#485

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Highlight some text, then click the “Quote” button that pops up… :+1:

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#486

It’s on the agenda! The guy at Foxtone spoke very highly of Joe. Apparently the owner of Foxtone just became the CEO of Buchla so they are restructuring to become a Buchla specific storefront.

It’s tricky because I always go to the Twin cities with my partner and she isn’t enthusiastic about geek speak, but maybe I can try to take the car while she sleeps in… :thinking:

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#487

or if she’s musically inclined at all, show her how to get started and maybe she’ll jam on another system while you’re talking :wink:

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#488

THIS. my partner and I just went to Synth City here in Chicago and had such a good time messing around with opposite ends of an Arp 2600. she loves listening to music, but isn’t interested in playing music, so I always really value when she’s able to have some fun exploring sound.

probably my only advice for folks new to eurorack: if you’re going to a synth shop, bring somebody you care about who doesn’t care about synths. invite them to play with you, because neither of you knows what you’re doing, and I guarantee it will be a shit ton more fun + informative. seeing the decisions others make, especially when they aren’t held back by fear of looking dumb in the synth shop, is some of the best teaching around.

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#489

Great advice! She plays bass but isn’t very technically minded. For instance she was using a smallsound/bigsound Team Awesome Fuzz Machine (best pedal company for you non-guitar folks) as her bass fuzz, but swapped to something with less interactive controls to replicate or augment the tone more easily. I’ll have her sit down with the modular when Rings and Clouds show her some joys of synthesis. The Electribe isn’t as fun or immediate as some hardware options…

#490

If you don’t want the slope section to modulate the 0-C’s multiply circuit, patch a dummy cable (not-plugged in on the other end) in to the multiply input to break the normalization!

#491

It’s a small shop, but Joe’s got a bunch of gear ready to be patched/played.

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#492

Are you in the Twin Cities? Let me know if you’d ever like to do a show in Fargo.

Not much of a modular community here, but there is a pretty cool noise scene and typically I’ll do ambient/electronic/experimental sets at noise shows. If you ever wanted to play in a crummy basement for ten people I’m sure I could make that happen!

Edit: a crummy basement 200 miles away

#493

Has anyone here experience with Hertz Donut and Piston Honda? I’m loving my Kermit and want to expand its capabilities with another Harvestman oscillator but can’t find demos of either of these that aren’t crazy noise fests. I’m into that but looking for something that can work well for drone work, and I’m not so sure what the differences between HD and PH are.

#494

all of the above responses to @ThurberMingus’s question (and such the questions of many beginners to eurorack) are all things i would definitely agree with. hands on is very important. i think the most important thing is to learn how your brain and your body works when it’s in front of a modular synth… everyone is different. finding the modules that best serve your process is the greatest tool you can have when you’re composing.

something that i personally think gets very overlooked when beginners are jumping into modular, and specifically sound design, is sine waves and additive synthesis. there are so many ways that you can use sine waves to shape sounds and other sine waves - and they sound beautiful by themselves! the make noise STO is one of my favorite modules ever, it sounds amazing and the built in wave shape control makes it so you can get lots of timbres. also worth saying that make noise modules in general are the best of the best. tony’s designs are truly brilliant and of the highest quality. the more simple make noise modules have gotten a bit shadowed by the flashy new modules of the last couple years, but i have loved every single one i have ever had or tried. it’s fun to use digital modules that can do 100 different things, but modular synthesis is and always has been traditionally clunky hands on controls, analog waves and functions, understanding voltage and signal paths, and combing all those simple things to get magic… i really think learning that side of things first is going to be highly valuable and something i personally hope never gets completely lost in the new wave of eurorack.

19 Likes
#495

I had an “a-ha!” moment with my 0-Coast last night. It started with setting my Electribe aside in favor of a Keystep for sequencing. The Electribe is a useful tool, but I wanted to make sequencing more immediate. I quite enjoy programming step sequences in the KS.

Second was trying some creative (in my mind) routing methods. I am totally in love with modular after realizing that some thoughtful patching can make a simple 8-note sequence turn into a harmonic playground with different overtones and voltages bouncing into and around each other. Having random modulation bring in the overtones, which were being absolutely mangled by the slope section, would make a gorgeous jumps from simple triangle waves to sounds reminiscent of fuzzed our guitar and bari sax, while the slope section morphed transients and triggered a pitch jump via the Linear FM input.

