Modules I NEVER Use & Modules I ALWAYS Use
ฝัง
- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 20 มิ.ย. 2024
- Every module I own, what it does, how often I use it, and if I'd trade it.
Join the club! / bennjordan
or stalk/follow me: linktr.ee/BennJordan
Gear used:
ATEM Mini Pro
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Blackmagic Pocket Cinema Camera 6k
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DaVinci Resolve 16 (100% FREE!)
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Timestamps/module list: - เพลง
Within like 10 hours, both Intellijel and Pittsburgh Modular hunted me down with their amazing customer service and asked to fix the issues I mentioned. So for what it's worth, I should have said this in the video: Every company has defective modules, I was just too lazy to do anything about them. I'll be happy to finally have the Plonk experience everyone is raving about. :)
Yea, but you voided the warranty on Clouds when you loaded 3rd party firmware...oh wait this isn't Korg or Roland.
the 'embarrasing brand'-solution is great!
and please give the poor disting some love ;_;
Glad you are getting love on the Plonk. I love this module. It is near and dear to my heart as a percussionist. This module along with Rings, Plaits, and Basimilus Iteritas Alter allow me to humanize the beats that I create. In fact, there are times when I feel I am playing my congas alongside the modular system.
My experience with Pittsburgh Modular has always been stellar. They really care for their customers.
SV-1 was my first foray into modular and the used unit I bought had a defective ADSR. Pittsburgh was super helpful and quick fixing it and modding it into a glorified SV-1B. Love those folks, amazing customer service.
I named my octatrack "Old Greg" because it kidnapped me against my will and forced me to love it and now I'm drinking Bailey's at the bottom of the ocean with Old Greg and the funk.
want to go to a club where people wee on each other?
And force you to watch endless British Bake-Off
OG: I like you. What do you think of me?
HM: I don’t rightly know, sir.
OG: Make an assessment.
HM: I think you’re a nice modern gentleman.
made my day
I'm a metal guitarist with zero knowledge of anything electronic music related, but I still always watch your videos because your content is incredibly interesting and fun to watch.
That's how I started. If you play guitar and get the feeling that you want a lot more pedals than you need, you're probably a synth guy.
@@georgescdoodle I wonder if that's how some electronic artists start out.
@@georgescdoodle That's how I started
@@georgescdoodle right on the mark.
Same! Lol
The module he covered with his phone is the Empress Effects ZOIA Euroburo. It's a eurorack version of their wildly popular ZOIA modular multi-effect guitar pedal, and it is indeed amazing!
its funny, at about a minute into the video i paused to go over the b roll of the rack to see what it was hahaha
Hey nice to see one of my modules here. That is a very old .BAM!
Wait- You're The Flashbulb? No shit! It Pours is a track that I constantly recall and replay. Just incredible atmosphere, stirs up the distant emotions. Amazing work.
Great to see the Pittsburgh filter get love. I've had one forever and it sounds great on literally everything but I especially love running guitar through it, set as a notch filter with cranked Q and some slow smooth modulating CV on the cutoff.
WHOA HOLD THE PHONE.... I've only had a few of your videos pop up which I passively watched while working or soldering a module or whatever and... You're The Flashbulb?!?! I'm sorry for being embarrassingly late to the party but... I just can't even believe that. Thank you so much for making music I've listened to a whole lot and for making great videos!
I had a disting in my case for a little bit before I finally busted the manual open and started using it. Very worth.
Great Work! Love your setup!
Nice to see an honest and non-gearlusty rig walkthrough for a change!
Benn has such an inspiring personality
It's a little unfair - and probably illegal to be this good at so many flavors of music, this charming, this well-informed, well-spoken, good looking and funny... but hey, we're all richer for it. So more power to him :) (Plus, from what he's saying and doing - he's got a big old heart and a sense of ethics to be proud of).
This really shows how underrated Doepfer stuff is. Sure, it's not THAT interesting, but they are all so useful and straight forward, very inspiring.
Doepfer is great for all around build quality and price. Ladik is also another great company.
Intellijel is similar, it's why I like them (that and 🇨🇦🇨🇦)
This video is surprisingly informative and dense. Thanks Ben!
I've been a synth guy for a couple of years now - but after this video, I myself feel surprisingly dense.
(Modular seems like almost a different world of electronic music-making still)
Love the shirt! Video's great too, I appreciate you going over how much you use each module and whether you'd keep it or not, that's helpful to know now that I've started my own rack and am looking into ways to better fill out my system.
