decomposing pads and got back a snarky reply that they're user replaceable for...I think it was $20 (at that time, I'm sure they're more now), but I can't see dropping that kind of money for pads that feel horrible and self-destruct when I only wear them a few times a year.

 

Love the sound. Just wish I could get the pad thing settled.

 

Grey

[RABid]

My mini system. Two modules in a 64hp case. The Hector has a collection of Mutable Instruments coded into it. The complaint is that it has some latency. I compensate for the latency by having it first in the chain and being the clock for the system. Being first in the line, everything else matched up to the latency. The Zoia Euroburo has a headphone out which is handy when I am using only this little system. Clock and a stereo out is routed from the Hector to the Euroburo, which supplies the effects and some nice sounding synth modules.

 

[RABid]

13 hours ago, mate stubb said:

The bottom horizontal row has got to go - can't see past the cable forest.

Right angle cables help with this. They work well when your patch points are either at the top or the bottom of the modules.

[mate stubb]

8 hours ago, GRollins said:

Are you, by any chance, having trouble with the ear pads on those Grados? I bought a pair of 325s (I think that's the right model number) and the pads felt like I was wearing sand paper, then decomposed to dust in just a year or two of very little use. One of the kids had trashed a pair of headphones and I scavenged the pads off of those because they coincidentally fit, but they're too small and the speaker cups aren't stable on the sides of my head.

 

At one point I wrote Grado about the decomposing pads and got back a snarky reply that they're user replaceable for...I think it was $20 (at that time, I'm sure they're more now), but I can't see dropping that kind of money for pads that feel horrible and self-destruct when I only wear them a few times a year.

 

Love the sound. Just wish I could get the pad thing settled.

 

Grey

 

Those Grados in the pic are ancient. And yes, the pads disintegrated and I just recently got around to replacing them, but I think I paid more like $10. I just googled it.

 

For instance, Clonk

[mate stubb]

24 minutes ago, RABid said:

Right angle cables help with this. They work well when your patch points are either at the top or the bottom of the modules.

 

I've got some coming to try, but expect to run into real estate problems in dense jack fields. 

[hurricane hugo]

On 2/2/2023 at 5:40 PM, mate stubb said:

Saw all the vids that dropped yesterday. Sounds pretty good!

and at just 800 smacks, you literally can't go wrong.

[GRollins]

On 2/15/2023 at 11:44 AM, mate stubb said:

 

Those Grados in the pic are ancient. And yes, the pads disintegrated and I just recently got around to replacing them, but I think I paid more like $10. I just googled it.

 

For instance, Clonk

 

Interesting...those ear pads are nothing like mine. Mine are...er, were...much taller, meaning that they stood out further from the ear cups, and were cylindrical, with a hole down the middle, and a bevel on the inside. The SR325 must be more different than I'd realized.

 

I would not want to replace my ear pads with identical ones because the foam was literally abrasive. It was physically uncomfortable to wear. Then there's the fact that they turned to powder in a little over a year, with me only having worn them for less than ten hours, tops. Probably less than five. That sort of deterioration is unacceptable in my book. I want something that will last (and be more comfortable).

 

The kids have broken a number of pairs of headphones since I transplanted the pads I'm using now. I ought to take a few minutes and paw through the pile and see if there are any that might be a better match. It's one of those things I keep meaning to do, but...

 

Grey

[mate stubb]

I'm thinking bad thoughts about expanding to 104 hp. Yes, I can add a few extra modules, but the big benefit ends up being able to rearrange the modules according to a layout that favors the "instrument" design. Holy crap though, the expense! No way She Who Rules The Home would need to know those details.

 

I may never get there but it's a fun challenge to design a system balanced by function, module real estate, and module availability.

 

The design calls for 4 melodic voices, 4 drone voices, and 4 drum voices, plus all the supporting mixer channels, mod sources and sequencers. By going to 104 hp I can put all my melodic and drum voices in the top row, and the drones and most of the mod on the bottom.

 

 

If that's not completely extravagant enough, add the 84 hp performance row in its own cabinet:

 

[GRollins]

2 hours ago, mate stubb said:

The design calls for 4 melodic voices, 4 drone voices, and...

 

AHEM!

 

You'd better stop talking like that, you're starting to sound like Grey, with all his "Deep Oscillator" nonsense that brings about so much derision.

 

Grey

[mate stubb]

1 hour ago, GRollins said:

 

AHEM!

 

You'd better stop talking like that, you're starting to sound like Grey, with all his "Deep Oscillator" nonsense that brings about so much derision.

 

Grey

 

 

[GRollins]

Last night I was running my Behringer 2600 in parallel with a Model D, all six oscillators simultaneously humming along. Sounded rather glorious, actually. Every so often, I'd throw in a voice from the Yamaha Motif Rack, just for fun.

 

Yep. Now we're gettin' somewhere...

 

Grey

[RABid]

On 2/24/2023 at 2:54 PM, mate stubb said:

I'm thinking bad thoughts about expanding to 104 hp.

Really like my 7U 104 HP. May get another.

 

I consider this my main case, and my only one designed to stand alone. My do everything rack, in its current state. Voices include a dedicated hi hat module, 4 channel drum synth/sampler, a physical modeling voice (elements) and the 4MS Ensemble Oscillator which is not like anything else I have. Euclidean Circles is a 6 channel percussion trigger pattern generator. Memitic Digatalis is a 4x4 melodic pattern generator which can give you 4 x 4 note patterns and a 16 note combination. It has a lot of cool controls and it fun live, but you need a quantizer if using it for notes. I split it between notes and CV modulation. uO_c is mostly used as a quantizer but can do a lot of other stuff.  Basimilus Interitas Alter can be a drum voice, bass, or really aggressive synth. I love Elements but the original version is huge. I've considered selling it while MI module prices are crazy, then buying a smaller clone. Metropolix either drives Elements, BIA or the Ensemble Oscillator. All three have a lot of CV inputs to alter sound to make use of the many CV outputs of the Metropolix. I picked up another Noise Engineering oscillator that is even bigger than the BIA but I cannot fit it in. Notice the absense of filters or VCA's. Every voice in this system is self contained. I have considered a 1u filter. There is one little space on the right to fit a little something. I could use a VCA and filter for the Ensemble Oscillator, then I would also need an envelope generator. Hmmm, I may just swap it out for the Loquelic Iteritas Percido. Will have to get on Modular Grid and see if I can arrange it.

 

[hurricane hugo]

2-man modular jam

 

[mate stubb]

RABid, that rack is rockin!

[RABid]

On 3/10/2023 at 1:34 AM, mate stubb said:

RABid, that rack is rockin!

Well, ummmm, I can't say that anyone has ever complimented my rack before.