Noob questions

[jasonw22]

Start small. Take it slow. Read a lot. Spend a lot of time at modulargrid.net thinking it through. Every once in a while, share your modular grid rack with an experienced group of modular users in a forum like this one, and be prepared to find out how misguided your thinking was. A few times. But eventually the fog will start to clear. It takes a good while for most people.

Since you live a good distance from an urban center, expect to end up buy/sell/trading your way through this as you figure it out. Take it one module at a time. Go sloooow.

[landlockedlight]

for sure. i’ll definitely do all of those things - thank you very much!

and i’ve heard of modulargrid.net on here before. i’ll be sure to use that tool to my advantage!

do you have any places you would recommend for modular b/s/t?

[jasonw22]

Switched On Austin – Synthesizers and Electronic Instruments

[landlockedlight]

thank you very much!! your advice has been INCREDIBLY helpful!!

[sam]

There seem to be a few prevailing models of Eurorackism: giant wall of modular, each case is an instrument (or has singular purpose) and single manufacturer systems (e.g. Makenoise Shared).

I started with this traditional-ish mono voice ~5 years ago…

…and ended up going the giant wall route, just by adding a module or 2 at a time. (The VCO2RM was an accidental early purchase, even back then, Cwejman modules were hard to come by. SchneidersLaden had one leftover from a batch…)

Unless you have a lot of insight I think it’s really hard to know what you want until you start playing. So the suggestion to start small and add a few modules at a time is a good one, but the downside is that you may never feel as though you have a cohesive ‘instrument’. A small portable 6U case would be good to start with.

One word of caution regarding Eurorack effects modules, they are usually amongst the hardest modules to use. A lot of the fun ones (e.g. Clouds, SMR, Rainmaker) are complex digital beasts. Seeing as you own a White Whale maybe starting with a small synth voice would be a good idea? Even if you do pivot to a purely effects based system you’ll still need most of the modules anyway.

FYI, 2 of the videos you linked to make heavy use of the 4MS SMR, have a search on YouTube, you should find a few more demos. I may humbly suggest that it has a tendency to gravitate towards a certain sound.

[altoaiello]

Reach out to Emily Sprague (made two of your linked videos). She just started with modular synthesis this year, and you seem to enjoy her esthetic. Also, might as well check out her band Florist. They’re good!

[landlockedlight]

woah, for sure - i’ll definitely do that! thanks for the advice man!!

[infovore]

One word of caution regarding Eurorack effects modules, they are usually amongst the hardest modules to use. A lot of the fun ones (e.g. Clouds, SMR, Rainmaker) are complex digital beasts. Seeing as you own a White Whale maybe starting with a small synth voice would be a good idea? Even if you do pivot to a purely effects based system you’ll still need most of the modules anyway.

Yep. Yepyepyep. Can’t agree more. The effects modules are often challenging to use, and inventive use of them requires making use of lots of their inputs. For instance, Clouds really comes to life with lots of modulation - that’s what all those input jacks are for, after all. Buying an effects module without suitable modulation tools to manipulate it - LFOs, envelopes, looping envelopes, function generators, noise/random/s&h, etc, etc - will often lead you to wondering how you can’t replicate the way other people use it.

More generally, and more personally: I generally believe “modular as a big effects board” can often be a hiding to nothing: you end up spending a lot to do things that are not always its strong point; once you’ve put an input module, enough modulation to manipulate your effects, enough utilities… you have a very, very expensive alternative to a guitar pedal. Even compared to an expensive boutique pedal.

That said: building a small system, carefully working out what might be next, and ending up with an effects module as the ‘icing on the top’ can often be super-rewarding; all of a sudden, all the simple tools and utilities open up new possibilities in the effects module, rather than an effects module that’s only doing one trick.

Finally: modulargrid in moderation. So many people spend ages on that damn site theorycrafting their perfect rig. Don’t be that person. It’s useful to see what’s out there, get some inspiration; but it doesn’t tell you what things are like to listen to or use or how they synergise with each other. Listening and playing will tell you that.