Fantastic video Benn, very interesting and useful to compare my thoughts and feelings to what others think about their same modules...
Lol, Benn!! That “Well Hi” was a spot on impression of that adorable cat. Big props. I don’t do modular, but you got my like and view just for that 😂
I kinda feel you on the 4MS spectral multiband resonator. I have the 4MS spherical wavetable navigator and it's a beautiful module but only seems to have a limited sound range, kinda like an ice cream truck. But I live the arpeggiator function. I could listen to it for hours. I'm kind of surprised you'd sell the Mother 32. It's a classic. I agree with you on the DFAM. I use it as a synth, not a drum machine. And I wouldn't trade it either. My next purchase will probably be the Doepfer A-111-4 quad vco because it's an awesome module and I see it now comes in black :D
Great video very clean way of looking at used/not used gear.
The only channel on TH-cam worth watching, keep up the great work and thank you
Love the videos man, keep 'em coming! One thing I'd like to contribute about "true" modular vs. VCV Rack - my brain has this pathological need to follow some set of "rules" or patterns. One of my biggest loves about using VCV Rack is that I can't just keep using the same patch over and over and just modifying it a little, like I would if I had an actual modular setup. If I didn't unplug all the cables at the end of the day (extra work), I'd sit back down the next time and maybe make a couple of changes, play around, leave, come back, wash rinse repeat. With VCV Rack I'm forced to come up with new patches effectively every time I sit down which means that I can force my brain to be creative despite it wanting to be extremely lazy/efficient. Either way, this video gave me some more info about the Mutable modules that I will be able to take into VCV Rack, so thank you very much!
Synth is like another planet compared to a fretboard. This kind of content clickbait/dinner does not matter. It amazes me how one does not get overwhelmed by these setups, as well being able to create entire musical compositions without getting distracted by the amount of choice or even limitation.
Much respect.
Ice cream truckee sound? Ok. THAT is brill!
Very interesting, I like the way how you describe each modules
Thanks
Great vid. Dude, I love the nebulae and the sts. Especially with samples of sitar’s, violins and kotos. Into clouds, your away.
im just glad i picked pretty much the same coremodules :DD good to hear you keep them haha. elements rings etc
The new Acid Rain Technology Maestro looks really cool. I haven't bought a new module in awhile either but that definitely looks interesting.
Great video and as someone who plunged deep into Eurorack modular last year, Mutable Instruments are some of my favorite modules that do a lot, sound great and are fun to use. In fact with Plaits into Beads (Clouds v2) into Rings into Marbles gets me into ambient nirvana and so much more. Plus I love the cool toys and swag that come with each Mutable Instruments module. Sorry to hear about your issues with Plonk. I've had Plonk for a year and love it sounds great and lots of CV to patch it.
just great stuff here. thanks for showing, really enjoyed your presentation! groove on
“ice-cream-trucky sound” is my new favourite phrase.
Thank you bro. I been enjoying your videos lately. I relate to a lot of your stuff
Great video, would love watch this for hours from many peoples systems.
Cool to see you using the doepfer a143-1. It is one of my favourite modules.
Great video! I’d love to see more modular content 🤓
A neat little module i just found is the Muta Jovis from Noise Engineering. I snagged 2 when they were on sale and initially thought they were plain old mutes, but they also function as buffered downstream mults. pretty cool for < $100
I loved this video, being in modular for a good 10 years I can say I will never trade a module!
Rings!! Yay! 😆 I started about a year ago and slowly building, up to 5 currently. Rings was my first module, the went for a midi to cv to use it with a keyboard lol. I still love it.
The Disting is one of my other modules which I think it’s a great module when starting out cause it will let you try all kinds of things with your other modules and see what things to go for in the future 😜.
Thanks for the input!!
Your videos just get better and better i swear.
A couple years back I bought the MiniBrute 2S and they had a discount on its 2U Eurorack case/power supply, so I picked it up. After studying a lot about eurorack, I just couldn't bring myself to buy any of the modules because other folks I watched on TH-cam would eventually buy modules for the MB2S but then they would discard it and just use the Eurorack exclusively, and then it would fill up, they would then get rid of the case and get a larger one and continue buying more and more modules.
So right now, the most I will do with Eurorack is use VCV Rack (and I'll happily buy stuff in VCV Rack to support it). I think maybe I'll add some external integration, but you know, when you see for the steep cost of $500 just to get CV/MIDI in/out to Eurorack and back to PC, I could get some gear that makes sound or have better function for $500, instead of just being a tool performing a task for hardware and taking up space. Once you figure you probably need a few thousand dollars of function/tool-type gear, I can see Eurorack might never be for me...
