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Not that I’ve seen, but you can integrate your succulents with this: SCÍON - Controller - Instruō Modular - Glasgow, Scotland

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I would also say to @Ashh that, mirroring what @eblomquist said, learning the basics of Eurorack can be really tricky because you sort of need a certain critical mass of gear to do something other than make wooohhwoooohhhwooooh sounds (as opposed to desktop synths which almost always include all the stuff you need to make the intended sounds of the instrument). While I never want to imply that throwing money at a lack of knowledge/experience is a viable solution, I think if you got one or two other modules it might start to become more clear how things are ‘supposed’ to work. Specifically I’d recommend a sequencer, a S&H and a quantizer. The sequencer and quantizer at least allow you to make streams of notes, and the S&H+Noise gives you a source of randomness (among lots of other things). The Behringer 100 line has a sequencer and a S&H/Ring Mod that will both work, or you could use a Korg SQ-1 (a nifty piece of kit that remains useful no matter how deep you get into this). 2hp tune is an inexpensive quantizer to nudge your CV into scales should you chose the behringer module (the SQ-1 includes this function built-in).

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So I’ve been thinking about moving to a bigger case (from 3U 84hp to 6U 104hp) to integrate almost every module that I have waiting in a box and stop the endless swapping.
The only module I don’t have in this case is FX Aid.
The many sequencers are here to explore melodies obtainable by combining and modulating them in creative ways (big inspiration from Roulette by Fors.fm for that)

My only doubt is regarding the mounted 0-CTRL, has any of you tried that?

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This is very much the stumbling block that has caused me the most frustration. I can guarantee you that no one out there in Youtube land is willing to say, get A, B, C & D for your initial Eurorack foray. I get why they’re not and to be real, the era of definitively saying “this is good” seems to be over. I think the web killed those kinds of opinions. So Eurorack has no chance. I imagine that it would be too much hassle to deal with the “er, I don’t think so” about whatever is recommended.

Whenever I looked for any opinions on what to buy, I was either pushed towards the sites where you can build a virtual rack or taken through a physics lesson about sound waves.

I guess this is my long winded way of saying I appreciate your post because it is so helpful and exactly what I’ve been looking for. Along with @divmod. Appreciate you too. I have just plugged in my new Doepfer A-190-3 so I am really excited about that.

I will be back with questions about modules I’m thinking of adding once I’ve researched your suggestions. Big smile on my face.

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And that, beyond anything else, really is the point of all this :smiley:

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One YouTube personality that I have grown quite fond of is Cinematic Laboratory, who did a wonderful little series about “starter kits,” or a minimal setup to get started making music. I used the advice in these videos pretty extensively when setting up my rack, and any advice I didn’t follow—I wish I had!

Instead of giving definitive advice (eg, “buy a, b, c, and d”) they give more “heuristic” suggestions that can help piece together a coherent setup in a minimum of space.

I recommend watching a number of the videos—the second one builds on the first in a useful way.

Between this series and the Patch and Tweak book, I felt I had some pretty good information for getting started.

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Knobs has a “Why to Modular” series that I liked.

It is really difficult to give advice about modular because people want so many different things from it. For instance, to me the advice about starting with a sequencer, S&H and quantizer falls really flat; I rarely use S&H or quantization even now (when I do, it’s using Teletype to quantize to 7EDO or something, or using Marbles’ internal quantization).

I think generally, semi-modular is a pretty great starting point; you have enough to make some music and learn some modular techniques, and it typically has MIDI to CV and/or some control/sequencing built in. But even this makes some assumptions – some people want modular for audio processing, so something like the Make Noise Tape & Microsound System makes a lot more sense.

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Some wonderful points in here. I found the same.

I should note, the advice from Cinematic Laboratory that stuck with me the most was to get the modules that help you to make the music you like. It’s simple, but helped me to focus on what I needed to make a certain kind of music/sound.

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Cinematic Laboratary’s videos are fantastic, inspiring and insightful.

He’s now using his real name, Robert Pabst. I believe he’s on lines…

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Comparative Irrelevance’s ‘3 modules’ series is one I’ve come back to a number of times.

Great examples of how much can be explored with three modules. It helped me wrap my head around modules like Blinds and Stages.

Still one of my favorites:

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Me too, I keep coming back to his videos as good examples of what I would like to get to in Eurorack: a small system that I know and can be explored for a long long time, that is enough to get you into that patching flow state and can provide results that you can just calm down and immerse yourself in for a while.

It makes me debate if returning the 104hp skiff I got for a bigger case is a good idea or not relative to that goal.

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Yeah, I feel like I want to make all the music but as a starting point I want to make Techno like Blake Baxter, Richie Hawtin, Speedy J, Robert Hood (just realised that could be a play on Robin). Labels like Tresor, maybe a little Warp but say around the time of Tuff Little Unit/Forgemasters. Stuff like that.

So! Are there module makers who focus on genres or should I be looking at it a different way to find my groove things?

