Day 1 - I have no idea what I am doing

I thought I needed a hobby more expensive than photography, more time consuming than bonsai, and something with a level of complexity approaching that of amateur rocketry. So modular synthesizers seemed like the perfect fit. You know modular synths, right? Maybe you've seen that big fucking monstrosity that Keith Emerson lugged out on stage in the 1970s, that thing with that huge tangle of wires of wires poking out everywhere? It might have looked like an old-timey telephone switchboard, but, as it turns out, it's a musical instrument, one composed of small modules that each serve a specific function, such as producing a tone or sending a signal to turn that tone on and off. It's easy to conceive of it as Legos for music. Very, very expensive Legos that are connected with cables and produce and augment voltage. So maybe not much at all like Legos?

In the modern age of DAWs and soft synths, modular synthesizers have become something of a relic. This is particularly true in regards to the modern, so-called "bedroom producer" who can with minimal investment replicate even the most complicated modular patch with a keyboard and mouse. Still, there is something incredibly satisfying about twisting a knob, yanking out a patch cable, or flipping a switch and getting an immediate response. It's a feeling like no other.

Now that I am rapidly approaching middle age, my progressively withering cerebral cortex can think of no better way to spend the small sum of scratch in my Fun Money Fund on synthesizer modules. The only catch is that I have no idea what I am doing. Not in the slightest. And so it naturally seemed like a good idea to blog about my experience in approaching a discipline that is both highly technical and artistic. Maybe other n00bs might find modular synthesis a whole lot less terrifying after seeing my progress. But again, I have no idea what I'm doing, and if you are getting into modular synthesis there are people both more skilled and eloquent than I am who can steer you in the right direction. Like the forums at MuffWigger, Reddit's /r/modular, and many channels on the YouTubes. So please, bear with me as I horribly mangle the facts.

The BOM for the most basic of starter system might be something like this:

A case or rack
A power bus
A power supply
A VCO (voltage controlled oscillator)
A VCA (voltage controlled attenuator)
An EG (envelope generator)
An LFO (low-frequency oscillator)
A VCF (voltage controlled filter)
A clock source
A sequencer

...And so on. And, again, these things compose only the most basic setup. As luck would have it, with a certain amount of up-front investment, the first three things can be purchases as a single unit, all wired up and ready to have modules and crap put in it. Furthermore, prestigious manufacturers such as Moog are producing synths that include a VCO, a VCA, a VCF, and often an LFO, and therefore can serve as a standalone synthesizer or be incorporated into a larger modular system. "Semi-modular synthesizers". See Figure 1a for a photograph of my brand spanking new Moog Mother 32 right before I take it out of its case and realize that I lack the 10-pin-to-16-pin power cable I need to plug it into my rack. It produces a range of spectacular sounds, and even includes a totally adequate sequencer, but I still need more time to learn how to use the damn thing. If I were going to be honest, I'm still a little impressed with myself for being a proud owner of a Moog synthesizer. Now, I realize that lots of people might be of the opinion that the Moog should not be removed from its beautiful case, as it takes up 60hp of space, but I think I'll be happier in the short term by conserving desk space.

So anyway, I have a couple of other modules (with several more in transit):

The ALM001 "Pamela's Workout" - a clock source and sort or rhythm generator thing
The Expert Sleepers Disting - a utility module with a boatload of features... LFO, delay, wave rectifier, quantizer, random signal generator and so on.

See Figure 1b for a photograph of these modules side-by-side. In conjunction with the Mother 32, I was able to produce some pretty neat, ultra-minimal patches—nothing particularly musical, just enough to get a feel for the system.

A few more modules are due to arrive in the next few days, and I will post again once the dust settles. Hopefully the next post won't be so damn long. No one likes to read, do they? Photos and video are what people want to see, right? Quick informal survey: Who likes to read? Like this page (see button below) if you enjoy reading, and to not like this page if you do not enjoy reading.