modular.

Neat Serge examples, thanks! Why aren't more people making melodic music on them? (Unless it really is as simple as those lateral-thinking-encouraging west coast drugs discouraging such square concepts as TTET...)

P.s. for those that want a cheaper intro into the world of modular synthesis (albeit virtual), Sonic Faction have released this today for Ableton w/Max4Live users -

 

 

http://www.sonicfaction.com/dope_matrix.html

I came here from the previously linked muffwiggler forum; someone linked the thread with AFX's modular and I had a look around. I've been buying modular stuff for the last few years, right now I have about 15U of Eurorack gear, a 6 panel Buchla system, and in the next month, after a year of waiting, I *should* be receiving a Music Easel from Buchla. Notice that time frame? Let that be a warning: once you get in, all of your money can get sunk into modular stuff really fast. They call it eurocrack for good reason.

 

That said, on the point of getting started. You'll need a case, which is a bitch of an invenstment. It's still expensive and you don't get to do anything with it, except (depending on your financial situation) wait until you have enough money to buy a module to put in it. Which leads to my next point: get on muffwiggler. Read posts. Do searches. Join the board, lurk the B/S/T section until you see something that you are interested in that's in your region and buy it used. If it doesn't work out you can sell it on there (once you have the requisite 100 posts) for close to what you bought it for used or trade it for something else that you are interested in, which is part of the beauty of a modular system. Buying used goes for cases too, I got my 9u doepfer case for 175 usd less than it goes for on analoguehaven.com new.
Try your best not to fall into the hype surrounding new modules.

 

The influx of complete voice/semi modular modules was too late for me to be interested (though the atlantis does look sweet) so I'm not sure if I would start there or go for more specialized composite parts first. My favorite manufacturers are Make Noise and Intellijel, the roles they fill are kind of analogous to Buchla and Moog respectively. If you aren't familiar with the differences, read one of the multiple threads about "east coast vs west coast" synthesis. Cwejman is incredible as well, but $$$$ and hard to track down.

 

Bottom line: read shit, buy shit, fuck around, sell shit, trade shit, have fun, make music.

 

The idea that you can't make music with a modular is a completely fallacy. Nonmodular synths are effectively a bunch of modules pre patched, with select controls exposed. To me the appeal of modular stuff was the ability to pick and choose the individual elements that stood out and pack them together to make an interesting sound. There is so fucking much you can do with modular stuff it is astounding.

 

heres a sampling of music made with modulars and my humble ability. The tracks range from basically pop songs (the Norrin Radd stuff) to droney, soundscapey synth shit, with several stops between (Nicholas Daniel/gigasturtz stuff):

 

https://soundcloud.com/gigasturtz

 

Hope this helps, ask any questions.

I've been pondering the idea of adding a minimalist, portable modular thingie just to augment the analog four..

i have a flexible source of CV sequencing goodness, and was thinking that I could focus on a few interesting sound-generating modules into it.

 

one module that keeps popping up in my mind is the Synthesis Technology Morphing Terrarium... this one should feed nicely into the A4's filters & FX.

 

I also already have 2 identical DIY multimode filters which sound good (need faceplate & jacks to complete them)... so basically one or 2 of these very small Doepfer cube cases....

 

but I have no experience with euroland whatsoever... I understand the concepts of modular, but am lacking a good vision of what modules are available and how to pick a few interesting modules which will satisfy long time.

 

what would you guys do? i'm thinking 1-2 interesting oscillators and a few utility multiples / mixers would go a long way already...

the a4 has pretty good envelopes & LFOs for CV, so I could maybe skip getting such modules for now.

 

 

so basically, what are the most badass yet affordable eurorack sound generators? I'm eyeing the Morphing Terrarium because I like FM & wavetable stuff & this module seems to have a wide range from smooth to harsh output...

  On 2/11/2014 at 3:17 PM, phling said:

so basically one or 2 of these very small Doepfer cube cases....

 

You'd be better off getting a 3u case from enclave or monorocket, tbh. Or an Erthenvar lunchbox, if you are confident in your ability to restrain your spending, lol. The lunchboxes are cool because they have a 1u strip for convenient utility modules (which they sell) that cover stuff that often gets left out of smaller systems, like attenuation (clutch).

yea see the cases you're mentioning have way too much space already ;]

 

I'm sure it would be fun. But I'm not aiming to spend a lot of money on a sophisticated system... just a few little things which are great to control from and feed back into the A4.

