maybe the last dinosaur developing a human-made tracker from scratch on its own platform and not accessible elsewhere, we should appreciate these things šŖ¼
I honestly think that if your primary focus is short delay effects, youāre better off with a digital delay, preferably one specifically designed to support them.
I have Sarajewo, which can be quite lovely, but it is a very specific sound, and itās not always appropriate. Plus one has to constantly monitor the feedback and filter to get the best sound, unless there is not a lot of timbral and dynamic variation in the source audio. And I have had it start acting weird when I came close to the power threshold of a case. Digital delays are not nearly as finicky.
2 Likes
I hear you but I just love the sound of BBD. I have digital delays galore elsewhere; trying to keep my small rig analog. But I hear you and appreciate it.
1 Like
Got it. At Superbooth, I spent some time with the CHAIR Audio Analogue Waveguide. I didnāt know what I was doing, and the demonstrator was off eating his lunch, but eventually he came back and we talked about it a little. It has a really high quality BBD inside, and it makes some very interesting sounds. Maybe look at some reports and demos and see if it interests you?
1 Like
Oh wow that looks fascinating. Perhaps a bit too much for me atm, but Iām gonna listen to some demos regardless. Thank you!
2 Likes
Because people get a lot of vicarious pleasure out of helping others spend their money:
I have a bunch of Make Noise stuff, which I really like. Lately I have been thinking about buying more modules, even though I have even less idea these days what kind of music/sounds I actually want to make. When I get my rack out I am letting it lead me more than having a plan going in. I suspect I will continue wanting to make a lot of weird nonsense that no one will really care about incorporating drones, weirdo contact mic and tape stuff and the occasional actually musical bit that got lost and found itself there.
I am curious about building a new single-manufacturer system with more basic, old-school modules. I think my leading candidates here would be Doepfer and the Tiptop Buchla stuff, where Iād have reasonably roomy modules without button combos and stuff to remember and a more traditional modular experience. In particular I find some of the corners of the Doepfer lineup like the PLL, Trautonium subsystem and others compelling. They also have great documentation. Iāve always been drawn to Buchla but I donāt really want to shell out for the 4u stuff. I like the 296t filterbank thingy which is a lot like things I enjoy in VCV and the MARF and the overall aesthetic.
Tradeoffs here would be that I can do similar stuff in VCV and drag in zillions of dollars of modules where needed for a particular patch, so the experience of having the physical thing has to be worth the expense and storage. Plus thereās a certain way of thinking about patching that being in Make Noise land seems to encourage which might not translate as well to other systems. I also wish the TTB stuff had better documentation, as most of the modules have only one or two pages. Coming from the detailed patch suggestions, etc. in Make Noise world that is a slight letdown.
Another option would be to build out a little zoo of controllers for my existing stuff. Intellijel has a bunch of neat control surfaces like the crossfaders, joystick, and touchpad plus some utilities to make things work smoothly. That would be a fun new way to interact with stuff I have and enhance the performance aspect of it. The main downsides here are that thereās more button combos down this path, and that it would tempt me into adding some of Intellijelās neat effects modules.
I could also add some more Make Noise stuff. I donāt have a Morphagene, so that might be interesting to try. I had thought about it before but I got a little put off by all the reel preparation stuff. If I could just use it like a roomier Phonogene or a weird delay I think that would work OK for me. I am curious about the NUSS stuff but itās not grabbing me enough right now to order it without trying in person.
I can definitely be content with the rack as is, but itās interesting and fun to think over some options, which is part of why we are all here.
Thereās nothing wrong with letting the rack lead you, without a plan at the start. I do this a lot, and I suspect many work with modular that way. Sometimes I lie in bed and think about starter configs, just a few modules with a few cables, but those often donāt survive the first half-hour of exploration.
