User Posts

@Lugia

I did watch some videos of the new TR-8S and I don't see whats all the hype about, for some reason I am not too keen on the Roland stuff at all, maybe I just need to get my hands on them! I like the Aira series aesthetics tho, very modern and edgy in a good way : D but I have bit of a mentality that if I were to get one, then I would want the rest of the series too haha I did get the Monologue over other similarly priced monos because I already had Minilogue and they go so nicely together! But anyway, I'll keep my eyes on the TR-8S, but Drumbrute will still be my no. 1 choice for now.

Ive finally made some decisions! I will get Arturia Minibrute 2S to get my feet wet with modular as well as have plenty of familiar stuff in hand (and what seems to be damn nice and fully fledged sequencer)
After getting the Minibrute 2S, I will save up for the Rackbrute 6U so I'll have neat little package to expand on and what do I have here is the Minibrute expansion rack Ive designed with simple drum machine from TipTop (alltho I might switch those for other modules if I get the Arturia Drumbrute which also goes well with the modular gear with all individual outputs from the machine!), some Mutable Instruments ambient gear as well as MATHS!!! and Expert Sleepers ES-8 that I will use for interfacing with VCV Rack to get heaps of more modulation and sound possibilities!

Hello again Lexi, Sorry for being gone for so long, Lots of stuff happened recently, travelling etc. And at one point I totally forgot this website even exists haha!

I wanted to tell that since last time, Ive finally got KORG Minilogue and it has been alot of fun and just week ago I discovered software called VCV Rack, if you are not aware, it is software modular synthesizer and its completely free with 3rd parties developing new modules all the time, Ive had a blast with it and if you havent already, I suggest giving it a go too! Now that I have VCV Rack, I dont think I have to buy harware modular synth anytime soon, also because Im saving up for new guitar and microphone at the moment, But definitely someday in upcoming years I have to get some Eurorack going! (maybe if i get employed for few months, I could afford it too)

I havent really moved forward with electronics stuff, because ive been travelling around since like start of september and finally got back home 2 days ago with no further plans except just chilling at home for the rest of the year haha. Ill see after guitar and mic if I start to save up for cheapo soldering iron and some basic components to start some DIY projects with, maybe some guitar pedals for now.

Cheers!

Yes I do know about Muffwiggler and manytimes when I google something about sythesizers I find link to this page onto some forum about the stuff Im looking for, I read it from time to time, but havent had time to dig too deep really.

And what do I know about modular synthesis, well lets see haha. CV stands for control voltage and the difference between CV and LFO (low frequency oscillator) is that CV is more of an umbrella term for all voltage that is generated to modulate (or control, hence the name control voltage) some parameter of certain modules, usually via LFO or an EG (envelope generator). So all LFO can be used as CV (and also if the LFO reaches audio rates, it can be used as VCO - voltage controlled oscillator, OR as wicked FM - frequency modulator for different VCO), but not all CV is always an LFO. 2 of the different EGs are AD, ADSR, (there are some other ones too ofcourse but I dont remember all of them from top of my head, Maths module can be used as complex envelope too) from with the AD is more suitable for pecussive sounds, atleast Id think so. The EG usually modulates the VCA volume levels to create different attack, decay, sustain and release times to really shape the sound character from short attack plucky bass sounds to more ambient slow attack strings. LFO can also be controlling the volume levels of VCA to create kinda tremolor effect to the sound. Theres 2 main types of VCAs, linear and exponential, linear is more suitable for CV and exponential is more suitable for audio. I havent yeat talked about Filters (VCF), which is as the name suggests, a filter, its purpose is to let certain range of frequencies through to create either more dark bassy sound or more bright with lots of high end. Theres multiple different kinds of filters such as LP (lowpass), HP (highpass), BP (bandpass), Notch. I dont really know what exactly bandpass and notch do, but I think Bandpass takes the cutoff point and lets everything around that through and notch only lets through whats on the set cutoff point. I also dont know what exactly resonance does to the voice but it can make your filter scream, with or without a sound source (self oscillate, sine wave). Fast LFO modutlating filter cutoff with full or almost full resonance has to be one of my favorite sounds Ive made on any synthesizer so far.

I think I could go on for long time about what I think I know about modular synthesis and synthesis at all, but I think thats enough for today... Also this is what I remember from top off my head so Im not 100% confident its all correct so please correct my mistakes so I will learn! : D

Ill go read more Muffwiggler now!

Im just generally interested in sound, music and anything thats related from sound design for movies to making different genres of music... as of now I got like 50 different music projects in different genres and styles (not that Im any good at any of them, its more exploration and trying out things rather than attempts to go big on them) and I love many instruments, my first instrument was drums (I played electronic drum kit on highschool bands and finally got my own kit shortly after, also my grandparents have acoustic kit I play there every now and then)and next came along guitar (I wanted guitar for myself some years ago because I wanted to make music but no one of my friends really wanted or could play the music I wanted to make so I thaught myself play what I needed) and last but not least, keyboards and synthesizers (I was introduced to genre called Dungeon Synthetics and I was in love, I got my parents old electric piano and made my first Dungeon Synth songs back in 2012 and since Ive been practising to play keyboard a bit along side other instruments I got... and I finally like 2 years ago I got to know what synthesizers actually were and I was mesmerized by the sonic capabilities) also Im very interested in more exotic instruments but I dont own anything but one flute right now... Im also music collector, I dont got much albums compared to like mad collectors but compared to average guy I think Im doing decent with my collection of CDs

Im pretty interested in making my own modules from scratch aswell but I dont have any experience other than very simple highschool stuff I hardly even remember anymore, and even back then I didnt understand half the stuff I was doing, I just followed the instructions word to word... Thats why I want to start with small DIY kits of modules and guitar effect pedals, so I could get my feet wet on that world and see if it is for me or not. I already have some simple ideas for Modules I want to make but no schemes or anything because I really dont understand them yet... I might even apply for some school or course for small electronics so I would have someone right there to teache me and gain understanding to that world, rather than try teache myself by watching youtube videos and reading some books, but we'll see what I decide on. Ive already watched some videos of ''basics of electronics'' and tutorials for DIY stuff but I really need to do it myself to get the hang of it.