 

The alternative to euro would be 1 or 2 cheap monosynths with CV input, such as a Microbrute or Monotribe.

  On 2/11/2014 at 5:13 PM, phling said:

yea see the cases you're mentioning have way too much space already ;]

 

I'm sure it would be fun. But I'm not aiming to spend a lot of money on a sophisticated system... just a few little things which are great to control from and feed back into the A4.

 

The alternative to euro would be 1 or 2 cheap monosynths with CV input, such as a Microbrute or Monotribe.

 

people say that then always seem to end up expanding to/filling a case that size easy....

This is the reason I want to keep it small. I do not want a lot of modules. I'm trying to get the most out of the things I own.

Pretty sure the 2 filters I have, plus 2 interesting oscillators would keep me happy for quite a while. The question is, which oscillators.

 

see, the idea is a case like this to hold one oscillator and one filter. I do not want a bigger thing.

There's also the question of what utility things should best go in there... attenuator, yes.. maybe an EG... surely a multiple and a mixer.

 

 

vca's are boring but essential. vco's are a huge spectrum. I like the dixie and dpo, which are two opposite ends of said spectrum.

A filter without an envelope generator is a sad filter though... :sniff:

i'll have to check the A4 to see if you can output envelops on one of the cv channels....

The a4 does more than just pitch and gate though, it's cv envelopes are decent and snappy. With the a4 conceivably you just need an oscillator, sequencing and modulation can be done from the cv outs, and it can then be routed to the a4 filters and effects.

Yeah, the A4 can output LFO and ADSR via CV out.

yeah i just started playing with the LFOs and ADSRs myself on it, and it's fucking awesome. The only thing the A4 needed that it doesn't have is CV-in and trigger ins (like the machinedrum). When you combine the CV out stuff with fancy parameter locks it takes on a level that surpasses most if not all eurorack modular controller ability.

re: Zoeb, i think the reason more people aren't making melodic music with Serge's is they are designed as an esoteric 'closed' system designed to work with other serge modules that aren't necessarily geared towards 'normal' music. It's probably my favorite modular platform because of this reason. It can do timbres and waveforms that nothing else I've heard can do.

re: Kieth, the dubmix was a gamble for me but im really glad I got it. It sort of tops off and complete the circle of my 'auto patch' game, where im essentially not even using a proper sequencer but driving some sort of auto-quasi generative song. Being able to CV control a send to a spring reverb or a pan so fast that it oscillates in both ears is very pleasurable. Besides these fun tricks its a pretty straight forward mixer. The one thing they left off it though is they only have pre/post settings for the 1st aux send, but not the other 2.

Edited February 11, 2014 by John Ehrlichman

  On 2/11/2014 at 12:49 PM, Rbrmyofr said:

You can knock out surprisingly musical stuff on a modular, it's just that most of the demos of people with modulars on Youtube are all robots in space, or so it seems.

 

Anyway here's some acid on the Serge:

http://www.splitradix.com/serge_sample.mp3

 

awesome stuff, I drool over getting a proper serge panel (again) some day. Anybody know of a really convenient (and cheap) solution for going to serge banana to eurorack 5v? is it also at 5v or is it 10? I saw somebody made a module that does conversions but cant i just splice a banana cable and put an 1/8th inch jack on the other end? Is that too ghetto for the world of modular synth vanity? I had an creature panel years ago but regrettably had to sell it in a pinch.

 

here is the only song i ended up making with it

http://bandcamp.com/EmbeddedPlayer/album=1563738267/size=small/bgcol=ffffff/linkcol=0687f5/t=3/transparent=true/

Edited February 11, 2014 by John Ehrlichman

  On 2/11/2014 at 1:48 PM, mcbpete said:

P.s. for those that want a cheaper intro into the world of modular synthesis (albeit virtual), Sonic Faction have released this today for Ableton w/Max4Live users -

 

 

http://www.sonicfaction.com/dope_matrix.html

to be honest, from all the marketing materials I've seen and the actual screenshots it seems like a big cocktease. There are plenty of modular synth VSt plugins out there and inside Reaktor itself that seem far more in depth and truly modular compared to this product.

