I’ve been obsessed with the idea of adding modular drums to my modular. I’ve spent a lot of time in VCV rack messing around with how I’d incorporate modular drums into my rig. Eventually I’d like to turn my modular into a live performance kind of thing, however money is tight right now so if I were to buy more modules I’d have to part with a piece of gear. The (sort of) logical move would be to part with my Machinedrum UW and put that money towards the purchase. The second hand price of the MDUW seems to be between $1500-$2000ish so average would be say $1700, I would need approx $2500 to make the purchase so they would be a sizable chunk of it.
It’s a tough choice because I don’t at all dislike the machinedrum…quite the opposite I’m a big fan of it, I just wonder if I’d be happier or more productive with modular drums. And I was curious for some input from anyone else but myself.
My current set up is:
Machinedrum UW
Analog rytm
Octatrack
Analog four
Digitone
Pro 2
Moog grandmother
Virus ti polar
Korg minilouge XD
Twisted electrons acid 8
Novation ultranova
9U of eurorack
This is the drum modules/sequencer etc I’m thinking of getting, the circled part is what I don’t have yet:
So adding these drum modules and sequencer would obviously be awesome they are both super powerful drum synths and it would give me 14 voices of drums and a mixture of digital, analog and samples and the sequencer has a lot of features as well. So it’s not a bad choice at all but I really can’t clearly see if I’d be better off holding on to the MDUW.
Of course it’s all about preference and we can ask the usual questions, Do you use the Machinedrum, do you like the way it sounds and do you get along with it and the answers would all be yes but the overhanging question is would I enjoy and use and create more with the modular drum set up and I genuinely don’t know if this is GAS or a legitimate option. I know you guys can’t answer it for me but I’m looking for some feedback.
Keep the Machinedrum that’s most cost effective option. Love my modular drums but cost a lot more. Queen of Pentacles is really fun modular drum voice. For a drum sequencer, I really like Winter Modular Eloquencer as it’s closer to the Elektron workflow than most eurorack sequencers. So technically you could get by with Queen of Pentacles that has 8 drum voices of which some are analog and some sample based, a good sequencer and mixer.
Indeed. After getting a Rytm and Virus, my desire for more eurorack is gone. Five years ago. I would have bought a Virus and Rytm and called it a day knowing what I know now. No regrets as patching modular is fun and has deepened my passion for synthesis.
You already have analog and digital drums plus the ability to sample. With the DN, OT, AR, MD,
and A4 you have a max of 48 voices you can dedicate to drums. Maybe what you need is a linear sequencer so you can get out of 4-bar loops.
To echo a bit I found a similiar experience with modular and the analog four. I sold the a4 when I dove into modular and the sheer amount of modules required to replace its capability was staggering. I ended up rebuying the a4 and then pivoted my modular to fill the things I couldn’t do with the a4, more so modular as complex monosynth + almost using the modular as a synth expander/effects rack. The main benefit for modular is if i get tired of a certain sound I can swap a couple voices or effect and keep all the plumbing. That’s something not really possible with a fixed architecture synth. Various, complex parameter locks arent something easily done in modular, just something to consider if you make heavy usage of those. I’d only get rid of the machinedrum if you are tired of the sound and are just looking for something different.
Consider slowly purchasing your key drum modules and see if you are happy before selling the machinedrum, you maybe just done with the machinedrum too and that’s honestly ok too.
to say something that a lot of modular owners might not like, I’ve never known anyone to say “I’m more productive now that I use a modular set up”.
If you have a very focused mind and workflow, this could be like throwing a baseball through your window.
However, if you love the idea, and that in itself is enough to get you hyped. Do it man, I think you sound like you’re pretty interested. Why not start with putting your machinedrum in your closet and buy a couple cheap modules and see if you like it better before you decide to take apart the factory and sell all the machines.
Real talk. Keep that MD. You will regret it. Save up for the sequencers, or get a SQ64. They’re so freaking cheap, and I read on Modwiggler that they work better on the CV side.
