Introduction and Questions

[shreeswifty]

Hello
I am in the planning stages of a Modular rig that will make use of the Monome line of modules. I wish i would have found this group a bit earlier. I have been coding and teaching Max/MSp/Jitter & Pd for about 7 years so i am hopeful i can marry these methodologies for a new compositional prerogative. I would love some feedback on what the essentials for getting started would be if you have time to recommend i would be overjoyed. I am assuming the need to a Grid controller, the Ecosystem, possibly the switch and certainly one or two of the companion modules like easthsea and the white whale. Would that be a proper place to start? My interest is piqued with the rhizomatic references in some of the descriptions and listening to some of the examples of what is being produced assures me i am in the right place. my name is patrick and i am a digital media researcher and educator at a large southern football school with plans of escape this year so i welcome comment and critique upon my technological plans

cheers~
Patrick

[michael_matos]

Hey. I’d take a look at some of the small systems you see posted here as well as spending some time on muffwiggler. Building a system tends to be a very personal thing. But you can always use someone else system as a starting point if you enjoy the sounds coming from there.

[shreeswifty]

Thanks for the reply Michael, I have two systems I have made so far both explore chaos to a degree as my recent research has led me to the lyapunov equation and fractal systems. The system I am in the planning stage on is here
https://www.modulargrid.net/e/racks/view/264631

Of course the grid is not shown. Can you share what yours is if you don’t mind? I have been on “muffs” about a year and like I shared glad to find this forum

[sakul]

looking awesome!

2 arrangement issues:

• I’d put the teletype on the lower row, since cables would otherwise cover the screen too much (it will eventually get messy, but potentially less…)
• for the teletype to communicate with the trilogy modules, you’ll need to either have them on one side of tt (the bus cable provided is veeery concise) or you would need a custom bus cable (3pin ribbon with connectors)

[shreeswifty]

Thanks. I assume the teletype has a series of interface headers on it, do you recall how many?

[michael_matos]

The teletype comes with a header and a cable to attach the trilogy. But it’s uber short. As for your system,I’d definitely throw an expert sleepers module into the mix if you are well versed in max. Then you can whip up whatever you desire and feed it to the modular. I’d start with the teletype, white whale, mangrove, three sisters, maths, and a linux for some vca action. Then see what your system needs as max and expert sleepers can provide tons of rad mom, lfos, envelope and other modulation.

[glia]

nice setup…seems like you know what you’re doing! btw
do you have any audio/software available online?

here’s a look my skiff, monomewise all i use is TT

[shreeswifty]

My work has predominantly been with Max/pd for performance solutions using GEM/JITTER used for interactive installation, if you are interested I will gladly share some patches, recently though been fooling with BEAP in Max. Here’s a quick patch I made for a friend learning Beap>https://www.dropbox.com/s/wbjn9spuni21piy/Quasi-Mod1.1.mxf?dl=0
of course you need Max7. I have a second rig that is my Expert Sleepers rig. This one will communicate with it of course
https://www.modulargrid.net/e/racks/view/243606
There seems to be a nice relationship with Mannequins and Monome. I have great success with Cold Mac on my main Machine.
https://www.modulargrid.net/e/racks/view/243609

I am curious if the Trogotronic M-168 would have proper voltage for the TT+grid. Perhaps for 50$ a switch would be the safe side.

[infovore]

My only comment would be: unless you’re really, really, really into CV manipulation of virtual tapeheads, are you really set on the Generalissimo? 28HP for a delay seems like a vast amount of space to use up. If you can get away with a Timeline or an El Capistan or an Eventide box externally, you’d free up a vast amount of space for generation/modulation/processing.

(I do, however, appreciate, it’s a CV-controllable complex tape-ish delay.)

[sam]

My only comment would be: unless you’re really, really, really into CV manipulation of virtual tapeheads, are you really set on the Generalissimo

It doesn’t even have that many CV inputs! Certainly not the ones you’d want. Plus who knows when it will be out.

There are a few modules available for interfacing with guitar pedals, some with CV to expression pedal.

Have a think about the Abstract Data ADE-32 vs the 4ms Quad Pingable LFO, the 4ms module has the advantage of independent clock inputs, but if you only want one master clock the Abstract Data module has more outputs and more modes.

