Trying to plan my little system. What was your first VCO? How many did you get? Is there a such thing as too many VCOs?
What was your first VCO? How many did you get?
-- funbun
My first were the Erica Synths Black Wavetable VCO and Instruo TsL. After some weeks with the first modules, I also got Plaits form Mutable Instruments.
Is there a such thing as too many VCOs?
-- funbun
Depends on space in the rack and funds in your pockets I suppose. Nothing wrong with having loads of VCO's, they can be used as great sources of modulation. But they occupy rack space and cost money, so too many is when you have a near VCO-only rack or when you're broke from buying too many of them :)
--- Voltage control all the things ---
Doepfer A-110-2 (keep it simple and reliable in the beginning!) and Plaits. Two oscillators is a good start, if you're just learning. Opens up FM possibilities, leaves room for the utilities you'll need (envelopes, LFOs, VCAs, etc.) to learn synthesis.
Hi Funbun,
I agree here with Toodee that you actually can't have enough VCOs as long as your wallet and your rack space supports that "principle" ;-)
I started with the dual oscillators from the Behringer Neutron. With that Neutron I warped myself into modular and I never regretted the move to modular! (other than looking every month at an empty bank account... that's the con of modular).
As Stujay18 mentioned the Plaits is a nice one, digital but with some good and fun sounds in it and indeed Doepfer has some good solid oscillators too, not as "fancy" as a Plaits but a real nice VCO (Plaits is actually a DCO).
As a third oscillator (for later once you understand why you are going to buy more than two oscillators ;-) ) then for example the Doepfer A-110-4 is a nice oscillator that has some nice tricks on its sleeves.
The market of oscillators is huge so take your time to check and test them before you buy them (if you have the opportunity to test them at a dealer).
Another one I can recommend and it looks simple but it's one of the VCOs I like most, it has a good solid sound that will not disappoint you, is the Make Noise STO and it's not too expensive for what you get. If you get that one try this patch: use the triangle-sine output, put the frequency not too high (under half), take an LFO saw or triangle output, put the LFO rather slow and patch that into the shape-CV input. First put the shape-CV-attenuator completely to the left (i.e. no LFO influence/modulation) and get used to the normal sound of this STO, then put the CV attenuator to let's say 3-quarters (i.e. largely to the right, i.e. clockwise) and make sure the LFO is slow enough. In this patch I love the STO most (and of course patch something to the 1V/oct input to make it more interesting; a pitch output for example from a sequencer). It's rather simple what's happening here but somehow I love it :-)
Good luck with your oscillators choice and kind regards, Garfield.
For review reports of Eurorack modules, please refer to https://garfieldmodular.net/ for PDF formatted downloads
I'll also add an expression of love for the Instruo Cs-L.
VCOs in my first modular? Four...all Digisound Series 80. Three of the regular VCOs and one VCDO, a wavetable VCO with stepable table and index scanning. Not something you can necessarily get these days, unless you're talking about Pharmasonic's Eurorack clones.
...which brings up a point. These are VERY simple VCOs, even the VCDO. The designs are all from the early 1980s. And I still use them. And while some of the more high-end VCOs out there have new and interesting features, you can still get a buttload of use out of simple modules. Sure, having a complex VCO might be convenient, but I can patch that configuration up PDQ and get the same results, so...uhh...why are these $750 again? Refresh my memory here...
Let's face it: some of what's on the market these days is either unjustifiably complex and/or expensive. Accent on expensive. And unless it's an accident (such as something being Euro-capable, like my Field Kits), there's not much in the way of Eurorack in here in my studio.
WHAT!?!?! BLASPHEMY!!!! Nah. Look...like any other musician, I have to be practical in my gear choices. And while Eurorack was quite practical in the several years after Dieter cooked up the format, it's turned into a swamp of expensive items that bamboozle beginning synthesists on a per-minute basis, misleading rubbish, overpriced bulls**t...I mean, hell, where else can you buy an effing BOX for $300? C'mon...
So, while I own a few Eurorack devices just as a coincidence...and of course, I definitely understand the tech and how it's used and all that...my actual modulars are a 22-module Digisound and a soon-to-arrive AE system...the latter being the largest system to come out of their factory thus far. Something like, oh, 20+ VCOs and so on...BUT IT DIDN'T COST ME AN EXTRA KIDNEY! Gargantua (as the monster is known by Tangible Waves and the AE community) is being boxed up right now over in Murnau and all totalled, it should come out to about...ahh, don't get upset now...$5k.
Now, $5,000 can get you a decent Eurorack rig...IF you stay away from the "sexy" stuff and opt to construct module subsystems out of "primitives", such as cobbling together the sort of thing you find with a Buchla 258. But you still have to put it in an expensive case with power, and that'll eat a big (and questionably-expensive) chunk right off the top. But it's plausible to put a $5k pricetag on a decent, portable Eurorack build. However, it won't be anywhere as sizable and/or capable as this 160-space monster that's also been custom-drilled to allow access to all trimpots and which I'll be powering with a lab-grade Tektronix switching supply (also cheap!). But as an example...
Gargantua contains six identical arrays of modules: two VCOs, one 2OSC/D (dual digital VCO), a WAVEFOLDER, a 2VCA (sorta obvious, that), and a 4-channel mono mixer. Each one of these can act as something similar to a dual Buchla 258, but with the addition of the VCAs which allow me to alter modulation amounts with LFO or EG signals. Now, Sputnik's clone of this, the 25S, will run you $900. Two, $1800. A dozen, though...$10,800!!!
