Show us your modular system

Voiron27 · 2021-05-02T00:12:31.801Z

I’ve come to a plateau recently and thought I’d share where my system is at. In part because I’m really happy with it but also because I’m going to stick with this till the fall or there about. So posting will serve as a sort of declaration of not buying any modules for awhile (except a sports modulator & three sisters, when available).

The system is conceived around two variously arranged audio paths centred on the spring tanks. I often use these as primary sound sources through feedback or as physical systems whose resonance can be interacted with through filters or by mixing in oscillators etc.

Note: the last change I’m making for awhile is swapping the Quad VCA for a Tangle Quartet so I can add Instruo’s Tain, just waiting on their arrival.

What I’ll do next: I’m curious about what a delay could do in the system but I don’t have a clear enough sense of what I want from that so I’m going to try some different ideas in Max for awhile (I can patch in something from the computer with RX-2 to explore that). It would also be handy to have a 1U row second or third from the top with a bunch of mixing/attenuation and a couple of VCAs. So I may explore that idea next year as I’d need a new case for that.

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Myles_Avery · 2021-05-02T00:48:46.232Z

Have one, it’s so worth it. Find it overlapping with the divkid ochd a bit but, all good, lots of random is great.

disquiet · 2021-05-02T04:07:02.172Z

Thanks! Yeah, I subsequently ordered two of them.

listentoaheartbeat · 2021-05-02T11:07:22.106Z

I’ve recently finished building this system. It has been a long journey that started 10 years ago with the objective to build a cohesive modular instrument. I roughly spent 5 years studying technique and technology (in other words, finding new things and making sense of them), and another 5 years refining the instrument so I could explore my favorite techniques in an intuitive way.

I feel it’s mostly of Serge provenance with a focus on patch-programming and feedback patching. However, there is also a bit of Buchla sprinkled in, especially if one thinks of the Turing Machine as an adaptation of his idea to use LFSRs for generating musical information in a modular context. It’s at the heart of any sequencing structure I patch up on this instrument.

This is also true for the patch shown in the photo. The sound generation is based on pinged BP filters (Cwejman Res-4) and subtle wave folding (Toppobrillo TWF), controlled by the Turing Machine and a quantizing ASR (Copiermachine app on uO_c). The basic sound is sent through two nested feedback loops using the Mungo d0, Toppobrillo Multifilter, and the Music Thing Spring with Belton brick.

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mateo · 2021-05-02T22:59:18.184Z

Beautiful system. Can you tell us more about the top and bottom rows? I recognize an ES8, is the rest repanelled modules as well?

listentoaheartbeat · 2021-05-03T06:33:39.131Z

Thank you! Sure, it’s a mix of smaller DIY and commercial modules that I wanted to consolidate. I’ll add some normalizations behind the panels down the road. I created them using Front Panel Designer with the kind help of Wes from Grayscale and Os from Expert Sleepers who provided FPD files for some of the modules (I’ve had mixed success with measurements).

Top panel (from left to right):

2x Music Thing Spring (incl. tank/brick switch, BTDR-3 brick with decay control, 100% wet out)
Fonitronik Cascade
2x Make Noise LxD
2x Manhattan Analog MIX
Manhattan Analog VCA
Expert Sleepers ES-8
Macro Machines Storage Strip (directly connected to Mungo d0)
1/4" jacks connected to outs 1 and 2 of ES-8 (secure connection for gigs, not yet added on photo)

Bottom panel (from left to right):

RYO Penta (incl. hold in, individual gate outs)
4ms RCD (incl. switches for 8/16 range, spread, auto-reset, up/down counting, gate/trigger)
ADDAC VC Rotator
Doepfer A-198 (USB-style connector replaced with direct connection to DIY ribbon in same panel)
External CV inputs for Toppobrillo Mixiplexer (via header on the back)

wednesdayayay · 2021-05-03T10:21:14.208Z

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This is the latest live stream that I did with the system. It was for testing things out as we just moved the whole system to a new space.