My other bit of advice would be to drop the Random Sampling, you can get the Teletype to do a lot of random CV generation, I’ve written the code to do the quantised randoms (this is the same as the Noisering and the Turing Machine). The Teletype can also do ASR style algorithms (the downside is you’ve only got one CV input), real ASRs can have issues with voltage droop too, so for pitched music it can be better to do it digitally anyway.

[infovore]

It doesn’t even have that many CV inputs! Certainly not the ones you’d want. Plus who knows when it will be out.

There are a few modules available for interfacing with guitar pedals, some with CV to expression pedal.

nods. For instance, something like ALM SBG gives you a send/return, and expression CV, and that send/return is CVable, all in 4HP. Or, if it’s interesting sound processing, rather than specifically Strymon Tapeishness, is it gauche to just say ‘Clouds’?

I’d also note that similarly, in a little system, that MIIIIX feels very big for what it does. Again, is it All The CV you want, or just a four-channel mixer inside the rack? If the former, you might be able to use a Tangle Quartet for similar purposes - and each channel not mixing is a VCA…

[sakul]

Mostly agree… Although I wished more than once I could easily clock my el capistan…
But yes the Generalissimo is a monster in HP.

Edit: it seems I might be able to achieve that in a safe manner with the s.b.g!

[shreeswifty]

Thanks Folks
I am wrapped on my investigation of Expert Sleepers and now focus has shifted to the Winged Eel/Monome
I removed the Generalissimo and the Verbos because i am interested in sculpting this and incorporating feedback in to this design. I’ve already made a “dream rig” and a specialized one for live performance.
This setup will go into a Trogotronic Collier M-168>
https://www.modulargrid.net/e/racks/view/266193

I am also considering using “gridlock” to emulate the grids until i can afford one. I would like to get the modulae and rig setup and THEN get the grid.

Are there people on here using an emulator? I currently have a Novation Launch Control XL that i am hopeful will work as an interim control device for a bit.

Thank you for the feedback so far, i really appreciate it

[infovore]

I poked Gridlock with my Push and had no joy whatsoever; it’s a somewhat obtuse piece of software.

More to the point, though: Gridlock emulates a grid inside the computer. The monome modules expect a hardware grid, and that is that - you won’t be able to plug anything else into them. So if you’re interested in the modules, you’re going to need a real grid. (Someone can correct me if I’m wrong here, but I’m reasonably sure I’m not).

[shreeswifty]

ok good to know
i was thinking "oh USB might mean anything would work in that slot
I looked on ebay for grids but most are 64s
Are those a waste of time?
Should i just take the leap and get the one i see on the site

[glia]

not a waste as they are elegant and underrated members of the monome range

however since 90% being resold online (for reasonable price) arent varibright versions you might as well check whether your novation will work

not sure if the euro trilogy works with other grids

[shreeswifty]

Thanks. I’m not one usually for circumlocuting the proper setup and expecting things to work properly but my intention IS in fact to use the euro trilogy. I really like the idea of the Meadowphysics module and the Teletype for a coder is a no brainer. My friend Zach pointed me at it several years ago but i was still working with Pd/GEM and Jitter then and with a computer a USB device usually means MIDI/CC so i was hopeful i could buffer the startup cost for getting started for a few months, but i am considering grabbing TT/MP + a grid from Control in Brooklyn. The gridlock software is proving extremely helpful for ABleton/Expert Sleepers so it’s all good.

[glia]

Cool, search on here or ask around

I’m sure here’s been past discussion about 64s and monobrights compatibility with monome euro modules. (Sorry, I’d offer more wisdom but never used MP, WW, ES and am without a grid)

Teletype is fantastic and I cannot recommend it enthusiastically enough. You’ll love it!

[sakul]

if your goal is the trilogy modules, I would go for 128 varibright.
I was actually very lucky in the beginning with a non-varibright and WW and didn’t care to upgrade (untill I eventually found a no-brainer deal)
but I wouldn’t wanna use MP without varibright… it would lack important information. for example a range and playhead cannot be displayed at the same time.

[shreeswifty]

thanks everyone for the feedback this is extremely helpful. Is there a coding manual for the teletype?
I need to hunt around some more but i assume there is documentation here somewhere, just need to find it