Expanding Your Modular Synth with Guitar Effects Pedals

[@sarahbellereid]

Curious about modular synthesis, electronic music, and sound design, but unsure how to get started? I have something for you! Join my free "intro to synthesis" mini course here: www.soundandsynthesis.com/firstpatch2022 PS: You don't need any special gear to do this-just a computer with VCV Rack (which is free to download).

[@michaelkonomos]

Sorry, one more comment - I would totally watch more videos like this, where you teach basic principles of music, synths, etc. There are so many gear videos, but as someone who's more interested in the meaning and pursue to music - evoking emotion - i am interested in lessons beyond what a particular synth does. Understanding the underlying principles, the big picture, the how's and the why's, it really helps a lot.

[@sarahbellereid]

Thank you! Great to know this format of video is enjoyable :)

[@BobbyGeneric145]

Definitely

[@michaelkonomos]

The tips about modulating for better distortion are HUGE. Never even considered this. Thank you!

[@michaelkonomos]

Great explanations! I am saving this one to rewatch again. You are a very good teacher.

[@h2o1969]

Nice, not what I expected. I thought it was going to be what pedals to use. ALL OF THEM! Some good information that I have wondered about. Thanks for the content. I will also check out that list.

[@sarahbellereid]

Thanks for watching!

[@tom23rd]

Those of you using VCV or other soft synth stuff, you can get in to some novel and fun territory like this with all kinds of software using virtual audio cables too. Hang an audio device onto a VAC and run the output of a software defined radio into your rack, or run one as winamp's input and drive milkdrop's visualizations with you rack.. there is literally no limit to the possibilities!

[@crnkmnky]

Winamp? Milkdrop? 🤨 Which operating system are you running? All this talk of SDR and VAC warrants a full-blown tutorial…

[@5kMagic]

I'm really glad I found this video. As a long-time guitarist I have my fair share of pedals, now that I'm building my first euro case it was starting to look expensive! Of course I could simply use the pedals I already own! Also really great that you went so in-depth. You certainly have all your ducks in a row ;) Thank you Sarah.

[@JorgeLetria]

Regarding levels, you should also consider impedance. Passive guitars output high impedance signals, while line and mic signals (and some active guitars) are low impedance. If a pedal has a high impedance input, which is common for fuzz pedals and some overdrives, you'll run into problems (moderate to severe loss of frequency content/clipping) if you mismatch that impedance with a line level signal. If you really want to make your signal pedal friendly, you should get something called reamp box, which transforms low impedance signals into high impedance ones. They're commonly used to record guitar signals to interfaces and then output them back to a guitar amplifier to record, but they're also perfectly suited to make a synth line level signal guitar pedal/amp friendly. In case you're wondering, the opposite of a reamp box is a DI box, which converts a high impedance signal into a low impedance one. Radial Engineering makes excellent reamp boxes (Pro RMP) for around 120€. I'm not saying you *have* to get one, you can certainly use guitar pedals with synths just by attenuating signals, just be aware that it's not ideal and it won't work well with every pedal. happy experiments

[@PrimitiveInTheExtreme]

Really great sounds!

[@artg7909]

My daughter is Sarah as well. Now that aside, I am glad I found your channel. So detailed and knowledgable. 👍

[@sarahbellereid]

Thank you!

[@eternalvoid2678]

I actually started with guitar pedals, then added two semi-modulars and a drum synth and added a Mantis last year. My non-modular setup is perfectly functional, but it's big and heavy. Guitar pedals take up a lot of space, especially when you add a mixer. So now I'm keeping my pedals at our band's practice space and only travel with my mantis and a small mixer (and a ton of cables). All in all that's still a ~12 kg backpack, but compared to my pedal based setup it's a breeze to get on/off public transport and walk around. Ultimately the goal is to only use my modular with the band and keep the rest of my gear at home, for practical reasons. In practice I'm using everything though; it's just so much fun xD.

[@ryanstephanus]

Ohhh I love youuuuu.. love the way you explain... and your wacky experiments.. that light dependent resistor experiment !!

