Do you organize your modules in any specific way?

Drumdrumdrumdrum · Post by **Drumdrumdrumdrum** » Sun Jun 17, 2012 10:38 am

Christopher Winkels wrote:I sort mine by whether Mercury was in retrograde or not at time of purchase.

Mercury retrograde modules. They would have to be the ones that have been paid for in full but not delivered yet.....right?

Christopher Winkels · Post by **Christopher Winkels** » Sun Jun 17, 2012 11:12 am

VinceL wrote:By color?

Oh hell, that won't work too well for MU.

Sure it will.

There's Charcoal Black for STG, Midnight Black for Dotcom, Ebony Black for MegaOhm, Obsidian Black for Grove, Raven Black for SSL, Jet Black for Mos-Lab, Onyx Black for COTK.....

MR-808 · Post by **MR-808** » Sun Jun 17, 2012 1:19 pm

I'm building a large 5U system. Because of the mostly vertical orientation of the modules, I decided that a vertical signal flow would make the most sense. CV sources & logic on top; LFOs, ADSRs & VCAs below that; next are VCOs w mixers interspersed; VCFs & waveshapers below that; FX, mixers, ADSRs & VCAs on bottom.

Metamusik · Post by **Metamusik** » Wed Jun 20, 2012 2:15 pm

My system for module placement revolves around patch-cable length + trial and error:

If I find myself using lots of short cables, say doepfers yellow and black, that means I'm doing something right.

If I constantly reach for the longest, that means a module should probably be moved.

If I find dead spaces without cables, that means that the module needs to die.

Usually my well laid modular placement plans are changed beyond recognition a week after unboxing. Don't loose any sleep over it is my advice.

Drumdrumdrumdrum · Post by **Drumdrumdrumdrum** » Thu Jun 21, 2012 7:28 am

Metamusik wrote:My system for module placement revolves around patch-cable length + trial and error:

If I find myself using lots of short cables, say doepfers yellow and black, that means I'm doing something right.

If I constantly reach for the longest, that means a module should probably be moved.

If I find dead spaces without cables, that means that the module needs to die.

Usually my well laid modular placement plans are changed beyond recognition a week after unboxing. Don't loose any sleep over it is my advice.

Your being far too helpful and practical. I thought this thread was for useless, whitty responses only?

fac · Post by **fac** » Thu Jun 21, 2012 10:04 am

I've coded a computer simulation to determine the optimal module placement that minimizes the average required cable length based on patches I typically make.

The problem is NP-complete, so my algorithm's been running for 3+ years now. Should finish anytime soon. In the meantime, I've bough twice the modules I had 3 years ago, so I may just have to run the program again.

nerdware · Post by **nerdware** » Thu Jun 21, 2012 1:13 pm

fac wrote:I've coded a computer simulation to determine the optimal module placement that minimizes the average required cable length based on patches I typically make.

The problem is NP-complete, so my algorithm's been running for 3+ years now. Should finish anytime soon. In the meantime, I've bough twice the modules I had 3 years ago, so I may just have to run the program again.

crispy_porker · Post by **crispy_porker** » Fri Jun 22, 2012 7:36 am

Does anyone distribute their modules randomly/chaotically? I'm just starting out and every time I rearrange my case (to add new modules etc) I try to put one or two modules in odd places to encourage myself to try new things. I often wonder whether I should just start moving everything around and have oscillators, envelopes filters and VCAs all mixed up.

Bluebox · Post by **Bluebox** » Fri Jun 22, 2012 9:07 am

Started my first row of Euro in a 6U case as a "standard" 3-osc East Coast voice (midi-CV / oscs / mixer / filter / ADSR / VCA / output) then tossed a few waveshaping and modulation sources below at either side. Made a lot of sense from a patching perspective, mostly short patch cables the whole way across.

But now that I've accumulated a lot more oscillators, filters, modulation sources etc, and upgraded to a 9U case, I've restructured things in rows according to function:

Top row : MIDI-CV, oscillators, a buffered mult or two sprinkled in
Middle row : waveshaping/ringmod/wavefolders on left, mixers in center, filters on right
Bottom row : LFOs/clock sources on left, function/envelope generators in center, VCAs on right.

