Modular How-To: The Expert Sleepers ES-8, Kenton Solo, Poly2 and Malekko Sync

As my studio is in a shared space, we regularly use each others equipment, however my modular is still quite a specialised tool. With that in mind I started writing this guide with a view of anyone else wanting to use our space, they should be able to plugin in a few USBs and viola, the modular would be ready to go. After a while I decided it might as well sit on this site as others might benefit from seeing how certain modules work.

This guide wont focus on how to make synth patches, or how or what modular is, but will just focus on the Expert Sleepers audio interfaces and expanders, the Malekko Sync and how that can send clock information to other units, the Kenton Solo Eurorack and the Polyend Poly2 – and how to set those up to convert MIDI from your DAW to control voltage.

Below is the modular in full, as of 16th January 2022. And here’s a link to the modulargrid diagram. Here’s a link to the spreadsheet with all of the power consumption and links to manuals, if for whatever reason you want to dive more into one specific module.

Getting Audio in and out

In my system I use an Expert Sleepers ES-8. At the time of writing there is a new were version available (the ES-9), I would assume most of what I write here is applicable for both.

The module connects over USB and offers 4 inputs and 8 outp. Full disclosure – I found the way the website described it confusing and thought I was getting more inputs than I got. For this reason I decided to purchase an ES-6 to expand the number of inputs from the modular. This connects over lightpipe, or optical ADAT.

The ES-8 is plug-and-play if you’re using it as your sole audio interface, but for me my Mac is plugged into a UAD Apollo 8, so it was necessary to set up the ES-8 as an aggregate device in my audio/MIDI setup.

To do this open up Audio MIDI setup on a OS X (Finder > Applications > Utilities > Audio MIDI setup). In the audio window in the bottom left corner click the plus button and Create Aggregate Device. This will allow you to chain two audio interfaces together.

In my case I’m using the UAD Apollo with the ES-8 linked to it. Noticed the ES-8’s inputs don’t start until input 35 and the outputs until 37. Name the device something sensible and tick “drift correction” for the ES-8.

In Logic and Ableton your new aggregate device will now appear in your audio devise preferences.

It’s confusing to keep on top of the correct ins and outs, but luckily both DAWs allow you to create custom names for the inputs and outputs. To do this in Logic click on the Mix dropdown menu and select I/O Labels. Here you can name specific inputs and outputs however you like.

To do this in Ableton Live click on the Input Config or Output Config in your audio device preferences.

MIDI Control

There are two ways of getting MIDI pitch and gate information from your DAW into the modular. For a single, monophonic MIDI line there’s the Kenton Solo Eurorack, and for polyphonic MIDI there’s the Polyend Poly2. Let’s start by looking at the Kenton.

The Kenton Solo is simple to set up. The MIDI input is currently coming out of the back of a Focusrite Scarlett 6i6, whose sole purpose is to offer MIDI in/out in the studio. For this reason when looking for the MIDI out in your DAW you should select Scarlett 6i6 and not try to look for Kenton Solo. The offers MIDI pitch output at the CV (Hz/V) output, and MIDI gate information at the GATE (S-trig) output. These can be connected to oscillators, and the CLOCK outputs can drive sequencers.

In Logic create an External Instrument, set the MIDI destination to the Scarlett 6i6 USB and set the Input to the relevant channel on the ES-8. In Ableton you can use the External Instrument plugin and do much the same thing.

The Poly2 allows you to send polyphonic MIDI date to the modular, ranging from four voices up to eight. There are four dedicated pitch and four dedicated CV outputs, but the remaining CV outputs can also be used to send additional voice data.

You can use the same method we used for the Kenton Solo to send MIDI to the Poly2 and receive audio back from it. However I tend to route each oscillator to a separate audio track in Logic/Live. This isn’t necessary but allows you to pan/mix/EQ them in your DAW, rather than summing in the modular.

MIDI and Synchronisation

There are a few ways to synchronise the modular to the clock and transport information from Logic or Live, by far the most success I’ve had is with the Malekko Sync.

In Logic you can access the MIDI sync settings in File > Project Settings > Synchronisation then click the MIDI tab.

In Ableton the Track and Sync buttons need to be ticked in the Link, Tempo and MIDI page for the Malekko MIDI.

By default the routing of this module is sending out a reset to a multiple. The start/stop transport controls in your DAW should not only start and stop a sequencer but also reset the sequencer to step one whenever you press play again.