#549

I love getting FM-ey blippy percussion sounds out of just friends. That will lose you a mod source though haha

#550

Thanks all, very good suggestions! Look like Iā€™ll have to do some exploration into the void of drum machines. Although a very good point was made that you can get percussion out of most modules with the right modulation.

#551

Check out the Pulsar-23 (not yet released) if youā€™re looking into drum machines :heart_eyes_cat:

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#552

Iā€™m a huge fan of the SSF Entity series. Both the bass drum and percussion modules sound incredible, the UI feels unusually intuitive and well thought out, and the cv possibilities make them particularly special as far as analog drum modules go. Those two paired with a Quantum Rainbow will take you very far. I also quite like the WMD Chimera and Fracture modules. Both are modules where their limitations are their strengths, and make them really feel like instruments. Iā€™m glad they defined the sonic possibilities the way they did. Both are definitely on my future purchase list after playing with them at my local modular-carrying store outside of DC.

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#553

For Clocks and Modulation Iā€™d add the Abtract Data Octocontroller to the list.

Itā€™ll give you plenty of clock and gate outputs, and it would also cover LFO modulation duties.

JF is a beautiful module. Problem is deciding whether to use it as a sound source, or for modulation (it excels at both).

Iā€™ve got an Octocontroller and Just Friends and Iā€™d highly recommend both.

For Drum Machines the Electribes are good fun and also good value.

#554

Iā€™m going to co-sign this a little. Or rather: trying to recreate a drum machine in Euro will fill a row with single-purpose modules and sequencers, and as @alanza points out, there is perhaps more fun to be had with simple, cheaper, single-purpose machines.

If you are interested in percussion, finding alternate routes to it is perhaps more viable - like, people like taking a BIA and filling it with modulation and triggers and this gives you a useful percussive tool, without being a bottomless pit of drum modules. Are you specifically interested in drums or percussive sounds and patterns? The latter is achievable in lots of ways. (Iā€™ve actually, naughtily, just used the raw output of an envelope as a kind of kick drum. Probably unkind to large speakers, though). Or, you know, using something like your Pico Drums as a source of always having a kick or similar around, just for texture, makes sense.

I am often bewildered by people theorycrafting cases that end up being half-full of Mutant Drums modules.

7 Likes
#555

I have percussion/drums in the modular. I think thereā€™s a conceptual point here - I see what Iā€™m experimenting with on the modular as kind of organically connected and interactive - that it is all a whole, as opposed to separate and distinct voices. (Thatā€™s not to say I wonā€™t record elements separately though). Whilst I might get much more bang for my buck with a separate unit, I couldnā€™t, for example, take an additional output of an oscillator to slightly FM the filter on some percussion sounds. (Iā€™m sure there probably would be a way to this with an external machine, but this is one example among many.)

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#556

I would like to add some counter-points to the argument that drum machines are more fun than eurorack drums.

  1. Flexibility with sequencing. A drum machine typically only has one sequencing concept on board. Some of those concepts are great (Machinedrum) and some areā€¦ difficult (Alesis HR-16). In eurorack, itā€™s simple to combine multiple sequencing modalities in a single rack. Item, I use a Trigger Riot alongside a Varigate 4 and NLC Numberwang (+ other bits / bobs) to achieve otherwise impossible sequences

  2. Flexibility of voices. Similarly, a drum machine is going to have a more-or-less fixed voice architecture. Even a modern sampler has built in rules for how the sounds can behave. I propose that much fun can be had building out a drum rack with voices of the userā€™s choice. Each drum module has different connections exposed to CV making each voice widely variable in terms of how it can be modulated.

  3. General freedom. In eurorack, any output can connect with any input. This is obviously a big part of the fun. With a single-purpose drum machine youā€™re locked into a framework (some are great!) set by other imaginations. In eurorack, your imagination is a crucial ingredient to the overall structure of the beat making or percussive machine. Each patch can effectively become its own unique percussion device. As noted above, there are infinite ways to achieve percussion in eurorack without drum modules. However, there are also infinite ways to manipulate drum modules so they behave as something else in a patch or system.

