Eurorack: ask questions here

#1273

I can confirm this SQ 1 behavior when using sync in. Just actually discovered this behavior last weekend.

Also thanks for the sync out to mult idea going to try that.

#1274

imo, ā€œcomplete songsā€ are hard with modular. of course, Teletype, W/ and ER-301 set you up really well for that, but at least for me itā€™s just been tougher to set up the kinds of changes I usually want a ā€œcomplete thoughtā€ to have with modular than with any other instrumentā€¦

#1275

Absolutely my experience, too, which is why I wrote ā€œsong-type thingsā€ rather than just plain ā€œsongsā€ :slight_smile: Iā€™m thinking something like what Lau Nau is doing, except Iā€™m nowhere near as talented. (I hope the video below is the one I intend, but Iā€™m on a bus, headphone-less and not an asshole).

#1276

Iā€™m specifically interested in the ER-101/102 for this reason (among others). It seems a bit more suited to many patterns of arbitrary lengths which could be turned into ā€œsong-type thingsā€. Teletype would also do that.

Actually this whole conversation is interesting to me because in my first year of modular I had a very ā€œno computers, all modular grarā€ attitude, and Iā€™m coming to realize that for me at least allowing computers & MIDI or say an ES-8 would give me more freedom for this sort of thing.

Thereā€™s also the sequence-the-sequencers option, and of course artists who primarily employ looping to create song structures come to mind, people like Colleen and Juana Molina (and many many others Iā€™m sure).

#1277

I always struggled with this too and I was recently listening to a mylarmelodies youtube talk about modular performances and songs. To paraphrase the idea he said, he talked about how the idea of abrupt changes in melody, timing, tone, etc. that we see in other forms of music is very very difficult with modular. Instead modular is good at slowly changing over time, and specifically having one or two elements that are constant and then layering a one or two additional elements on top of those to then modify, evolve, etc.

That really made me feel more ā€œsecureā€ about the way I approach modular and made me feel more confident in what I am doing.

Iā€™ll never be able to perform a Taylor Swift song live on a modular with the various changes, melodies, breakdowns, etc (Iā€™m sure someone out there could) but I can create rhythmic, swelling, beautiful pieces that fade in, evolve, transcend tradition, and then fade out. And I think thatā€™s what my modular journey is all about, which I am very much at peace with.

#1278

#squadgoals

@disquiet Junto idea, anyone?

#1279

Iā€™m requesting this song:

#1280

I am semi-seriously considering a modular version of Ryan Adamsā€™ 1989.

I actually really like both the original 1989 and Ryan Adamsā€™ riff on it.

#1281

Whoa, this is almost exactly my skiff.

Couple things I learnt with this setup:

  1. You have I2C control over EVERYTHING so the need for TXo is low. I swapped for a dual TXi setup instead because the Teletype and ER-301 both desperately need more knobs.
  2. You will spend a disproportionate amount of time patching JF+CM+3Sā€¦

I also advise you wait on the w/ until you have a firm grasp of the ER-301 sampling features.

#1282

This resonates with me a lot. Part of addressing it for me has been relaxing my ā€œexpectationsā€ for a song. I have found it pretty freeing to record a song that is a very simple melody + layers & layers of loops via MLR.

The other way Iā€™ve addressed it isā€¦

I have found that ER-101/2 plus Teletype has given me the precise amount of control over sequencing that I need to feel like I can accomplish just about anything I want.

There are things that ER-101/2 can do very easily that I find difficult (or at least not-optimzed) in Teletype (sequences with notes of variable length with rests, for example). And there are things that I feel like Teletype does better as well, like introducing variability, and just granting me the right level of control to be able to break out of the box, if necessary.

What Iā€™m doing at the moment is using ER-101/2 as the CV sequencer, and Teletype as a clock, as the gate sequencer and using it to sequence ā€œpartsā€ via ER-102. Iā€™m using Teletype patterns to store CV values that correspond to said parts.

Anyway, itā€™s maybe crappy to chime in with a ā€œmore gear!ā€ answer, but since Iā€™ve gotten into Eurorack Iā€™ve struggled to find the correct answer for me with regard to sequencing, but, for now at least, this is it.

Obligatory pic:

Image%20from%20iOS
Image from iOS.jpg4032Ɨ3024 1.6 MB

#1283

Not a 301 owner, but Iā€™ve done my research. Like @desolationjones said, you will want lots of knobs for it. Maybe a second Quadratt?

