Building First Modular

Introduction

Nowadays it is more feasible to build a modular system than compared to the past, when parts were very expensive and systems ended up costing tens of thousands of dollars. When buying any physical synthesizer keyboard, one gets a fixed circuitry and components. On the other side modular synthesizers offer much more freedom and customization around independent modules.  You can have fifteen individual oscillators, five different envelope generators, four colorful filters, three unique sequencers, few interesting LFOs and multiple effects engines – all of which do not exist in the world of ready to use instruments.

Building The System

Building a system can be a long and difficult process especially to those who are newcomers to the world of modular synthesis. Before deciding the format of the Eurorack box, one has to do a lot of research on each individual module, also these components are not available in common musical stores and are developed by tiny teams in small companies all around the world. The hands on experience may not be available as dealers may not have many modules in stock and in hand, for you to play and test the synthesizer before placing an order / purchasing. To gain more insight, there are several specific groups in Facebook that are dedicated to modular synthesis – make sure to check them out. Also there is a website via www.modulargrid.net which lets you sketch modular ideas on the grid, and see multitude of combinations in real time.

Image of Modular Synthesizer built by United Music Store on Modular Grid for Pretty Samples. 

The Case

After deciding on modules, you can start looking for a case / box to hold them altogether. The question is “How big should the case be”. It’s always better to get a case with extra room for the modules because through mixing and matching, placing and then replacing - we never know what the final modular build composition will look like so it’s better to come prepared. There are many brands that offer options of pre-assembled cases like: Make Noise Music, Analogue Systems, Sound Transform Systems, Livid Instrument and Pittsburg Modular. These ready cases can also provide insight to logic behind the way modules are interlinked with each other. Do not forget about importance of power supply and patch cables.

Interesting Modules

There are few modules that caught our attention lately. First one, Loquelic Iteritas. It is complex digital oscillator with 3 algorithms at play. The most amazing thing about this module is that it can generate very dark atmospheric sounds as well as soft tonal timbres. Second one, Rainmaker. It is a module which has a full and powerful synthesizer voice. On top of that, it has a 16 step sequencer with assignable parameters which can be randomized via single press on a trigger button. Third and last is Maths. It’s a Swiss knife in the world of Eurorack meaning it can do many things at once. It can work like LFO, slew-limiter and can summarize multiple signals at once.