Modular and why it is so popular right now.

[Jwar]

Hey guys! I wanted to ask some questions and start and open discussion about the world of effects at its current sate.

Over the last several years modular has really picked up steam and it sometimes seems is dominating the market (that could be a perception thing obviously, so I might be wrong).

When I first started with effects pedals, I found them extremely daunting and sometimes overwhelming. Those were pedals with more than 4 knobs. I'm not alone there, come on old guys.

Anyway, I've finally started to wrap my head around some of the different aspects of how to create properly with what I'm given. Now I'm all excited and know what I want, but I find that my fellow musicians have moved into a different territory and it keeps on going. I thought it was a fad, no joke, and that people would grow weary and come on back to fuzz and other simpler things.


Now I'm curious. What cause some of you to move away from even standard type instruments like the guitar or bass to full modular set ups? I know some do both, but some don't, so I'm genuinely curious.

When I watch videos on youtube (unless it's a demo video) it seems like a lot of users really struggle with modular even though they've been doing it for a long time. Is that accurate? Is it worth the struggle?


I'm basically just bored and trying to strike up some interesting convo here. I know there's a whole modular thread, which is awesome. Music is great no matter what. I love many bands and artist that use modular, so I'm even more curious.


Those of you who won't go there. What's your real reasoning? Cost? Fear of not understanding?

Let's talk bros.

[odontophobia]

You make an interesting point, re: fewer knobs/complexity to the potentially overhwhelming knob and cv cable complexity of modular synths.

Curious to see some answers from people who did lots of pedals to lots of modular.

[lordgalvar]

I got into modular for a few reasons:
- I wanted to try some stuff out that wasn't easy with guitar pedals
- Synth was really the first instrument I got into in the 1990s before I even got a guitar
- just had some ideas in general about sounds I wanted to make.
- I find it fast for sketching ideas or testing stuff when I can't make noise. It's also the closest I have to a patchable pedal board.
-easy and quick to create rhythms via logic, trigger sequencers, etc that are interesting

A good example: I read about a Buchla 100 patch using phase shifts to create a frequency shifter. I copied the patch in eurorack as best I could to see if it worked...kind of haha. I also wanted to try buchla style low pass gates and waveshaper on guitar (before things like the downer came out)

Why I don't like it:
- Eurorack specific: power supplies suck, 1/8" cables suck, CV isn't really standardized unless you kind of stick with the same company (some want -5to5v, -10to10v, 0to5v, 0to3v, etc)

-some modules have some standard for tuning (like 1v/Oct) and some don't...its just a random CV voltage based on an arbitrary knob level (like music thing organ)

-tuning is a pain...there is no quick and dirty unless you can ear tune reasonably well (I can't all the time)

-i end up kind of doing the same stuff over and over again (which happens with me on anything)

-eurorack specific...getting in and out of the modular system for live instruments or external processors is way more difficult than it should be

-I kind of dislike this trend of moving toward making full digital voices. The digital doesn't bother me, but the full voice does...it doesn't feel modular to me. I also feel like it has all the flaws of modular (tuning, need an extra module for ease of interface) with the flaws of standalone (lacking options, menus, etc)

-Output levels of the modules are very inconsistent

-Id rather have one good synth than a whole bunch of stuff I might make a good synth with one day now haha. Or stick with a system like buchla.

It's not as fun with guitar as I wanted it to be...but there is still some fun when I have to be quiet.

I prefer pedals and guitars any day...but I just wanted to try stuff out and modular kind of fit the position I was in at the time

Oh, I also think that because I probably won't ever be in a band again I thought modular as a drum machine would work for me...it hasn't haha. Tons of people do great things with live instruments and modular but it's too much going on for me to worry about (probably also has to do with my module choice. Dudes like thereisonlyfuzz get along just fine)

[Chankgeez]

Good insight, lordgalvar.

Over the last several years modular has really picked up steam and it sometimes seems is dominating the market (that could be a perception thing obviously, so I might be wrong).

It's not a "sometimes seems" thing. If you ask at NAMM, they'll tell you guitars & basses are losing their market share.

I think a lot of it has to do with how popular music is made these days. Hip hop & electronic musics are very popular.

[lordgalvar]

Good point Chankgeez. Rock radio (at least in LA) is more electronic than guitars.

I think it's also easier to make music in a smaller space (less people wanting to jam have a garage or a place where they can make noise, set up drums).

If you account for practice space rental and want to make stuff without a computer or groovebox, modular is kind of a logical choice these days.

It's probably also an extension of the home studio revolution that is still going on.

[Chankgeez]

^All of that.

Plus, with the advent of the internet, people don't do as many things face to face. You don't necessarily need bandmates anymore.

(Although, I don't think I'll ever prefer modular drums to a real drummer.)

[Jwar]

Appreciate all insight. Sounds like a huge pain in the ass to me, but at the same time, I bet it's rewarding when you do find something you dig.


Music is being made differently and I do know and acknowledge the decline of guitar and bass sales. I always attributed that to rising costs of instruments as well. I think that's why knock off's and cheap instruments are so heavily used. The initial investment is just too much for some. Plus you have to buy an amp, cables...etc. All added costs.


Hmmm. I can't wait to hear more!

[lordgalvar]

^All of that.

Plus, with the advent of the internet, people don't do as many things face to face. You don't necessarily need bandmates anymore.

(Although, I don't think I'll ever prefer modular drums to a real drummer.)

Drums are the most important instrument to me. I wish I played drums haha. We were always scrambling to find a drummer or deal with some drummer drama just so we could have a drummer...they were always in short supply.

I miss having a real drummer to jam with. Jamming with machines isn't fun at all.