#1284

I feel like this subject deserves itā€™s own thread. Itā€™s something Iā€™ve struggled with. I love the modular medium, the physicality, the flexibility. But at least for me (and seems Iā€™m not alone), Iā€™m not really producing full songs with it as Iā€™d like to. From my perspective, getting from clips or thoughts to full songs is a pretty big hill to climb over.

Youā€™re probably right, but the TXo is so much fun! My current philosophy is that if I can use the TXo for ā€œitā€ (LFO, envelope, clock, etc.), then that frees up the ER-301 processor for something else.

The one downside to using TXi as ER-301 control knobs is that, unless youā€™ve hacked the firmware to make TXi a leader, they have to go through Teletype. So it takes script lines, and may not fit with the rest of your scene to run to run metro at a fast enough rate to give them an analog feel. On the other hand, when it does fit your Teletype scene, ditching the patch cables is sweet!

2x Quadratt is what Iā€™m using to put some knobs on my ER-301. Working well for me.

#1285

The not-so-secret secret to big changes, that I donā€™t often see people talking about on this forum, are switches. If you want sudden/drastic changes, implement more switches. It always goes back to utilities :slight_smile:

#1286

Sincere thanks for everyoneā€™s very helpful suggestions.

Also, Iā€™m happy to see that my ā€œrack my rateā€-style post resulted in some interesting discussion that Iā€™ll definitely follow as it progresses. Gotta love this forum :slight_smile:

#1287

the original and cover albums were legit the only albums on my phone for multiple months. both are amazing!

edit: seems like Ryan Adams is a manipulative serial abuser and I think anyone coming across mention of him here should be aware of this article

#1288

Iā€™d add sequencers into the ā€œbig changeā€ category too. Instead of using them as a source for note generation they can be really useful when using their CV output(s) to define different states for a given patch. Often in conjunction/as a CV source with things like switches, crossfaders etc.

#1289

complete songs

Taylor Swift song

itā€™s an infinitely interesting topic.

on one hand, creating anything along the lines of shake it off in modularland is undoubtedly best described as unreasonably expensive.

on another, minimalistic ultra-repetitive beat music feat. cool sound design and a singer is bigger than everā€”t-painā€™s up down and lordeā€™s royals come to mind as bomb pop songs probably patchable in even 104hp.

#1290

Also very interested in this topicā€¦

When I was younger, back in the 70s, most of what I listened to was song forms. Grateful Dead, Gong, Yes, King Crimson. Beatles, and so many more wonderful artists. Later expanded into punk/new wave like Eno, Talking Heads, XTC, Pere Ubu, etcā€¦ Then indie rock, Guided By Voices, Godspeed You Black Emperorā€¦ Please forgive genre jumbling and oversimplificationā€¦

Consequently the music I wrote was largely of the same varietyā€¦ But at the same time throughout I was getting deeper into certain alternate musical paths such as minimalism, free jazz, electronic and global musicsā€¦ These other visions made space for repetition, meditation, and slow evolution as core elements in the music making and listening experienceā€¦

At this point in my life, I still enjoy the prior musics from the listening place, but am most drawn to the other musics in the making placeā€¦

Iā€™ve red enough from other folks in Lines to know that my experience is far from uniqueā€¦

Id love to see a thread on contemplative music f there arenā€™t any alreadyā€¦

Thanks for reading!

#1291

Been mildly obsessed with this idea of Swift in modular for the past 24 hours!

So, take ā€˜All You Had To Do Was Stayā€™: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MHFrXHQpHSQ

This is literally the same chord progression for the entire song:

||:
IV 4 bars
I/tonic 4 bars
V 4 bars
vi 2 bars V 2 bars.
:||

So the challenge in performing this is in a few places:

  1. Performance mixing. This is essentially a set up the parts and then take them in and out w/ a mixer thing.
  2. Vocals. A lot of the interest is in the vocal layering, which needs a backing track or else very clever looping.
  3. Chords. Anything polyphonic is expensive in modular or needs to be accomplished w/ arpeggiation and such.

I donā€™t think this is out of reach, though. Whether itā€™s a good idea is another. But a lot of music that falls under ā€˜songsā€™ is 1-3 sections that repeat and bringing parts in and out. Modular can do that, if you want it to.

And re: minimal: while I donā€™t like it much, Ying Yang Twinsā€™ Whisper Song is really just a loop and some whispering. So yeah it comes down to what kind of ā€˜song type thingā€™ one is trying to make, maybe.

#1293

Not sure what to fill this 8hp with- my first thought was another cold mac which could be fun, but Iā€™d love to hear any ideas. Reverb and delay are taken care of out of the rack.

Show us your modular system