Want to go Modular? Watch this FIRST

[@SISKworks]

I kinda love the "Fleeting" aspect to modular. Makes me feel like I enjoy those moment when sounding awesome even more.

[@amberelmmusic]

So do I. It’s such a double edged sword though. Thanks for watching.

[@Bills_Place]

I usually wait 6-12 months after the shiny new next big module drops to buy it - gives it a chance to be available used, and after all the hype dies down you can still see if anyone is actually still using it off to the side in their patch/advertisement. But the ones I really enjoy are the ones made by some guy in his garage that maybe made 10-50 of them of instead of a thousand units, because I can support some guy in his garage and also get something that isn't in every other rack. Not in a "ooh this is so exclusive" sort of way, but for sound flavors you're even less likely to find elsewhere.

[@amberelmmusic]

That’s smart. Plus at that point there will be B stock at some stores and people selling used who just didn’t get along with it. I totally get wanted small run modules. Helps make your sound that much more unique.

[@arryaxx263]

I've always thought of sound creation as closer to being an instrument maker, not a musician. I'm sure there a luthiers that would get upset at that, but searching for a sound is kind of a separate specialization from musicianship to me. It's all labels at the end of the day. What do you mean by an east coast west coast mashup? Do they use different synths?

[@amberelmmusic]

Hey thanks for watching. Basically, East coast synthesis uses subtractive synthesis to scull the sound. Starting with a harmonically rich wave and taking out frequencies with different filters. West coast uses wavefolding and FM to create sounds. Here’s a link to a pretty good article about it if you want… www.perfectcircuit.com/signal/east-coast-west-coast-synthesis?gad_source=1&gclid=Cj0KCQiAuqKqBhDxARIsAFZELmLf69GE-coUYlx41u2n29dRmnDoZSHIRlaMERcBMB4LFO-JB8gWKxYaAqvdEALw_wcB

[@arryaxx263]

That is really interesting. Thank you for the link! I'm kind of disappointed in myself that I prefer FM to subtractive now though. Being born in LA, I feel so predictable. @@amberelmmusic

[@andreasoberg2021]

Cool video. Good editing as well. I have a Quantum Mj2 and Moog One which are great for playing on and also for making new sounds but I realized I really like making the sounds and instruments and I often think I wish I could add … so I consider modular. Maybe for ambient sounds, base, drums and maybe samples for pads

[@tracyharms3548]

I’ve been in Eurorack for over nine years now and agree with most of what you said. The clearest point of contention is the price range you estimated for oscillators. The high end is significantly more than the $300 you said, but no biggie: everyone will learn that quickly by merely window shopping.

[@amberelmmusic]

Thanks for watching and the comment. You’ve got me curious about the high end of oscillators now. Are there a lot that are over 300 ish? I mean I’m sure there are a few in the thousands, just like there are Moog Ones for 10k and Jupiter 8’s in the 20k range. I was trying to keep it in the realm of what most people are looking at. Are the super expensive oscillators pretty common? Thanks for the feedback.

[@tracyharms3548]

@@amberelmmusic If you go to ModularGrid, search for modules marked Oscillator, sort by price, and don’t count whole synth systems, you’ll find roughly forty priced at $475 or more. Among these are all the complex oscillators that I see frequently discussed.

[@tracyharms3548]

If you look between $475 and roughly $300 there are probably a hundred additional models of VCOs. Too many for me to count, anyway.

[@amberelmmusic]

@tracyharms3548 just went on MG. Wow. I stand corrected. Thanks for the correction. I wish I still lived in L.A. and could go to perfect circuit to try some of them out.

[@tracyharms3548]

@@amberelmmusic I patched and played Eurorack for five years before buying a VCO module. Instead, I used things like resonant filters and modest semi+modular synths.

[@bodhibeats8257]

This is a great video! Well done and subscribed! I say if you like listening to a patch for an hour, then do that. You say “I probably shouldn’t be spending an hour….” If it’s taking away from your family and obligations, then of course I agree. But if it’s taking away from an hour you’d be spending doing something else musical? Ehh, designing and enjoying that ambient patch is every bit as valid a form of expression and use of an hour as producing a track or practicing and instrument or learning music theory, from where I sit (as a full on music theory nerd). 😁

[@amberelmmusic]

Thanks. You make some good points. I CAN get too wrapped up in getting stuff done sometimes. It is a valid form of expression. What bums me out though is afterwards when I look at the clock and that hour or so is gone, I wish I had more time to keep writing or finish some other thing. It’s a bit of a struggle, but I guess it’s a pretty good problem as far as problems go.

[@synthseeker]

"Dodgeball" reference for the WIN. Subbed, let's get you to 1k! :)

[@amberelmmusic]

Haha. I love that movie. Thanks for the sub!

