Introduction to eurorack drones - Modules and patchtips for beginners

[@MonotrailTechTalk]

Support my project on Patreon: www.patreon.com/monotrail Or shop through my affiliate links: US: link.perfectcircuit.com/t/v1/8-12626-267461-9759 EU: www.thomann.de/de/index.html?partner_id=32555

[@CLOUDTOWER]

I just wanted to say - I have been lurking youtube without an account/channel for MANY years now but one of the reasons that finally pushed me over the edge to sign up is to comment on one of your videos just to say how fucking great they are and how much they helped me get into modular in the beginning. Big big big shout out my brother!

[@MonotrailTechTalk]

Hi there! Thanks for the message :) I am very happy making these videos in the studio, but of course releasing them and getting good feedback from people watching is what makes it really worth it! All the best :)

[@XiXora]

Seriously loving these videos. The simple graphics on screen whilst you're talking through them are just sublime.

[@MonotrailTechTalk]

Thanks for watching! Glad to hear it's apreciated :)

[@eddraper]

Absolutely! They're excellent.

[@MonotrailTechTalk]

Thank you!

[@nickmoran1]

Can't spreak highly enough about your Eurorack videos.So much information so many ideas.I'm only 7 months old in Eurorack terms and there are a number of very good video makers out there.You are one of the best.

[@MonotrailTechTalk]

Thank you so much! This is a pretty new adventure for me, but have been wanting to start with this for two years I think. All the warm and encouraging comments are really great! Ill make more for sure :) And enjoy your yourney!

[@JxhnNichxlls]

Just tried the square wave into a clock divider trick and holy moly that made my DPO sing! Incredible video full of fascinating tricks

[@MonotrailTechTalk]

Fantastic! Glad it lead to some interesting results :) Cheers!

[@JxhnNichxlls]

@@MonotrailTechTalk Your videos are fantastic. Been trying to spruce up generative and slow evolving drones, so these tips to buff out layers or self patch in different ways are great. Genuinely appreciate your work!

[@fecktoph]

The most informative and interesting tutorial formats I've seen on youtube for modular. The patching examples and explanations are great, understanding the possibilities of signal paths in modular can be tricky at best ,I feel like I've actually learned something ,Awesome thanks ,

[@MonotrailTechTalk]

Thanks for letting me know! There's a lot of information out there already, but felt like my knowledge about modular in combination with my animation skills could ad something, glad to hear you apreciate it!

[@NICUofficial]

it's hard (and probably unncessary) to define the exact difference between "drone" and "dark ambient" but I make a lot of the second type and I can definitely say - reverb, upon delay, upon reverb, upon delay, upon reverb is super helpful. Then, multiple kinds of distortion and filtering. Plus, some serious options for (mostly) slow-changing randomness and modulation out of phase with each other ("just CV everything") so that nothing ever repeats. Mix it all together with a couple of intruiging sound sources, you've got a great start for a patch imo. my favorite modules for this sort of music: - Mutable Instruments Elements - Mutable Tides - Mutable Marbles - Mutable Blades - Mutable Veils - Xaoc Batumi - Xaoc Tallin - Synthesis Technology E440 VCF - Instruo Ceis - Instruo Ochd - Ritual Electronics Guillotine - Intellijel Multi-FX 1U - Eventide Space (actually a pedal)

[@MonotrailTechTalk]

Very true! Reverb and delay are key in a lot of massive sounds, thanks for adding to the list of modules to watch :)

[@gilbertvidela7238]

i swear man, you give the best instructions. Thank you.

[@MonotrailTechTalk]

Thanks a lot! Cheers :)

[@mymodularjourney]

Really awesome. Some inspiration to get droning tonight.

[@MonotrailTechTalk]

Thanks for joining, and enjoy the droning! :)

[@madebymccoy]

Just fantastic! Perfect balance of demos, explanation and visual patching! Perfect

[@MonotrailTechTalk]

Glad to hear you liked it :) Cheers!

[@Gruftgrabbler]

Wow thank you very much man! There is so much to explore in this video

[@MonotrailTechTalk]

You're so welcome, glad to hear you liked it!

[@rayderrich]

I am just starting out in software modular using Voltage Modular and VCV Rack 2 Pro and the ideas you bring in this one video are already gold to me. Thank you, I subscribed of course.

