when i first started surfing all the module sites, i was confronted with all the same sh!t you guys have seen and heard, but i just saw straight through it.dubgil2 wrote:A few of us on this discussion went back n forth about how you often hear nothing about bleeps and bloops on you tube clips, and then I found some worthy youtube clips. I found it interesting that when i looked up LIVEWIRE's website, you're imediately introducded to sound clips of nothing but space farts. If I was a newcomer, I would certainly be perplexed as to why modular is gaining popularity
http://www.livewire-synthesizers.com/
understand, i am just sharing this not taking a position, I too am one who plans to start off small with enough modules to fit within a Happy Ends thingie
i dont want anyone to take this the wrong way, but if you're an experienced synthesist, you only have to look at the specifications of each module to know what it does, and then you simply decide if it will do what you want it to do in your set-up. the sound is not even an issue, i have over 50 modules and all the ones which make or shape sound, sound way better than anything else ive ever heard in software, and virtual analogues, and are on a par with or better than vintage analogue synths.
you simply cannot judge the power of a piece of kit by some video of some geek playing around with the knobs of an individual module or a couple wired together, no more than you can judge a software synth by some guy playing around with the resonance knob of one filter.
these are pieces of precision equipment that are parts of a jigsaw puzzle which you have to put together yourself. you are building your own synthesiser piece by piece, and no two people will ever come up with the same result. some people will make bleeps and bloops, and others will write complex classical music.
i really think that anyone who dismisses it without actually spending some quality time on a modular is very short sighted. if you really understand synthesis, a modular is the holy grail, the ultimate tool for individual expression.
in comparison i had a fairly good knowledge of synthesis before i started, but i realise now that i was only scratching the surface of an ocean deep phenomena.
i'm pretty bored now defending modular synthesis, its a pointless exercise. its easy to feel the need to react to some of the uninformed comments, but not because i'm trying to promote it, but because if anyone is even slightly interested, they will only be put off by some of the general negativity flying around here, and if you think about it, the only people who really can have anything valid to add to this discussion are people who have experience of modulars themselves.
you'll find very few people who have modulars, who would say anything negative about them, (i've never encountered any) or sell them to go back to software, whereas there are floods of people going in the opposite direction.
the modular forums are vibrant cauldrons of excitement and freeflowing information, whenever ive had even the slightest problem, i can be sure that within minutes of me posting, i will have an informed and professional solution, quite often from the maker of the module himself.
unless you are part of it, you cannot know how expansive and inspiring it all is.
