Can we talk about modular synths?

[Strange Tales]

I can't imagine building the power supply part of something myself. I'm confident in my soldering ability, but fucking with a transformer seems like a whole different game. I'd just rather pony up for a pre-built one built by people who know what they're doing, and can guarantee a low noise ratio (I saw those new Malekko boards, but too late and they're a $100 more than Intellijels 1.5A offering). That sounds right about soldering the ground over on the Meanwell's, but I think they've fixed it on their newest batch of power supplies (according to Intellijel they are now at least).

I mean if everything else works (Out A, Out B, Max), I'd check everything from Out B to R30 -> Min circuit. I'm sure you've already looked up the schematic but: https://www.befaco.org/docs/Rampage/Ram ... ematic.pdf. Maybe just a good reflow on the parts itself will do it?

[lordgalvar]

I'll take a look someday when I get a chance again. Been a lazy day today and gotta get busy. Thanks for the isolation. (I never use the max as it is anyway...I dunno, I guess I figured it isn't that big of a deal a while ago...My kit was incomplete when it came (common for Befaco) but I had all the switches and parts around the house...Sent some weird stuff that didn't fit anything).

I did build a power supply...It worked for a bit then the stupid voltage converter (adjustable) burned. When I turned it on for the first time I pushed the power button on the surge protector with a stick cause I was scared haha. I was trying to build a bipolar supply for eurorack boards as pedals...Then I got this ICS that supposedly did it, but I don't think they push enough ma or something...Then life changed and I got sidetracked by more important stuff.

[MrNovember]

So I've been rethinking my modular lately. As in rethinking my workflow and my future plans. I have been building a 12U, 84hp rack, and it's almost "complete", but I've been realising that I'm not really a fan of having the one big rack. Because it's so big, I never end up using all of my modules, which has been leading me to actually never use some of them. It's actually gotten to the point where I forgot I had an Optomix for awhile

So I've been thinking about splitting up my main case into some smaller sub-cases with more specific purposes:

Main sound sources, monosynth, drones:

Controls:

And a little rack to use with my incoming Field Kit/external instruments:


Somehow, smaller subcases = more rows.....but I think it would really help my workflow

[lordgalvar]

That's how I chose to go about it. I don't do well with large pedal boards or anything (just end up using one fuzz/distortion).

I kinda chose to set it up in 104 HP rows of stand alone and one helper row. I wanted to be kinda quick and easy like an easel or 0-coast. The one up there was supposed to be an easel lite (in conjunction with whatever controller I used) and to make use of pedals. The next row will be more logic and rhythm/random...Then I have one planned someday for harmonic manipulation. I don't know how deep I will go into all this, but that was the path I took to stick to a budget and make it easy to pickup whenever. (I'm also trying to color coordinate .... But in a way that makes it easy, like black is the control rhythm stuff, silver is the sounds gen and wood are the ins and outs...Stupid, but yea haha)

I like the idea and your racks look awesome. As does d.o.s.'s.

It's kinda neat seeing everyone's style.

[MrNovember]

Yeah I wish I had gone with several smaller, more focused racks to begin with; I definitely don't do well with large pedal boards either. I've always liked to have a tight, focused selection of pedals. Not sure why I didn't go that way with modular. Oh well, I'll get there eventually.

This is where I am now:

So I've already got a lot of the modules in my plan, just a few I have to sell and a few I have to buy.

[echorec]

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=slgkYn9VnlQ[/youtube]

[fever606]

1) I can't believe they actually made more than a handful of "proof of concept" models for that thing...

2) I can't believe the only CV controls it has are for time and feedback... not even mix?

[MrNovember]

Quick patch from last night:

Was just messing around with Batumi in phase mode to modulate different parameters (SVF-201 cutoff, Chronoblob feedback, something on Loquelic Iteritas, shape on Mini Slew) to get the patch to evolve over time. Sent everything through an Echo Degraded and Pretty Years. Really liked the result so I hit record.

