#2613

I don’t own a single module, but am endlessly fascinated, thoroughly google-fried (that feeling when you’ve googled the ever-loving piss out of something you’ve never engaged with), and fairly exhausted going back and forth with myself on whether or not to take the plunge.

It’s probably going to happen fairly soon, so now’s your chance. Talk me out of it! Scare me! Tell me to put my money somewhere responsible!

8 Likes
#2614

Modular synthesis is the best thing to ever happen to me, my paychecks sometimes completely disappear but I don’t care because I can sit around and make bleeps and bloops without staring at a computer screen, for hours on end, and when I’m done I feel a little more complete. :v:

11 Likes
#2615

I spent a couple of years sitting on that particular fence, before diving in. No regrets at all. So words of advice, gets hands-on time, before you make a final decision. Maybe write down why it is you want to go with eurorack? If you have a local shop, spend a bit of time there. Start small, and go slowly; everyone will tell you that, and they do for a good reason.

For me, the big attraction was getting away from a computer being the focus of my music making. I spend a lot of time in front of one for my day job.

3 Likes
#2616

I won’t talk you out of it because modular can be a very useful tool and instrument. Just remember that you are always in control of your actions.

A lot of people throw around statements about being addicted and spending all their money on modules, and that’s probably true for some people, and there’s even some encouragement towards that behavior on a lot of forums. But practice patience! I took over a year to fill my first 84hp 7u case and there were times when it was really hard not to make impulse buys, but I’m so glad I didn’t because I never put myself in any risk of not being able to pay rent, and I got to learn so much more about each module without being distracted by new ones.

There’s always more you can do with what you already have.

EDIT: this was meant in reply to @mattlowery, sorry @forrest :upside_down_face:

6 Likes
#2617

Have you already planned a system on Modulargrid?
If not i’d strongly advise to do it. Not going to talk you out of anything, since modular is awesome. But modulargrid really helps put things into perspective:)

#2618

What do you want to do with eurorack? I got into it because I didn’t like using Ableton, didn’t have the time for max, and enjoyed the hands on nature of working with modules rather than a computer (midi controllers didn’t do it for me). I also wanted to integrate my guitar playing with a system that could offer more interaction and complexity than a pedalboard while also being able to make “synth music”. I have a 7u intellijel case filled and I am pretty much satisfied I think. I’d be happy to chat more about the specifics of my setup any time.

#2619

If you’re looking for people here to scare you away, this probably isnt the place :slight_smile:

But, I will say I’m really glad I made the dive in about a year ago. I spent a bunch of time prior with VCV Rack getting my feet wet, it helped me understand some basic fundamentals.

I recommend trying to have a clear goal of what you’d like to achieve with eurorack (its okay if that changes as time goes on), but this will help you decide which modules you’d want to own. There is so much choice out there and its quite overwhelming sometimes.

In November I started with an 0-Coast, got my feet even more wet and then moved to a Make Noise Skiff, and now I have an Intellijel 7u 84hp case. I still have not filled it and I’m glad that is the situation I’m in. Financially its better and I probably would have ended up with a bunch of modules that I didn’t end up needing or actually enjoy.

Obviously, feel free to ask more questions here. Lines was a wonderful resource for me when I was just starting up. Best of luck!

#2620

I recently took the plunge myself. I sold off all of my other gear to fund it. It’s overwhelming at times but endlessly amazing and awe-inspiring. I bought a lot of used modules on reverb and know that I can turn them for what I paid if I don’t jive with them. I’d say just dive into the deep end :slight_smile:

#2621

You will likely get some advice to start with vcv rack.

Despite that path being tied to the computer still, it can be a very effective way to get a decent if imperfect sense for whether you enjoy the slow meditative process of patching, what kinds of modules would lead you to musical space(s) you want to explore, and various other potentially helpful and wallet-saving insights…

If you decide you like the path, you can start to plan out your acquisitions using vcv mockups of a few modules at a time to see what your minimum viable rack might require…

Then when you actually start to gather your own menagerie of small glowing friends, the transition might feel a bit like moving from a flight simulator to flying an IRL airplane - effin’ awesome, that is to say!

