Ooh, I like This Modular Rack...

[elxsound]

having absolutely no idea or taste of such things helps me.
sounds good/is useful and fits, they're my criteria
then comes can i afford it today?

Just preferences, no taste really… but if I were them, I think there’d be some purpose behind it, almost like a punk/rebellious thing that challenges people to think a bit different when approaching making noise/music.

[ghettosynth]

Not going to lie, I really dislike Make Noise panels, but, I prefer the silver panels over the black, and I prefer black over the black and gold. I absolutely hate "mystery" and "magic" in modules. Put what the f**k it is on the front panel and in the manual. Some artistry is fine, but too many modular vendors are too far up their own artistic ass.

[Stefken]

Actually their interfaces are a perfect example of how NOT to do make interfaces.

It’s not supposed to matter… and as I use them, it doesn’t matter

Ergonomics and UX gets that argument a lot.

The "interface that is clear the moment you look at it" (affordance)
VS
the "I learned to use it, so it doesn t matter " approach

My answer is typically: if you can learn to eat rice with sticks, you can learn anything.
Doesn t mean it is a good design.

[Stefken]

Some artistry is fine, but too many modular vendors are too far up their own artistic ass.

I agree. Make noise think they are so artistic with even the font being hardly readable, but these modules are tools in the first place. Ergonomics and usability matter.

I even saw posts in the modwiggler forum of a person who had some trouble processing stuff after a mild brain trauma, and was pretty much crying his eyes out that there was no way he could make sense of the Maths panel.
People think perception is immediate but it is not. It is actually very computational with a lot of processing going on in that super fast brain of ours. Things like symmetry, order, consistency,... as referred in the Gestalt principles of visual perception are very important to facilitate that processing.

[foosnark]

Make Noise pays a lot more attention to detail about things like layout, choice of controls, knob ranges and response than a lot of makers do -- it's just their panel graphics that are divisive.

My only complaints:

- It took me a while to figure out that they always use a spiral or concentric rings for all gate/trigger/clock inputs, and almost always use a pulse or pulse train for gate/clock outputs. Sometimes they have helpful text or arrows, often not. Wogglebug confuses things by not using the pulse on the INT CLK output, and by using big overlapping concentric rings on the Clock Input jack and the Disrupt button which has a completely different function, with nothing to indicate they're not the same. 0-Coast labels their clock input "Tempo" which sounds like it should be a CV over clock speed, but it's a clock pulse.

(My preference would be to use one specific symbol or "CLK" text for all clocks, a different symbol for other gates/triggers, and always have arrows to indicate in/out.)

- Part of the problem is on some panels, they didn't make those markings big enough and they're covered up by the jack nuts.

- They might be the only company that uses solid squares to indicate CV inputs, while several use them to indicate outputs. Not that there's an actual standard of course

- Minor gripe, but in a few places they use dark brown graphics on their black panels and they're basically invisible.

- The PGM buttons and LED combos on the 0-Coast were insane. Thankfully that was stuff that rarely had to be used and they printed a guide on the bottom of the unit; it's not a constant irritant like basically everything about Disting or Pam's New Workout as I recall.

With a couple of Befaco Bananuts to more easily distinguish outputs from inputs I've found Make Noise gear generally very friendly and intuitive to use though.

[vurt]

then there's the gameboy game, a coincidence on release dates or another clue to 8 bit, but crusher ...?

[ghettosynth]

Make Noise pays a lot more attention to detail about things like layout, choice of controls, knob ranges and response than a lot of makers do -- it's just their panel graphics that are divisive.

Yes, and, their panel construction in some cases. I hate the black and gold because they are PCB material. Put a f**king aluminum panel on a $500 module please.

I'll die on this hill. I have enough modules now that you don't move to the front of the line unless you are paying attention to the balance of quality and price.

In general, except for Maths, I'm underwhelmed by Make Noise.

[Shabdahbriah]

There was this on Insta:

https://www.instagram.com/reel/CrgVshYuvTn/

I'm not really catching any sort of clue in the song choices... St Elmo's Fire, Before The Next Teardrop Falls, Money For Nothing. But the sound itself seems like some kind of spectral shenanigans to me.

the first two tracks, pertain to elements fire and water, the other not so much

are there any common synths on the tracks?

I didn't delve into the instruments used, and got zip clues from "Before The Next Teardrop Falls"... but, in researching the origins of when, where, and how the 'Money For Nothing' track came to be, there were numerous aspects of it where 'video' references/elements were dominant, including the line "I need my MTV", and that it was written while in and looking at a veritable 'wall' of TV monitors in a store, tuned in to MTV.