[@mikep6967]

Thank you so much. This was very complete and useful explanation. I just got my first semi modular but I have some fuzz pedals I’d love to incorporate into it. This really helps!

[@ross_ykm]

Fantastic video and the absolute best chat and explanations I've heard around being intentional around using synths with overdrives and fuzz and also the expression pedal section - thanks! Also reminded of how enamoured I am with the oddballs that are the Tensor and Ring Thing! Will shout out Chase Bliss's MOOD as my current fave pedal for synths and drum machines.

[@IepsyI]

Really appreciate your thorough explanations and what one can expect to encounter along the way.

[@TheRottenMirror]

thanks for the video! it answers a lot of questions that I had right on the spot. And didn´t even finish

[@boriscat1999]

Your tips for connecting synth level to pedal expression pedal input are great because it's basically free! But it is a little cumbersome because every pedal expects a different reference voltage. Another option that requires a little bit of DIY (but it's not too hard) is to connect a vactrol to the expression input. It's just like how you had a light sensor connected earlier in your video, but then also have your modular driving an LED. A vactrol is just a LED + photoresistor wrapped up to keep external light out and there are lots of videos on building them yourself.

[@Sousless]

Awesome video! A lot of interesting and very useful information! The technical aspect explained very simply and easy to understand! Thank you!

[@bobschrei2029]

Good introduction. I had to close down my studio 2 1/2 years ago due to an unexpected cancer diagnosis. I am on the other side of that and keeping it small. I have 2 44 hp cases that a friend built to match the Moog cp-251, which was one of the few pieces of gear that I kept. I resolved this issue in 2 ways. One, the 4ms Listen four allows you to mix and match levels easily. Or externally, the Basil Dude let’s you do the same thing. The 2 small cases are devoted to morphogene, Benjolin v2, and Beads with an assortment of modulators. I use AUM on iOS for most effect chains and recording .There are no Chase Bliss or Red Panda pedals there but recent developments have seen some excellent Eventide effects, Borderlands, Nembrini, Audio Damage etc. I did relent and have a Strega😀 a small setup with an IPad is more than sufficient for my remaining years.

[@tiberbeats]

Small setups are sometimes the best setups :)

[@kenschestok9515]

Forgot about some of my pedals with expression pedal /cv controllability… thanks for jogging my brain! Great video!

[@sarahbellereid]

Thank you for watching!

[@Andor.]

Big recomendation, the Earthquaker Rainbow machine! It works so well on synths, i use it as a master effect on my system and it just so nice.

[@simonlees2848]

Another thing to consider particularly with Fuzz and Distortion is that all guitar signals wind up going through a final filter, the cabinet and speaker, these are never flat response, most relevant to fuzz and distortion is they generally cut out almost all high end frequencies above around 10k similar to a low pass filter, this is probably why your fuzz demo sounded really fizzy, companies even make guitar pedals to emulate speakers if you are running direct to a PA but for Eurorack stuff generally a Low Pass FIlter after will help control the fizz a lot although everything is up to taste and some people like that really fizzy sound. I already have several nice delay and reverb pedals so using guitar pedals has always been an obvious starting point for me, but great video.

[@idkreina]

thank u for making videos like this. theyre so informative & inspiring. i love that u challenge lots of the stereotyped notions abt our field but in a constructive, engaging way!!!

[@Stigstigmamatata]

I would say make sure you also double check what you use to scale the voltage of the input signal. I have broken pedals when I have connected them with modular while using a mixers send bus in the past only to discover the send didn't scale the way I had thought.

[@InflatableRobot]

Great video, very informative. I dig your teaching style. These sound textures you are cranking out are crazy!

[@jonridley]

I have a mixer (xaoc praga) on my modular system which has 2 return tracks . This means I can either use other eurorack modules (typically delay or reverb) or external effects pedals with my send /returns.

