Eurorack: discussion, advice, learning, questions

[yunsnare]

Hermod is a great sequencer and Squarp team follows his module with updates and new features, that must be said
Check the Cuckoo and Red Means recording videos to see if it suits your needs !

[mdoudoroff]

While we were having this exchange, Toolbox received a fairly significant v2.1 firmware update.

[Whatwetalkabout]

I wouldn’t entertain using hermod unless you are planning on pairing it with a midi keyboard. Programming sequences without is tedious for sure. There are great randomization options though that rival and even surpass something like marbles, which is my way of using hermod without a midi input.

[Gexex]

I think it works without a midi keyboard if you’re feeding it cv from somewhere outside of the unit. It’s a really great cv recorder.

I think what makes it most tedious for programming within the unit itself is that voltages/notes aren’t saved in the steps if you remove such steps (so if you had C4 programmed into step 1, then remove step 1 from the sequence, the note is gone - it’s your last entered note which would appear in the step if reentered). This is perhaps what makes hermod less useful in a live situation.

Must say that I absolutely love mine, but not for its immediacy.

[NoraCodes]

And, according to their forum, it will probably be the last firmware update.

[mdoudoroff]

… which is not a problem if it happens to do what you need it to do and does it well. That’s the question. I see used ones on Reverb for $400-500.

[NoraCodes]

Absolutely, I wasn’t mentioning that as a complaint, I just think it’s an important note. It’s basically just a little computer with some DAC outputs, so what really matters is the software; that software is, presently, pretty well undocumented, as the 2.0 manual has yet to be written, and apparently isn’t going to be updated going forward.

I’m waiting to see if a new manual will be coming out; if not, I might write something up based on the existing manual and changelog, and see if it’ll meet my needs. I’ve also asked Aaron if he’d be open to releasing dev tools for the platform so people can write their own firmware, which would be pretty cool.

[Whatwetalkabout]

I dont program complex sequences/performances like I imagine many do, but I really enjoy it for the midi effects, midi looping, and general midi input and output.

[mattlowery]

Happy holidays all!

After Santa visits today, I’m going to do a full re-rack of my system. Wondering if any of ya’ll layout your modules according to some kind of philosophy? Or just aesthetically? Arranged by function?

hit me with thoughts and advice. thanks!

[Zeke_B]

I don’t think this is unique, but I work left to right and tend to keep clocking/sequencing on the left and filter/fx on the right. Where I (maybe?) switch things up is clustering modules I plan to patch together. In one case I have my Benjolin and Twin Peak next to each other because I like those two together. In another I have RxMx next to Synesthesia in the middle of my case because it’s likely anything I patch will run through one or both of them.

Idk if that’s helpful or very insightful… as I re-read it, it seems like a typical layout. Lol

Hopefully Santa is nice to you!

[srogers91]

Yeah it’s about the same for me.

I like to group manufacturers together just for some aesthetic indulgences but generally I try to keep some semblance of a “typical” signal chain from left to right. Sequencers/voices on the left, vcas/filters/modulation/utility in the middle, processing/output on the right.

[Helen]

Ah, the eternal question!

I’m still very much a n00b to modular and finding (as many of us do, I imagine!) that all my initial ideas have either fallen by the wayside or been modified so much that they bear little resemblance to where I’m at now!

I have a 4u x 62hp Intellijel Palette which means I have to keep things pretty tight - my original notion for making (audio) signal flow dictate the layout is still there, kinda sorta, but has changed as I’ve added voices (currently Qu-Bit Chord v2, Erica Synths Pico VCO2 and Intellijel Dixie II v1).

That said, the heart of the current set-up (Bloom > Chord v2 > Pico sequential switch/2hp Verb) still flows left to right into the mixer strips, before heading ‘north’ to the 1u headphones output. Introducing the VCO2 and the Dixie II has brought about a slight reversal of that, which I’ve come to terms with, and those are grouped more by function (VCO2/Arp/Delay, and Dixie II/VCA) before wending their ways across the case to the mixer. 2hp Clk and Div are more or less directly under the built-in mult, and find their ways out from there…

Oh, and did I mention the 1u Radio Music…?