In general Im really bad at saving money because Im very impatient, Im that ''I need everything right now'' kinda guy and I cant help it... : D I try my best tho.

Yes the effects processor, I designed it to have anything I would need as guitar player, and ofcourse its over done hahaha. For start I might get by with some decent multieffect (Like that Morpheus module, Ive seen some demos on it before and it sure as hell seems really capable and crazy! other module ive been looking at is the Ornament & Crime as it seems pretty cool aswell, but I dont think its as much effect processor than it is digital function generator) but on the effects box I got multiple modules of similar effect to have different flavors of the distortion and delay for example, and also so I could use multiple effects at same time, Im not sure how many effects certain digital multieffects allow at same time, also I generally prefer analog hardware over digital.. not that I think digital is bad or anything, Im sure theres always use for it, but now Ive been going by with some free VST plugin effects on my DAW and Im not happy with them... I always prefer hardware over software.

Thanks heaps for chatting, its been very enjoyable to talk about this stuff :)

Ah man I totally forgot to mention one huge reason Im interested in modular aswell, the effects and modulations I could use with something like guitar, I have planned a system that would work more as a effects box for guitar or any sound source for that matter, Ive researched this dimension a bit but havent found anything difinitive so it will just remain as a plan until I know more...

Thanks mate! Ill keep this around for reference!

EDITED May 24th 2017, 20:18

To be honest, when I fisrt became more interested in electronic music and synthesis little over year ago, and I saw these beast of modular synths, I was scared of them and the complexity, but more I watched videos (like demos, tutorials, 'getting started with modular' and anything I could find) of them little by little, the more I was interested in them and the infinite possibilities they offer... also I started to show some interest in making my own simple modules and such (Ive never before been interested in small electronics until now, planning to start with some simple DIY kits and a solder)... Im kinda still looking for the thing I really wanna do in life, one thing is music, that I love much to make and to listen... About the modular synthesis with MIDI, I wouldnt want the MIDI keyboard to be something I completely rely on, but more of a traditional approach maybe(?), Im planning to build up more and seek all the ways I can use the modular synths with, Im interested in the drum things and patches and sounds, self playing and generating soundscapes, and sound design is really close to my heart, like with my Korg Volca I couldnt get my hands off of it in first few days because I was having fun just turning the knobs and exploring everything I can make it sound like but soon I craved for more.... Sorry if Im kinda all over the place with my messages, I try my best to keep it bearable haha

There are many things that really interests me to build a modular system, one big thing is that its unique to me, I want to build my own custom case that I can fill up partly with my own DIY modules and many cool ones from all different companies (I built my first custom PC for myself last december, so if building custom modular synth is anything like that, then I dont want to miss out on it). Other thing is the expandability and customizability, there would never come a point when I could say ''now thats too many I need to stop'' other than in bad financial situation maybe haha. 3rd thing I think is the creativity it offers, I like to think Im creative guy with tons of ideas for different purposes and modular synth would really compliment that creativity, not to say one can not be creative on much more simpler things, like you said 'It is amazing what creativity necessity invokes in us' it is most definitely true! :)

I live in Finland, and Im not much of a traveller kinda dude but Ill try and remember to take pics if I happen to find myself at Erica :)

Thanks heaps for your interesting reply! It really made me want to think about my rack more in depth, since this one was more of a compiled piece of stuff Ive seen on youtube that seemed interesting to me. Ive so far decided to start with pretty simple set up with Intellijel Atlantis and Metropolis and a MIDI interface () since I figured I want to get right into playing and sequencing stuff and having possibility to expand as I go along... Ive also looked at other similar options to this like Pittsburgs SV-1 and Moog Mother 32 but this Intellijel stuff seemed the best for me from what Ive seen online.

As for my experience with synthesis so far I only got Korg Volca Keys and I ordered Korg Minilogue not too long ago (still wating for it to arrive), and I do also have Korg Kaossilator Pro... Ive watched countless synth reviews and eurorack module demos to get an idea how it all works and I think I got somewhat basic understanding of it by now, but ofcourse I need to get my hands on some eurorack to really put my mind into it! :)

As I start building my first Eurorack (by the end of this year hopefully) I will be referring to your suggestions and ask more questions as I go along, I will not spend 4000+€ at once like you said I will save up and make meaningful purchases to get the modules I really need (because I really dont got much money going around and this is very expencive hobby : D), this was just the first touch on designing a rack and getting something to refer to when I am deciding what modules to get :)

Thank you once more, very much appreciated :)

Hello people, Im new here and new to this modular world of wonders. I have now designed a system here and was wondering if you could help me by telling me if theres anything important missing and if theres some better options for what I already have selected. This would be the first system I could slowly buildup and make changes as I go along, but I just need something to start with, a plan. My main use would be to make ambient and noise stuff for start.

Thanks!