If you insist on āold school, basic, single manufacturerā, then there arenāt many choices besides what you listed. I personally find Doepfer solid but uninspiring. The few modules I have of theirs can be workhorses, but some (like the noise/T&H) have been sidelined, and for the ones I do use, itās because I have them and not because I prefer them. I understand the pull of TT/Buchla; you donāt mention R*S/Serge but that is another possibility. But my choice in this area is Frap Tools, who take inspiration from these classic sources but update them for the modern era. Very solid, very playable. I chose this route mostly by accident; it was Brenso that tempted me into modular, and I didnāt expect to collect as much of their line as I have.
Still sticking with single manufacturer, but moving away from āold schoolā, you might investigate Shakmat, Joranalogue, Schlappi, Xaoc, Bastl. The advantage of one manufacturer is that their modules tend to work well with each other. The disadvantage is that youāre not exploring the greater space. There are a lot of great modules from companies that canāt field a full team.
I have several Intellijel modules (voices, controllers, modulation), and while they do a lot, and do it well, with many of them I have difficulty remembering how to get them to do it all when I come back to them after a short time away. The basic functionality I can generally manage, but there is a lot of complexity that requires regular practice to keep skills up.
Mostly I think I would encourage you to consider what might be lacking in your current setup, and to work incrementally from there without regard to particular manufacturers or styles. Your plan as stated is going to involve a substantial commitment of money and time, and Iām not sure youāve presented a case for it. You donāt have to justify it to us, of course; youāre the one that matters. But modular is all about choice and flexibility. You should think hard about committing to something that reduces that.
3 Likes
If youāre into DIY and Serge then you could make a sick rack out of the Elby Euroserge modules. ES - Euro Serge
1 Like
I was hoping youād show up for this discussion!
I have to admit, I have a pretty poor case for expansion overall, other than ātreatsā, novelty, and it being fun to daydream about stuff in between loads of laundry. Paradoxically, I want to both have a long-term plan for the modular stuff overall while also somehow being surprised, which doesnāt really add up!
Upon revisiting, Iām starting to relate more to the Frap Tools aesthetic and philosophy. I like the idea of the single manual for documentation and I think I will look through it in more detail later. I know you are a big fan so I wasnāt surprised to hear you mention them. It is too bad they donāt do that gorgeous folding wood case anymore, though I am sure it was pretty expensive. I also think Xaoc is very cool. Iām not sure if either of them really feel as much like āhomeā as Make Noise somehow.
I think you have a good point about missing out on the variety that Eurorack offers. I went single manufacturer for aesthetics, common design cues with respect to functions, and limiting the number of choices somewhat artificially. That has given me a good way to avoid getting bogged down in shopping too much.
One interesting possibility is to designate a beat up 4ms Pod I ended up with as a spot for some different modules and then just trade things on periodically to keep it from getting too big. That adds back some spontaneity. The other is to satisfy the āmonkey mindā with little bits of hand percussion or other low-cost sampleworthy items.
I think I feel this restlessness that Iād like to start another big recording project with some specific ideas and goals but I feel short on inspiration and reject the ideas I do have. I probably canāt buy my way out of that or force it. Iām practicing keys, drums and guitar so I will be ready to strike when the ideas come.
2 Likes
Wow, neat. I had forgotten about Eurobanana stuff too. That may be worth looking into at some point. That would be a pretty different place to visit.
+1 for CG Products. Sounds awesome
The UI layout is probably not as polished as some of the bigger manufactures, but the sound and features are tops.
I bought a Pod64x on NYC Craigslist in 2022 at a good price, for little ad-hoc groupings, or adding a couple of modules to a full case. In 2024 it had settled into a configuration I didnāt want to disturb, so I looked for a larger case. But I realized that what I wanted was another Pod. So I bought another one. In 2026 the second one was threatening to ossify, and so I really did need another case. I bought a double case, and my Pods are now back to that original purpose. For now.
Iām not saying this will happen to you. Iām in a peculiar situation where itās too awkward to sell (or buy used, apart from āB-stockā at online retailers) but if I were still in NYC, I might have sold some modules by now. But not many.