[@Michael62nyc]

Wow- happy to find this video! Nice to find someone who knows the gear, but is also a great teacher. 👍🏼 I’m looking for an analog mixer with 3-4 sends to pair effects pedals with my semi-modular Moogs. Recommendations welcome… 🤷🏼‍♂️

[@sarahbellereid]

Hmm, maybe the Mackie 1642VLZ4 - most of the more affordable smaller mixers only have 2 sends, as far as I know. Also the Allen & Heath WZ4 12:2 is an option with 6 sends.

[@Michael62nyc]

@@sarahbellereid thank you! Got a good deal on a Mackie profx3 16. More channels than I need but 4 aux and some good features under $500… now to play and discover! Thanks again.

[@DK-qe6uo]

Great video! The tensor is my desert island pedal for sure! Highly recommend it

[@sarahbellereid]

Thanks! Yeah, I’m really liking it so far as well…I keep discovering new little corners

[@dendriloquist]

absolutely brilliant. thank you.!

[@roz3nrahman]

Great video! I learned so much. Thank you for sharing. Subscribed!

[@sarahbellereid]

You're welcome and thanks for subscribing!

[@User37717]

Been waiting for this thank you!

[@Izbea-u9i]

This is gold. Thank You

[@skeletonmodel]

24:00 is just heaven

[@dr.papadopolis7171]

This was alot of fun to watch I'm thinking about combining Microcosm or one of the Electro-Harmonix mono synth pedals or the Boss SY-1 synthesizer pedal... Definitely having fun looking around thinking about the possibilities.. 💜

[@cristiancascetta4132]

So clear and relevant, thank you!

[@brianreilly6545]

Great info! This vid is going to help many 👍🏻

[@Autotross]

This was a really great video, very clear and informative!

[@o.r.grinter7763]

Love your channel, keep up the good work

[@linuslauterbach2975]

Highly informative video. Really enjoyed that excursion on cables during the expression pedal part, I had no clue! Where do you get this kind of information, how would you confirm this is actually true for specific pedals?

[@LockStoppageSandwich]

GREAT information thank you and keep up the good work. Was that an EP3 Moog expression pedal ?

[@emmanuelhourquet3693]

Really insightful 👍🏻 Thanks Sarah!

[@bufboston1]

You are totally awesome.

[@temporoboto]

Thank you for sharing your knowledge.

[@CEMeier]

Could you split the TRS signals from the exp. input and run the offset voltage into a VCA and feed the VCA output back into the pedal? Then whatever modulation signal (cv in) you feed the VCA, that modulation would apply to the pedal, right? And it would always work in the range expected by the pedal?

[@sarahbellereid]

Yes absolutely! This will work perfectly so long as your VCA doesn’t amplify beyond unity gain - it’s a great idea!

[@TheLordcasio]

I also have the Moog MF104M…it was not cheap when available. Now they go for between $1400-$2000. They sound amazing, but it sort of contradicts your “instead of buying an expensive new case, buy a pedal”-mantra. The Zoom CDR-70 is a great cheap multi-effect for synths. $90 used and can be hacked to host other Zoom multi-effect units (like amp/cab sims). That said, I love your videos and how you articulate things. Your examples are amazing. I honestly am struggling with how…”normal” you speak about topics that are so abstract.

[@headquarters5005]

I love your music imagination ❤️

[@geluix69]

I use 2 Strymon AA.1 amplifier attenuator modules in my setup, very affordable and works perfect.

[@hruine]

Thanks for the video! Beautiful sounds!🖤

[@yihuiliu354]

Are there tutorials for making these resistor CV controllers?~ :)

[@yihuiliu354]

What's the synth at 13:05?

[@justinhuffman2430]

Expert advice

[@Aeon_Replicant]

Maybe too late but did youtry to send something like a complex rythm with many sounds on a fuzz? It can sound very buzzy and broken and I like the resutl!

[@distant_days_9749]

this is so great and super helpful, you got me thinking about using a drum pad from an electric kit to send triggers to my modular, i guess they work the same way as an expression pedal as long as i send it a voltage to attenuate, or i could be totally wrong as i often am, i would to see a video on using different external input devices into modular, is this something you have experimented with?

