faetal on 21/7/2020 at 23:44
One of the big things I am doing to limit my spending on Eurorack is buying the Expert Sleepers ES-3 & 6.
Will let me incorporate VCV rack into my setup pretty seamlessly, if (
https://youtu.be/PkFWQ2sJ9OM) this video is any indication.
I think this will serve to not only massively expand what I can do, but also slow down the rate at which I buy modules by giving me more time to try out types of modules.
The disting mk4 I have on back-order will also help on that front.
I'm also toying with buying a soldering kit and learning to make DIY modules, which has the added effect of offsetting one hobby with a new one.
That's the plan anyway. Nothing to say I won't just end up buying modules compulsively anyway because shiny, but I am trying to restrain myself.
Volitions Advocate on 22/7/2020 at 03:16
Goddammit. This is what happens when I don't log into the forum for months at a time.
I've always loved synths, but never learned how to use them properly. I was a band geek kid, playing everything from flute to highland bagpipes. Been Playing guitar since I was 16 (about 20 years now yeesh), and always played in either punk, or butt rock bands.
In the last 10 years I've eeked out a bachelors degree in music and I'm almost done my Masters. That one is on hiatus because of my divorce, but hopefully I'll finish it by next year.
While all my friends were either salivating over Van Halen or Guns n Roses, I was listening to trashy europop techno comp albums, Erasure, and Depeche Mode. So it's dumb that I never learned to play them.
Until around the time this thread started anyway. I discovered Look Mum No Computer on YT and I'm not turning back. DIY is a big part of what I do in basically everything, and I didn't know that there was this long held tradition of building your own modular synth that stretches back to the 70s. Much like Ham Radio's used to be a big DIY thing.
I have to admit. While I heard of Eurorack a lot over the years. I never looked at what it was exactly, and just thought it was some DJ oriented equipment. I had no idea it was an actual modular synth. I always thought they were just relics that nobody used and only collectors bought who liked stuff from the 70s and 80s.
So that was a neat revelation.
I've been pretty rabidly looking through circuits and trying to figure out where to start. I've been going through Omri Cohen's videos a bit and learning how to use VCV so I have some frame of reference, but the whole idea of patching without watching a tutorial video is still something I feel I can't do. I still don't really understand how to do it.
While I wont be buying eurorack modules. I will probably be spending a lot of money on some new toys for the garage. Like a distillation set, some beakers and Erlenmeyer flasks and some HCL to start etching my own circuits. Time to get nerdy.
Of course if I had been poking around the forum more often I could have joined in on the conversation before now.
Jason Moyer on 22/7/2020 at 09:20
What do you think of the Morphagene and the Mimeophone? I was thinking about putting together a small system to complement the VRL (maybe in the same kind of case if they make more) and I want to build it around sound mangling, maybe an FM radio, and some other weird stuff like the PghMod percussion sequencer and Gamesystem.
Maybe something like this (
https://www.modulargrid.net/e/racks/view/1273614)
demagogue on 22/7/2020 at 09:53
@qolelis, I think one of the best ways to get into the scene is to just start watching tutorial and demo videos on YouTube, and maybe join a synth and the VCV Facebook groups that post them a lot.
Anyway, for a cheap controller, I'd recommend the Arturia Keystep or Keystep Pro, or it seems to be the popular choice anyway. I mentioned the demo videos because I've seen it used in so many demo videos by so many synth experts, I have to think there's something to it. It's set up to control four synths or modules at a time, where you just push a button and all the knobs switch over to whichever synth you have set to that button, and there are a lot of other good things about, including that they're cheap. The Keystep is ~$120 USD and the Pro I think around $350 USD.
As for my concept I posted, yeah, I already know half or more of those knobs are going to get cut. I probably shouldn't have posted a WIP so early, but I liked the look and feel of it and wanted to show it off I guess. (Edit: I updated it and replaced the old image with a newer version.) The idea is it's something from which I could build a physical prototype from. If I get further with it, I would build either a standalone or VCV version just to test it and make it work. And if it works well and I get spontaneously rich someday, I'd try to make a hardware version.
@Aja, that set up looks great.
I have a list of modules I'd get if I start collecting. For the most part, though, I've used my Mox8 and some soft synths together for a long time and know them really well. Whenever I have a synthing idea, I can usually figure out some way to at least jerry rig it with what I have now. As I think I said at the top, though, I am thinking seriously about the Novation Summit at some point because it looks just great to work and perform on.
Aja on 22/7/2020 at 14:08
Quote Posted by Jason Moyer
What do you think of the Morphagene and the Mimeophone? I was thinking about putting together a small system to complement the VRL (maybe in the same kind of case if they make more) and I want to build it around sound mangling, maybe an FM radio, and some other weird stuff like the PghMod percussion sequencer and Gamesystem.
Maybe something like this (
https://www.modulargrid.net/e/racks/view/1273614)
I think they're a lot of fun as a pair; they have lots of complimentary features that patch well together. Individually, I can recommend the Mimeophon hands-down. It's not the most hi-fi delay ever, but it's a real joy to use. I think it sounds great, with a kind of unspecified vintage feel -- the designer, Tom Erbe, talked about how he took inspiration from oil can delays to Lexicon digital delays to Space Echos, and it feels like it. It's still a bit mysterious to me, but that's why I buy Make Noise modules; they encourage exploration. It also works really well as a 1v/oct oscillator.
The Morphagene is maybe not as immediately recommendable, but I wouldn't get rid of mine. It's a little harder to get a handle on, a little harder to use to its potential, but I love the way it sounds, and again, it's really fun to just explore and experiment with. It feels like a crazy instrument that you have to learn to play. Downsides are that some of the button combos can be hard to remember, and a lot of interesting features were added after the fact and are adjustable only with a config file.
One thing I'll note is that both modules have a bit of a noise floor when using line level signals (with modular level they're fine), so if you're planning to use them in a sound-mangling setup, I'd definitely include some kind of preamp module as well, (
https://www.befaco.org/inamp/) something like this.
faetal on 3/11/2020 at 11:47
A few weeks ago, a friend of mine gifted me a Moog Werkstatt as he was getting ready to sell his house and needed to clear space (good for me).
Very nice, if not immediately user friendly for non-modular users. To make it easier to use with my eurorack setup, I bought an expander module, which converts the micropin patch bay to 3.5 mm patch points.
Now it looks like Moog have reissued it with better patch points (the original allowed double use of the gate out socket for gate in, but doesn't work that well): (
https://youtu.be/_3sH4iRsMF8)
Should be of interest to anyone looking for that big Moog sound without that big Moog price tag.
Jason Moyer on 3/11/2020 at 12:04
Did you put it together yourself?
faetal on 3/11/2020 at 12:43
No, mine came pre-assembled by the person who gifted me it, but based on that video, it looks super easy (no soldering unless you're doing any custom mods).
Jason Moyer on 3/11/2020 at 13:25
I have a Mother-32 so the Werkstatt would probably be redundant, but it seems like a really nice synth. I dunno what Moog's secret is, but of the pile of analog kit I have their stuff easily has the best raw tone of anything.
PigLick on 3/11/2020 at 13:35
apart from the actual physical act of using the things, is there any advantage versus software synths?