[lordgalvar]

https://m.soundcloud.com/mrnovember-1/170116a

Sounds great man! The echo degrader and pretty years make it feel way more natural and "live" (if that is what I am hearing).

You've got a bad ass set of modules too. Getting rid of the ciat lombarde stuff? Thoughts on them? (I personally haven't really been too interested, but curious).

Batumi seems like a badass module.

[MrNovember]

Thanks man, I think the Echo Degrader and Pretty Years are probably what you're hearing there

And I actually really like the IFM modules, but I pretty much never use them. They just don't really fit into my workflow. I probably haven't really dived deep enough into them to fully understand them, which is probably most of the problem, but I kind of want something a little more immediate and useful. If I were to keep them, I'd want to build a standalone rack of only IFM modules, but really, if I was going to do that, I'd prefer to just get a Plumbutter or Cocoquantus

[moogboy]

Re Splitting up your modular into smaller ones:

I used to play shows with like a thousand HP of modules and it was the dumbest shit. After a while I started condensing and condensing and coming up with tighter and tighter integration between modular/pedalboard/drum machine and now I've done like 30 or 40 gigs with the same 9U case. The key for me was just getting a fixed set of modules that I was using all the time for every project and setting-my 9U is either the centerpiece or only thing I play when I do video, free improv/instant collaborations, two solo projects, a doom metal band, and anything else I do with synths. If you break it down into a bunch of systems it's easier to figure out your techniques and get better at building great patches for whatever purpose you've got today.

[Strange Tales]

I'm trying to find that stuff right now but having a clear vision makes this easier. Unfortunately I'm forever stuck in the "must try every filter that has every existed" stage.

[Warpsmasher]

I feel more focused now that I'm doing split cases too, but I'm kind of missing having it all together too.

...and now, Spasms:
http://www.megafileupload.com/p3gi/warp ... spasms.zip

Spasms is a custom sample pack for Pico Drums, made from my homemade collection of drum samples. It's mostly fills, rolls and breaks, with a few single hit sounds for some balance. Hard rock/heavy metal style acoustic drum sounds, no techno stuff but for a couple of heavy kicks. I tried to only pick sounds that blend well together in the sample select mode, which is how it's set up for this video. Pitch/time shifting starts at 11:50.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zn0gMr4MB-Q[/youtube]

[coldbrightsunlight]

Hey peeps. I've said this before I'm sure but now after browsing this thread and other places on the internet I definitely want to get a small (for now) eurorack modular going.

What I want to do with it: start off simple and droney till I get my head around this and then progress to adding bleeps and bloops and sequencing and other fun things.

But I want to start out with a simple, bare minimum setup to do some learning and exploring and also spend less money on a new thing. I'd really appreciate a bit of advice for a complete dummy.

From a bit of research I think for basics I'm looking at:

Case
PSU
Couple of oscillators (simple but ok sounding)
Envelope Generator (or 2?)
Filter
LFO maybe?
Output/mixer (don't know if this is required?)

That should make sounds right? So I figure can play with that while figuring things out and looking at sequencing/other fun stuff, I imagine playing with the basics I'll be able to get a better grasp on what I need to make the sounds I want rather than planning anything wild to start off with.

Does this all make sense as a noob approach?


Also do people have any advice on components for starting out, like I don't know what case size I might want (not too huge definitely!), what modules are good etc. I don't really want to make something that I dislike as soon as I know what I'm doing because the stuff doesn't sound good or has too limited functionality, so I am willing to save and buy quite gradually to get decent modules.

I'm capable of a bit of DIY if that helps make some things a bit cheaper.

PS sorry if people ask this in this thread every day, feel free to throw me links or copypasta instead of long responses.

[D.o.S.]

"needs more VCAs"... get ready to hear that a lot.

Depending on your timeline for building this, you can definitely try my little rig out to see what you like and don't like about it.

I also think it might be good to look at something like the 0-Coast to see if that might be more up your alley as a starting point.