[@sarahbellereid]

Thanks! Happy you found it helpful. I *think* that often drum pads for electronic kits work more like contact mics, so you could run it into a preamp with an envelope follower & comparator to get triggers out of it. Thanks for the suggestion about external input devices and modular, that’s a great idea :)

[@distant_days_9749]

cool thanks for the feedback i guess mi ears module might be the way to go then as i think that input accepts contact mic level, i found some single zone drum pads using trs which seems odd so thought they might work the same as a mod pedal, thanks so much for your help

[@k.skowronski175]

Thanks for this inspiration.. I stumbled because of another vid of yours into no-input-mixing with my old Yamaha md4, of which I thought RIP.. now I consider to use some of my outranged effects to it.. But I wonder, if I would use a multieffect with an expression-pedal like my zoom G3X, how would you build the chain-of-effects on that? Of course I will experiment, but I'm curious about how you would approach. Best wishes and Vielen Dank 🥰

[@LeoPerantoni]

Loved the video so much! Thanks! I decided to get into modular because I already have a lot of guitar pedals and was looking for a way to interface them together. Can you recommend modules that attenuate and amplify the signal for going out and in through the pedals? I've been looking at the strymon aa.1 but I don't know if there are better most cost efficient options out there. Thanks a lot!

[@sarahbellereid]

Happy you enjoyed the video! Maybe check out the ALM SBG or the Malekko Snd/Rtn - I believe I put links to both of these in the description. Another option is GPI by retro mechanical labs.

[@Modrunnermusic]

@@sarahbellereid old post, so sorry, but if you had to chose between the two, which would you prefer?

[@MelonSprout]

have you tried using control voltage with the red panda tensor?

[@sarahbellereid]

Yes, but not extensively, would love hear some experimentation!

[@joelkulesha8284]

I just want to know what the duck on the right did to deserve to be alone. Poor Ducky Great video regardless! Thank you for making this so in-depth but still accessible!

[@PaulBoos]

I agree with this sentiment. I love adding pedals in with my synths, particularly with my semi-modular stuff (and a few vintage analogs). It's nice seeing a different perspective on this... Fave companies for me: Hungry Robot, Dreadbox, and Electroharmonix. Anyway, this is VERY instructive and useful. So thank you for this! PS - have you played with the Earthquaker Rainbow Machine or the Hungry Robot El Castillo? Curious if you have played around with either those and your thoughts on uses.

[@Brendalo1]

All cables lead off to ? I was hoping to find a how to, a this plugs to & so on A couple of questions do you run your pedals at the end of the chain out to a powered speaker/ amp? or can you put the effects somewhere in the middle between two euro modules? I have a pro output module from WMD I want to use again , I stopped when I got a mixer & audio interface actual hook videos are hard to find, lots of what it sounds like after video

[@sarahbellereid]

You can use the pedals at the end of your signal chain or inserted into a patch- you will need to attenuate signals coming out of your Eurorack into the pedals, and then likely boost them again to go back into your Eurorack, but there are special fx insert modules that will help you with this in both directions. ALM SBG is one that I recommend for this :)

[@Brendalo1]

@@sarahbellereid thank you

[@joeymc5272]

Hey Sarah i know this is old and you might now even see this but as far as an output module goes, since output modules are balanced signals how do you run balanced trs to a pedal that expects a unbalanced ts cable? I know output modules can use ts but it creates a lot of unwanted noise doing this. Is there a way you work around this? I have a pedal fx send from a company i wont mention but it doesnt do a good job of getting the fx in loud enough that you can hear it well. Would love to figure out how you can put a pedal at end of chain and maybe that will work better than an fx send return. Thank you.

[@BlackMan614]

One other thing... outputs of some pedals need to be run thru line converters when going back to consoles. Impedance issues.

[@Sarahbuildsstepsequencers]

If you wanted a euro module with flanger effect, for instance, does someone make them?

[@IanPageEchols]

There are some dedicated ones, like the Erica Synths Fusion Delay/Flanger. Some standard delays can be used as a flanger. The delay needs to be set to a very short delay, have an LFO/Rate knob or input, and it's helpful to have feedback control or knob, but you can also loop cables around to do something like this.

