#503

What are your controls? I assume w/ Meadowphysics and Teletype you may have at least one Grid. Anything else?

If you’re doing live scoring playability seems like it would be a really strong consideration, as well as quick patch changing and manual parameter control, which might lead me to question the crampedness of the μtable modules.

#504

Thanks so much for taking time with this.

Yes w/ Meadowphysics and Teletype with Grid. Playability is a chief concern but I am super anal, so I would rehearse like crazy so it is part of my body. I dont really “improv” because I have fixed video content I work with. So improv is “scripted.”

I am debating adding a 1u row to this setup where I would have intellijel uMidi. This way I could play lead on a keyboard.

#505

I missed out on Isms years ago, so I tried to put together the next best thing. I only cried four times in dealing with my rat’s nest of i2c/power connections during assembly.

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It feels good to cut stuff out and focus.

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#506

killer setup…:metal:

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#507

How are you using the Mixup & Txn in the same case? Is Txn just the stereo mix down of a single voice and Mixup brings together the Txn out + other mono voices?

Looks awesome!

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#508

Unclear :laughing: I’ll likely be using JF for voices (and the TXo for envelopes), so the general idea is to mix the JF outputs with TXn and save the Mixup for other things. I haven’t really used the system as is yet, so it’s likely to change a little bit.

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#509

Gotcha.

For what it’s worth, I have found the Txn insufficient for system-wide mixing if you also have a polyphonic voice that you’d like to mixdown pre-VCA (so JF, or in my case, Chord v2).

(The above maybe goes without saying, but it’s also a 104 case, so I was trying to do as much as I could in the small space :sweat_smile:)

So seeing your setup with the Txn and the Mixup I was like, “Ah ha, I know what I’m going to try when I get home tonight” :slight_smile:

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#510

love that setup and that focus! :smile: if only you could squeeze some vactrols in there :kissing:

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#511

Beautiful, looks pretty coherent :slight_smile:

What’s the leftmost (3U) module? Haven’t seen that one before.

#512

ADDAC manual gates, super nice one :blush:
ER-301 best friend!

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#513

Just picked up this beauty from Schneider’s laden

Can’t wait to start patching it:)

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#514

I wanted to share my current 104hp setup here as it has been influenced a lot by the discussions in this thread. I bought the case about 2 years ago and since then have tried all sorts of modules, slowly narrowing them down to this set which I really love. Ultimately it’s based around the Make Noise System Cartesian with modules swapped to suit me.

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  • MN Wogglebug: Proving to be an interesting random source, much less controllable than Marbles which I’ve previously tried, but great to inject some chaos into any patch. With a bit of patching it can also go way beyond a random source, plenty of great examples in the manual.
  • MN Rene: The core of the System Cartesian so couldn’t really be missed! I absolutely love the immediacy of it.
  • MN STO Instruo Ts-L: Everything the STO has and more, in less HP. Wavefolder sounds great to me, although the small panel controls are not ideal. I kind of wish that the pulse output had been removed to fit a full size pot for the wavefolder.
  • MN Telharmonic Mannequins Mangrove + Three Sisters: Something about the Telharmonic never quite grabbed me so I decided to add a second analogue oscillator and a filter. As many here will know, the sound possibilities with just these two modules is crazy - once the Ts-L is added for complex cross patching/FM/AM etc things get really interesting.
  • MN ModDemix: Absolutely love this thing! It adds such a nice subtle distortion (almost chorus sound) when using as a standard VCA, simple to use as a mixer with the Aux in, and can get pretty wild used as a Ring Mod.
  • MN Maths MI Stages: If it could fit I would be tempted to try Maths, but I don’t really want to lose anything else to make room. Stages does offer more simultaneous envelopes/LFO’s but maybe isn’t so hands on and imediate as Maths. Overall happy with it, but not totally sold on the interface. Would be open to any suggestions of an equally capable modulation source in 14hp, Zadar is interesting but I’m not sure about the menus/screen.
  • MN LxD Xoac Tallin: After trying the LxD, I decided I preferred the sound of the Tallin overdrive to the sound of the LPG’s, especially since I have the 3S for filtering which the System Cartesian doesn’t have. The Tallin can overdrive amazingly, especially if you use subtle feedback.
  • MN Rosie Music Thing Spring MkII + ALM Headphone Output: I’ve been through 3 Rosie’s and every single one has had the same problem of a really noisy/scratchy crossfade pot. In the same space I’ve fit the Spring reverb that sounds awesome as a reverb but can also act as a voltage controlled vactrol crossfader (Rosie wasn’t even CV able) and a mixer. The ALM headphone out slots into the last 2hp, simple and does the job.

The main take away for me is how much Make Noise nailed it with module choice and placement. Even though I have deviated quite far from their design, it still really feels like a cohesive instrument for the first time rather than a collection of individual modules.

Anyway, I hope this is interesting to some as a realisation of the earlier discussions about the make up of the System Cartesian.

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#515

Love this post! Speaking from similar experience, it’s a beautiful thing when modular stops being a collection of modules and becomes something that inspires creativity as a focused, cohesive instrument.

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#516

Wonderful breakdown! Inspiring and exciting to hear how you customized the mn system to suit you.

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#517

beautiful system—i can’t help but picture just friends as your stages replacement!

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#518

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This little skiff is keeping my very entertained while I wait for the arrival of my new 6u :grin:

I seriously can’t get over the TSNM. It’s the synthesizer interface I’ve always wanted. It really makes me feel more connected to the instrument than ever. It’s a hard feeling to describe, but I do know that as long as I’m playing synthesizers with patch cables coming out of them, the TSNM will be close by :blush:

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#519

I had originally planned this as another of the Blackhole Cases SUB_SIX’s, but I like, have a skiff already so decided to squash the GAS and get those extra 4hp.

It’s also a “look ma no oscillator” entry (do we have a dedicated thread for these yet?), designed primarily to mangle Nebulae samples (working very well for this!).

The Falistri is a late addition and the piece most likely to change. I had one lying around not in use, and I really love it as a module, so I thought I’d see how it goes.

(And yes, I know for a “no oscillator” entry I have quite a few competent multi-function modules that hold their own as oscillators… but that’s part of the fun of modular, right? :slight_smile:)

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#520

How do you use Just friends with Nebulae?

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#521

Nebulae has a lot of modulation inputs, and JF has a lot of outputs, so usually I just self-patch JF a little then take the remaining outs to some of Nebulae’s ins.

I would recommend at least attenuators between them, and for certain the of the inputs—Start & Size especially—you’re well served by some quantization, otherwise it gets very jumpy (which might be your thing!).

(Here of course it’s just opening & closing the VCA, because I love imprecise envelopes [see also the Falistri & the lovely ADDAC Stochastic Function Generator in my other rack].)

#522

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Sometimes I look at this thread and think, “wow, other folks’ systems look so cohesive.” This is where my little skiff is at after a year and a half of iteration.

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