For what it's worth, I have a MiniBrute 2S and a Eurorack setup and I use the two together all the time, mainly for finding interesting ways to process and warp sounds from the 2S. I use the 2S as a sequencer to trigger other things in rack land as well. The two are really complementary together and while VCV is a wonderful concept, I prefer the tactile experience of using the Brute with Eurorack modules by a long shot.
Extremely great video. The New Sound Agency is listening...
That unreleased module looks like a Euroboro but I could be wrong off a quick glance :). Fun overview!
thanks for finally doing this, and done well - useful info from a seasoned musician :)
i was surprised about your take on the disting, i have a way smaller system so it really works great as that swiss army knife turning my case into anything really.
That was very useful, very entertaining and (thankfully) very different from everything euro related I ever saw! Super cool!
Cool video and the way you presented was very helpful. Thanks!
your video filters are quite soothing to the eyes
Thanks for this. I cringe at most advice-giving videos and forum posts and only really respond to posts like this - someone talking about the choices they've made for themselves and what they themselves get out of those choices. Great video.
I _love_ the A-152, would love to see how you use it. The T&H is so much fun to mess with.
Genuinely love your humour.
So I had no idea you had a youtube channel until this randomly popped up. Love you Flashbulb, cant wait to see you live again.
Yes yes yes on that Cribs camera work dude
I always felt the same way about naming instruments, and calling it Subway is hilarious. Oh, I was listening to the Empress Bass Compressor demos, and you are incredibly skilled!
Feel you on the SMR. It's such a cool and complex module but despite putting a lot of effort into it, I came to the same conclusion. What I use it for most is running the output near the end of a signal chain into it and using the envelopes generated by the SMR to modulate the original sound source, so the patch is modulating itself. It makes for some very organic and subtle modulation, especially on a module like rings.
I like this criteria of "would I trade it" ..good way to winnow down to the essentials.
This was really cool to watch as someone with lots of classic synth knowledge but no eurorack experience!
1010 toolbox is worth every cent. I got rid of my steppy, mimetic digitalis and a couple utils modules for this. Its 26 hp with a flip able touchscreen.
Hey Benn, you should check out some modules similar to Maths like the Befaco Rampage and the Frap Tools Falistri
The module he could not show is the empress euroburo, the eurorack version of the zoia. Very happy to see this module in a rack because I was beginning to think Empress abandoned it!
"well, hyYiiiiye!" liked instantly. Love you.
Actually laughed out loud at click dinner. And the quick closeup made it hit even better.
You can cover it up all you want but I can just FEEL that beautiful colored button grid under there! That will be a very... Empressive module for sure.
Yes, this.
Thank you...good video and very helpful!
15:00 I look forward to your video on Clouds 2. I'm so happy you stan MI.
I ordered a behringer neutron as my first modular/semimodular experience. It’s hasn’t arrived yet but I’m excited to get it.
Thank you for this video.
I really appreciate that you did an "everything I own" video. I wish everyone did. It's tempting to think people uploading TH-cam videos have every module ever made, and can get frustrating knowing you can't actually do that. It's nice to see that with, even you, there's a limit. You have a LOT of modules, but it's nice to remind myself that you also DON'T have some. Sounds simplistic and childish I know. But I guess it's a psychological intimidation factor and your honesty gives me a more reasonable estimate of reality outside of my own imagined exaggerations. THANKS
Nice one, Benn! If there's one module I'd recommend, it would be the Doepfer A-124 Wasp filter. The dirtiest filter resonance I know, for a very fair price.
always dope content
This was great. I've been looking into starting a modular setup and I've been overwhelmed by a lot of the different things out there. This showed me what a lot of things do better than 20 minute videos of some guy going "umm" and "uhh" while he tries to overexplain a single item.
Interesting video. I feel cheated on that I just found out about your channel. I enjoy your viewpoints! I also enjoy watching people bleep-bloop their modular gear, but I've never been interested in owning any. At this stage of my life, I just don't have the mental energy or motivation to spend time experimenting with so many sound possibilities. I'd have to be immortal in order to feel that time is on my side for going down that modular rabbit hole, ha-ha! I do feel some odd pleasure and reward seeing people tweak and noodle their modular setups, but for me, my traditional subtractive and FM synths offer enough sound possibilities to last me the heartbeats I have left.
So what was the secret module?