[@sarahbellereid]

Yeah! Like @Ian Page-Echols said, you can use most delays as flangers, as long as they’re able to get into a

[@Sarahbuildsstepsequencers]

@@sarahbellereid I love that you know this!

[@vishnudh1216]

So how do you optimize the signal when going from pedals to modular?

[@sarahbellereid]

If you want to run pedals into a modular system you can use a Eurorack preamp or effect insert module - ALM SBG is a cool one

[@OregonDARRYL]

I want to buy only one multi effects pedal like the Zoom MS50g or MS70CDR. Any advice? Thanks!

[@stuartchapman5171]

Cdr for definite. You could pair it with Proco Rat or one of its multi model clones. Of all the distortion pedals it's the one that seems to work with all instruments. From drums, synths through to vocals.

[@OregonDARRYL]

@@stuartchapman5171 Thank you, Stuart!

[@eddy_sonik]

👍I LOVE ! 💙⚪❤

[@dethsyndrome]

Super Nerd POWA!

[@stubrakon9683]

👍👍👍😃

[@reecedeyoung6595]

I've got that protostar pedal and I find it almost unusable. I love the feature set, but it sounds awful. It adds so much noise to my signal.

[@jedgould5531]

Wait, you have been teaching, but it took you six minutes to get to the point. Do you buy into the whole reducing eurorack audio to line level, to get into an interface? At least for the better interfaces, this is just not true. Try it without a line out module sometime. For pedals yes.

[@leepshin]

That word "affordable" is very poorly used. I'd love to move into modular but being on a low disabled income in the UK, even the cheapest module would take me a lifetime of saving before I could afford one.

[@australianaliens5942]

Leepshin. I hope If we watch videos on the latest and greatest , most powerful (expensive!) modules, we could be forgiven for thinking that modular synthesis is best left to the idle rich. However, imho, these fancy modules are the least interesting thing about modular- as well as the most expensive. I have a personal and professional interest in accessible music-making and I believe that , with sufficient research and patience, there can be meaningful adventures in Eurorack for a range of budgets. I agree with you that 'affordable' without a qualifier can feel presumptive, however SBR is giving a lot of excellent advice that can help someone on a lower budget to navigate the vast world of Eurorack modular. You have also indicated you have a limited income/earning capacity, but without providing your own point of reference -ie do you have access to softsynths /budget-friendly synths such as Korg Volca series? Here are some suggestions for possible entry into modular that may make it more feasible for those with limited budgets. Here are some tools that might be helpful, if you're genuinely curious but put off by the price tags. 1.VCV rack is a software- based modular synthesis platform, that is FREE to download, as are many modules within it. An excellent tool to experiment/play and discover whether modular is truly for you and , eg, which kinds of modules are most useful to you. 2. AFRORACK/ DIY I'm not sure if the nature of your disability prevents it, but DIY- making your own modules- is one way to significantly reduce the financial commitment required. Search Afrorack for some brilliant and inspiring examples. I haven't chosen this path myself, although I have built my own cases, which doesn't have the same learning curves re: electronics. 3. Second-hand market/forums. I am a member of a Facebook buy/swap/sell/discussion group called 'Aussie Wigglers'. I'm sure there is a UK equivalent. If you posted to such a group, saying you were interested in exploring modular but have disabilities and a very limited budget, I'm confident people would suggest/offer to sell/donate a range of affordable modules. 4. 'Budget-minded' manufacturers. Check out Takaab modular, based They have excellent modules that suit many budgets. SAR (Slew Attack Release) is one of my favourites , at around $55 AU, a function generator that can be used in so many different ways in virtually any patch. Also, for a similar price, I love the sound of the 2LPG- (two low-pass-gates)- a LPG can function like a VCA, VCF and EG simultaneously...thus two examples that are inexpensive. GOOD LUCK and HAPPY WIGGLING

[@snörre23]

Get a used Behringer Neutron and a SQ1 and maybe one or two cheapo guitar pedals and have fun for years. (that will be 3-500 instead of 5 or 10 K for a medium Eurorack Setup)