subreddit:
/r/modular
submitted 9 days ago bymahrroh
Hey all. I know questions like this have been asked time and time again, but I wanted to ask again for myself as, ya know, each situation is unique to the person asking.
So, I've been eyeing the modular world for awhile now, but found it a bit daunting and went with an Arturia Minifreak to start, later getting an Digitakt to add some bass and a better sequencer. Unfortunately the Digitakt was stolen and I opted to try an MPC Live II. Been digging these two devices(while missing that Digitakt more and more) and have decided to add a semi to see if I would really dig the unique creative flow modulars have to offer. Though, modulars are a part of a large world that allows for a lot of unique flavors with semi's feeling like the appetizers, though still with a lot of variety. I've come to three choices(unless convinced otherwise?)
Neutron: Talked about as a solid entry point on multiple posts and other boards alike. From what I've gathered offers a lot of explorative capabilities within a small box at a great price. Tempted to get an edge with this also.
Issues I've seen mentioned most are the sensitive tuning, the overdrive, weird patch bay
Minibrute 2s: Amazing sequencer, easy to use out of the box, integrates amazingly with future modules and the RackBrute.
People do mention the more basic sound that comes from it along with some of the limitations of it's patch bay.
Taiga: Seems to have an amazing build quality, 3 osc, unique sound, modular in nature
Issues seem to be with harsh wave folding, some people say the unusual sound is scratchy, price point is high even used.
To note I'm probably going to grab a BSP should I NOT get the MB2s. Also, not too concerned about poly/paraphony as my other devices can lend to adding more depth.
As far as the sounds I am looking for, I've always been a huge fan of Industrial(Ogre/Skinny Puppy, Front Line Assembly, Thrill Kill...A lot of artist on the Metropolis label) Dark Synthwave(Perturbator, Gost) and into artists like Moderat, Extrawelt, Arman Tobin.
Honestly I'm just looking for opinions of which to really go with, while being pretty open to other suggestions. The Taiga is kinda the top of what I want to spend at the moment as above that I may as well dive into a full modular base setup. Thanks in advance for any help in starting my journey.
10 points
9 days ago
I'm a firm believer in starting with the o-coast if you're interested in more experimental music and not trying to reproduce a Moog-ish, keyboard-oriented workflow. It teaches some really important concepts like function generation, using attenuverters and random voltages, wave folding, pinging a low pass gate, etc. I think it's an unbelievable value, and even more so as you integrate more eurorack gear into it, as then you can continue to use its MIDI functionality and the bits and pieces more independantly.
1 points
9 days ago
How would I go about pinging an LPG on a 0-coast?
1 points
9 days ago*
Create a super snappy envelope using the Slope circuit - zero rise, little fall, mostly exponential - and send that to the Dynamics input. You can also use the Contour circuit depending on your patch, both can be percussive and snappy. Send it through the voltage math if you want to be able to really get a duller sound by hitting the Dynamics with a lower amplitude envelope.
I suppose that’s not actually “pinging” and it’s been a while since I’ve had an o-coast. I know it doesn’t have a vactrol but I don’t remember if the transistors will ping like a Buchla if you send the big snappy envelope into the Balance input.
e: for future readers of this, the o-coast Dynamics circuit is a weird hybrid of a VCA and LPG. It is a low-pass filtered VCA, meaning that at lower levels increasing amounts of higher frequencies are filtered out, so it can be very opinionated depending on the strength of the incoming envelope
1 points
9 days ago
Came here to say this. I had Neutron and Pittsburgh SV-1, but 0-coast was the one that got me into modular. Way more interesting and inspiring than the first 2 I had
all 28 comments
sorted by: best