I sent my sv-1 to pittsburgh for the oscillator stability update and asked them to reduce the fine tune knob range to half, which helped me a lot.
just wanna say before watching that.... I need a video like this
I think now I just watch these videos for the humor. That Seinfeld bit in the "Ready To Go Modular?" video, I'll never forget it
This was very interesting. I have a big eurorack too, but at the moment not one single module in common, I had many of yours, but sold them all, also all your VCOs. I am always looking for best-sounding modules. Tons of analog stuff. First, I would recommend the Tiptop Folder Processor and try using the Subdiv Output. This is one of the craziest, at the same time but fattest sounding things I found in eurorack. Then, you lack of a very good high quality VCO. I recommend Instruo CS-L. Because I dont like your filters too much, I recommend the Supercritical Neuron Flux, or my favorite, the Filter Threek. Then, I would check out a good digital delay with a open feedback loop as the Chronoblob.
16:30 wait holy shit this dude is the dude from Flashbulb?!
Yes
Lol we don't understand the question. 😘
I want rings for the reasons you love it but haven't bought one, also for the reasons you say. With Disting Mk4 (the display on the
I have no idea what a Module does but this was an incredibly entertaining video and I'll definitely learn what a Module does now
Download VCV rack. It is the same, you can actually use all of those mutable instruments modules, and it's free.
well done man
Find a Disting EX Alpha to replace the MK4. It solves the interface problem and offers tons of use in the single algorithms.
i aleady own 3. i wish the screen werte a bit bigger. if it were it could go down as one of the greatest modules at the moment. unfortunately its very complex and misunderstood. so ppl buy and sell them without knowing what that lil monster is capable of. and its getting better and better from update to update.
I got the 4ms STS and it's cool but as you I never use it for sampling. Also find the button combos a bit silly. I recently got the Erica Drum Sample and find it much easier, intuitive, fun to use, does not click or pop as much, takes less space and is more playable. I will however still keep the STS.
The Xaoc Devices Belgrad is great if you don’t have one. Next one I want to try is the Frequency Central Product - xvco/vcf/vca and envelope module with onboard lfo and noise. Looks like a great addition.
Hi Benn! I know this is an old video, but with Mutable Instruments sadly sunsetting, I have a MI-related question based on a couple of your modules here. I'm also new to modular, so pardon any obliviousness. Two of your keepers here are Elements, and Rings. I picked up Rings, having already been convinced by some other deep dives. You say of Elements that you use it in (at the time) 70% of your patches, and you note its range and versatility. Later you mention Rings, which is derived from Elements, but say you use it 30% of the time as it's a 'unique sound' (meaning identifiable?) So, my question is, can you say any more about the difference between Elements and Rings in terms of their sonic character and range, and why? And, can you speculate at all about use cases in which Elements and Rings are used side by side, perhaps even feeding into one-another? Thanks for any thoughts whatsoever! (Also, given your appreciation for Mutable Instruments, I'd love to see you do a video demo of just MI units 'for posterity'.
Awesome video benn. Would love to see a livestream / video on live patching :)
I've found great ways of using the 4ms SMR for drones that doesn't sound like an icecream truck. Using an ochd I have each voice's volume go up and down in a de-synchronized way, then sufficienty distort the voices with delays/reverbs/distortion. The result is an ever morphing ambient drone.
Sell the distink mk4 and get the super ex disting, the screen is readable!
Of course you haven't added a module in 6 months. YOU HAVE THEM ALL. Hahah, Awesome video brother.
Thanks for this video Benn. It's always interesting to see what other folks are using and why. Have you tried many of the third party firmware for Clouds? I've been using the Kammerl firware lately and it's fun to play around with.
warps is the perfect secret sauce module imo. great for gently coloring boring patches with the capability to get real weird on command
Dude! I freakin loved this video
I am intrigued by the difference between Ornament and Crime, the Disting MK 4 and the ES-8. To me all 3 are very interchangeable, with varying degree of tune. The Disting is too hard to use. I get it, the new Ex Alpha is useable from the interface on the screen. The ES-8 Try connecting it to a computer, and call up VCV, Softube, Cherry any of the virtual modulars and connect its I/O to the ES-8, then you have a multiplier of things that can benefit your modular that are not necessarily better if analog. Circadian Rhythms for instance, or any clock function. (Because you asked at the end. :) Great video mate! Such an easy to get layout of your racks. Loved it.
Very helpful.
I should make a similar video. I've got 18U of eurorack right now, but also don't use all of it consistently.
