#1707

If one is red/green color blind they probably all look greeny-brown regardless of polarity.

1 Like
#1708

Where is a good spot to install a spring reverb in a small case, relative to the module placement? I put one in my little travel case last night and itā€™s currently behind the oscillators and picking up a lot of bleed from them. Iā€™m thinking it might be better behind my Frames module, but will the tank pick up bleed from signals running through a mixer? Or is it just going to pick up bleed from modules generating the sounds themselves?

#1709

Not sure how these are wired, but maybe it has to do with the LED component?

#1710

Would it be possible to keep the tank outside the case? I rout the RCA-cables from behind my spring reverb to outside the case. There the tank is free of interference and available for tampering.

I have still some room in my case so I can use a 1HP gap for routing. Might not be so easy in a full case.

#1712

Yeah, it doesnā€™t make total sense to me, but in electronics red is usually used for the hot wire or signal and green is seen used for ground. My guess is that this is the reason whether itā€™s built into the led component or not.

1 Like
#1713

No, it wouldnā€™t really be possible for this one. Itā€™s a portable case so Iā€™m trying to keep it as compact as possible, and Iā€™m using the Pulp Logic 1u spring reverb module so it would be really difficult to keep the connectors accessible for an external tank.

Iā€™ll have to try some more configurations this weekend. I wish I hadnā€™t put my power supply smack dab in the middle of the case since thatā€™s really limiting my tank mounting options. Might have to end up moving that to get everything working.

#1714

I guess one could go with the ā€œred wire = positive voltageā€ standard.

Or, red was the only LED color available originally and thus is kind of its own pseudo-standard.

I have some Jacklights which use red for positive, blue for negative. I canā€™t remember if the Disting light-up Jackā€™s use that same scheme, or if itā€™s reversed. Red/blue LEDs are better for color blindness than red/green but apparently more expensive?

Iā€™m also told that in a power plant, you want to see red across the board because that means hot/live rather than warnings.

#1715

I am curious about this as well with similar goals. From perusing various forums people have suggested changing to a better shielded RCA cables? Maybe give that a shot.

Related question: Has anyone been able to fit a medium tank in a intellijel 7u case? I know itā€™s heavily module depth dependent but curious to hear of any success stories.

#1716

Ah, so is it the cables that pick up noise and not the tank itself? That could help make positioning easier.

Is there anything that can be used to wrap around existing cables to better shield them? Iā€™m trying to look it up but all I can find is shielding material for the inner wrappings of cables. The ones that came with this tank/module arenā€™t typical RCA cables, theyā€™re very thin, double helix style cables with plastic connectors. If I could just wrap something around them that will help fend off interference that would be ideal.

#1717

As @adrianf try shielded cables if you have some available (I recall you may need to disconnect the shielding from ground if thatā€™s the case) or just try moving the cables away from the power supply. That was enough to fix a problem I was having w a reverb module

The pulp logic uses the small blue reverb tank? A metal tank might be needed if those suggestions donā€™t help. If by chance you have an old guitar amp w reverb lying around you could cannibalize that temporarily just to see if itā€™s the tank/springs itself picking up the noise. There will likely be different impedances etc but might give you an idea.

#1718

red wires are usually used for positive voltage.
donā€™t confuse mathematical terms with some sort of value system.

#1719

Moving the tank behind my Frames got rid of the bleed! Even when mixing oscillators through Frames, the reverb doesnā€™t pick up any unwanted signals, so it does seem to be a result of being too close to the generators themselves.

3 Likes
#1720

Hi all,

I am a beginner in the modular world, about six months into my exploration of this new instrument. Iā€™ve hit a little bump in the road that I suspect is common: some of the initial excitement and novelty has worn off and Iā€™m now wondering a bit what Iā€™ve gotten myself into.

I thought itā€™d be interesting to hear from other beginners and more experienced people how you are experiencing this and if you have any thoughts on moving further into exploring the instrument and getting a deeper understanding.

Trying to look at my own experience I feel like I might have gotten a few too many module to start with - also a common problem Iā€™m sure. I have a good understanding of the basic concepts, CV, V/Oct, modulation, triggers/gates/clocks and so on. Sometimes I make just noise and bloops but most of the time Iā€™m trying to go for something pretty, ambient, generative. I have humbly put up a few samples here so you can hear the direction Iā€™m headed in: https://soundcloud.com/the-humboldt

I definitely still enjoy a lot playing with the modular, but I feel somewhat limited in my creative thinking about it, and Iā€™m not able to go past thinking about patching like: Sound source 1, with some kind of modulation, played by typically a random/quantized source with a fixed clock, mixed with sound source 2 constructed typically the same way.