I can certainly identify with this urge, been working on my own version of this project recently. A couple thoughts that come to mind:
It’s hard to replicate the sheer level of control and precision that you get with Elektron machines in a modular environment. That Erica sequencer will get you pretty close on the sequencing side but you need all the supplemental pieces in the signal chain + integration with some kind of sequencer/modulation to really get there. I only mention this to help you brace yourself for that transition from MD to modular drums — it’ll feel different, not worse or less capable but you might find yourself reaching for things that aren’t there out of habit. (Dude where’s my p-locks?)
I like the drum module choices you’ve got in this image but if you’re considering other options, you might swap one of the two large multi-modules (LXR or Endorphins) for a few smaller dedicated pieces. WMD makes some rad drum modules, could throw a sample player in there, or even a regular old oscillator or pingable filter could get you very cool and tweakable results.
I’m assuming you have effects aplenty in your other rack(s). Do you have enough mixing to make use of all of these sound sources and route them the way you want to? Just throwing more things out there that have crossed my mind as I work on this, I underestimated my mixing needs.
I hesitate to advise as to whether or not you should sell the Machinedrum. It’s a sweet machine and might be hard to get back if you let it go. That said, I ended up selling mine and never regretted it. Like that old saying goes, there’s plenty of cool drum machines in the sea.
There’s just no compelling reason to do drums in modular. It takes up piles of HP and offers no advantage other than maybe “all-in-one” portability with the rest of the system.
That QoP will sound samey after awhile.
My friend sold his MD and went QoP and Drum Sequencer. I just don’t hear a lot of variation in his drums. It’s also clunkier to sequence.
I personally wouldn’t sell a drum machine to move it all into the rack. Maybe a singular perc module for taking advantage of some euclidean rhythms in the rack. Nothing more though.
The question may come down to whether you want to do more of your music work within the context of Eurorack, or do you have some other goal.
If you enjoy working in Euro, then this looks like a good setup that you can evolve and expand as you try out different modules.
The MD seems like an ideal companion to a Euro system to me. Maybe just get something to do CV to MIDI and MIDI to CV so that you can integrate it with your existing Euro.
Edit: I feel like letting go of a machine like the MD, Tempest or other particularly deep percussion machines is always going to lead to a sense of loss because each is unique in its quirks and you will never get exactly that back without getting the same machine again.
Modular drums can be fun(I use 2 plaits/surface for a simple modular drum setup) but not that much better than a MD or AR or whatever full-blown drum machine you have.
Now, the LXR & endorphins module do not have that much modulation entry point which make them less attractive in a modular format (for me).
I had the black noir, not the pentacles but the big filter doesn’t snap in the middle and the knobs were really cramped. It was easy to get lost in the FX section and… SD card at the back of the module? Not really convenient.
The LXR module lacks the LXR big feature: kit morphing…
The sequencer is nice but brings nothing new compared to the Elektron seq. If it had at least an euclidean algo…
If you want more hands on the MD, a MIDI controller could help.
I spent time tonite crafting a track only using my Rytm MK2 and super productive compared to how much longer it would take me to craft the same track in modular. Love my modular drums but the all in one fast Elektron tools are a joy to use. Plus save tracks easy. I need to record modular to DAW or sample to keep my work.
That’s my experience with the QoP module. I like using my Jomox bass drum eurorack module with Mutant snare, hi hat modules into Mutant Hot Glue mixer with distortion and compression side chaining for the phat eurorack drum sound. Even then I need lot of tweaking and program in Eloquencer sequencer to even approach what I can do in minutes on a Rytm.
And you still wouldn’t have instant patch-recall-per-sequencer-step. Or in fact any patch memory other than a notebook.
I spent over a decade working with modular (Serge). I appreciate what it can do, especially as a synthesis learning tool. But the power and potential of Elektron machines is kind of ridiculous, especially for live performance.
Yeah this is very silly, especially when you’re using the LXR as your main drum voice. I will never understand the urge to pay the premium for Euro modules that are just more annoying versions of existing desktop kit, especially if it’s not really a step up from what you already own.