Question: do you have a budget?

[landlockedlight]

woah - ton of info! thank you very much!

and yuh. i do want to go the effects route, but i’m sure it’ll end up as giant wall of modular. lmao

[landlockedlight]

Buying an effects module without suitable modulation tools to manipulate it - LFOs, envelopes, looping envelopes, function generators, noise/random/s&h, etc, etc - will often lead you to wondering how you can’t replicate the way other people use it.

welp. looks like this will take a lot longer than i thought. but i’m totally cool w/ that so !!!

[quote=“infovore, post:17, topic:5072”]
More generally, and more personally: I generally believe “modular as a big effects board” can often be a hiding to nothing: you end up spending a lot to do things that are not always its strong point; once you’ve put an input module, enough modulation to manipulate your effects, enough utilities… you have a very, very expensive alternative to a guitar pedal. Even compared to an expensive boutique pedal. [/quote]

ah, i see. but still! that’s what’s so fascinating to me - getting to build my own custom effects pedal!

Finally: modulargrid in moderation.

lmao i feel this. i got an account yesterday and was brainstorming everything that goes along with that, but now it looks like i should do more listening than anything ??

Question: do you have a budget?

i make around $800 a month (i’m 21). everything that doesn’t go towards my survival goes towards music.

[jasonw22]

i make around $800 a month

If your expenses are typical, that means you can save up to buy about one module a year. So, unless bank robbery is in your near future, I imagine you’ll be taking this slowly one way or another.

[landlockedlight]

If your expenses are typical, that means you can save up to buy about one module a year

this is probably some sound advice. but knowing myself (and w/ my living expenses being very cheap), i’ll probably be getting a module a month or something.

[madeofoak]

Buying an effects module without suitable modulation tools to manipulate it - LFOs, envelopes, looping envelopes, function generators, noise/random/s&h, etc, etc - will often lead you to wondering how you can’t replicate the way other people use it.

totally agree with everything here, but if you’re still thinking of going eurorack for this, let me just say that the makenoise richter wogglebug pairs perfectly with clouds. just watched a friend do a set of processing with a rack that just had those two modules in it and it sounded fantastic. it’s also a module that makes it’s way into every patch in my skiff. you can also regularly find them used.

[landlockedlight]

thank you for the suggestion! since clouds is something im looking at ill be sure to check out the richter wogglebug as well.

[landlockedlight]

you probably have a computer. there is literally infinite stuff you can do with it

true. but im trash at software. the alsa modular synth sounds like it could help me not be trash tho, so ill definitely be playing around with that a ton.

if you really are new to signal processing in any form, at least spend a little time getting familiar with the digital versions of things before you decide what hardware to invest in

how does one do this?

getting into hardware is much more expensive if you don’t have a leg up from the beginning.

im sure the way im currently planning on doing this is extremely expensive, but i usually learn through hands on activities. i figured buying modules that sound promising is the best way to learn, but now im starting to rethink that.

if you must get into euro, and you happen to have or are willing to acquire soldering skills/tools, consider kits from the likes of synthrotek or befacto.

i do not have any soldering skills, but id love to acquire them. specific links to the specific synthrotek kit you were thinking of would be much appreciated.

if you are willing to source your own components

am i willing? yes. do i know how? no.

if you want to make fucked up sounds that can’t possibly come from a computer, but you are broke, then get creative. go to thirft stores, buy portable cassette machines and childrens toys, put them in feedback loops, rip them apart, use their caps and opamps to make filters, cut up the tapes and glue them onto 7"'s, etc etc. build paper circuits.

i was thinking about doing this a while ago, but then it always came back to the same question: how the hell do i start?

if you are outside major metro areas in US, you may be well served by scouring cragislist or local buy/sell groups on FB for any kind of used pedals

if youre talking about guitar pedals then i already have some high end stuff (ct5, obne, etc.)

don’t buy modular.

