Executing the modular album

[_VM]

… but the real work is the process of cutting, and cutting, and cutting, til only what’s really good is left.

i think with ambient, experimental…what really matters is vision for the album as a whole, singular work. it’s difficult but there should be no room for material that doesn’t support what you’re trying to achieve.

tracklists are also rly important…

Well said and couldn’t agree more. Such crucial points, especially the idea of having a strong, consistent vision for the album as a whole. Golden.

[hermbot]

I think it’s crucially important for the artist and the listener. I think concept albums work really well in this regard.

As an artist, a “concept album” kept my compositions ground and gave direction and intention.

As a listener, it gives them something to grab onto, some idea to tie things together. In what could (and usually) end up being abstract or ambient pieces, even one-word titles can impart a framework that the listener can use to prescribe their own meaning.

[autotectonic]

yeah! writing titles is so important . a good title can completely change a track’s emotional valence

[ThurberMingus]

This is good advice. Best to keep recording synth music and worry about putting it out in the future

[eothdl]

I’m at a similar point exploring modular and Live clips. Haven’t tried to look for this yet but I imagine it’s possible to build a clip sequencer in Max for Live.

I picked up a senseless morph to use as a controller for launching clips, among other things.

[ruibonito]

Hi guys, I was searching for this precise subject on google and got to this topic.
Very pleased with the replies I’ve read. I see that some here had the same questions I’ve been reflecting on lately.
I’m using the modular for almost two years.
I generally multitrack record directly into an 8 track soundcard.
As I come from the improvised music field, I’ve always felt that recording everything live was (and still is) my most pleasent approach to the modular, but sometimes I listen to some amazing stuff out there that was entirely made with overdubs.
Still, I don’t feel like to overdub for some of the reasons mentioned before on this topic, plus it feels to me that it ends up being a bit of a superficial approach to the modular itself.
The other thing I don’t usually do is to sample the modular, I prefer to do it with other instruments / sources and mix them on my patches. I also found multitracked tape a great addition to some of my compositions.