[@MonotrailTechTalk]

Glad to hear it, thanks! VCV is great :)

[@The5thVolt]

I've just started making my own drone videos and while I've started with modulating with LFOs and envelopes, your video has so many cool ideas that I have to try out over the next few weeks. Thank you for that, it's incredibly well presented and super inspiring!

[@MonotrailTechTalk]

Hey, glad to hear it! This effort makes it worth it recieving these positive comments! Il have a look at your drones, all the best!

[@lordymosh]

Your videos are so well done. I've been into eurorack for a few years but I got some new tips watching this video.

[@MonotrailTechTalk]

Glad it was helpful! This one is a bit older already, but glad you get some use out of it :) Cheers!

[@IMFO]

I learned a lot in the last 18minutes. Thanks! I really like the theory part but also that you give some examples. Great video :)

[@MonotrailTechTalk]

Glad to hear it, thanks for letting me know, cheers! :)

[@wouternieuwenhuizen4305]

Je bent de loopop van modular, de beste over modular op socials.👍👍👍👍

[@MonotrailTechTalk]

Haha, dank je :) Cheers!

[@TROGULAR10000]

I selected this because it said "beginner" but somehow found it pretty advanced and applicable way beyond drones. Very well-paced explanation, great work using both the imaginary and real modules as examples. This video must have been a lot of work. It's also cool to discover your theory/tutorial channel after having enjoyed so much of your music on the other channel.

[@MonotrailTechTalk]

Hey, thank you for letting me know, that's really nice to hear! Happy to make these, all the best!

[@stephenjames4937]

What a great video. Lots of imaginative possibilities to break me out of my patching rut. Thank you for this.

[@MonotrailTechTalk]

Glad you enjoyed it! All the best"

[@temporoboto]

One of the best modular videos out there! Thanks for sharing.

[@MonotrailTechTalk]

You're welcome! Glad to hear people are apreciating them, thanks for letting me know!

[@JubileeGiggles]

Haven't seen this channel before the 3xmia video (which, btw, was the exact video I've been looking for for months, that just didn't exist until now. I watched all the videos available about 3x over and over, then suddenly there was a new video that nailed it perfectly!). These are some great topics, and very good in-depth discussions of technique in a way I haven't found on other channels. Keep it up! PS, you should send that video to happy nerding. It's better than their walkthrough, and would probably help them sell them a lot of modules

[@MonotrailTechTalk]

That's lovely to hear! And it's pretty new so not to strange, but glad you found it though! I am really happy with the MIA video, will send a link to Happy Nerding for sure, would be honored if they share it. This video I feel like I touch on a bit to much maybe, but wanted to share anyway. Only made me more enthusiastic about making more videos :)

[@duncanthompson957]

Monotrail Tech Talk It's all brilliant! Every one. You are offering something extremely unique, and I'm sure that even some (many?!) people who have been using modular for some time will find all your videos inspiring!

[@JubileeGiggles]

@@MonotrailTechTalk no, I think you're onto something. There's a lot of videos reviewing modules, but the topics you're going into are more relaxed conversations about practical applications of things in a more general way. There's a few other channels like that, but I like the way you approach it. An idea that might be fun to explore- there's a lot of original sound possibilities using simple envelopes to control FM synthesis. Even if you don't have FM inputs on your oscillators, you can make tons of unique percussion sounds for instance. Depending on how many oscs you have, you can do 2 or 3 or more operator waves feeding into each other in a chain, and then into the v/o of the carrier. But if you first feed all those outputs into vcas controlled by different shaped envelopes, you can make very custom transient sounds for your own 808s, kicks, snares, and hats. If you even run those through an attenuverter first, like the 3xmia, you can do simple knob adjustments on it that tweak the sounds dramatically. It's fun to adjust the pitch of the oscillators, the tightness of the envelopes, and the attenuation levels and hear all the different drum sounds you can get. Perfect for recording and slicing up for a drum machine or DAW

[@dietervoser4425]

Ein auszeichnetes beginner friendly tutorial. Sehr gut !!!

[@MonotrailTechTalk]

Freut mich! Anfang nächsten Jahres kommt eine ganze Serie :)

[@gullgrey]

This is awesome! Thank you for taking you time to do this!

[@MonotrailTechTalk]

You're welcome! Thanks for letting me know your appreciation! This channel is pretty new, im excited about it, but really stimulates me to recieve positive comments like these, all the best :)

[@gullgrey]

@@MonotrailTechTalk I was actually starting to regret falling into the eurorack rabbit hole, because I don't really know what I want and what I need (I just know I want it and need it :D ) and what to do with what I have in order to get what I want. That is until I discovered your channel. This is really an inspiration.