I feel like I leveled up and have a deeper understanding and relationship with synthesis. I feel I could absolutely justify picking up a Maths now that I have a better understanding of how the slopes and attenuverters can be implemented to make a sonically compelling patch.

Sorry for ranting, I just feel really excited and inspired by my new synth. I’ve never played an instrument like it before and it’s very rewarding!

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#496

I don’t have either, but I did a bunch of research on Harvestman stuff when PHmk 3 was coming out. From what I gathered, HDmk 1 & 2 are digital complex oscillators (like a DPO et al. got assimilated basically) while the upcoming mk 3 is going to be a digital triple complex oscillator. PHmk 1 & 2 are digital single wave table oscillators, whereas the mk 3 is a double wave table oscillator- kinda like Kermit on steroids. I’m pretty sure PHmk 1 & 2 can be LFO’s, while 3 can’t, but with 3 you can also make your own wave tables with software. I think noise fests as your say are more so Harvestman’s wheelhouse, but I’d buy a PHMk 3 if I was going that route for what it’s worth. This video kinda shows a bit of the tamer side and Robotopsy’s demos of pretty much everything Harvestman are pretty great.

3 Likes
#497

Currently have a Hertz Donut MkII and have in the past had a Piston Honda MkII. They can both do ‘pretty’ sounds (HD probably more so than the PH), you just have to dial right the way back on the modulation. There’s always a slight digital buzziness about them tho - you won’t e.g. get a clean sine wave out of either. I eventually worked out I don’t really get on with wavetable oscillators in eurorack - feels too much like just flipping through random presets, which is why the Piston Honda went. I occasionally think about swapping the HD out for something else, but it’s still here, and is probably the oldest module I’ve got at this point so think it’s probably here to stay!

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#498

Sounds like my experience every time - I never patch deliberately, I just start somewhere and end up somewhere different and often interesting

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#499

I have a Hertz Donut mk2, and love it. It will certainly do gentle and beautiful things, including lovely FM. While the sines and triangles aren’t pure and clean, they do sound fantastic through an LPG where just a hint of the edge comes through at the peak of the attack, and it cleans up nicely throughout the decay.

I’m looking forward to the full announcement/demo of the mk3; I understand it adds a third oscillator, but I wonder what else it might have in store. :slight_smile:

Kermit is my first “sell-regret-repurchase” module – I miss its warm fuzzy digital self and had to get one again. Nothing else quite sounds like it IMHO. (Warps may become my second example but I’m still pondering that one.)

As far as Euro wavetables go – to me they’re not inherently that exciting, but like a plain analog VCO, it’s all in the character and in what you do with it. E370 is my most used module by far, mostly because of the cloud, FM, phase modulation stuff that it does; I typically leave it on wavebanks that start with a sine or triangle and morph into something more complex down the line.

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#500

This! Everyone loves the bell sounds from Rings (and rightly so) but I don’t think a lot of people realize that you can get basically the same sound, and oftentimes even more interesting sounds than Rings, with just two sine waves, one FM’ing the other at high frequency. With some patience, FM can get some lovely gentle tones, and that’s without even filtering. Would encourage everyone to give it a shot!

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#501

I should be able to do some interesting FM with the 0C and Rings. Excited to try it!

On that note: Rings showed up today, Clouds will be in tomorrow, and I may or may not have purchased a used Maths over the weekend as well :sweat_smile:

Suffice to say I should have plenty to experiment with. In my short time playing [semi]modular I’ve already learned a lot about where I want my instrument to end up and now I need to experiment to find what the next logical step should be.

I’m a little paranoid about the power situation though. The uZeus has keyed connectors, they should line up properly with the power connectors for Clouds, Maths, and Rings right?

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#503

I’ve heard many horror stories, so I’m paranoid and always double check. When I got a Batumi, the red connector was actually wired opposite of where it should have been in the keyed header.

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#504

I got a cable at some point that was keyed incorrectly. Don’t necessarily trust the key/shroud. Red stripe is friend.

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#505

Yeah, I have a small pile of incorrectly keyed cables: there was a time no one was using shrouded headers and people didn’t pay attention. Don’t blindly trust them!