Lastly, I am highly biased in favor of eurorack drum machines because I entered the eurorack world in order to build out my ultimate drum machine dream factory beat box rhythm goblin.

To conclude, I love drum machines very much, both external and internal to eurorack. Thereā€™s nothing better than crafting a banger no matter what road you take to get there.

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#557

nods. I think youā€™re also expressing better what I was hinting at - seeing percussion as an integral part of a connected system, rather than ā€œoh god I need a miniature 808 in the cornerā€ - the difference between ā€˜coherent part of an interconnected instrumentā€™ and ā€˜PUT EVERYTHING IN THE RACKā€™. (the other classic example of the latter point is the endless HP often devoted to finding mixing situations, versus Buying A Damn Mackie).

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#558

I think the conversation is mirroring my experience. If youā€™re trying to just throw a classic drum machine into a case, itā€™s boring and also much more expensive than just buying a little groovebox or whatever. If youā€™re looking for the personalization, flexibility in sequencing and sound that modular can afford, and itā€™s financially ā€˜worth itā€™, thereā€™s nothing wrong with pursuing it. As a lot of things in this topic, itā€™s a cost-benefit question balanced with determining your goals and preferred work flow.

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#559

Really insightful discussion from everyone here. I think this is the direction I was looking to head. Pico Drums is great for providing drum texture at minimal hp, but an external drum machine is probably the best option for sampling(at least for me).

I think there is a balance specific to each individual to be had with percussion in the rack in allowing for flexibility of percussion voices as @mrsoundboyking aptly detailed. Some of that can certainly come from creative module usage.

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#560

just piping in to say that this is awesome, and I routinely take the MAC output of my cold mac and blend it in to a patch once Iā€™ve gotten somewhere. instant drum kit.

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#561

you say that; the 0-10V spike out of a Rampage with no attenuation basically only sounded good on the crap speaker I was using, and was more than a littleā€¦ snappy on something with better dynamic range. But thereā€™s probably something in there!

#562

hahaha I really should have emphasized the ā€˜blend it inā€™ part, genuinely crucial

1 Like
#563

Iā€™ve been considering the Voltage Block for my next module. Having an 8 channel CV and pitch sequencer seems like something Iā€™ll be able to use for a long time, but I do have one question about using it to sequence my 0-Coast and Rings.

I know Rings will get along just fine without anything plugged into the Strum input, but I need some sort of trigger/gate for the 0-Coast right? Or can I just plug the Voltage Block straight in?

#564

well, both are possible. it depends on what kind of note shaping youā€™re looking for.

#565

Keep in mind with the Voltage Block that you need some sort of clock. That can be anything that generates a rising edge - an LFO, a ā€˜realā€™ clock, even audio. This is what will step through the Voltage Block sequence. The Voltage Block does not have its own clock.

The pitch on the O-Coast will respond to the Voltage Block without any trigger/gate, but that wonā€™t give you any kind of shaping, as @alanza says. If you want any sort of filter or amplitude shaping, youā€™d probably use the function generator.

The most obvious thing on the O-Coast would probably be to use the EOC on the function generator and put it in cycle. That way each cycle of the envelope will open your filter/amplitude, then when it ends, it will step the Voltage Block forward to the next step in its sequence.

#566

There is a pretty handy clock on the 0-Coast, just a tap tempo and a simple output.

What your describing would require patching EOC to the clock in of the Voltage Block and the gate input of the 0C, or would I just need to hook up to the VB? I suppose I can run an experiment with the stuff I have on hand to see.

FWIW I also have a Maths that could clock the VB as well.

#567

the clock on the 0-coast would probably be the best solution at this stage.

why the Voltage Block?

#568

Partially because I saw some of the cool kids using them on YouTube :sweat_smile:

Also Iā€™ve been wanting something in the rack, and the Voltage Block seems really flexible. Being able to sequence 8 channels of pitch and CV seems like something I can get a lot of utility out of.

Iā€™m definitely open to other suggestions though!