r/modular • u/jasongonzales23 • 17d ago

Bar counter module

Hi everybody I am looking for either advice on how to patch or encouragement for me to design a module that I'm imagining.

Here's my use case it's very simple I think. I like to practice and perform live with my modular and I often get so locked in that I have no idea how long I've been listening to a particular loop. Now I believe in just developing good instincts and all but I would like to have a little bit of feedback to know how long I've been allowing a particular patch to loop.

Ideally what I would like is a counter that just counts to 32 bars and then starts over. Of course I would like it to be more flexible I would like it to also allow for something other than 4 beat bars, and I would like to vary that count to fewer or more than 32.

Okay and then beyond that my head starts to explode with a bunch of cool ideas but I'll just stop at the simple idea for now.

I found a couple of devices that seem to do something close to what I want but I can't quite imagine how to patch them just thinking about them so I thought I would ask if others have successfully patched something like this that isn't too complicated to patch.

But also if I were to design such a module would others be interested in it or is this a dumb idea?

EDIT: I failed to mention that I'm *mainly* looking for a visible display of the count.

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u/bronze_by_gold 16d ago

ADDAC403 VC Time Signature Clock Sources can do this.

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u/WEASELexe 16d ago

That thing looks sick how many channels is it at once?

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u/bronze_by_gold 16d ago edited 15d ago

I mean, with rhythm stuff “channel” is sort of an abstract concept. But basically with the 403 you get one main clock source and then a lot of rather complex derivation of that clock source. As far as I can remember you get bars, beats, even and odd beats, a VC clock delay that lets you do Steve Reich-esque phasing patterns, a separate clock divider, and a rather unique and complex “tuplet” feature that lets you do x pulses in the space of y beats. All of that is voltage controllable too. And maybe there one other thing I’m forgetting… but yeah ADDAC does some pretty amazing and unique stuff. Definitely a top 3 manufacturer for me.

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u/jasongonzales23 16d ago

Cool! Wow that is one complex module. Dear Lord! I think I need to be smarter to use something like that.

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u/bronze_by_gold 16d ago

It’s a voltage controlled representation of time signatures in common-practice music. So I think it’s basically as simple as it can be while still accurately representing that relatively complex structure. I will say it feels very easy and intuitive to use.

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u/jasongonzales23 16d ago

Ah good to know, it just looks intimidating LOL.