modules

[pille'ocheoni]

well after seeing more and more comments on modules and the connection with these ive gained some interest.what is this exactly?ive been told on the board that you can pretty much do anything you want with these modules but what the hell are they?everything?preety broad for me.can you help the ingnorant please/p

[ischo]

well pille,

maybe you can be more precice about WHAT your talkin' bout, hehe?

[ischo]

if you're talkin clavia, i ain't got no clue......

[Ruben A]

analogue synth modules?? Real modular synths??

:)

[pille'ocheoni]

well for instance clavia modules.this morning and afternoon i read the whole site of clavia and found out some imfo on what they do,and how they emulate but im still not clear on the idea of modular sythesis.and how it works,and why i want it/

[pille'ocheoni]

basically im in the market for some more outboard gear and i finnaly have the money to spend.im tired of software samples and they synths i have now.i need some knobs and some avenues that will keep me occupied for a while.off the wall question but how do you think squarepusher or aphex or vsnares write there patterns.drum patterns and synth patterns?

[pille'ocheoni]

never mind,my premature attempts to get out imfomation seems useless compared to the thread by ruben on this exact subject.so my sorry.links all over the place and through everyones conversation,i have found what i need to make a decsion.thanks guys/

[Ruben A]

Pille, what thread??

??

[piscaries]

you had started a thread a while ago about the nord modular. rememeber, we were all like "you'll get addicted" and "it's the best thing in the world" i think the thread may be about 2 months since its last post

[Ruben A]

ahaaaaa... now I know. Pille´ you just have to get that Nord Modular!

Unfortunately I haven´t had the time to work with it for REAL but I love it already!

[pille'ocheoni]

cool ruben.yeah it looks like every body has one on the board.so i think i might get one too.but i might get this rhodes seventy three for x-mas.yeah rhodes

[piscaries]

damn you pille. okay.. i forgot where you live, but i'm sure we can find some town half way between both our houses, move there.. then you can use my nord and i can use your rhodes. i love that sexy souding beast.

[Ruben A]

yeah sexy sound.. reminds me of Barry White... (though he maybe haven´t played a Rhodes ever??)
hehehehe

lol

[pille'ocheoni]

yeah cam.i think its kentucky thats about half way.hehehe.will be some moutain folk!yeah man i ready to move the fuck out of the south.ive been here a year and its too long.6-8 months and ill be done with school,then full production starts.!

[piscaries]

don't be dissin' my home town. it's all about winter park! actually that place sucks, and so does orlando, and so does miami. you're either too old, too young, a cuban refugee, or trash. those are the 4 categories of floridians. come on up to chicago. lots of stuff goin on here. i do need a roommate for next year..

[pille'ocheoni]

no cam im talking about.the SOUTH.not southern jersey.the south.rednick land.[southern accent]eh beau.[/southern accent]tht kind of southern.south carolina.god damn racists.i hate this place!maybe cam,i love chicago.havent been there for a while.when do you need a room mate?next year 2003?2004?thats when i be able to 2004.

[piscaries]

oops.. got your and sheridans locations mixed up! sheridan is in winter park. oohh.. get out of sc. my aunt and uncle are retiring there! but they're from georgia so it's just a sideways move for them. as for apts., my lease is up in aug 2003...

[emef]

i got a chance to listen to my friend, nino fights nord modular for some hours a couple of months ago and since then i have been desperately saving for a nord modular but i think i will get a micro modular so it will still fit with my live equipment and also the money in my pocket

the nord rocks big time...just listen to MH and nino fight records for evidence of this

[anarchosyn]

YOU (yes you), once said:

"but im still not clear on the idea of modular sythesis.and how it works,and why i want it/"


Not sure if the epiphany has dawned on you yet, but maybe I can help.

Let me see, you're use to softsynths eh? well, they are modular as well, but the designers simply didn't give YOU, the user, the option of REpatching the (now invisible) cords involved. Take, for example, a basic analogue monosynth design (I normally use the sh101 here, but I'm not sure if you're familiar, and I don't know which softsynths you use :). It has an oscillator, a filter, a noise source, an envelope (ENV), and a voltage controlled amplifier (vca). You don't see any patch cords, but they are virtually there, under the hood. These kinds of synths are called Hardwired because the patching is permanently done.

The OSC goes into a mixer with the noise source (both with selectable volumes), then the output of the mixer goes into the filter, the filtered output goes into an envelope and the env goes into the VCA to reach the speakers.

Now, with a modular you don't need have this kind of setup if you don't want. Only want an OSC? Patch that right into an output.. bang, you have a loud buzz that will eminate as a constant signal to your speakers. Want 15 osc? If you have the cash (or the processing power, depending on the modular system in question),
you can patch all 15 together and run them through a mixer to a filter ... etc.

What makes them even cooler is the idea of modulation. Most, if not all modules, allow for some kind of modulation. Want to FM or AM 10 OSC with 10 other osc? Go for it.. Hey, what would it sound like to run the 10 modulating oscs through a filter being modulated by 2 LFOs which are feeding back into each other before being input into the other 10 (carrier) modulators? Go for it... Wait.. what would it sound like if I Put an ENV right after each of the 10 modulating OSCs, each set to different settings (so not all modulate at the same time, but OVER time ;)?

Add to the bunch the existence of logic modules (in the nord and others) and you have yourself a pretty fun time.

Basically, modulars are building blocks. I personally feel that every studio benefits from having a decent modular setup, but one benefits even greater (at earlier stages) by having a hardwired setup as well. Modulars have great power, but it's limited by your imagination. Hardwired synths can (MANY TIMES) make sounds you'd never get out of a modular simply because they have designed things into the overall setup of the synth that you might not think to integrate.

I guess, to simplify, a hardwired synth is like subtractive synthesis, and a modular synth is like additive.

Anyhow, hope that helped.. if you have any other questions, let me know (here, I rarely check private messages). I used to be quite the mad patcher in the hey-day of the clavia modular list (when it was still on wizoo). I believe I've submitted over 300 patches during my stay, mostly experiments with structured, yet self morphing, automatic sequences (i.e. autonoodles), or synths based on the same concept (gotta love crossfade modules).

Ohh.. If you want to listen to a few of my noodles and nord patches in action, check out "Veering Northwest" http://artists.mp3s.com/artists/394/belenda_boothroid.html (play hi-fi) ..

Everything in that track is from my old nord rack, aside from the sample of will smith and the hi-hats. The breakdown into liquid rhythm around 3:30~ is a nord controlled sequence, simply synched to cubase (yeah, it actually goes throughout the entire track, but most audible at that point). And yes, every nord sound was live, I never sampled her.

Btw- most of the other stuff is pretty nordless as I was posting tracks that were created over a 5-7 year span. Not even everything there is a completed copy either, so no snickering ;).. Anyhow, "BirthdayRepass" has a lot of nord as well, but almost all the drums are sampels (but only the actual drums, the rest is nord).
"Lady with an Ermine" is all digi, right from the ass of my soundcard.

[pille'ocheoni]

!ignorance becomes knowledge!.thanks anarchosyn .your explaination is exactly what i was looking for.and very easy to follow as well:).....i understand now and have listened to lots of stuff with nord modular and like synthiesis....and i think i have to have one ......my studio knowledge on a basic level of circuitry is lacking.i desire more!much more.for i will learn more!.......thanks agian/pille'....


former oregonian