Wondering if anybody else here has a Matriarch that they use with their eurorack and if so, what modules do you feel really go well with it?
JB
If I had to come up with a partner 120hp row to permanently sit on the Matriarch it would look something like this. These modules tend to get the most mileage with the synth.
The rear panel module is very useful and is so cheap that something equivalent should have been included with the synth.
She desperately needs more mults and attenuators/attenuverters.
Chaos/random CV (I use Wogglebug and Sloths).
More LFOs or envelopes and a VCA/mixer or two to help with those.
Ring mod if you like it, imo much better with something external to free up the built-in modules.
A high pass filter so you can run mixer -> hpf -> stereo lpf.
Your favorite stereo effect or a pedal interface module like strymon's AA.1. Patching from the filter -> your effect -> back into the matriarch's delay is a dream for example.
Lots of options for this since the Matriarch feels so "finished" in most ways to me, really depends on what you are doing with it and where you want to go. A Pam's might be an easy suggestion for some people but I don't really sync up that much modulation with the Moog in practice. It does so much work on its own that I find myself mostly using "the more basic stuff" to augment it.
If I had to come up with a partner 120hp row to permanently sit on the Matriarch it would look something like this. These modules tend to get the most mileage with the synth.
-- ku14
Awesome, thanks for that response....I happen to just order a Matriarch case for mine from Erik Needham Woodworks....it will have three rows of 150 HP....2 x 3U and 1 x 1U....I'll have the Zorx Electronics 1U CV Bus and Bus Expander...as well as their 1U Through module which does what that Back 2 Front module does...I considered adding the ST Modular Toolbox 1U to fill in that 1U row.
Definitely looking at Batumi and considered Triple Sloths (and maybe another cool NLC module).
Any thoughts on what might be a good sequencer to throw in there? I was considering Metropolix
Also considered (if I could find one) a Sinfonion...maybe overkill for using with the Matriarch?
JB
A sequencer would be very low on my list to add-on to this synth, I mean how much time have you put in with the Matriarch's onboard sequencer so far? I was originally thinking "brand new to this synth" and the follow-up questions have me thinking "brand new to all this stuff in general." What do you find lacking or hindering when you sequence the Matriarch right now? I wouldn't buy another sequencer without being able to answer that question, and appreciate the fact that you're about to more than triple the total cost of this Moog set-up through filling 300HP of modules, so you should really hesitate to grab $600 or $1000+ modules that you're feeling wishy-washy on. There are a lot of extremely nice external sequencers in this price range that run circles around anything in eurorack.
No experience with the Metropolix. You could use voltage adders and switches to get chords going from a single sequence and quantizers may have this built in. That Sinfonion is built off the Harmonaig, which would be closer to "making sense" with the Matriarch if you must have your chords generated from a racked module and not the keyboard or something else. Just remember that the synth's keyboard isn't going to behave normally while you're sequencing the oscillators. Look at the Behringer 1027 as a much cheaper option.
I would stick with the more basic toolbox modules mentioned above and then see how you feel after a month or two. The Matriarch's magic is coming from the base component modules. You could go nuts with envelopes and mixers and companion VCO's and make it behave polyphonically if you wanted to but you'd be halfway to the price of a moog ONE with 1/4th of the voices. So really imo at this stage it's better to get some time with the synth and see what you keep reaching for while patching rather than to whiteboard it to death if you're submitting things like the Sinfonion as a question.
A sequencer would be very low on my list to add-on to this synth,
-- ku14
Point taken, thanks for yoir feedback
JB