I'm sure once I begin incorporating sequencers (and thusly move to 12U) this will undergo yet another change...

At the end of the day, though, every system is as individual as the person using it -- try a few different configurations, see what works best for you!

Cheers,
-ian

vmgas · Post by **vmgas** » Fri Jun 22, 2012 9:44 pm

the only thing i really do is vcos at each corner, sequencer centered, multiples near edges as well and my vcas along the edge of my case
cuts down on spaghetti..for me anyway
everything else though just goes where it fits

oljud · Post by **oljud** » Fri Jun 22, 2012 10:24 pm

Top row: oscillator, oscillator, quad sine, filter, filter, vca/overdrive, PT delay, ringmod/LPG, bugcrusher, fade/pan, output mix
bottom row: matrix mixer, LFO/mixer, wavefolder, joystick, envelope, triple logic, active switches, output mix

More or less Ã¢â‚¬â€œ sound on top, modulation/mixing at the bottom. The outputs on the right is nice because they end up in phono jack leads. And the wavefolder is nice at the bottom because it has red output jacks (don't know why? I mostly use it for audio, but it is DC coupled) which everything else at the bottom does, except for the output mix. So the top row has green and yellow (and red+blue, which aren't as bright) and the bottom is mostly red+blue. Looks nicer. I also figured the modules I'll fiddle most with are the matrix mixer (<-- mr feedback right here), the joystick, and the envelope and active switches have buttons ... which I never use. I guess the logic should be up as it doesn't even have buttons, but this looks nicer.

I don't really have a fixed way of patching, and maybe I should just roll some dice next time I rearrange as my best patches by far are the ones that don't make any sense, and the ones I plan or do "properly" aren't as good.

edit: forgot about fade/pan. which is near the outputs for audio rate stereoness

RSB · Post by **RSB** » Sat Jun 23, 2012 5:19 am

I try to keep oscillators on the left, filters in the center and vca's on the right.

falafelbiels · Post by **falafelbiels** » Sat Jun 23, 2012 5:28 am

control modules in the bottom where I can reach, that's about it.

pugix · Post by **pugix** » Sat Jun 23, 2012 9:36 pm

crispy_porker wrote:Does anyone distribute their modules randomly/chaotically? I'm just starting out and every time I rearrange my case (to add new modules etc) I try to put one or two modules in odd places to encourage myself to try new things. I often wonder whether I should just start moving everything around and have oscillators, envelopes filters and VCAs all mixed up.

Not intentionally. But whenever I move stuff around, I tend to discover new patches between modules that moved closer together than they were before. I don't put modules of a given kind all together. I have a lot of modules, so I can distribute them around.

The principles I use to place modules include how well everything looks (it sits at the end of a room in my house), power supply capacity in the cabinets, and a general left-to-right signal flow, partly because my external mixer sits to the right of the modular.

Nice thing about a modular is that you can rearrange as much as you like.

crispy_porker · Post by **crispy_porker** » Thu Jun 28, 2012 7:54 am

It's a lot harder when you have multi function modules in a smaller setup. I have my polarizing mixer right next to my boogie but that's at the opposite corner of the case from my Uncle and clock sequencer, which I've been using it with a lot recently.

Next time I rearrange I'm going to try a moving certain modules to the centre and then make the rest look pretty / symmetrical

Jaspo · Post by **Jaspo** » Thu Jun 28, 2012 8:16 am

Both my cases have a similar pattern.

Top left Audio In
Top Middle Folder/Filter/LFO
Top Right Midi In

Bot left Audio Out
Bot Middle Envelope/LFO
Bot Right Seq/Clock In

..... --->--->---\/---<---<---
..... AUDIO.......|...CONTROL
Out <---<---<-\/---<---<---

XidZeta · Post by **XidZeta** » Thu Jun 28, 2012 9:57 am

Sound sources , mixer, audio modifiers, filters on top,
Amps, clocks,cv modifiers, &sequencing in the middle
Lfos, envelopes, controls on bottom

For now....

MUFF WIGGLER

MUFF WIGGLER

Do you organize your modules in any specific way?