[@MonotrailTechTalk]

It's a slippery slope indeed, a lot of great stuff, but also some unexpected things, I see more people getting disapointed at first. I'm interested in making video's about my good, as well as bad experiences, without being negative. And some things that are worth considering before people start. Glad eather way my video helps a bit, hope you get out of your modular what you want!

[@gullgrey]

@@MonotrailTechTalk That’s sounds really great! keep em coming - I’ll keep watching :)

[@iancain6647]

I love these videos.

[@MonotrailTechTalk]

Good to hear, cheers!

[@supersawheather]

Great video, I am surprised this doesn't have more views! Super easy to understand.

[@MonotrailTechTalk]

Glad it was helpful! One of my earlier videos, but happy to see people watching it. Cheers!

[@slipknotboy555]

I never even thought about putting mod sources through effects (or, at least, not much). Cool idea!

[@MonotrailTechTalk]

Glad you got some good out of it! :)

[@Feldspar__]

Respect for the Döepfer modules in this one.

[@MonotrailTechTalk]

Got to love the classics! Would still really like to build a little all Doepfer system :)

[@MrPetrake]

Awesome tutorial, thank you very much!!

[@MonotrailTechTalk]

Thanks for watching, glad to hear you liked it!

[@ianbcnp]

Good stuff, many thanks for the hints, reminders and inspiration to experiment. I need to listen through this at least twice more to take it all in. Very much looking forward to your take on self generating patches too :-)

[@MonotrailTechTalk]

Thanks for the kind words! Indeed I feel like I went over quite a lot this time, still experimenting I guess. If anything I'm even more in the mood to tackle specific topics in compact, but more concentrated sessions. Like random voltages, or the matrix mixer. Anyway, thanks for watching, and all the best!

[@ianbcnp]

Those specific topics are really useful as building blocks. You seem to be in the process of building up a really useful long term resource for people on KZbin - thank you!

[@MonotrailTechTalk]

I hope so! feels like a good thing to do these weird times, I'm glad if it has value for some people :)

[@duncanthompson957]

Monotrail Tech Talk Yes, I can't help but reiterate every positive comment on this post. I am also very excited by where you are planning to take this. In any and every direction!

[@SquallazYo]

Keep the good work up man. Loving your videos

[@MonotrailTechTalk]

Thanks, I will!

[@Frakaphoto]

very nicely done, congrat

[@MonotrailTechTalk]

Thank you very much! All the best :)

[@jacobclayton4828]

Excellent tutorial, so much useful information here! (Subscribed! :) ) For the past few days I’ve been patching together simple (and not so simple) generative drones then running them into my Lyra-8 for a deep sea of endless droning bliss. I would be interested to see your approach on “krell” patches, and other semi-generative and generative techniques.

[@MonotrailTechTalk]

Hey Jacob! Thanks for letting me know, thats nice to hear :) And, man the Lyra-8 sure is a machine I'd like to own one day, have fun with that!

[@surrealchemist]

I like that you dabble in some more experimental and creative use of modules. I got my first case last week and I think I have opened a pandora’s box. I need to set up a new space to keep all this stuff so I can patch it with my existing equipment like Strega and Field Kit

[@MonotrailTechTalk]

Glad to hear it! Do feel freel to look around for some more videos on my channel :) And of course enjoy the experiments, strega and fieldkit are great!

[@EleniEliades_]

Always learn quality and very useful information from your videos. The drawn diagrams are perfect -they really help me out since I just started learning Modular Synthesis and patching the modules I have. 💡✔

[@MonotrailTechTalk]

I'm glad to hear it Eleni! Good luck your the modular journey :)

[@Banksyyt]

Another great, well laid out vide. Thanks!

[@MonotrailTechTalk]

Thank you!

[@molveni]

This is GOLD! Thank you.

[@MonotrailTechTalk]

You're very welcome! Cheers :)

[@jurgendabeedin441]

Very in depth and fascinating. Also very complex for a newbie. Seems like you need a lot of gear just to make buzzing, grating sounds.

[@MonotrailTechTalk]

Glad you enjoyed it! And indeed I realised these videos are a bit steap for true beginers. I'm writing a full introduction series as we speak! But in this video I just try to go over a bunch of different and usefull modules and ideas. You don't need all of them to make good drones! For example, I think with a Doepfer a143-4 (pictured on the thumbnail) and a Doepfer wasp filter, you're already set for solid drones. Add some delay and reverb from your daw, and your good to go!