welp. youve made a pretty strong case lmao

[landlockedlight]

synths i have: op-1, volca keys

synths i plan on getting: arturia origin, volca fm, korg ms 20 mini, all critter & guitari

here is a link to music that is “most similar” to what i want to create:

my situation: almost since my birth ive been breathing music. i am classically trained. so i can play whatever acoustic instrument, but when it comes to electronic music im clueless. also, since music is -literally- my life, dropping $600 on equipment is like blinking my eye. i dont even think about it - i just do it, namely because im confident in that whatever im spending my money on is a means to achieving my goal.

im currently focusing on live stuff, but eventually i want to be able to record, and so studio work is important to me as well.

my goal: hm… i guess this is hard to explain. or to make people understand in a sort of context like this. so ill give you a quote: “the truth of fiction is that it’s through the use of fiction we tell the truth.”

anyway. you were actually extremely helpful, and if youd like to offer any more of your advice i would be happy to have it. i will definitely take everything youve said so far into careful/thoughtful consideration. thank you!

[analogue01]

A couple other free thing you can do on a computer that echo the workflow of modular synths.

WREN (windows only, sorry)
http://bluehell.electro-music.com/modules/index.php

XODULAR pd modular synth
http://www.monologx.com/xodular/

Also, Reaktor, while not free, is pretty cheap all things considered. It’s basically eurorack in the box these days.

[bradfromraleigh]

I’m relatively new to modular but I’m going to recommend a slightly different approach. My experience with “Frankensystems” was that I spent more time reading about modules and playing on ModularGrid than I did actually playing my instrument. There’s a lot to be said for having a complete system - not that any system is ever complete until you’ve made it your own. But starting out, I would have probably benefited from saving up for a smallish Doepfer or Pittsburgh system, learning about synthesis more, and swapping out modules as I began feeling limitations.

What I ended up doing was building a Make Noise quasi-shared system buy going one module at a time, starting with a DPO, and DIYing my case as it grew. Once I was able to commit to one general system design, I was able to explore further without the distractions of adding new modules I didn’t fully understand. I did stray a bit here and there. I will say, a DPO and MATHS were two great modules to cut my teeth on but I’m still learning them to this day - not recommended for everyone.

Now I have 3 small cases, each no bigger than 7U, that pretty much function as their own instruments. There are small changes I’m making to each one - especially the third case which I’ve committed to Monome/Mannequins modules. This works for me and has tamed my GAS somewhat over the last year.

[bassik]

Just my two pence…

I have started making electronic music with a laptop and vst…I had a GAS for vst and had so many I can ecall making tracks in which I never had the same plug-in…it killed my creativity to be honest.
Then I got a proper job and I could buy gear.
This has ended up (to today time) with some hardware synths and drum machine, some controllers (monome of course…) and one 104hp modular box.
To be honest you can make a great deal of noises with 104hp modular box if you plan your system well.

you have already op-1 and volca keys and with the one you are planning to buy you are way over the amount of sounds you can create for a full album in my opinion.

you can do music with much much less…get a good mixer and some cool fxs
Edited: get a drum machine and a loop pedal to that kind of music

Cheers

[infovore]

if you really are new to signal processing in any form, at least spend a little time getting familiar with the digital versions of things before you decide what hardware to invest in

how does one do this?

Because lots of hardware is just re-implementation of the same ideas. Yes, UI and interface and subtleties abound, but also: an LFO is an LFO. An AD envelope is an AD envelope. You can sit in Blocks or Oscillot or BEAP or whatever, constructing signal paths out of components, discovering what interests you, what paradigms you like.

So you can sit with component parts and ideas and get a feel for what you would like, and how much or how little you can get away with. Modular hardware puts your understanding of audio and signal shaping to the test. That’s all things you can practice without a pile of modules and jack cables. It’s not the same, but it will answer some of the “where do I even begin” questions; it will answer the question of “why does everybody go on about attenuators and VCAs?”.

You can play with digital versions of these things because there is little new under the sun, and identifying the roles modules play, and the families they belong to, will help you understand how to build a system. It might also change your attitude to your priorities or to the endeavour.