:sunglasses::+1::heart_eyes_cat:

2 Likes
#2622

For me it’s actually been about reducing the sprawl and chaos of my studio, and selling various devices from my closet to pay for a handful of well-chosen modules that fit in a 6U case; it’s the first time in years I’ve felt like I had an instrument that I could play, rather than a workstation for composing, and it’s been great for my overall creative practice.

My number one tip is - if you don’t like a module, or aren’t using it enough, sell it. You can always buy it again if you really need to. The secondhand market is what really makes the whole scene work.

That said - Eurorack does have some issues as a format and as a community - if you wanted to look at other options, VCV Rack and Tangible Waves AE Modular format have many virtues that Eurorack lacks, albeit without the incredibly broad selection of modules available.

Or, depending on what interests you, a flexible hardware synth like a Peak or the ASM Hydra could be a good fit, and in some ways can go deeper into sound design than modular.

#2623

Have designed, re-designed, started over, etc. Here’s, apparently, where I left off last. As you can tell, it’s a tad half-cocked at the moment.

What I really want to do is generate evolving, surprising timbres that can’t be generated any other way. But I can’t tell if modular is the answer, or if I’m looking for a convenient distraction from working with the tools I already own (I do that a lot).

Gah, I wish, because the only way I ever truly learn is by doing it myself (I’m very tactile). But I live in Oklahoma.

I want to generate simple, organically evolving, very gentle sequences that kind of have a life of their own. My studio is stocked to the gills with awesome guitar stuff, but even after sufficient mangling, the harmonics are all guitar-based.

Definitely. Have been doodling there for a few months, and it’s saved my bacon for sure.

#2624

Not sure how you feel about Ableton, but if you want to feel good about checking out all options before diving in, I believe Lightbath (@fourhexagons) has a video somewhere about making generative processes in Ableton. Once you get going with M4L devices, it starts to feel a lot like modular.

As for doing this in eurorack, yeah, its a really great medium for what you are wanting to do.

1 Like
#2625

Ya I have been dreaming about getting a euro system since I discovered make noise buncha years ago and having sleepless nights imagining the possibilities…fast forward 2 today…lots more gear…some modular… still no euro. I cant say why really. Maybe it was the word that turned me off…Euro-rack, like euro pop or euro trance. Also observing the amount of buying and selling actually was a big turn off. I find selling things a real pain.

Personally I found a more interesting balance of sounds, textures and movement in my music when there are a bunch of different machines with different paradigms that offer ways to be connected and synced in fresh ways. This out of the rack approach is more fun for me than say getting a module to do a particular function I may already have available in my studio. I just make music with whats available. And it seems the more limited the more rewarding and fresh the results may be. So that kind of keeps me from getting into the endlessly more complexity driven eurorack vibes.

I like modular synths tho and have a small bugbrand and buchla clone system in the makes…

I do think euro makes sense if you are an advanced user and have a specific application that only can be executed in either software or hardware modular.

That said I do find the monome n whimsical and this i2c stuff really fresh and tempting to explore. But do I want to dedicate the time to learn that particular ecosystem? Not currently.

Otherwise alot of it is just reinventing the wheel. Gimme a vintage arp2600 any day of the week to any of the fancy new offerings. Ill show you what can be done with a basic ass subtractive synths without a sequencer.

2 Likes
#2626

I got in to Euro about two years ago, coming from the world of guitar and guitar pedals, where the same addictive tendencies are rampant. So that wasn’t new to me. The first year of being into euro i felt like the addictive qualities weren’t overriding the music making, this second year I think it has more. I think the intitial year I was so excited to learn and figure stuff out, I just recorded everything I did and I wasn’t as picky about modules. This last year I’ve gotten more picky as I start narrowing down what I actually want and I spend way more time ‘A/B-ing’ stuff, where I’m not actually making music, but deciding between two things that are very similar, for example, two oscillators or two low pass gates. I’m very ‘tone’ and ‘UI’ focused, as that creates the whole experience of how passionate I feel playing a certain module. I’ll obsess about minutae of tone for hours. I did that with guitars, amps and pedals for years, and it felt really unhealthy and now its starting to happen with Euro. It’s making me consider the idea of selling everything and getting a more closed system, such as an Easel or something. Every demo I hear of an Easel I think, that is the tone and interface I want. The only thing that stops me is the money and the fact the I know that I have more functionality and variation in my Euro for like half the price. However that new 208c model coming out soon is going to be very tempting.