That, and MN's constant use of glitchy/smash-cut video FX in their videos, coupled with these notes/observations from the previous page:

"the 'flipping' (upside-down) of images, and video 'time-lapse' and fading from B&W to colour, and going backwards", and "weird burst of imagery at the end of the Stregambient video, right as Walker says something about "make room for patching throughout the spectrum." A weird carpet with arrows on it {'patterns'}, a pineapple {geometric 'pattern'}, a brick wall {'pattern'} for just a couple of frames, those skeleton characters A & B {mix?, compare?}, some really blurry gold thing {globs?}."

and what "St Elmo's Fire" actually refers to:

"Saint Elmo's fire, luminosity accompanying brushlike discharges of atmospheric electricity that sometimes appears as a faint light on the extremities of pointed objects such as church towers or the masts of ships during stormy weather, or along electric power lines"

Make me lean towards a possible video glitch/manipulation module, and/or a light sensor or visual 'spectrum' related thingy, relative to the above "clues". That was actually my first 'intuitive' take away on the "you might even find something new" video they posted, from which I made those screen grabs, as they could also be referencing 'visual' {grains = pixels} manipulation, which would be a departure from the norm for them, into a market that does exist. Maybe even a MN twist on Oscilloscope or 'Spectral' Synthesis?

Not to ignore the physically dialing-in/adjusting the AM radio ~ frequency bands/selecting different 'sources' of available material.

[SHall1000]

OK another thought experiment for my B.2600 enhancer. I’ve ditch my cost constraints and gone for the modules that appeal to my heart and not my head. I really like the look of these and I think I know how they work (ish).

 

What should I do with the remaining 10hp?

[elxsound]

OK another thought experiment for my B.2600 enhancer. I’ve ditch my cost constraints and gone for the modules that appeal to my heart and not my head. I really like the look of these and I think I know how they work (ish).

 

What should I do with the remaining 10hp?

Have you considered getting an MI Plaits clone instead of Brains, for the extra bank of 8? That would give you an extra 4 hp, and the ergonomics of the 12hp is nicer than the beehive clone at 8hp (I am mentioning this from my experience).

Are you interested in low pass gates? That’s not on the 2600.

MI’s Warps (clones) might be a fun option. It’s 10 hp and offers lots of functions not available on 2600. It doesn’t do switching, but it has crossfading and much more.

Otherwise, have you given thought to mixing the sounds together? Will you plan on patching all sounds into 2600, or do you want another mixer/line-out/headphone out? I actually think patching into 2600 would be just fine, but thought I’d ask just in case.

I haven’t watched this one, but I didn’t like the divkid Warps video, but it’s because of the sound sources he used, not because of Warps.



And the last Plaits update

[Stefken]

OK another thought experiment for my B.2600 enhancer. I’ve ditch my cost constraints and gone for the modules that appeal to my heart and not my head. I really like the look of these and I think I know how they work (ish).

 

What should I do with the remaining 10hp?

I was thinking swith and quantizer to get you on your way to generative &co.
Disting ex fits in 8 hp and would you give switch + quantizer, but also sample playback, fx, MI rings clone, ....

Edit: Behringer is coming with the Batumi, if you wait out a little while you might get that. The HP is somewhat more but you could put the price difference in a bigger case. The difference between the RackBrute 3U and 6U is about 100 euro.
That would give you a bigger case right off the bat. I find your adherence to one row pretty limiting. You know the proverb about cases and modules.

[elxsound]

I take back what I said about Beehive… It’s my version only, Big T Music, which is nice for the detents, but obscures the switching. The one is better and lots of different versions.

[ghettosynth]

Is there a better choice for a through zero/FM/PM oscillator?

[SHall1000]

Thanks for input guys. Have addressed mixing with a Mixwitch and a Disting MK 4 for versatility. Leaves 8hp for sound mangling. Maybe a Warps but wondering what else is out there.

[Shabdahbriah]

Is there a better choice for a through zero/FM/PM oscillator?

Hmmm... don't know about "better", as there are so many factors that are user specific, but there certainly are options to explore, that will help narrow down that preferential specificity.

Screenshot 2023-04-29 at 14-44-21 Hexinverter Électronique Mindphaser.png

Screenshot 2023-04-29 at 14-41-12 Brenso.png

Screenshot 2023-04-29 at 14-38-19 Instruo Neóni Through-Zero FM Oscillator.png

SSF_ZPO.jpg