Making stand alone modular instruments

[slopstream]

I have kind of the opposite situation, the Coco would actually fit quite well into my existing setup. Sadly, that doesn’t really help me, because the Coco would still be dependent on my regular setup…

The problem I’m facing is the hassle of transporting and moving all that gear when I’m to jam with someone/do a show, etc. The reason i’m into an Octatrack or this idea of the small(-ish) modular instrument is portability. The possibility to take what i’m working on at home, through sampled recordings, continue or transmute that with other people’s sonic outputs, without it being a whole enterprise every time.

[bradfromraleigh]

I’ve been pondering something along the same lines for my first modular, since joining this forum - a sound mangler/effect processor, maybe with sequencing capabilities. My first thought was that it should be centered around the ER-301, housed in a Grau Modular pocket case (2x51HP) but mlogger’s lunchbox got me interested in something smaller…

This is exactly what I’m considering right now. I have my ER-301 in a 7u 104hp case but I really want something smaller to travel with. It would basically accompany an Organelle and OP-1 for recording and FX duties but also for whatever else I wanted it for. Not sure what I would pair it with though…

[AlessandroBonino]

I never liked walls of modulars, so I always build smaller subsets to work with. Tonight I’m planning to build this in my Frap Tools Plus 2x84hp. The ER301 is a final mixer, effector, mangler, and additional source.
What do you think?

[cocco88]

for me is ok, i’ll take it
you can ship it at my address

[emenel]

I’m having the same dilemma: Small morphagene system (or Morphagene anywhere), Octatrack, or Cocoquantus.

These are pretty different instruments. The Coco can’t do a clean loop/delay, it’s always at least a bit crazy. And the interface is like doing magical incantations… The Octatrack is much more of a precision instrument, clean sampling and sequencing. Something you would program, where the Cocoquantus feels like another musician you’re playing along with.

I have used a Morphagene yet, but again feels really different in terms of sound characteristics and the type of manipulation and control.

I have a Cocoquantus and love it, but it’s definitely not a standard looper or delay effect.

[bradfromraleigh]

Contemplating something along these lines…

Initially thinking the 4 att/verts could be utilitzed as manual mixer controls for the channels - something that can get annoying to do with the single big knob.

[AlessandroBonino]

Done!

[joshhh]

post a video if you’re up for it! Looks super fun! you’ve got a solid half dozen modules that I personally want to get

Also, I’m interested to hear how you get along with the uBurst/uClouds. Did you build it?

[yoyosandshoes]

Yeah I think the extra piece of gear and the extras to integrate it are what are holding me back from the Coco and making me think about how I might achieve something similar with other things. Maybe I’ll hold off again … And wonder for another few months.

[yoyosandshoes]

I guess the similarities I am seeing is the ability to play into something and then modulate in an extreme way the repeats and/or loops with a reasonable amount of control. I have straight delays and loopers anyway. I’m thinking to build my own instrument with a some Mobenthey madness. I whipped up this but its not thought through yet…

[AlessandroBonino]

I will do for sure! I got the little clouds built for me but I’ve just racked it last night. I had a factory Clouds until last week so my muscle memory is still tied to that. I will need to change my habits but it will take time. I think we’ll get along just fine

P.S. that configuration will change because something else is coming to take those 18hp where Ears and the VCFQ are now (spoiler: it’s a teletype).

[joshhh]

This is also relevant to the 7U Intellijel case thread, but I recently came across Nathan Moody’s work, in particular his Etudes I: Blue Box, and the modular instrument pictured on the front seems to fit in very well with the spirit of this discussion:

I usually don’t care for changing panels/knobs on modules, but his use of an aesthetic system with his knob choices makes a lot of sense to me in this case.

[AlessandroBonino]

It’s a wonderful record!

[polyoptics]

Super cool. I’ve often thought of refacing my own case with 1 huge custom panel. I would love to try it some day.

[philmaguire]

I’ve just ordered a Grau 6u 51hp case, with the view of making a rig that can do droney and glitchy noise things. Here is my idea so far. I’d love to get a mult in there, but only have 1hp spare with this setup. I could swap the Quatro Figaro (10hp) out for a Tangle Quartet or something else 8hp, but I like the idea of having inverted mix outs… Any suggestions?

[joshhh]

Easiest thing I can think of would be to swap the Doepfer sequential switch for the Erica Pico SEQS, which would get you an extra 1hp!

Also, don’t forget that you could always use channel 2 or 3 of Maths to invert a mix output from a smaller quad VCA if you wanted.

[dansimco]

What can you do with inverted mix outs? Never experimented with that

[philmaguire]

ah, good ideas, thanks!

@dansimco - I’m mostly interested in the inverted outs as another timbre/flavour that I can send to an external mixer at a show, or into a computer for recording.

[sandy]

And if it’s a mixer that can handle CV, the inverted outs can be very useful for feedback loop type patches.

[PacificNorthWes]

The Quattro Figaro is also great for stereo pairs. I often run an LFO or random in to get some stereo movement. The inverted CV is normalled to its “neighbor” (A+B, C+D), so it’s well set up for that sort of thing. I love mine. I think it’s worth the extra 2hp!