1 Like
#2627

I’d be willing to guess that there is nothing that you could do in hardware that you couldn’t also do more or less in software, although others may disagree with that.

However with hardware you can put your actual hands on actual things and wiggle the bleep outta them…

Yes midi controllers blah blah but it’s not the same by any stretch…

It’s a bit like looking at pictures of food versus eating…

“Painted cakes do not satisfy hunger”

https://wonderingmindstudio.com/2016/02/12/dogen-on-painted-cakes-and-hunger-again/

1 Like
#2628

The only downside to this is if you play live a lot. I was going this route before euro, had a bunch of separate machines and accomplished almost the same goals as what i was doing in Euro, but the anxiety level of getting things in their correct state for a show was one of things that drove me to Euro. WIth Euro now I pretty much open the case and I’m ready to go. I used to have a full pedal board, a Minilogue, a Mother 32, a sequencer, a midi controller, and all this shit it was too much.

Also, the thing I love about modular in general is the interconnectivity. Everything is talking. With separate modules it becomes more of a challenge to do that.

Every few months I keep trying to break back out of the box with an effext unit or something, and I just go back to being in the box because the experience is so much more unified having it all in one case. I bought a Zoia a few months ago thinking that would be my main effects unit and I became so annoyed that it wasn’t fitting the paradigm of modular that I sold it.

1 Like
#2629

I spend 50% of my time in this camp, and by no means want to crack the seal on any kind of digital vs. analog, in the the box vs. out of the box debate haha :shushing_face:. I tend to make better music when I interface physically with knobs and switches and things that don’t have update daemons (but that’s just me).

This is what I suspect I am fighting, because one day it’s euroack, and the next day it’s a Chase Bliss Thermae (or whatever). A lot of the time I have to just go sit down and make something with what already I’ve got in order to silence these voices. But I think there’s some legitimacy behind the idea that, after you’ve put in a certain amount of work, you can only go as far as your tools allow you. This has been true with pedals for me (and norns for that matter).

I feel like I have the lite version.:sob: And every time I’ve had enough cash to buy Suite, something else feels more immediately useful.

These thoughts are all very useful! Thank you guys! Fortunately, in order to do what I want to do, I probably don’t even need half of the stuff in the case I posted above.

1 Like
#2630

True I dont play live at all…pure studio vibes…played my second gig ever 10 days ago using just the bugbrand and a mixer…patched up during soundcheck…hectic but I gotta get used to it. Couldnt be assed carrying too much gear either.

But on the interconnectivity thing…sure I am all for CV and everything talking. for me It just doesnt have to be eurorack or minijack. It can be anything…im now looking at some interesting cv to midi options… Theres alot out there with voltage control. Or even just amplitude triggers/env followers. Its whats great about analog that somehow these machines can talk even though they speak completely different languages

2 Likes
#2631

For what it’s worth, my advice to anyone who will listen is to jump on Live Suite with Max for Live as soon as possible…

I’ve been a pretty hardcore Ableton evangelist for over a decade… Recognizing that not everyone is into Ableton, I still assume that most folks in an environment like lines are Live users, so I don’t usually think to mention it…

So, yeah, I’d recommend Suite… It unlocks so many things, including aspects of Crow!

#2632

Indeed! I fully intend to jump in, and have actually got a bit of money held back in hopes that I can pick up Suite and Kontakt if they go on sale during the holidays. I have a rule against paying list price for software!

Sequencing my Minilogue and Model D with Norns was definitely my favorite musical discovery of the past year.