[@unclemick-synths]

I control costs by having a focus - extending my Behringer Neutron as a sound engine for my Roland AE-30 wind synth. The Neutron is such a brilliant match. This focus rules out most modules plus it's on hiatus while I dig deep into ZEN-Core inside the AE-30 because heck that thing cost a lot of money! 🤑

[@amberelmmusic]

Good point. Having a clear focus is crucial. How do you like the AE 30? I’ve always been curious about those types of controllers. Thanks for watching.

[@unclemick-synths]

@@amberelmmusic I love it. Figuring out programming it has been a big challenge but I'm getting there. I just released my third tutorial and I'm still not down in the real ZEN-Core stuff. 😀 I think Roland is overlooking a huge market of people like me who are into "real" synth music but never learnt piano. We will never be good enough on keyboards to play what we want but we learnt to play sax (or clarinet) at high school or whenever and can carry a tune even though we're not virtuosos. As well as breath and bite control I use the AE-30's motion controls for cutoff and resonance and the pressure sensitive thumb pad for expression. I have a MIDI CC to CV converter so along with the Neutron's excellent conversion, I have hours of fun with my modules.

[@Inhibitd]

A few of those drawbacks are cancelled by vcv in my biased opinion. I bought vcv a good reverb and linear eq and it is my plugin chain. Another advantage to modular is the ability to sequence the quantising vertically and horizontally with wonk and scales. Btw i put you up there with benn jordan and house of kush. Excellent.

[@amberelmmusic]

Thanks very much. That’s a really great compliment. The note I dive into modular, the more I really love VCV rack. You can try out different combinations of modules, and see how the work together. It’s like a big virtual playground. See you around the channel.

[@CO5MA]

Great video

[@amberelmmusic]

Thanks!

[@DisciplinedCommotion]

I am getting into modular, but because I dont know what i'm doing I have gone for the Behringer System 15, having it for Christmas, had a quick, go but its back in its box ready for Christmas.

[@amberelmmusic]

That’s awesome. How did you like it before you wrapped it back up?

[@DisciplinedCommotion]

@@amberelmmusic at first couldn't get any sound out of it, then got sound but no pitch change, then woohooo got it. Fantastic rich punchy sound, come on Christmas.

[@amberelmmusic]

Glad you got it working! Happy patching!

[@F.R.B.Synths]

why not? is sooo expensive! 😅

[@amberelmmusic]

I know…that’s a huge why not.

[@Screaming-Trees]

Modular is cool but not for me. For reasons that you might find superficial. I don't like the mess. I think I'm a minimalist at heart and like clean work areas. I don't even have all of my gear out when I work because of the mess. I tend to bring it out as needed. And patch it in as needed. I find mess takes away from calm that I need to even think straight let alone try to put together a track. And cables, lots of cables, is the worst kind of mess haha. So for that reason I'm not going modular. But hey I do have the Matriarch and the Grandmother so that's kind of sort of dipping your toe in modular I guess. I do agree with your reasoning however. It is unique.

[@amberelmmusic]

@screaming-Trees I don’t think it’s superficial at all! You have to work in an area that inspires you to create, and also keeps your mind in the game. And your right it is a mess. There are ways to mitigate it, but I haven’t found them yet. I’ll start with all cables nicely organized by size and in their own space and within 3 minutes my desk looks like I dumped spaghetti everywhere. Keep up with the semi modular gear…it’s awesome. And try VCV rack. No mess. There’s even an option to hide the cables. Thanks for watching!

[@Screaming-Trees]

@@amberelmmusic Awesome thanks. Yeah I sort of glanced at VCV but never quite investigated it. It looks cool. Is it pay to play sort of thing? I couldn't figure out whether their free version came as a plugin or just standalone. It wouldn't be that useful as standalone. I guess I should take a closer look. Never seem to have the time anymore to dig into stuff like that. Cool overview though. Hard to find good quality content like this.

[@amberelmmusic]

Thanks! The free version of VCV is standalone, but it’s fairly easy to send it to a daw to record. And there are loads of GREAT modules. If you use a big mixer (inside of vcv) it becomes Really easy to record patches in parts to mix them in your daw later. If you have the time to check it out it’s definitely worth it.

[@sonicspecter]

I don’t think that Eurorack is expensive. OK, there is a significant initial investment and you should not buy gear on credit. However, as soon as you have a decent sized rack full of modules and you stick to selling modules before buying new stuff it costs very little to sustain the hobby. Compare it to being a football fan: You loose all your money on tickets and the only thing you keep is the memories…

[@amberelmmusic]

I guess it depends on how you look at it. The initial investment can be really big. Depending on your intentions, it can just keep being expensive (if you want to continue to grow it) or be pretty cost neutral (if like you said you swap out modules). But you could say the same for most gear. I could sell off old synths for new ones, or guitars, or really anything. But I get your point. I’m also a football fan. And I’ve had some memories that I enjoy more than some of the gear that I have haha. (Good thing I can hopefully sell that gear). Thanks for watching and commenting. I love when people engage on here.