[@victorspellbound]

amazing channel, many ideas to experiment, thank you

[@MonotrailTechTalk]

Glad to hear it, thanks for watching!

[@zerodreaming]

great tips & killer sound quality

[@MonotrailTechTalk]

Glad to hear you liked it, thanks for watching!

[@BTB88]

Your videos are so informative. Subscribed.

[@MonotrailTechTalk]

Thank you very much!

[@LeonTrimble]

Excellent. Orders wavefolder...

[@MonotrailTechTalk]

Thanks!

[@Dogboy73]

Great video. Some cool ideas for beginners like me here.

[@MonotrailTechTalk]

Glad to hear it, thanks for watching!

[@MarcoLongoMusic]

This was one of the best eurorack educational videos I've ever watched. Instant sub! I have two questions, one serious and one very trivial... 1) Do you have suggestions about managing and taming feedback loops? I'm fascinated with that kind of sound, no-input mixers and whatnot, but I don't really know where to start. 2) I love your graphics and animations, how do you make them? I want to create something similar for my students, but I can barely use PS and AE. Do you use a specific software?

[@MonotrailTechTalk]

Thank you! Glad to hear you liked it :) 1) You mean within the modular, or in general? If you like no-input mixing, for sure get a large old mixer with a lot of sends on e-bay :)If you mean within the modular, I'd say attenuated modulation, and VCAs are key. With VCAs you can control the amount of feedback within a patch. 2) I use Illustrator and Adobe Animate, both work quicker then PS and AE.

[@MarcoLongoMusic]

@@MonotrailTechTalk 1) yes I meant within the eurorack realm :) I guess I need some kind of module with aux or duplicate output, or maybe a mult? And what about the source? Do i need a vco with specific in/outs or maybe something like the Doepfer matrix mixer that allows different routing options? 2) Oh great, I'll check them out thanks!

[@MonotrailTechTalk]

Hey. You don't need an oscillator or input if you're into the whole no input mixing part ;) Doepfer matrix mixer is definetly a great idea! That would give a lot of routing and feedback flexibility in one module. Also Tiptop audio stackable cables are a great way to mult signals to multiple places. VCAs are great for controling or shaping the amount of a sound or signal with some modualtion. At the end it all comes down to what sounds you're after, if its on the more droney/noisy side of things look into the more affordable (multi)effects for soundsources and feedbacking, and well, effects. One I have for example is the Synthrotek Echo, a noisy but lovely module that can feedback so hard it becomes a great clitchy sound source.

[@MonotrailTechTalk]

EDIT: When I say noisy, I meant it's great for noisyer/grungy/distorted type of sounds. The module itself isn't noisy, with some efford you can get a clean delay out of it as well ;)

[@andreasstrohlein6772]

That clock divider trick to make chords from a single source is genius. The output would always be square waves though, correct?

[@MonotrailTechTalk]

True! And you need a divider that can output gates, like the Doepfer ones. If it sends out triggers you sort of get very thin squarewaves :)

[@johnmckenna5404]

Great info man, thx!

[@deantiquisetnovis]

Very inspiring!!

[@MonotrailTechTalk]

Glad you liked it!

[@im-bb4fn]

Getting me a super-duper filter right now ;P

[@MonotrailTechTalk]

Haha, yeah I should make those!

[@im-bb4fn]

@@MonotrailTechTalk Oh man - you would be making so much money... by the way big fan of your tutorials... keep it going!

[@MonotrailTechTalk]

Thank you, and I will!

[@walrtbstudios5430]

This is gold- thank you. This would be an excellent use for the Chords v2 that I’m struggling to integrate into my workflow- especially if modulated by the Thorn VCLFO… I’m also liking the focus on Doepfer modules. I have seven already, and find them good value and very reliable. Other YTers seem to think them boring, but I would be happy with a system largely comprising Doepfer gear. Seriously considering adding you to my short list of Patreon subscriptions too- I believe that people should have some reward for good communication skills- and you are one of the best.

[@MonotrailTechTalk]

Thanks for the kind words! Also really like Doepfer. Was happy to work with them on the frequency shifter, so hope there are more deals I can make with them. They have a lot of modules I'd like to use to explain some modular concepts! And thanks for becoming a Patreon! Saw your name show up there :) All the best!

[@curckcurtis]

Thanks a lot!

