MPC ONE and Modular

I am headed to Guitarget afterwork tonight to order an MPC One. I'm wanting to mainly do industrial sounding techno with it. I do own a Behringer K2 so I'd like to able to use it with the One with the cv/gates. I'd like to be able to add a small rack to improvise and do live stuff with the MPC One and a rack. But I'm so new to all of the eurorack stuff that I don't know where to start. Anyone with some info that I can start looking up and saving for?

Hi,
it‘s not easy to help with modular.
Have look at https://www.modulargrid.net/

As I see it, there are two approaches:
1.) Decide what you want to achieve and save for exactly that setup (recommended by most Modular-Freaks)
2.) Look for some cool modules and stick them together, look what happens. (What most people do…)

I bought a starter-kit, a small modular case with two simple modules and built some modules myself.

The MPC One can perfectly send CV/Gate to the synth. It‘s a lot of fun, just to play around with both devices.

craveone wrote:I am headed to Guitarget afterwork tonight to order an MPC One. I'm wanting to mainly do industrial sounding techno with it. I do own a Behringer K2 so I'd like to able to use it with the One with the cv/gates. I'd like to be able to add a small rack to improvise and do live stuff with the MPC One and a rack. But I'm so new to all of the eurorack stuff that I don't know where to start. Anyone with some info that I can start looking up and saving for?

I can probably help... but you might as well ask for help with any other topic that is huge...

Beyond "industrial sound techno"... what is it that you actually want to do? What do you know about euro? What things have you seen that interest you?

You can do a lot with just the MPC One... so my advice would be to try and stay small and within a budget for a while... and don't get too many modules... it's easy to get carried away and then have a ton of gear that you have no idea how to use.

For me the CV outs was the deciding factor why I got my MPC One, and it's working great.

I have the K2 as well, so a little caveat. Generally it works nicely. However, the K2 oscillator uses Hertz/Volt for oscillator pitch (since that's what the original MS20 used), while Eurorack (and the MPC) uses Volt/Octave. So the K2 won't track pitch correctly, when you're trying to control the oscillator with pitch/gate CV. Not really a problem, just use MIDI and it works fine. This is not a problem with the MPC, you'll run into this when you try to integrate the K2 with other Eurorack gear as well. I wish Behringer would have been a little bit less historically accurate, but it is what it is. Still a really really nice synth.

If you simply want to control filter CV or anything else other than oscillator pitch it works fine, though, and, as I said, via MIDI it's no problem anyway. Usually I send notes via MIDI and automate via CV, and it works fine. You can always patch the oscillator output from the K2 to any module, it also has a trigger out, so you can sequence the K2 via MIDI and get the gate for other modules as well. It works, it's just a little bit more patching than sending gate from the MPC directly to the module.

It's really hard to recommend anything, it depends a lot on what you want to do. If you want to do use the rack as another synthesizer, the Behringer 100 Series could be a great start. I think Behringer and Doepfer modules are good starting points, since they're comparatively cheap and still sound excellent, especially for bread and butter stuff. Doepfer has some great analog filters (I love the A-106-6 SEM filter especially, such a nice sound). If you haven't already, look up Vactrol LPGs, I think those are great additions to a standard setup, since they sound a bit different than the standard ADSR/VCF combo. Especially for industrial techno I think you'd like those ping-sounds that you get with those.

I'd skip digital effects modules for now, you can feed the signal from the modules back into the MPC and apply effects there, so no need for that yet, unless you want to modulate the effects via LFOs and stuff. I'd also skip any sequencing modules for now too, since you'll need another oscillator than the K2 (again, due to the different CV format).

Don't forget about a way to get your sound out. With some modules I get a great signal when I plug them directly into the mixer, with others it's really crappy (lots of noise). There are dedicated output modules to fix that, but I personally found that if I go from my modules into a patchbay and from there into the mixer the audio is good. So if you find that your module sounds bad, it's probably not the module, and there are ways of fixing that.

Another small tip: look for either stackable cables or those Eurorack cable splitters (I got a bunch of those), much better than wasting rack space in with mults.

NearTao wrote:

craveone wrote:I am headed to Guitarget afterwork tonight to order an MPC One. I'm wanting to mainly do industrial sounding techno with it. I do own a Behringer K2 so I'd like to able to use it with the One with the cv/gates. I'd like to be able to add a small rack to improvise and do live stuff with the MPC One and a rack. But I'm so new to all of the eurorack stuff that I don't know where to start. Anyone with some info that I can start looking up and saving for?

I can probably help... but you might as well ask for help with any other topic that is huge...

Beyond "industrial sound techno"... what is it that you actually want to do? What do you know about euro? What things have you seen that interest you?

You can do a lot with just the MPC One... so my advice would be to try and stay small and within a budget for a while... and don't get too many modules... it's easy to get carried away and then have a ton of gear that you have no idea how to use.

My knowledge is very limited. I have used some VST's through bitwig and made a few patches. What I'm wanting out of it is a way to produce pulsating rhythms. 303 bass lines, crunchy rhythmic noises, etc. some artist that come to mind would be Blawan, Ansome. And even though Uprock album from Prefuse 73 was all done with micro chops to samples. I want to be able to make chirps and rhythmic noises that are on Prefuse records, but with modular instead of making a billion chops for one track. There is an amazing Youtube video that Perfect Circuit put out where they show the MPC One being used with a Vermona Mono Lancet synth and a BLCK_NOIR eurorck drum voice. The BLCK_NOIR I'm certain was creating rhythmic noise under the drum loops created on the MPC One. I'll leave a link to it here so you can check the video out.

mikem wrote:For me the CV outs was the deciding factor why I got my MPC One, and it's working great.