As a working stiff composer, I haven't got that kind of scratch. I like the functionality...I have fond memories of the times I've used Buchla stuff...but I'm not about to pay that for it. Instead, each one of those AE module arrays runs 172 EUR, or just a bit under $187. I have no illusions that the AE is on par with Don's designs, true, but when you start factoring price versus function, Don's designs start to lose a lot of their luster.
True, the AE system is pretty devoid of snazzy graphics and the usual cosmetic stuff, but that's because it's focused on the circuits, not how jazzy the front panel can be. But like I've been saying on MG's forum, "sexy" isn't what makes a good modular system. 90% of the people who listen to your music won't ever see what you made it on, which instantly reduces things down to purely practical terms if you opt to look at the problem that way. And sure, there's some great Eurorack gear out there...but it almost seems to me these days that Eurorack is engendering its own problems. When Dieter came up with this, the idea was to create a simple, practical, and affordable pathway into modular synthesizer tech. What we have now is only that if you're willing to do the study and careful vetting to weed out the gimmicky aspects. And there is a BUTTLOAD of those these days. Instead, you get people coming in and, first up, thinking that a modular synth is a necessity (it's not!) and that they have to go all in on something with as many knobs, lights, and nonsense as possible. And then they build totally untenable rigs and wonder why people pounce on these when they get posted. Or, worse, they DON'T post them on MG and go out and buy them without any input...sort of like the early 1990s nonsense about how a TB-303 was essential for techno and, without one, you would never succeed, never ever ever ever never ever. The result there, natch, is a cantankerous and barely-usable box of expensive BS that's missing everything needed to make it work. The blinky lights might look cool and all, but if the result sounds and plays like denatured ASS...well, was that a good idea?
The point: ultimately, if you can get the right result...and by that, I mean having a synth that functions as expected and which has all of the basic functions in their proper proportions...it really doesn't matter too much WHAT you're using. But getting that functionality right is where much of this fails. When you're taking up 30 hp with something that does a function that could just as easily be done with 4-5 other smaller modules for less...but which has AWWSUM graphics on the panel...well, that's what we call a "massive f**kup". Or if you're convinced you can achieve the sort of control that you hear other composers and/or performers achieving, but without all of the "boring" modules they have...again, that's not going to be happening.
So when we talk about awesome VCOs...yeah, my "awesome" VCOs are all quite boring. But then, modular is about what happens when these things all get hooked up together; what they're like as singular objects is sort of pointless. I've heard great stuff done on Buchlas and Serges and the like...and, for the polar opposite, I've also heard what Noise Reap's cheap Bermuda VCO is capable of...and in the end, it's not the device, it's what YOU can do with it!
Thank, guys!
Hey, @Lugia, I checked out the AE double start synth. I love the look of it. I actually want my synth to look like it came straight out of the Manhattan Project or something. The simpler the graphics the better for me. I just need to know what the da**** thing does. I look at a lot of modules and I can't tell what it is or what it does because the graphics are all jacked up. I remember back in my saxophone years, I hated have engraving on the bell of my horn. They literally cut away metal! Don't care for lacquer. Bare brass is plenty good enough.
Let me ask is the AE system it's own format? $500 for a 2x synth that's something else! I have $1,300 budgeted toward this for now. So I could go 3 or 4x for solid start.
My objective are this:
1. Learn synthesis
2. Write music for my own YouTube channel.
3. Write simple music to tell simple stories.
Yes, it's its own format, very simplistic and basic, no fancy superfluous nonsense. And $1300 would allow you to build up a rather sizable system. There are some drawbacks, however...for one thing, the AE system only uses positive CVs in a 0 - 5V range. This is very much compatible with other synth gates/triggers, but the CVs and mod signals do require some range constraints. Fortunately, there are two solutions: 1) the AE system has the 4I/O module, which not only handles audio input/output, but also handles voltage constraint, or 2) a Soundmachines' Nanobridge, a small $30+ board which gives you 14 channels of CV/gate/trig I/O with constraining reference voltage from the AE itself. The other drawback...if you're not used to working with them...are the Dupont patchwires. These are typically what you'd find in circuit prototyping work (one reason the AE gets used as a DIY development bed: the direct interconnectability with prototyping boards) although a few synths do use them...a number of Bastl devices, various Folktek modules and their Mescaline device, the Korg Volca Modular, etc. But one also has to keep in mind that, unlike 3.5mm or 1/4" patchcables, Dupont wires do not have a ground connection, so like you'd encounter with a Serge system, Kilpatrick Phenol, etc, you'll have to establish a ground-plane connection to any other devices you'd be patching the AE to.
Best thing I could suggest would be to go to https://www.tangiblewaves.com/ and have a better look. The forum there also has quite a few users (myself included) that range from players all the way up to module designers.
The first two Eurorack VCOs were the Intellijel Rubicon 2 and the Tip Top Z3000 mk2.
If I had to do it over again the Tip Top would have been an Intellijel Dixie II+. Nothing wrong with the Z3000. I would just prefer the interface on the Dixie after some wiggle time.
I would recommend a minimum of 2 VCOs so you can do sync as well as fattening your sound with two oscillators rather than one.
My first oscillator was Mutable Instruments Tides - the original version!
I still have it now - fantastic design and wonderful sounds - infinitely useful as both a VCO and an LFO :)
I can't give you a good number, but at least 2. Like most things in Modular more is better.
However two will get you good. If you can do more, go for it. If you can do 3 that will help.
If you can get 3 then move on to the stuff like filters.
2 doepfer a110 -- all analog, never a wrong choice ;)
Too many.