Aye looking into it more thoroughly it does appear to be a little smoke and mirrors rather than a proper modular. I personally recommend the [free for buzz users - cheapish as an 'any other client' VSTi] funky little modular synth called Blokmodular:

 

 

Alas the site appears to be down at the mo, but you might be able to find mirrors of it: http://www.blokmodular.com/

  On 2/11/2014 at 3:05 PM, gigasturtz said:

 

 

The idea that you can't make music with a modular is a completely fallacy.

It's only a relatively recent phenomenon that modular synths are 'popular' and for a while a lot of the people who owned them were mostly just rich older men, who often times wouldn't ever produce music with them. I gritted my teeth through an Arp2600 transaction where i had to get rid of my baby to a guy who fits exactly this archetype. So while it may be a fallacy technically speaking, for a while even just rare analog synth collectors (not just modular collectors) dominated the world of keeping an expensive synth but not making music with them. This is still not that uncommon of a practice. For quite a while the only people i knew who owned Buchla setups made no music at all, now that down-low Buchla clone systems are getting traction I now know a few people who actually make cool shit with it. I think it's understandable that a whole world of synthesis only relegated for the 7 figure salary middle aged man got a bad reputation at some point

Edited February 11, 2014 by John Ehrlichman

  On 2/11/2014 at 7:41 PM, John Ehrlichman said:

Anybody know of a really convenient (and cheap) solution for going to serge banana to eurorack 5v? is it also at 5v or is it 10? I saw somebody made a module that does conversions but cant i just splice a banana cable and put an 1/8th inch jack on the other end? Is that too ghetto for the world of modular synth vanity? I had an creature panel years ago but regrettably had to sell it in a pinch.

You can splice a cable but it's a bit more complicated than sticking a 3.5mm jack on the other end as the connection needs to be grounded to the Serge's PSU.

I use this: http://www.analoguehaven.com/makenoise/formatjumbler/

ah nice, yeah i was looking at that, you're happy with it? in case i decided to get any buchla clone modules or a serge (not a real one, but a clone produced by a guy in SF). I have the opportunity to get 3 original vintage serge panels but the guy wants around $3k for each one. The guy in SF who sells exact clones is asking for $1500 for essentially the same panels.
I remember when i did have one serge panel, the spliced banana jack/1/8th cable thing *seemed* to work but maybe it wasn't really working that well, i just remember being able to get doepfer LFOs to more or less sweep the whole CV input on the serge

While I'm happy with the modules that I have thus far, I really wish I would've thought to ask my fellow WATMMites for help and suggestions back in December when I was wringing my hands trying to figure out the vast world of eurorack. At any rate, all this information is still helpful to me, so thank you all.

 

In regards to case situations, I'm liking the look and sensibility of 4ms's new modular modular rack: http://www.4mspedals.com/modularrow.php. It may be the sort of thing Phling is looking for.

Edited February 12, 2014 by danke

yes just saw one of these in action, they are very nice and compact. Not great for traveling, but if you plan to keep it in your studio and not gig it would be the case I'd buy now if i didn't already own some. 4ms in general is a great company, their rotating clock dividers/multipliers are great for anyone interested in making quasi-generative sounding music on a modular synth. Very fucking useful

so waht's everyone's fav+ tone generator?

if you don't care about analog I think the Mutable Instruments Braids is probably the finest digital tone generator for eurorack.
If you want analog I'd go for something pretty basic like a doepfer A-111 VCO 2, has all the waveforms you would need on there, sine, saw, triangle, square. I use mine a lot in conjunction with a frac-rack Blacet 'mini wave' (which is based on an old WIARD design) Basically lets you drive a 128 wavetable chip with a sawtooth, can also be used as a weird distortion effect and a scale quantizer for voltage (not audio data)

Phling, there are 2 ones I haven't checked out yet that are more fancy for analog tone generator, they are both designed to do more complex FM

one is by makenoise called the DPO

and another by modcan called the FMDVO
http://www.modcan.com/emodules/fmvdo.html

verbos electronics announces a new set of fancy Buchla-esque modules
Complex VCO http://www.modulargrid.net/e/verbos-electronics-complex-oscillator
and this one that looks more interesting
harmonic oscillator http://www.modulargrid.net/e/verbos-electronics-harmonic-oscillator Edited February 12, 2014 by John Ehrlichman