considering my first modular-any words of warning/wisdom?

[rjd2]

hi guys, great forum you have here. some killer pictures, and some great advice i have already picked up from reading on all your modular experiences.

im wondering if any of you experienced folks may have some words of wisdom, or heads up on anything before i get too serious about planning. here's my main bullet points so far:

1-main purposes for wanting a modular:
A) to have a most killer mono synth that i can do all the stuff any mono can do, but 99X better. and to do big epic sweeps ala Queen's "play the game".
B) to have a good, fun, exploratory signal processor for other sources-drums, guitar, keys, etc.

2-sequencers-at the moment, i dont think that i would want a built-in sequencer. this element of modular synthesis is not a very big priority to me right now.

3-i have pretty much decided on the synthesizers.com modules as the basis of a system. there are a few stg soundlab modules im interested in as well. what i think would suit me best is choosing the modules that i think i would most want, and building my own custom wood cab, roughly the size of a system 44 that's split down the middle. if i ever wanted another, i could just build another cab. then using either my synthex or prophet 5 as a controller.


any tips? any heads up on anything? or is it just dive in and go for it? thanks for any thoughts...

[Hexfix93]

Here are my words of wisdom from my experience. Stay away from plan b oscillators, they don't stay in tune or track the keyboard with out constantly calibrating them.

Get the Harvestman polivoks filter.

http://www.rewiremusic.com/Audio/Demos/REwire_-_Harvestman_Polivoks_VCF_Demo.mp3

Analog systems envs are great.

[hogberto]

don't buy too many modules at once.

start with a basic system, get to know it well.

then add a module or two at a time and get to know them, and how the new modules interact with the old ones, before getting any more.

this way you'll get to know your modules properly and you'll be in a better position to decide what modules to add from time to time.

[numbernone]

Make sure your initial system has enough flavor to keep you interested. I think a lot of folks crap out after spending a couple grand on a system, alot of that going into an expensive frame and PSU, and then find the modules they do have are not exciting them as much as they had hoped for. Witness the number of "stock" doepfer A100 systems that show up on ebay...

Then, as many have said add a module or two at a time and let them integrate into the whole before buying more and more.

But dont take it from me...the core of my system is a very boutique fixed format modular, plus all of my DIY builds!!!

[Hexfix93]

diversity is key, i recomend mixing frac rack, and doepfer, and analog systems, getting the best of each and some exotic livewire and harvestman stuff. that is what makes it interesting, stuff like malgorithmix, dual cyclotron, etc etc..

[rjd2]

thanks alot guys, this is all very helpful info.

as a guy who is used to big polysynths(cs80, synthex, etc) i know i am going to have to "modify some of my thinking" about synthesis. i do feel that from programming analog poly's my fundamental understanding is somewhat sound, as far as how subtractive synthesis works. im not coming from a softsynth background, if you will.

my current goal would be to have the freedom of modifying old circuits out of some of my favorite synths to work as modules in an open system. at the moment, the DOTCOM stuff seems like the best "bread and butter" system to base it on, as far as good sound and affordability.

hopefully with the help of the DIY forum here, i can be making some progress soon.

[hogberto]

you may also want to think fairly early on about how you're going to get some movement into your modular sounds.

if you're used to playing polysynths then just playing one note at a time on your modular via a keyboard may be a bit stultifying.

so you may want to think, for example, about getting an analogue step sequencer early on so that you can immediately get into programming some good rhythmic stuff.

[Kwote]

yes! get a sequencer. i got into modulars for external signal processing and have expanded into monosynth territory by getting a blacet VCO and EG.

anyways, you can't really go wrong imo. the turnover rate is great in the modular world. get a module that's not necessarily your taste...sell it. it'll turnover real quick.

and that's the other thing. get linked into the used market. join modular yahoo lists and check out ebay. i've found going used to be a very fulfilling way to build up your system.

[morbius]

Check out Synthesizers.com - and, join the synthesizers.com user's group on yahoo. No flaming, and lots of into in the archives.

[rjd2]

thanks guys, much obliged for all the helpful comments. i took the plunge a week or two back, and ordered my first wave of modules from the DOTCOM stuff. its basically the 22-space system without the ring mod; 3 osc initial setup.

here's a link to the cabinet i built, as i am planning on building this out indefinitely:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/18476458@N05/sets/72157603919522953/


now if i can just find someone to design a PCB for a clone of the arp 1007 VCO.....

[morbius]

I want a "Mix Sequencer" from the 2500 line. You may join the dotcom format group on yahoo. A couple of guys there do this sort of thing.