An old telephone switchboard? No, a modular synthesizer

6/17/2018

To say that the modular synthesizer is back is an error, because it never went away...

The seductive sounds of the new (and also old) range of modular synthesizers are probably too intimidating and sonically complex for the "normal" musician (the one that uses presets rather than sound construction).

When I say that the modular synthesis never left, it's because since its creation and development (1940 to 1960) it has remained active in personal laboratories, in classrooms and in the experiments of composers, insatiable seekers of new sounds, rhythm and noises.

For most people, a synthesizer is a keyboard with a panel populated by LEDs, buttons and knobs. A look of disbelief arises when they are shown a modular. What is this? Why so many cables connected? Is it an old telephone switchboard? It's not a synthesizer!

The irony is that the modular ones were the first synthesizers, the only commercial synthesizers until the arrival of portable models already wired internally, such as the Minimoog.

Most commercial synthesizers today are digital: their internal computers emulate the various forms of analog synthesis. The same happens with a laptop loaded with VST plugins running some DAW software and provided with a quality sound card.

Then we have the analog non-modular synthesizers, Moog, Alesis Andromeda, the most recent Prophet 12, Roland, Korg, among others.

And in the most esoteric and niche area we have the modular, where unlike a non-modular, you can decide the configuration of your monster according to your own tastes: filters, oscillators, mixers, ring modulators, sequencers, effects, very rare sources of effects, random, sampler, etc. This flexibility is very different from non-modular systems and the possibilities become endless. A modular synthesizer can be what you want it to be - if money and space allow it - do you want three oscillators? Six? 15? Two filters? One Multimode filter? Two Lowpass and three Highpass? How about a vocoder or a theremin? Maybe you want a specific filter from a Russian synthesizer of the 60s? Most likely, someone somewhere in the world will have built a module that will satisfy your desires. In other words, the module-to-module configuration never ends. You will always have the possibility of adding a new filter, a different oscillator or very particular modules that simply do not exist in the world of non-modular analogues.

Modular synthesizers are instruments that are not fixed, their owners are continuously adding modules that even allow them to change the scope and focus of their system according to their tastes and current objectives.

It may sound like hyperbole of traditional advertising, but the world of modular synthesis is actually only limited by your imagination.

9 Comments

Eduardo GOZNE
& Zacarias Malden

Audio visual artist since 1984.

In 1983 - 84 composed “Radio” on cassette format, based on the sounds of the shortwave radio stations with a purely experimental and strange sound for the time.
During the 80’s produced many experimental and other discs marked by the sound of the Electric Body Music (EBM).

In the 90’s he formed “Alvania” with some friends. Influenced by the Electro-industrial, making numerous live appearances and two albums: “Estado de Coma” and “Alvania en Vivo”.

Later, following the dissolution of the band, began a search for a more personal style. For this, the use of analog synthesizers, drum machines, sequencers, effects pedals and any device to deliver an interesting noise, were the basis of their sound. With the advent of new technologies, Gozne renewed their sound, without neglecting its core analog.

At present come together in his studio virtual synths, iPad, computational processes, plugins and sound edition in screen, with their old and faithful analog synthesizers.

email
Chile

Rafael González

6/17/2018 16:38:35

Thank you very much for your interesting article!

Eduardo Gozne

6/17/2018 17:55:36

Gracias Rafael !!
also very grateful to Hal for his help in translation

Frank

6/18/2018 00:53:52

Modular, would definitely be something I look into when I make my first million $!

Did you see Martin Gore's modular.... heum room? A little bit too much.

https://www.sequencer.de/blog/martin-gore-studio-modular-extravaganza/33961

Jack Hertz link

6/18/2018 11:08:49

VERY good point about how personal the modular synthesizer is. It is nearly impossible for people to do the same things with them, even the same person. But this can also be a very steep learning curve for people who just want to experiment with sound. I this is why tape and sampling are so popular still.

For those of us, who don't want to spend a lot of money to play with modular synthesizers. There are some software options that are quite good, for cheap and even FREE! Check the links below a few good ones.

VCV Rack:
https://vcvrack.com/

Nord Modular G2 Demo:
http://www.nordkeyboards.com/downloads/legacy/nord-modular-g2

Sonigen:
http://www.sonigen.com/

Audulus:
http://audulus.com/

Aimee Naworal link

4/30/2019 16:24:31

Thank you for these links modular synthesizer's are fascinating to me and I have watched a few videos on youtube of people composing on these my favorite is this:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kodtdkkhAWA
Public Library Modular Synthesizer Jam - Jade Rose

https://jaderose.bandcamp.com/album/moonstone

Lumen K

6/19/2018 11:36:58

I took the plunge 4 years ago and bought a Verbos Composition system. I kind of regret getting into modular that way, since Verbos' Buchla-style modules are definitely, for me, jumping into the deep end of the pool to learn to swim. Honestly, it was the Harmonic Oscillator that sold me. I still love Verbos modules. Would love to have his Barque Filter, but $750 dollars for a single module is something I balk at. Not that it isn't fully worth the money! Not complaining about the price. It's just more than I can justify for one module right now.

What I probably should have done is started with much simpler Doepfer modules and worked my way up to Verbos. There's just something about the West Coast philosophy that I can't resist. Just fiddling around with things you don't really know, experimenting in other words, is part of the deal. Sometimes I wonder whether I appreciate it sufficiently, given how little I have actually done with it versus how much money I invested in it.

If I had it to do over again, I would probably start with a 3u 104hp skiff and a small number of modules that I would take time to learn before adding to the system. There is a lot that can be done with just a few modules. I would recommend that anyone curious about modular look up the videos of 54hp system performances perfectcircuitaudio posts. Others post such things too. They show you how much can be done with a small number of modules.

Modular is not for everyone, and in saying that I do not mean to imply that cool or smart people are modular people. Sometimes I wonder whether I am really a modular person. My problem is that I am constantly seeing modules I want to buy, when I have hardly gotten my head around the ones I have. There are so many choices, so many cool modules, and yet there are limits to how much I can time and money I can spend on it all. You can spend more time strategizing your purchases and sales than on the music.

If you are a DIY person, then you can make your own modules and double the enjoyment you get out of your modular. You built it, you saved money doing so, and you get the pleasure of using it. If things go wrong, you probably know what you need to do to fix them. I am not a DIY person, yet.

I recommend modular, but you have to know yourself and not get in over your head. I think I got in over my head. I simply don't have the spare time to devote to learning what I need to learn to get the most out of my collection of modules. That is why I wrote a post and did a set about Gear Lust. It was in good fun, but there was a serious point in it as well.

Hal McGee, EC Editor

6/19/2018 11:51:19

https://www.electroniccottage.org/lumen-k/step-off-the-gas

4/30/2019 16:40:49

I am a West Coast girl and I love changing stuff to see what happens, fiddling around with things I don't really know, experimenting in other words, it is how I learn most new programming concepts ect

Dave Fuglewicz link

7/11/2018 23:40:17

Thanks for the wonderful article. Well done. Indeed. The soft synths I use these days, emulate modular synths. so I feel like I have never really strayed from the modular, analog days. And I still have my ARP synths along with a handful of homemade modules. The subject is a vast and weighty one but you have summarized it very well. Thanks again.