[@MonotrailTechTalk]

You're welcome! :)

[@nealohara782]

excellent video

[@MonotrailTechTalk]

Thanks!

[@mr.apartment]

great work! thanks :)

[@MonotrailTechTalk]

You're welcome! :)

[@kenny-op50]

like your Modular grid setup

[@MonotrailTechTalk]

Thanks!

[@jimivandebeek]

Thank you!

[@MonotrailTechTalk]

You're welcome! Thanks for watching :)

[@jezstevens]

Just a quickie to say the Disting Mk3 update and I assume Mk4 has wavetables which you can load via the SD card slot.

[@peamarte]

great expanation:) thanks :)

[@MonotrailTechTalk]

You're welcome!

[@BradHilton]

Would it be possible for you to attach your slides? I could really use a eurorack recipe picturebook.

[@psyphon604]

Access to the patches in the form of slides is a great idea! Perhaps they could be made available as a download for Patreon members? @Brad Hilton, you should check out the book “Patch & Tweak” by Kim Bjorn and Chris Meyer, if you’re looking for a recipe picture book. It’s a fantastic resource of information and inspiration.

[@MonotrailTechTalk]

Hey that's a great idea! I don't think there's a way to attach anything to the YT video some way, but putting some extra effort in it and making a nice collection via Patreon is someting ill look into! Thanks for the tip Guys :)

[@sisyphus_maximus]

@@MonotrailTechTalk Would gladly join the Patreon just for those alone. Would be so useful as a reference.

[@MonotrailTechTalk]

@@sisyphus_maximus Thanks for letting me know! Im working on it, and expect it to be availabable in the near future :)

[@lodve.musique]

👏👏👏

[@buckrogers5429]

Do you use that Mackie 1202 you can see on the left also for your modular audio signals, plainly speaking, do you feed audio signals out of your modular directly to an line input of your Mackie?

[@MonotrailTechTalk]

Hi there! And yes I do. In the studio, and also live I just use eight inch to quarter inch mono cables directly from the modular to an outboard mixer. However, I do generally use a VCA at the end of a voice or modular drum bus, so I can control the output volume before going into the mixer. Modular levels are a bit hot.

[@TROGULAR10000]

Are filter banks basically like a graphic EQ?

[@MonotrailTechTalk]

Hmm, I'm not to familiar with those, and they come in different shapes. Some are just a combination of two or more low- band- high pass filters, those arn't really graphic EQ's at all. Some are. often called 8/X band filter banks. They have a filter section for multiple fixed frequencies. Then there are filterbanks that use the filter circuitry to add "character" which a clean EQ should'n do, and so on. So definetely not exactly the same, but for sure some can be used similarly.

[@ArchieFunker]

I think that "Super Duper Oscillator" does exist, Make Noise STO does all that, no? Just a thought. :P

[@MonotrailTechTalk]

Hey! For sure, the STO is pretty close. I don't think it has pulse-with cv, but it does have a waveshaper. More importantly I wanted to create a line of "anonymous" modules if im explaining a generic setup. Function wise the super-duper-oscillator can be a lot more super-duper ;)

[@gladlawson61]

Droning is the easiest thing to do. If u cant do this.... quit now.

[@MonotrailTechTalk]

I'd say it's very excessible, but you always need to learn some things about equipment if you're unfamiliar with it. Don't quit, learn something new :)

[@tamhewitt-baker5602]

They’re so expensive. I feel I will never be able to afford a hobby in modular.

[@MonotrailTechTalk]

It's expansive indeed, of course a lot depends on personal situation. For me, the system I use today was build/collected over a period of about 6 years, in those years mostly not doing things like having a car, expansive traveling, other fancy stuff made it posssible. Also these days there are things lke the Behringer Neutron to get a large part of the fun for a reasonable investment :)

[@nummernein]

Cherry Audio's Voltage Modular is a free software modular system that comes with 20 modules and sounds great, $70 gets you their mod Core Pack with 90 modules and they sound amazing.

[@MonotrailTechTalk]

Ah yeah, I forgot about that of course. There is some great free and affordable modular fun to be had! VCV rack is another example, completely free, and will give you lots of patching fun. Might even help to decide if modular is for you, and or what it would be worth to you. But it's a great free tool! - vcvrack.com/

[@RisetotheBottom00]

Vcv rack is free and so powerful. I have modules but when I want to test ideas that my system cant do I use Vcv rack to see what Im lacking in my setup