[Cruddy screengrab from ModGrid then via Potatoshop to add the Radio Music]

[hermbot]

First I tried to get the signal flow from left to right, top to bottom. So the bottom corner was the final output.

I settled on left to right, roughly the middle as the output. So everything flows from the left to the middle right with the shortest cable lengths possible.

Most of the modulation and utility in the middle since it needs to go everywhere. VCA / LPG on the right, heading toward the final output:

[Starthief]

I find there are so many competing factors for layout that it always winds up some kind of messy compromise.

I like keeping newer modules, or those that require more fiddling, closer at hand. I also try to keep black panel modules separated by lighter ones to maintain some visual delineation.

[Gexex]

Wish that I had more of a layout plan, but the lack of size standards generally prevents this (in my case). I dream of having a bank of oscillators, an lfo section, filter zone, etc., but I couldn’t make it work.

At the moment, I have most of my mixing functions (with the exception of a dedicated audio mixer) in the middle row along with the bulk of my modulators. Oscillators and filters comprise the bulk of the top and bottom rows, with vcas peppered about.

One of my preferred anti-GAS measures involves frequent rearranging. I understand this doesn’t work for some, but I don’t require muscle memory to play my system in the same way as someone with a smaller single playable instrument approach (even if only tend to wrench two or three voices out of 14-17U).

[lumena]

After much reading and planning world domination, I have come to this place and would like to tap the group mind.
This box is an attempt to frame my assimil8r and a poly 2 - this is a design that is made to connect to my Fishman midi guitar/pedal. The Fishman has 3 foot switches and I expression pedal - plus up to 6 channels of midi (channel per string) - The small row on bottom is for extracting direct from the actual guitar pickup. I want to be able to trigger samples with the guitar based on notes and the TempsUtile is there so that I can do multiple re-triggers across samples. (one note - cascade of samples)

So anyone who has suggestions of things that I might need please let me know. I am leaning toward a 54hp pulp logic case and really want it to be portable and self contained. In the end I tossed a disting EX in just because I wanted to have options if I did forget something. My expectation is all mixing off the rack.

[simonvanderveldt]

How big is your system?

My current setup is 7U84HP with the 1U row in the middle.
Like some others I work left to right. Sources on the left, outputs on the right.
Control modules (sequencer, LFO, envelope, etc) live at the bottom and the top row is dedicated to voices (although those modules can be used for other purpose of course). The Manis didn’t fit so it lives in the bottom row
The middle row (1U) hosts mostly things to tie stuff together like mixers and attenuators plus some random useful things (noise, VCA, main stereo output).
And finally the mixer plus effects are located at the bottom right.

To me this feels like a pretty standard and logical layout with a logical high-level grouping and ordering of modules so most functionalities have a clear place and are easy to find. For me it offers enough easy control of everything (although I’d like more control modules to have their jacks at the top) but I’ve also seen people move modules they interact with a lot to the sides of their case. That concept never really worked for me though.
Here’s a picture of my current plan, hope this helps a bit with the thought process

What have your thoughts/plans for this been so far?

P.S. I don’t have the QSC and the second delta-v yet but their place is currently taken by similar modules (maths and matrix mixer)

[lumena]

54 hp at 3u and 2 1u rows

Lunchbox LBZ54 – Pulp Logic

[encephalitislethargi]

re: modular layout organization; i find that in vcv rack with limitless options, it really helped to layout each module as it’s ordered in a standard synthesizer signal chain for the most part but in my 84hp rack, it was nice to have logic and modulation sources scattered throughout and spread apart from one another. i assume it takes much more forethought when working with more than 3u. it might help to use vcv rack as an interactive version of modulargrid though. for planning out your irl setup. they have instruo modules now and even if they don’t have your exact module, you can usually find one to fill it’s place for testing purposes

[fourhoarder]

I am at 18u (not full) between frac and euro and just bought a Rack Plumber and I do not know how I lived without it. talk about boring utilities that are awesome.