oooooh I see. For what it’s worth I have both in my 104HP setup and am very happy about it. JF’s interrelated shapes are incredible but having Maths to make free-running shapes or trace wilder trajectories makes the perfect contrast imo; often part of my patch is using those two interlinked to create wilder modulation to send to other modules.

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“trace wilder trajectories” wow I sound like @Galapagoose trying not to say scary words like “differential equations” :joy:

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There aren’t really any alternatives to Rings (except Elements I guess :wink: ) that cover all its ground.

The drone that begins this track and runs throughout is Plaits’ modal resonator mode feeding into Rings’ input. I don’t think it sounds recognizably “like Rings” or a “bright trademark MI sound” at all.

A lot of people use Rings’ default exciter, which is like riding a bike with training wheels IMHO, and then people assume that’s just what Rings sounds like.

That said… the percussion at the beginning of this one (which shifts up into tabla range a few times during the song) is Rings using its default exciter, but dialed into something that I also don’t think sounds “like Rings” :).

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Hadn’t thought about that! It does sound sweet the way you’re using it.
Proves once more that in modular what counts is how you use things. Will keep it in mind if I end up getting any physical modelling based module. It just seemed weird to me that only those four-five used p.m (since they’re the ones that always get brought up around the subject), but I guess it’s the way it is.

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Of course ideally I’d get both. I just don’t have enough space in 104hp with what I plan to put inside the skiff :frowning:
I’ll probably get Maths first, I know if I get JF I’ll need a Teletype (just not doable at the moment). Glad to know it works great for freeform stuff since that’s where I’m leaning more to.

I also wish I could get a 1u of utilities in the skiff. If I only had waited for the Intellijel ones to get released…

I think that’s one of the things I appreciate most about Olivier’s modules; you really get the sense that he manages to be invested in trying to realize any technique for sound generation out there, plugged into the “latest and greatest” developments in digital synthesis, and passionate about creating products that are musical and interesting to “play” with above all else (this last probably also due in part to @papernoise). Perhaps the relative dearth of physical modeling modules in Eurorack points to an area where Olivier really is pushing the envelope

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Hi anybody using optomix also as envelope generator? I try to use as manual says but I still hear a click. I’m doing something wrong?

Hi, just chiming in to say Just Friends is absolutely wonderful with or without a Teletype! :heart_eyes: Had one for ages before I even entertained the thought of going the teletype route.

But! Ya won’t go wrong with Maths either :wink:

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Just Friends is a great module that took me a while to come around on. That said, even as someone who hasn’t owned a Maths, I feel like Maths would be a better choice if you only have one modulation source. Having 6 related LFO’s or voices is super nice in 14HP, but having EOR and EOF and the other logic options that Maths affords will probably give you more oportunities. That said, you could drop one of your other oscillators and finegal things to get a JF as well. A more compact LPG than optopix would free up some HP. I’m sure you could make it work if JF is really appealing to you! Also I really like Stages, which feels like JF’s more flexible cousin. But again it doesn’t afford you the same logic stuff.

Hi. I have a fairly specific idea of what I’m going for but have already bit myself in the wallet by repeatedly options for the more-easily-grasped modules over some of the more esoteric stuff that might yield deeper results within my small-ish system. Currently have: wogglebug, varigate 4+, mangrove, three sisters, telharmonic, maths, and optomix.

I’m looking to create ambient music with deliberate/detailed composition around my rapped vocals which often switch time signatures/rhythmic ideas outside of the typical hip-hop 4 bar phrasing. I’ll be sequencing drums externally and applying effects (stereo reverb/delay, compression) through a pedal chain.

This is what I’m building towards at the moment. One ansible is going to be paired with grids (probably running kria), another will be in teletype expander mode function primarily as an envelope generator (is tt good at this?). Just friends will be in synthesis mode while I hope to blend the two mangroves for bass. The W/ battery is for a future date (whenever W/ type gains more support/tutorials) and will mostly run as as a series of samplers/granulators to create textural variation between parts of a song.

Main concerns/questions:

Will tt work well as my primary envelope generator?

Will running cold Mac as a vca and then self-patching it to stereo (by monitoring the two uppermost outs under some modulation) work for this many voices (jf synthesis mix out, two mangroves)?

Will my make noise skiff be deep enough/powerful enough to support this many modules connecting to teletype + a grids?

Will I be able to put one w/ into it and then, though slashes, run the other w/ to trigger sympathetically?

Are there any glaring omissions? Anything (other than the w/ battery) that could be removed and still yield a full bass+polysynth sound?

Also thinking of adding two pico dsps (one for snare, one for kick) and keeping in the optomix to sidrchain kicks/free Mac.

Thanks so much

It’s not necessarily what it excels at in my opinion. Since it is event-based in nature (i.e. it does something on a trigger or metronome pulse), it’s not particularly well-suited for generating continuous signals. You can create envelopes by setting slew rates and chaining commands via delays, but it’s rather messy and limited (since slew is linear, you won’t get exponential curves). Simple decay envelopes are easy enough to make, but complex envelopes are somewhat tricky.

But envelopes are something that the Teletype output expander does well. Maybe you could fit one of these into your rack?

It doesn’t look like they’re particularly available at the moment? I was under the impression ansible was intended to replace them and more expanded would not be produced. Am I mistaken?

A new batch is planned as far as I know. Ansible does expand the outputs, but just adds “more of the same”, i.e. 4 more pairs of gate/cv to use with teletype, while the Txo adds a whole lot of features (e.g. envelopes, lfos/oscillators and internal clocking). I might be a bit out of the loop on this, though - it’s hard to keep up with all the developments happening everywhere :smiley:

Am I right in thinking that there isn’t a VCA in that rig?

I think Plancks is meant to be a mini Frames, so that’s a handful in there. Probably in need of a few more utilities and attenuators. As with all of these things, get a few things to get you started and once you get into using it, what you need will become apparent. I would recommend expanding as slowly as you can manage. I went through a phase of buying heaps of DIY kits before realising that they were taking my system in a direction I wasn’t really keen on, so I ended up selling off a lot of stuff and refocusing my attention on what I really wanted out of it. You have a tonne of modulation sources and only two attenuators (I suppose another 4 with Plancks, but it seems a waste to use that for simple attenuation). Considering all the sound sources you have in there – maybe too many for a smallish system, like this one – you’ll probably want a simpler mixer (again, sort of covered by Plancks, I guess, but it depends what you want to use it for). Apart from this, it looks like quite a versatile and fun little system. Would still recommend adding one at a time.

Ah fair enough. In that case it’s probably ok.

Oh, I did miss that! Yeah, you’re probably doing ok, then, with this as an end goal. No problem with buying and selling if you can afford it, but it can also be useful to get a module and really learn it inside out before moving onto the next one. That way you can really hone in on creating a concise system that you can get the most out of.

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Yeah, 100% that. Take your time, build things slowly and learn what you really want/need for your music and not just what you think you need.

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I’ll second that. Buy enough to experiment for a bit, and then buy more. You’ll learn a lot very quickly. My early “theoretical” racks were very different than ones based on my actual experience so far.

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Yeah, I’m probably dropping the Mangrove to free space for other modules I see I need as I start building the skiff, but I wanted to use it together with the STO through 3S in the future…

The thing with Opto is that I would use it to carry mixing duties too (sending the two oscillators to the 3S, for example) and freeing Maths for more complex duties. Is it not viable as a mixer/Lpg depending to when needed?

JF will stay in my wishlist, that’s for sure, @quixot, thank you guys :sunflower: