I haven’t written the idea completely off, so if you get one and like it, please share!
It would be a great way to build out the functionality. I tried to consider using Mother 32 for clock division out, but that got tedious. The fastest one would be Tempi, but then you lose LFOs that Pam could add, and it greatly benefit from having that.
Definitely a great place to plop one down especially if you’re only swapping a couple presets out as you need it.
I’m guessing ALM will not add their stuff to MM, but if they do, that would push me over.
quick pic in the new apartment (oakland, ca). looking to replace a few things to add a xaoc zadar and grayscale nexus, but otherwise very happy with this setup
Yeah, I’m curious if ALM dives in or not… I can’t say it looks better to use than say a laptop with VCV and like an expert sleepers es-9… I think I might be more likely to go all out and get one of those PAC Systems racked euro PCs + es9 for if I really needed this in a rack. Then again that is much more expensive.
I do have to say that I love when I don’t need the computer. Too many dependencies sometimes results in one or two things not working without a reboot.
Nothing sucks more than wanting to play something followed by a troubleshooting session. Doesn’t happen always, but sometimes.
That’s when I think things like MM that are dedicated to just one thing, are great.
I got a Hermod+ a few days ago and feel like I’ve had enough jams now to say: It’s awesome.
I wanted a brain that would let me be more precise and intentional (I’ve done a lot of random-ish bleep-bloop sequencing in modular, and I love that stuff, but I wanted more control). Hermod+ gives you 8 tracks, and I typically only use a few voices, so I’ve ended up using a lot of tracks for modulation. It’s pretty amazing to be able to punch in CV on the pads or record knob-wiggling from an external source (I use ch. 2 on Maths but any offset will do). Basically, it’s a nice big canvas for translating ideas in your head into a sequencer.
There’s a feature from a recent firmware update called “On Air” mode that turns the 16 pads into a playable keyboard, which you can use for either note sequencing or entering modulation. If you’re on a note track then the pads are a chromatic keyboard, but on a modulation track they represent 16 levels from 0 to 127, so you can jam your CV levels by playing the pads. It’s wonderful. I wish all grooveboxes had a version of this. (You can then smooth out that CV or apply probability etc. etc. the possibilities are endless but it can all start from a finger-drum jam.)
I’ve also noticed the manual mentions the ability to sync from an audio clock in a DAW — this is something I’ve always seen as a unique feature of the ERM Multiclock, but it seems that Hermod+ can do it as well, so I might give that a try. Feels a bit redundant to pair a computer DAW with what is effectively a modular DAW but what the hell, when life gives you rock solid clock sync…
After years of using a 9U system, I’ve downsized to 6U plus Cascadia and an external sequencer. It now feels like the right balance of immediacy and depth.
I’ve been considering picking up a Hermod+ for a long time so you’re first hand report is much appreciated!
I keep wishing that Squarp would develop some sort of deep integration between the Hermod+ and the Hapax. I know I can just plug in the Hapax into the Hermod+ and use it like any other MIDI device, but I see so many more opportunities there related to shared settings, integrating CV I/O, moving sequences back and forth, etc.
How do you like the Cascadia? I have a 6u rack with the make noise semimod tri, mimeophon, neotrinity, running order, and a quantizer. Mostly immediate. Haha
I absolutely love it. I’ll copy over a comment I left elsewhere:
I primarily bought Cascadia because I thought it would help me to make more music. For long time, I’ve felt put off making music by the faff involved in setting up basic sounds on my modular. Don’t get me wrong, I’ve been using Eurorack for over 10 years and I love it. But I’m busy, and tired in the evenings, and sometimes I just want a simple sound without patching gates to envelopes to VCAs, oscillators to mixers, blah blah.
On this front, Cascadia is a total success. I can get sounds quickly, and they sound good immediately.
But I could have gone for something much simpler, like an Atlantis, to achieve that. The problem is—and without meaning to sound arrogant—I’m a relatively “advanced” synth user and I get frustrated quickly if I don’t have the flexibility to go in different and potentially complex directions. Again, Cascadia excels here. It’s so quick and easy to re-route things and patch in other signals.
What I’ve also found myself doing is reaching for Cascadia for drums, and for noisy things in particular. It’s so good at that. You can really dial in noisy patches exactly how you want them with the dual filters. You can synthesise a clap in seconds using the burst generator.
In the last week, every time I’ve sat down to make music I’ve pretty much created a whole track.
The other main thing I want to say about Cascadia is that it is brilliantly designed. It’s a joy to use. For example, I’ve noticed that 90% of the patching I do involves very short cables, which is a sign of a well considered layout. It’s also beautiful, which is really important for me to feel inspired, and it’s fantastically well built.
So I’ve finally started getting into modular, though in probably a quite suboptimal way… I’ve been going to regular building workshops, building maybe one module a month that looked interesting, then spending the next month seeing what I can do with it combined with the others.
I was looking at filling some gaps, and there are lots of modules from Mutable Instruments which seem perfect, and have been great fun when I’ve tried them out in other people’s systems.
But I’ve now found out they’re no longer in business… Do their modules come up 2nd hand often? Or since I know the designs were open sourced, are there other people selling equivalent or updated versions?
This is actually the ‘perfect’ way to do it - keep at it!!!
Mutable - all of the designs are open source, so there are many builders out there building “replica” modules using the original designs, but typically with different panel layouts.
AfterLaterAudio is doing this at commercial scale, but there are plenty of other smaller builders out there. Tunefish is one such person in Europe.
What Mutable module(s) you are looking for?
As mentioned, there is AfterLaterAudio, but also CalSynth and Michigan Synth Works. According to which module you want, there might be a 1:1 replica or a version at smaller form factor (not always preferred, but sometimes required).