As a spoiler, what I use 80%+ of the time that you haven't already listed: Eloquencer, Voltage Block, Erbeverb, Mangrove, Sisters. Noise Engineering: Loquelic Iteritas, BIA, MI are essential for me too.
I want to use my ER-301 and Nerdseq more, but they are such a dedication, with incredibly deep interfaces. I feel when I use them I need to be in a very intentional mindset. Printing out the manuals and forcing myself to try every feature at least once was critical for learning them. I had to sell the ER-101/102 as it was just too deep and not intuitive enough for me.
There's many alternatives to Maths. Frap Tools Falistri was the best fit for me. Then there's R*S Serge DUSG, Cosmotronic Delta-V(cheap and small), Ritual Electronics Anima, Befaco Rampage, Sin Phi Miasma, Addac 506 - and more. They all have their own take on the concept. I think I will get 2x Contour 1 + Compare 2 for my second "Maths".
agreed, i use both a DIY miasma and an elby VCS which is an old style serge slope generator. the joranalogue range looks amazing. as does the frap tools range!
The different parts of Maths are easy to replace, but I don’t think any other module offers straight up replacement for the combination on dual function generators, attenuverters, mixing and logic. It’s not irreplaceable but for a smaller systems it is pretty damn dense in it’s functionality while stile remaining ergonomic to patch and play. I once toyed with the idea of replacing my Maths with Rampage and Cold Mac, but there the Maths still stands in my case (Cold Mac too, though). I actually would prefer the Rampage as a pure function generator, R*S DUSG too, but all the other clever stuff added in makes Maths a winner for me.
@@MrQurutin Yeah if you want the exact features of a Maths then getting a Maths is best. The point is that there is a variety of takes on the same concept and some of them might have a better/more interesting feature set for a specific setup. That said Maths is still excellent.
The VCAs on the Delta-V are a fantastic convenience
Contour 1 is cool and i love being able to bend the slopes independently. But it's a lot easier to dial in musically pleasing timings with Function and/or Maths. Personally I prefer Mini Slew bc of the attenuverter on the output (without the hp cost of maths) and ability to lock the time before bending slope, but something about Function just tends to be easier to find envelope sweet spots.
Nice walkthrough! That "hidden" module looks like a Zoia almost?.....so curious! Also excited about Clouds V2, would love to hear your thoughts on it at some point in the future. Love your stuff man.
It is a Zoia, eurorack version. It's been announced for a while and there's many videos of it, so I don't know why he has to hide it.
@@Gogootz I'm sure he has a good reason. Excited to see his take on it
Look into the stages too, from Mutable. Awesome complex envelope, lfo, sequencing thing
Befaco rampage is comparable and I love pairing it with maths for chaining modulation
The Disting mk4 is sooo good, send a clock to x and use it's Euclidian sequencer or clockable LFO, it's a great extension to the rample by adding 2 more triggered sample (works pretty much the same as rample) Oh and its got great reverb and delay...
Surprised you were gonna get rid of your Mother-32. Not keeping it even for the delicious Moog filter? Admittedly, I think that's what I use it most of the time for. I agree with your view on Expert Sleeper's Disting, but the new Disting EX solves a lot of the UI issues - still plenty of menu diving and constant manual check, but it's extremely powerful. Can even produce multi-sampled libraries of your other instruments, and it has a built-in Dream Machine (I'll let you research that). Also, no Marbles from Mutable? Anyway - one of the most interesting videos - perfect speed, perfect jargon :) Is there a final tally of what's on the top and bottom? Do you have a Modular Grid account?
Like many I think you should give the Disting a try, maybe next time you are looking for that module that you need in the moment. Once you are familiar with a couple of algorithms, you'll find yourself turning to it more and more often. The other 'essential' module is Pamelas New Workout - another module I use in a lot of patches.
Fully agree, I have four of them and use each one for 1 or 2 specialized functions. My most popular use is as a recorder. I have a disting placed right next to my eurorack based mixer. Whenever something interesting is happening I set it to record and the disting records the output of the mixer on its sd card. It’s brilliant. At the end of each month, I copy the recorded content over to a USB stick and place it in a Qu-bit nebula where the recordings start a new life as a sample source. If you own a joystick you can do remarkable things by placing the disting in sample playback mode and scrub the recordings with the joystick. A sequencer that moves start and endpoint of the disting samples is yet another brilliant challenge to explore. And this is only the (sample) recorder. There's so much in the disting I haven't explored yet, such as voltage-controlled playback of MIDI files. It's endless, once you take the time to learn the damm thing.