I have the K2 as well, so a little caveat. Generally it works nicely. However, the K2 oscillator uses Hertz/Volt for oscillator pitch (since that's what the original MS20 used), while Eurorack (and the MPC) uses Volt/Octave. So the K2 won't track pitch correctly, when you're trying to control the oscillator with pitch/gate CV. Not really a problem, just use MIDI and it works fine. This is not a problem with the MPC, you'll run into this when you try to integrate the K2 with other Eurorack gear as well. I wish Behringer would have been a little bit less historically accurate, but it is what it is. Still a really really nice synth.

If you simply want to control filter CV or anything else other than oscillator pitch it works fine, though, and, as I said, via MIDI it's no problem anyway. Usually I send notes via MIDI and automate via CV, and it works fine. You can always patch the oscillator output from the K2 to any module, it also has a trigger out, so you can sequence the K2 via MIDI and get the gate for other modules as well. It works, it's just a little bit more patching than sending gate from the MPC directly to the module.

It's really hard to recommend anything, it depends a lot on what you want to do. If you want to do use the rack as another synthesizer, the Behringer 100 Series could be a great start. I think Behringer and Doepfer modules are good starting points, since they're comparatively cheap and still sound excellent, especially for bread and butter stuff. Doepfer has some great analog filters (I love the A-106-6 SEM filter especially, such a nice sound). If you haven't already, look up Vactrol LPGs, I think those are great additions to a standard setup, since they sound a bit different than the standard ADSR/VCF combo. Especially for industrial techno I think you'd like those ping-sounds that you get with those.

I'd skip digital effects modules for now, you can feed the signal from the modules back into the MPC and apply effects there, so no need for that yet, unless you want to modulate the effects via LFOs and stuff. I'd also skip any sequencing modules for now too, since you'll need another oscillator than the K2 (again, due to the different CV format).

Don't forget about a way to get your sound out. With some modules I get a great signal when I plug them directly into the mixer, with others it's really crappy (lots of noise). There are dedicated output modules to fix that, but I personally found that if I go from my modules into a patchbay and from there into the mixer the audio is good. So if you find that your module sounds bad, it's probably not the module, and there are ways of fixing that.

Another small tip: look for either stackable cables or those Eurorack cable splitters (I got a bunch of those), much better than wasting rack space in with mults.

That is a bummer about the k2. It was part of the reason I wanted to combine it with the MPC One. I will have a look at the behringer 100 series as they seem to be a bit more in my price range. I'll just need to do more research of which ones would work best for me. I know I've seen Maths and Basimilus which look very interesting, I think its more trying to figure out what modules do what for what I'm wanting to accomplish with them.

If you like the K2, I'd suggest selling it, and getting the Behringer Neutron, which has way more patch points, same filters as the Ms20, but works with V/Oct standard like most every other module. This is a great starting point, self-contained, and then once you master it, you'll discover what other modules you want to patch to. I wouldn't start with the 100 series, unless you already have experience with modular.

Honestly, now that I think about it I'd say it might be better to buy a Neutron instead of a rack at first. You're still doing the same thing (the Neutron is basically a small pre-patched rack), it's just much cheaper and you can use all the modules in the Neutron with Eurorack gear later on, once you buy a rack.

But in any case try out how you get along with the combo MPC/K2. Like I said, with MIDI the Hertz/Octave tracking is no issue, it's just with CV modulation of the oscillators. Spend a couple of weeks working with that, and you'll have a much better idea of where you want to go. If you want to buy a rack, you'll know how the K2 works and you'll have an idea of what modules you want to try with that. Or maybe you'll want to try out the Neutron first. I mean, the beauty with Eurorack is that everything can be patched into everything else, so no piece of gear is ever useless in the end.

jabberwalky wrote:If you like the K2, I'd suggest selling it, and getting the Behringer Neutron, which has way more patch points, same filters as the Ms20, but works with V/Oct standard like most every other module. This is a great starting point, self-contained, and then once you master it, you'll discover what other modules you want to patch to. I wouldn't start with the 100 series, unless you already have experience with modular.

Oh, didn't see that you already suggested the Neutron. I think it's the perfect starting point for a modular setup.

However, the filter is definitely a different one than in the MS20, it's a unique filter that was developed by Behringer themselves.

mikem wrote:Honestly, now that I think about it I'd say it might be better to buy a Neutron instead of a rack at first. You're still doing the same thing (the Neutron is basically a small pre-patched rack), it's just much cheaper and you can use all the modules in the Neutron with Eurorack gear later on, once you buy a rack.

But in any case try out how you get along with the combo MPC/K2. Like I said, with MIDI the Hertz/Octave tracking is no issue, it's just with CV modulation of the oscillators. Spend a couple of weeks working with that, and you'll have a much better idea of where you want to go. If you want to buy a rack, you'll know how the K2 works and you'll have an idea of what modules you want to try with that. Or maybe you'll want to try out the Neutron first. I mean, the beauty with Eurorack is that everything can be patched into everything else, so no piece of gear is ever useless in the end.

I will more than likely go this route. I'm going to use the k2 and at least see how it works together. I'm hoping to be able to piece some rhythmic stuff out of it. New to trying techno, so I'm not sure how this all works. I'm using to tapping out stuff on pads with my 2000 classic. But that was all sampled based hip hop crap..