My Journey Into Modular - The Ruiner Diaries

[Ruiner]

Good stuff so far guys!

So i've got Ears and Clouds coming to start with. I'm thinking Maths for a VCO and 4ms Spectral Multiband Resonator. I'll also be getting Orthogonal ER-301 as soon as it's available. I think that will be the starter set so any help in utilities that would get the most out of these is helpful, especially specific. I want to head more to the ambient side of things (think Marcus Fischer and R Beny) and i hear some utilities are better for this kind of music than others so researching that at the moment.

[JTurbide]

Just throwing a few cool modules that you can see in rbeny, emilysprague, Bryan Noll/Lightbath, ann annie's videos here: Tempi, Sputnik modular West Coast Random Source, Rings, lo-fi junky, Maths ...

[oscillateur]

Get yourself some simple modulation sources and a mixer. Maths can do modulations nicely, and it's an useful modules in a number of ways so that could be a nice choice. It's not a great VCO though, it can go into audio range and I did some droney things with mine when it was one of the first modules I got but it's definitely not a "proper" VCO.

[Dark Barn]

It's hard to be specific because as you'll find out, everyone's needs are different. I already suggested Blinds because I use it a lot and I think you could use some attenuators and VCAs right away. I think you'll want more VCAs down the road, ones that have bias control can double as attenuators, keep that in mind (most have this but some don't.) I don't incorporate guitar at all into my modular, unless it's a sample, so my focus and area of knowledge are gonna be more specific to what I need. But if it helps here is a little list of utilities and modulation sources that I particularly like.

Maths, Batumi + Poti, Kinks, Blinds, Ornament + Crime (I mostly use this as a quantizer or shift register which might not be too useful for your set up, but it has a few other neat uses) Temps Utile (Pamela's is also good and less menu divey, the new one is also a good modulation source,) Disting.

I think if you get an ER-301 you'll eventually want a sequencer. But you can have a lot of fun with it with just whatever triggers and CV you have handy.

[Warpsmasher]

Wogglebug. Two.

[Ruiner]

Good suggestions so far guys!

So just ordered Maths and Wogglebug so here is where i'm at so far.

[Antlerface]

Dude that is such a sick rack so far. I'm following this thread out of curiosity and so I can use this as a starting point for inspiration of myself when my rack shows up in a couple months.

Very very cool.

[raj007]

Check out Bastl.
Some cool shit going on over there

[Ruiner]

Dude that is such a sick rack so far. I'm following this thread out of curiosity and so I can use this as a starting point for inspiration of myself when my rack shows up in a couple months.

Very very cool.

Thanks! I have no idea what I'm doing it's seems a large majority of people make techno or bleep-bloop music with it which is fine but not what I want it for at all so I've just been finding threads about people using it the way I want and looking at the racks of those that are doing what I want to be doing and looking for commonality among modules.

Look forward to seeing what you come up with.

Check out Bastl.
Some cool shit going on over there

Yeah I almost got their "Bob" system which is made for guitar but not exactly how i want to use it. Definitely want some of their stuff though.

[oscillateur]

The Bastl Cinnamon is an excellent filter with tons of character, can be used as a since VCO (or other waveforms with the switches on but you lose v/oct tracking). Very recommended.

[Ruiner]

Being a delay fiend I couldn't resist.... just added this:

[Dark Barn]

Ok. Now I'm jealous! Lol. I might have gone for one by now but it's also a space hog. Maybe some day.

[Ruiner]

Ok. Now I'm jealous! Lol. I might have gone for one by now but it's also a space hog. Maybe some day.

it's going to be a lot to learn but with 128 factory presets it should be great fun right out of the box!

[raj007]

Can't see the whole pic....what is that?

[Ruiner]

Can't see the whole pic....what is that?

Oops... image fixed.

Here's some info:

"The Intellijel/Cylonix RAINMAKER eurorack-format module provides a high-quality (96KHz sampling rate with 32-bit internal processing) stereo rhythmic delay and stereo comb resonator effect.

The stereo rhythm delay has 16 taps, each with its own resonant 2nd-order filter and granular pitch shifter. The filters have independently adjustable resonance and cutoff frequency, and can be set to either lowpass, bandpass, highpass or bypass operation. The filters are also capable of self-oscillation, enabling modal synthesis techniques. The granular pitch shifters have a range of 15 semitones up or 16 semitones down. Each tap can repeat at a rate value set in tap#’s in order to create regenerating echo effects. The feedback signal has a lowpass/highpass tone control and its own pitch shifter. The tap delay times can range from 0.1 millisecond up to a maximum of 20 seconds. The overall delay times can be set with the rotary encoder, the tap tempo button, or synced to an external clock.

The stereo comb resonator section has 64 time-delayed taps which are summed together. This produces a deep comb filter or resonating effect. At large comb sizes (long time delays) a multiple echo effect is produced. The density of the resonator can be varied from 2 to 64 taps. The tap with the longest delay time is fed back to the input. High feedback levels, with short comb sizes, produce “Karplus-Strong” types of plucked string sounds. The relative timing of the 64 taps are set according to one of 16 different preset patterns, which provide different resonator timbres or echo rhythms. The comb size can be set either with the rotary encoder, an external clock or through a transposable 1v/oct input voltage.

The Rainmaker module has extensive voltage control capabilities. Direct voltage control is available for the delay feedback level and tone, the global pitch shift for all delay taps, the comb resonator size, and comb feedback level. There are two assignable modulation inputs, which can be assigned to different parameters in each preset. A trigger input with assignable functionality can trigger built-in types of noise bursts, freeze the delay buffer, reverse the delay, randomize parameters, mute taps, and much more."