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Hi i thought of this as mi first Eurorack. (The MFOS is just for the space of the Westlicht Per FORMER witch isnt in modulargrid)
The idea is to pair it with a minibrute 2s, i already have the DFAM as well.
I mostly like techno and i ve been jamming at home with roland tr8s, tb03, sh01, se-02, monologue and minilogue xd, microbrute, microfreak, korg arp oddysey and an organelle where ive been exploring mutable instrument parches. I also have some effect pedals
I thought of it as a complement for some perc and melodyc voices, also drones and the sequencer for random variations.
I think i may expand in the future as i sell my old stuff while trying to keep using the cv capable synths
Any advice will be aprecciated.
First of all, if you're considering pairing this with a 2s, go on and get the Rackbrute. You'll be much happier with the resulting form factor, and you'll also find that it "gigs" better because it's much easier to transport both this AND the 2s as one unit.
Second, that's one expensive DFAM you've got there...because you're housing and powering it TWICE. Once with the skiff Moog put it in, and the second time if/when it gets stuck in here. Don't do this. Not only does this BURN UP 60 hp that should be used for devices that don't already have power and a case, you've also not added something like Erica's MScale to correct certain "discrepancies" between Moog and normal Eurorack CV behavior. This is also likely a huge part of what's keeping you from using a Rackbrute 6U.
Then beyond those points, I can tell you right off that what you have here isn't going to work like you think it will. The entire build is missing submixers, attenuverters, and so on. And it's also majorly lacking in modulation sources, which are essential to getting these other modules to do what they're capable of. You CANNOT build a decent modular system without sufficient modulation sources. Period. And that, minus utility modules = unworkable expensive box of circuitry.
If the idea here is to pair this with a Mini 2s, a far better way to proceed would be to figure out ONE MAIN THING you want this to do...either an actual complement to the 2s, or a sequencing addon, or...well, the upshot is that you can't make a small build like this do loads of things. Pick a lane for it and keep it there. And then, any functionality you get beyond that...that's gravy.
One other piece of advice...you still seem to be in flux about where you want your music to go. And if you're trying to build a modular without that key piece of info, you're much more likely to wind up with a box of costly bits...NOT a musical instrument. You're pretty well-equipped right now, tbh...my suggestion would be to get used to crosspatching all the stuff you've got NOW (especially the SE-02 + Minibrute 2s + DFAM combo) and getting used to how signal flow works there, what you might SPECIFICALLY need to take the present gear forward, and the like. And in the process, you'll have more room to sort out where a modular would work or even whether or not you really DO need one.
Hey Lugia ! thanks for your advice, i find it very usefull.
First of all, the DFAM is there only for space in my desk porpuses, its going out when i buy my next module and going back to its case. I love the rackbrute, but shipping that to Argentina is really expensive as it is too heavy and we have insane import taxes here, so i preffer to save that money for modules. Im bulding a DIY wooden case, and the dfam will keep its own power supply.
Going to the thing;
When i said that the rack would be a complement for the mini2s, it really was the other way arround. The mini has 2 LFOs, 2 Atenuators, VCA, 2 extra sequencers, and many other outputs for modulation. Also having Peaks as LFO. I've been learning patching with the mini and the dfam, and i think i now realise what everything does, however, im not ready for MATHS or MARBLES yet, i still get confused with positive and negative voltages and i really want to understand what is happening.
I thought of the Frames and Veils as mixers among other funtions.
The sequencer will be an Eloquencer now, and i replaced the Z5000 with 2hp delay and 2hp verb, plus a Disting MK4 witch has many function to fill the gap.
So i thought a posible patch in this sistem would be:
4 Gate/CV from Eloquencer to Rings, Plaits, Elements, Clouds, and their outputs to Veils or Frames, or both; maybe thru filter and fx modules. The remaining 4 outputs on the sequencer could go to Dfam, or se-02, arp oddysey, microbrute, they all go to the allen and heath desk mixer. From there, i have the mini for lots of modulation and variations.
The TR8s for drums and triggering tb03 and sh01, also keeping the microfreak. I dont know about monologue and miniligue xd i dont really like the sound. But the entire setup would be the rack with the sequencer as the heart and the other gear around trying to keep everything hand-reachable
Does that make sense to you?
Maths is useful enough that there's not really a "not ready for" point to it. You'll get results from square 1, to be sure...and then, you can grow with it and sort out some of the other ridiculous amount of things it can do. Joe came up with a solid winner with that thing.
As for negative and positive voltage values...keep in mind that those terms can be a little deceptive, because you can shift a "negative" into positive voltages by adding a DC offset. The real importance here is that you can INVERT positive-going signals into negative-going ones. And those inverted signals have some amazing uses...
My JP-6 has inverted envelope settings. And those are, quite often, key to getting that Jupiter-6 sound. By modulating the VCF with a negative envelope instead of a positive one, this inverts the cutoff behavior...allowing attacks to LOWER the cutoff instead of raising it. And if you want a wild, sweepy thing to happen when you RELEASE the keys, that's how you do it. In modular, this just ups the abuse potential. For example, let's say you want to pan something...but you haven't got a panner in the rig. The proper fix would be to use two VCAs, an LFO, and an inverter so you can get a 180-degree negative of the LFO's output. You'd split the LFO's output, with one going straight to one VCA's CV, but the other wouldn't get a straight CV, but one routed through the inverter. The result is that as one VCA is opening up, the other is closing in perfect sync, and if you hardpan those VCA outputs to the left and right...well, there you go!
Whenever you run across something that's very much on the "basics" level such as that, you can bet even money that that's a functionality that MUST be in a rig...no matter what it's intended for!
Thank you Lugia for that Free lesson. I will experiment with the inverter on the minibrute just to learn some more.
And Math is the first on the list now