JWAR, it really isn't that much of a pain. People do great things. It's pretty easy to get the basic grasp of it (and if you don't take on too much at once). To me, it just gets complicated bringing the whole thing together (which is a problem no matter what I'm making and with any devices). It's pretty easy and fun just to sit down and make sounds, random sequences, and stuff like that. Things like 0-coast or soft pops are probably a happy medium....and I probably should have stuck with 0-coast and some pedals.

Certain styles are easier to me too...it's much easier to do kind of sound scape stuff than like a full kraftwerk inspired track. But I assume arranging a full band would always be more difficult haha. It's not inherant to the format, just the format gives you maybe too many options with can lead to scattered direction.

[popvulture]

Hmmm. I have tons to say about this. I must find a way to solidify the verbal diarrhea, so brb.

[popvulture]

I'm in too much of a bad mood this morning to say much. Modular is fun and worth getting into, but it's expensive as fuck and you will be sorely let down if you expect to have the same kind of workflow as you would with guitar, bass, or non-modular synthesizers, especially if you like to be able to recall things quickly, or even at all. That said, you can still play those other formats and I don't know why anyone would completely abandon them for modular. Seems like a waste. Do both if you wanna.

Could also go on a tirade about how I think modular's ascent dovetails with the gross shitstorm of YouTube gear fetishism and horrible flipper culture we're witnessing right now (and I've most certainly bought into, regrettably), but I'll spare everyone.

[Chankgeez]

I'd be interested in hearing your full thoughts when you're in not such a bad mood.

That said, you can still play those other formats and I don't know why anyone would completely abandon them for modular. Seems like a waste. Do both if you wanna.

That's exactly what I intend to do when I eventually get into modular. I wanna run my guitar signal through a few carefully chosen pieces of modular gear.

[dubkitty]

i absolutely refuse to fuck with modular. i just don't have the funds for that sort of thing. and anyway, i like to think of my pedalboard as a crude modular synth: "here's the square wave (fuzz), here's the ring mod, here's the variable waveform (tremolo)" etc.

[coupleonapkins]

The 0-Coast is a happy medium (& also sounds gorgeous by itself), but the more I play any stringed instrument with pedals (or other synth things like the Bastl minis), the simpler I want it all to be. I love to get totally lost patching just one or two devices (or a few pedals into an amp), and that's reasonable enough for me. But I don't think the days of running like 12 or 15 pedals in a chain once in a while is over for me (yet?), but then again I've never really been into pedaltrains or velcro, either

Do both if you wanna.

Could also go on a tirade about how I think modular's ascent dovetails with the gross shitstorm of YouTube gear fetishism and horrible flipper culture we're witnessing right now (and I've most certainly bought into, regrettably), but I'll spare everyone.

I think it's the same for anything (make-up, LPs, burritos, smartphones, Barbies, w/e), but we all just happen to like bleep bloops and wheedle wheedles, instead.

[tremolo3]

Synths overall are more popular thanks to popular music (highly influenced by 80s pop).

Synths become mass produced at affordable prices.

Synths become easier and "fun" to play.

Mastering (or having the notion of) your typical Microkorg/Microbrute takes not a lot of time, so it's natural you want to become more creative and expand your palette of sounds, here enters modular.


Other than some of Devine's work, I have yet to find interesting modular musicians, most I have heard are just that typical 4/4 techno dude or teh ambient drone guy (seriously, you could just have picked a casiotone, a looper and a reverb pedal and get the same results), but being a huge Autechre fan kinda ruins it for me and they don't even modular. So any suggestions are welcomed.

[popvulture]

I think it's the same for anything (make-up, LPs, burritos, smartphones, Barbies, w/e), but we all just happen to like bleep bloops and wheedle wheedles, instead.

Oh I totally agree with you about that. I'm just as bad about say, vinyl and fucking JEANS or whatever as I am about gear. I think I spent a long time just kinda saying "hey, I like this stuff and it makes me happy to buy it, so why not?", but more recently I've started to be a lot more specifically self critical about it. Does it make me happy? Sometimes yes, but a lot of times it's a quick hit that goes away and sends me looking for the next thing. Another thing that's both fascinated and horrified me is the Apple-led personification of objects by way of dropping articles in favor of proper nouns. "Say hello to iPhone." It sounds innocuous at first, but how far away is it from "I'm not happy right now but I will be if I have iPad to keep me company?" I know that plenty of times I've lost sight of what's important by lusting after gear, and I think it's a pretty easy trap to fall into, given the marketing environment that we're exposed to every day. And I work in advertising. Do I grapple with this almost constantly? Yes.

I find it very interesting and funny that modular is a particularly good example of the personification phenomenon—everything's named and referred to that way. "Plaits" isn't just a module or a thing, but is rather treated as an entity with a personality—watch any of those YouTube videos and it's right there. I will also say that I feel like modular synth makers are obviously smaller and less focused on total life domination, but that sentiment that trickled down from Apple is nonetheless creepy as fuck.

As far as modular vs more traditional band type settings, I feel like they're as different as night and day, and there's plenty of space for both. To me, playing guitar, bass, or whatever in a band feels more collaborative, while modular is a bit more insular and heady. I love sitting and twiddling knobs on the little modular setup I have right now—it's a great way to zone out. I also like to get together with friends and play loud chords. As I said in my last post, I don't see a need to pick a direction and stick with only that, nor do I see why anyone would ever do so.

And as always, just an opinion.

EDIT I'll also add that the naming thing has become just as rampant in the pedal world and just about everything else. See the recent Dark World rollout, all Knobs vids, etc. I can't just single out modular with that, rather it just sorta stands out as a very clear (and often humorous) example to me.