Eurorack: discussion, advice, learning, questions

[909one]

I’m looking at this right now too, but doing it for the iPad. Look at Motu stuff, it seems to be all DC coupled so you should be able to do audio as well as CV if you wanted to. The Motu M4 is one I’m leaning towards. I’ve had a few Motu products in the past… still have my 896hd in fact, and its running strong after ten years or so. I highly recommend.

[LazyCircuits]

I did have a separate audio interface but I found I never used it. That was why an ES8 appeals. However a Crow plus a £15 Behringer cable is half the price and won’t spoil the all Monome/Mannequins aesthetic.

[wardores]

How do you go about learning the capabilities of new modules? I’m very new to Eurorack, started with a Plaits + filter + VCA and have been making basic subtractive synth patches. Good fun, and I’ve learned a lot of the basics. However, I just picked up a Hermod and 4MS Spherical Wavetable Navigator and just feel way in over my head. Like, I don’t even know where to start. Just jam and figure it out? Or deep dive on a module with the expressed purpose of working my way through the manual, etc.?

[headphonic]

I would say just jump on in there and see what you discover, but also get on youtube and watch the eleventy billion module videos on there. It is an endless supply of super helpful content.

[909one]

Depending on the module, I usually read the manual a few times through, while I’m waiting for it to show up. Then I have a good idea of what it can do. Something analog that doesn’t have any hidden menus, I just start playing with it though.

[docile_fossil]

hello friends. i’ve enjoyed my headlong dive into eurorack in the past few months but am still getting to grips with the sheer amount of flexibility and, well, modularity!

i’m taking some microsteps into updating my current setup, notably getting a few more HP by replacing the Tangle Quartet with 2x 2HP VCAs and the Z-DSP with their new ZVERB. i’ll miss the Valhalla and the nutso input/modulation options on the Z-DSP, but since i use it as a big verb source and not for any of the other functions/cards, i feel it’s a little wasteful.

(modulargrid screenshots aren’t up for date for some reason…)

current

future

i will eventually step away from the neutron as the primary sound source, but it’s been incredibly useful for learning routing and basic manipulation/creation in this environment. i have a crush on 2HP with their basic-but-flexible modules, and i like squeezing in a bunch of options in a small space, but i might need some help on thinking outside that box. i love the concept of the Mordax Data — the eye candy, the clocking options, the learning more about waveforms — but space is at a premium and the price is hefty (despite being a powerful tool).

i usually put together darker, noisier ambient patches and route some external synths through this as well. not super beat driven — more on the Emeralds/Steve Hauschildt/0PN side of things — but i do occasionally enjoy some Actress-inspired kicks.

[tristan_louth_robins]

I took the plunge on Eurorack over the Xmas break and I certainly haven’t regretted it! It’s been hugely liberating from a creative perspective and it’s given the more dormant areas of my synthesis knowledge a good kick up the backside. I’ve been steadily - finances permitting - assembling a set up which allows me to generate some waves/noise, trigger samples and echo/loop things into infinitum.

I’m a bit uncertain of next steps, but it would be ideal to install a clock divider, sequencer and something that generates a bit of chaos.

Any tips?

[Byzero]

It depends what flavour of chaos you’re after, but i’ve had a lot of fun with Mutable Instruments Marbles. It handles clock based and melody based randomness and is possible to dial it in to be extremely musical.

[tristan_louth_robins]

Ah, yes - I’ve been thinking about something like that. Have you used the Make Noise Maths for a similar purpose?

[Byzero]

I do have Maths, it’s extremely versatile but is less immediate (in that it has a relatively steep learning curve). Depending on what you want to achieve, it may not be suitable for certain applications - or you may need other modules along side it to achieve specific techniques. It really depends exactly what you’re trying to do. Maths is a great module that can unlock lots of different techniques, with experimentation and practice.

[maztik8r]

For clock divider and generating chaos I would recommend Pamela’s New Workout. You get 8 outputs that can be switched between triggers, gates, looping envelopes, and random with a huge range of settings for clock dividing/multiplying. You can adjust probability of triggering as well as a ton of other options that I probably never use

For melodic step sequencing, the best bang for your buck would be the Korg SQ-1. It won’t be in your rack, but you really can’t beat what you can get for the price.

[headphonic]

i pretty much tell anyone that doesnt have a pams to get a pams and after a year i am still finding new uses for it.

[Starthief]

Pam’s is designed to sit “on top” and centralized as it were, with all its outputs derived from a single steady, on-the-grid master clock, whether internal or external. That wasn’t flexible enough for my tastes.

With Teletype, I can generate a swinging clock that is manually interruptable, then use that clock to generate a Euclidean rhythm, and then divide that pattern, and then derive “bouncing ball” accelerating trigger bursts from that division… and also use it to quantize CVs while it’s doing that

[Byzero]

Agreed - I also have a Pam’s. It gets used in every patch, absolutely. Incredibly versatile.

[kasselvania]

I love my teletype, but this level of insanity/control is beyond me for sure. I’m eager to get to this point, but dang if it is not extremely tough to get my sea legs.

[maztik8r]

I have a Teletype also and agree with all the points you bring up. I’m not sure I would recommend it before a Pams though especially for someone two months into getting into Eurorack.

[Starthief]

Fair enough! For the first year and a half or more with modular I was mostly using MIDI sequencing. When I got into Teletype it was after I’d tried out Pam’s, Stoichea, Circuit Abbey G8 etc. Also I’m a software developer and feel like the complex stuff is just an assembly of smaller simple steps, and I like working with complex and odd rhythmic relationships even when the result is slow or sparse.

Also I think if I were doing modular techno I’d be more likely to lean toward Pam’s plus things like Euclidean Circles, Grids etc.

[kasselvania]

Yeah, I get Both those points. You can continue to just add more bits of code for more necessary tools, and with time, these become second nature.

I have a OP-Z, crow and O_c with the hemispheres firmware to generate more techno, traditional or punchier sequences, and find the Teletype to be more of a chord machine (thanks to the JF stuff) a semi random sequencer, a Swiss Army knife of a function generator/LFO machine and sound shaper, thanks to the sequencing abilities. It’s wonderful to have a couple of fluctuating CV and Trigger parameters across multiple scenes and just suddenly and softly swap to new sound structures while playing a sequence from somewhere else.

[909one]

Also check out Make Noise Tempi. Pam’s is good if you don’t mind menu diving, but Tempi is better IMO if you want something immediate and performative. I borrowed a Pam’s from someone for a week or two and I just didn’t jive with the workflow after being used to Tempi.

[grey]

I dislike the Tempi key combos for configuration, but once you have it setup, it’s great. Having 6 clocks that can either be in relationship (or not) is useful.

Pam’s is explicitly not designed for live use and can do much more than Tempi. I’ve also personally found them to have sync issues when used in combination.

Also the start / stop button on Pam’s is nice.

Tempi is a cool module, but I think everyone should try Pam’s because of how much versatility it offers.