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Comment by glimshe | Hacker News Reader

Modular synths are very cool, but it's a bit like a swimming pool: it's great when someone close to you deals with the grind so you can just enjoy it.

I talked myself out investing in modulars because I know I'll never have the patience to deal with the wires when all I want is to play. Big respect for those who can do it!

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For me, the "wires" are the play! I go into VCV rack when the intention-oriented workflows in a DAW like Ableton feel too much "on the rails". The large exploration space of a virtual modular setup is tedious if you're trying to do a straightforward DAW task but wonderful if you are itching to have something unexpected and inspiring thrown at you within the action space of one or two knob or wiring changes.

> Pitchfork: What made you decide that either the tracks were done or you were ready finally to put an album out? What was the catalyst?

> RDJ: It's because I finished making a studio in Scotland that I'd been building for about three years. It took so long. I had this engineer helping me wire all the patch bays together, and he was doing it for about three months, every day, and then he realized he was doing it all wrong and had to start again. That was pretty brutal. So it's kind of like, “OK, I've done that now, it's the end of an era.”

> But then I realized I actually like making studios more than making music, because I like the possibilities of what you can do. I make these setups that will achieve some sort of purpose, so the way I've wired it together becomes the track in itself.

https://pitchfork.com/features/cover-story/9506-strange-visi...

That's totally cool - it's just not what I think of doing when I want to play. Spending months building the studio feels l more like a hobby within a hobby (or a job within the job).

You don't have to take 5 months to wire things up.

My holy trinity has long been: a multitimbral synth, a drum machine, a sequencer. Just doing things on a single multitimbral synth, with a separate drum/sequencing paradigm, makes for much fun, e.g. Virus,MachineDrum,QY700 .. okay that's two multitimbral synths, since the QY700 has XG, but yeah its a stonkin' setup that only takes 20 minutes to set up and turn on and warm up ..

Yes, some folks do just get into this subject for the GAS. (Gear Acquisition Syndrome) .. but there are also professional reasons to build a new setup every year or so.

For around $1200 USD you can put together the “dark easel” of a Make Noise Strega, 0-Coast, 0-Ctrl off Reverb. That plus a little oscilloscope/tuner like the Korg NTS-2 and you’re set.

https://youtu.be/SofDTfm1QKUsi=On2kh85cCa5rgRmA

https://youtu.be/gO9qlVr6-HA?si=FltmhE1xiqPYmKNB

Once you can start to visualize the voltage flow in your brain its so much fun to deal with the cables.

Yeah. Having a model of the signal flow in your mind and being creative with the structure is half the fun of synthesizers for me. And even if you don't comprehend everything in the moment, happy accidents are a big part of the fun.

Some modular performers like Keith Fullerton Whitman have a very dynamic approach to patching. I've seen shows where he was aggressively re-patching throughout the performance and hot-swapping connections on the fly. I'm talking several patches in a minute. It wasn't subtle, either. It was a nice contrast to many performers who tend to design their system as a fixed structure and then play from there.

The worst thing about them is the lack of patch memories. This is sold as some kind of creative limitation, but really it just means you can't park an interesting patch and keep refining and exploring it.

I prefer virtual modulars like Reaktor and Cherry Modular. Especially Cherry because there's a nice Java dev system which allows custom development with some ready-made UI and I/O options.

This is part of what appeals to me. You can have something you love, but you have an idea that you want to explore. So you have to tear it all down.

I'd usually be drawn to hoarding patches, and organizing them, and labelling and maintaining. With a modular synth, I can only produce in the moment. I find that really freeing.

I'm a hobbyist, and not a professional musician, i might think different if I did this to make money.

Some people have more or less fixed-patch instruments which might be up your alley. Definitely not that type myself (things are always changing and getting swapped in and out), but there are a lot of fun ways to use them.

No shame in that. I find modulars a bit too expansive for my taste. It sounds like you'd benefit from a more traditional hardware synth where the signal flow is mostly locked down.

The Easel has internal wiring that minimizes excessive wiring needs

VCV Rack?

Its a software emulation of hardware modular. It good fun to noodle about with. Does provide a good experience of modular.

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