3 Likes
#1721

Using modulars for about 20 years now, on and off. Definitely better to start with a few modules, you canā€™t really go wrong with a classic VCO, VCF, VCA, ENV and LFO approach.

Also, if you like reading about modular synthesis, by far the best resources for years now have been Allen Strangeā€™s text, ā€˜Electronic Musicā€™, and the SoundOnSound Synth Secrets series. They both make things much clearer and come with many practical examples.

You can grab the Strange text here with a free Scribd account:

And the SOS series starts here:

https://www.soundonsound.com/techniques/synth-secrets-all-63-parts-sound-on-sound

The Strange text will blow your mind, especially if you like generative stuff, check out his ā€˜Dream Machineā€™ patch. I used to patch it up with a Wiard NoiseRing through a pitch quantizer and the results were very impressive!

I started with a single module, built up to 22u of Frac ten years later, then ended up getting rid of all of it. :slight_smile: These days Iā€™m perfectly happy with the modular capabilities of my Moog Grandmother.

Just keep at it, itā€™s a subset of analogue computing, itā€™s like learning a new language, but once you get a little proficient and start ā€œthinking in modularā€ lots of possibilities will open up.

18 Likes
#1722

Hi! I am new to the forum. Been wiggling properly for a year. It would be good to see your setup to see what its like. I bought a Make Noise Shared System. (not maybe the most creative choice , but every time I tried to stray from it , I was always led back). Its taken me all this time to get to grips with its strengths and weaknesses. I had to sit down (and I still do) and spend time with every single module individually , follow the MN YT videos , find cheat sheets , and read the manuals a good few times to get something decent out of it. I am still finding out new this about it every day.
So I think its OK to start with a lot of modules BUT only if you focus on one or two at a time.
I recently got Rene v2 and Brains and its made my system a lot more complex. I will spend the next month , just trying to get better at them alone. Then focus on my last hurdle. Morphagene. (I am going to try it with other peoples samples for once) so I can have a through process I can AB and make sure that I fully know what is going on in the patches.
Also , I would recommend making patch notes every single time. That way you really know how to control your unique system!.
P.S totally recommend Allen Strange in above post too!

Just my 1p.

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96a7a138fc0d378c0d3f8036ae18b1d403885717.jpg2436Ɨ1536 1.09 MB

3 Likes
#1723

What are you goals with modular? Thatā€™s always my first question. Without goals, you can spend quite a bit of money in service of curiosity.

6 Likes
#1725

Without getting this one moved again - this time to the ā€˜Influence of Zenā€™ thread - Iā€™d suggest that curiosity is in itself valid.

Iā€™m not sure I necessarily have goals other than enjoying the real-time interaction with the modular and the sounds that can be made at that moment. Though I do record some stuff.

This is of course a very expensive indulgenceā€¦

10 Likes
#1726

Thank you all! The links to reading resources are much appreciated, as are your thoughts on goals and direction, as well as focusing on a smaller part of the system at a time. I will definitely read the Strange book.

I donā€™t have a picture of my rack but this is where Iā€™m at:

  • Behringer Model D
  • Mutable Instruments Rings
  • uOrnament and Crime
  • uTemps Utile
  • uHemispheres (I got build-happy and went for the hat trick)
  • Mutable Instruments Veils
  • Morphagene
  • Mangrove
  • Three Sisters
  • Lo Fi Junky
  • Nearness
  • Maths
  • Mutable Instruments Ears
  • Turing Machine + Expanders
  • Instruo Harmonaig

Ha ha. That was almost an embarassingly long list to type out so I am concious of going a bit overboard to start with. Definitely going to try to focus on just some.

Also thanks for the tips about patch notes :slight_smile: I will take up that practice right away.

2 Likes
#1727

Iā€™m not sure I necessarily have goals other than enjoying the real-time interaction with the modular and the sounds that can be made at that moment. Though I do record some stuff.

This resonated with me. Iā€™ve been playing music in bands for a long time and I am at a place where I needed something else, some other inspiration to reclaim the joy playing music has brought me in the past. And so for now I think thatā€™s where I am - enjoying the interaction and new (to me) sounds.

Although I do think my enjoyment of it might be on a more solid foundation with a direction in mind so I take your point @grey.

1 Like
#1728

I would also suggest that especially with this approach, there can be a lot of microgoals/challenges that can be fun and generative of positive experiences/new explorations. Little things like choosing a different technique to try to build a patch around, limiting yourself to just four modules for an entire patch, using one module entirely differently from how you normally use it, patching ā€œbackwardsā€ (i.e always plug cables into inputs first, then outputs, or more extremely, starting with your output module and building the entire patch linearly but in ā€œreverseā€ā€¦) etc.

7 Likes