^I was using a passive audio splitter to monitor the sound which I forgot brings the overall volume down so I need to figure out a better way to monitor without setting up a mixer.

this is a good representation of the old system in full use

DatGood · 2021-05-03T13:20:57.266Z

Damn, the more I look at this the more I love it. The top/bottom customisation is really wonderful. I love the included ES8. All seamless and almost unrecognisable. Damn. I’m assuming that’s a modified hybrid face on a Music Thing TM / o_C on the lower 3U… wait, what is that? Anyway. Well done.

listentoaheartbeat · 2021-05-03T14:17:05.038Z

Thank you! I appreciate the positive feedback. I had almost given up on my plan two years ago when the system was a total building site but I am glad I pulled through.

Yeah, the sequencing panel combines the Turing Machine, Pulses expander, and uO_c. I still need to normalize a few connections to make it worthwhile. The uO_c has labels for Copiermachine and Acid Curds.

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DerekJones · 2021-05-04T17:57:29.561Z

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Forever changing…

Net · 2021-05-05T17:05:12.318Z

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This system is expensive and indulgent and a little surplus to requirements. But it’s also flexible (probably beyond my imagination) and always greatly enjoyable to play. I feel fortunate, more so than I really deserve, to have this before me. I’m so grateful that it’s here. I can’t really see it changing much now. By around the fourth Mungo I was hooked.

Mostly I use the Gotharman for all kinds of sequencing – either of its own voices or of others around the system – and stereo FX; the Mungoes for everything but sequencing, the NLCs for characteristic signal processing and exciting modulation and the e520 for stereo spectral fft.

I’m familiar with every part of it and feel I have a good sense of individual functions. The challenging next step is the interactive and simultaneous devising and organisation of useful patches. My energy these days is too low. I’m not up to it for the time being.

Edit: I would add that I know it probably looks impulsive and arbitrary to have exactly one of every 0-series Mungo. It’s not quite as ill-advised as it looks because their functions overlap so well!

forrest · 2021-05-05T17:19:21.858Z

Woa I love the clear davies on the nlc rack, gonna have to make the switch myself! And you’ve got me intrigued about the Mungo line, knowing we’re both NLC/chaos aficionados, what would you say is the defining characteristic of Mungo that you like about them, or do you just prefer modules from AUS? (hah, worng in there too)

kilchhofer · 2021-05-05T19:56:01.796Z

ah that explains alot
both cases look so inviting, full of possibilities, very experimental and open ended. amazing!

Net · 2021-05-05T20:00:41.357Z

forrest:

what would you say is the defining characteristic of Mungo that you like about them, or do you just prefer modules from AUS? (hah, worng in there too)

Yeah, Aussies are killing it at this stuff! I’d say the defining characteristic of Mungo is flexibility: the designs are idiosyncratic but mainly open ended, and parameter values are continuously adjustable over very wide ranges (sometimes passing beyond the musically useful). The oscillators can be stopped or enter ultrasonic ranges, the processors are DC coupled (allowing some atypical manipulation of CV, such as granulation, reverb or convolution), etc. Official documentation is sparse and the modules lack visual feedback, making them initially difficult to use. However the controls are consistently designed and avoid menus or pages. Plus there’s a lot of helpful discussion; I’ve learned a great deal from the Mungo thread here!

mdg · 2021-05-05T20:09:56.592Z

YES. (and 20 characters)

n-So · 2021-05-07T20:44:54.690Z

if i ever get back into euro, it’d be this…

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cosmicsoundexplorer · 2021-05-07T22:30:03.739Z

Love a mannequins palette! Could see an Ansible and Txn in place of the second cold mac. Pair it with a grid or arc

Comoving_Observer · 2021-05-07T22:43:31.128Z

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Latest iteration, added the Morphagene and Verbos Harmonic Osc. After trying so many alternative oscillators looking for a different flavour to a standard analog vco, got the HO. It’s expensive and big, so I was a bit wary, but wow! It’s an instrument all to itself, amazing sound and playability.

The only other change I may make is something for random, but not sure what?

Voiron27 · 2021-05-07T23:56:40.130Z

Obligatory “what case is that” question?

woofy · 2021-05-08T00:42:25.308Z

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