Also, I have a signal coming out of the Doepfer A-190-3’s top Gate output, going to the 110s VCA Signal In, the VCA Out going to my Befaco output module’s L Line In and I’m getting a kind of morse code. Just very short dots. I have unplugged everything and plugged it into everything else, the cat, an orange etc but I’m just getting the morse code. Can anyone advance me a little knowledge until payday?

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You are hearing the Gate Out of your MIDI interface.

The Gate Out of your MIDI-CV interface module should go into the Gate In of your Envelope/ADSR module. The envelope’s output goes into the Mod(ulation) In(put) of your VCA.

Your oscillator’s signal output goes into the VCA’s signal input.
EDIT: As you have the Behringer/Roland 112, forget that comment, as the required signal flow is already pre-patched. VCO signal out goes into filter signal in, filter signal out goes into VCA signal in.

Turn up CUToff on the VCF, otherwise you will hear not much.

Turn down RESonance on the VCF, otherwise you will hear a high whisteling sound, whose frequency moves if you move CUToff.

Turn down Initial Gain on the VCA, otherwise you will hear the VCO forever.

Turn up the Mod In control on the VCA’s Mod In you patched the envelope out into, otherwise the envelope won’t have any effect.

The CV Out of your MIDI-CV interface goes into the oscillator’s Pitch Mod(ulation) In(put). Play octaves on the keyboard connected to your MIDI-CV interface. Slowly turn up the Mod In control on the VCO’s Mod In you patched the interface’s CV Out out into, until you hear octaves.

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I’m not sure if there’s any particular module maker that focuses on one genre more than any others, but there are plenty of modules out there that are great for techno—or at least, it seems that way, since many people love making modular techno.

In your case, I might look at what kind of sequencers artists are using to make techno, and what techniques they use. Then you can start to focus in on modules that do the things you want them to do.

Maybe others have better advice! I’m still less than a year into my own modular journey, so I only have a few hard-learned lessons to offer at the moment.

(I left sound-making modules out for a reason. When I think about producing sounds, I tend to focus on finding stuff that sounds good to my ear. It’s really as simple as that.)

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OMG I’m 1000% gonna buy this.

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Ya echoing what Karateisland said, almost any module can be used for techno (except a blank panel).

Sequencers are (to me) some of the more idiosyncratic modules, and would be good to explore in depth those to get something that fits into your music-making approach/philosophy. There are specific sequencers for 303/acid, random + stochastic + turing machine, probabiltiy-based events, quantized vs unquantized pitches, menus vs. no menus, prescriptive, etc. Consider a handful of smaller sequencers that can be patched differently + synched depending on the day. Or a ‘battleship’ that does everything you’re after.

There’s also thinking about whether it is a studio instrument vs. live performance, or somewhere in the middle. How important is it to be able to change things on the fly, rhythmically, performatively, etc? If immediacy is important, that might steer you towards performance oriented modules.

Other have said this, and I agree, a mixer is an important aspect of techno production and performance. Once a patch is more/less up and running, the mixer becomes a key instrument. Things like hands-on mixers and sequencers with mutes, switches, wiggle-room, etc. Maybe an aux send is good to have in the case for being able to route sound sources to common effects and/or built-in saturation to ‘glue things together’.

Maybe start with identifying the most important types of sounds and dynamics you’re after. Dubby chords, glitchy textures, sidechained pumping sounds, specific drum kits, synthetic vs. organic and other false (yet useful) dichotomies. Clean, cold, distorted, warm, aggressive, smooth etc. Absolutely find a way to create your favorite drum sounds, especially a kick drum or three that sounds perfect.

OK if you’re still reading, definitely check out some artists making these sounds w/ modular like Steevio, Surgeon, Aphex (good luck!), Julia Bondar, Mylar Melodies, Baseck, Trovarsi, dc11 (Lucas Marchal), Spring Rolls (Bastien). Most of these folks have detailed videos/feeds with examples of sounds + modules employed.

Have fun!

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And don’t forget to experiment! Sometimes what you think you want isn’t what you want—and you won’t know until you try.

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Something I’ve found really useful is that every time I’m watching a video, I try to look at everything that the video isn’t actually focusing on and pick it apart. Often that isn’t really possible, but occasionally you’ll get a wide shot of a large-ish patch with enough detail to actually see what modules / other equipment are in use, and with a little luck, what’s connected to what. The point isn’t to go out and buy those specific modules, but, initially, just to get a sense of how people are using modules, and eventually, to ask how you could do something similar with what you have.

The other thing that can be useful is looking at prebuilt systems, really reading about what the modules can do, and then thinking about why the person designing that system chose the modules they did. One example I keep coming back to is the Make Noise Black and Gold, Plus system, and the more I learn about modular, the more I realize just how much that relatively small system (12 modules if you include the CV bus) can do. If you want an example of what an extremely capable modular instrument might look like, to me, that’s it.

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Thanks for bringing this to my attention. It looks to be exactly what I needed and I just ordered it.

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Great to hear you found it useful :heart: