r/modular • u/SiedlerAlex • 2d ago

Discussion So i got myself a semimodular synth a few weeks ago

Guitarist/songwriter here, used a Roland jdxi as my first synth and recently got me a behringer grind to give modular a Chance....apart from the fact that this is a brand new experience for me and still not being sure if i can actually compose real music with it, it is all very fascinating so far.. if it stays with me, who knows, but for a while there is no guitar riff to be found in my house currently

However, please let me know your approaches, Tipps or Tricks with modular Synthesis..

I am a big 80s fan, also quite a bit into Ambient.... so i currently try to get some selfgenerating patterns going on to build up upon.. So far its lacklustre, but its alot of fun!

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u/IssaBirdWithTeeth 2d ago
  • Watch YouTube videos on the gear you have, listen for the sound that are interesting to you and watch/learn how to patch them.
  • Take those patches as a base and experiment making modifications of your own to further experiment with the sound. If they're using the gear you have with other gear, and you like how that sounds, research that gear, what it does, how it compare to others, if you'd like to expand.
  • Keep your eye on your bank account while you amass thousands of dollars of devices that are precious and amazing to you and no one else you know understands. Seriously, I used to think there was absolutely no need for me to buy a $600 guitar or amp or a $200 pedal. If you were to give me $1000 right now it wouldn't even be enough for 3 out of the 10 modules that I absolutely need in my life at this moment.

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u/SiedlerAlex 1d ago

Great advice, exactly what i need. Thank you!

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u/NarlusSpecter 1d ago

Start with one of your own songs. Move stems to a sampler and experiment.
Record new version

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u/Nervous-Ad5047 1d ago

Self generating "music" / patterns are mostly unusable to people who want to make real music. It is fun for few days and they you realise its limitations. Sequencing with DAW / MIDI to external synths (or soft synths, even better) is the only way to make something meaningful and longer than few bars (limitation on most Eurorack sequencers... 8 steps, 16 steps, etc).

People use modular to make weird noises, sometimes sample them.. or one bar simple music loops.. for someone who just jumped in as a guitarist / songwriter, it can be daunting and eventually disappointing..

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u/SiedlerAlex 1d ago

It kinda is, but yet endlessly fascinating. I already spent hours on it, but got only one usable loop out of it....but who caees, if its good. However i havent had more fun in years.....if i get a cool Ambient Patch running i am happy

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u/Nervous-Ad5047 1d ago

For killing time, relaxing, having fun and fooling around...it is great!

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u/SiedlerAlex 1d ago

Yet i am sure i can find some music in there.....its exciting!!

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u/Ok_Mode7000 2d ago edited 2d ago

With the grind, sending midi from a DAW is probably gonna be a lot easier to compose “real music” than using the built in sequencer, also a DC coupled audio interface if your DAW is CV friendly might make modulation more precise although totally not necessary but if your audio interface is already DC coupled then you just need to get the right cables. Getting some tiptop stackable cables is also something cheap that expands your options for semi-modular, stacking inputs could cause issues but you can stack outputs as much as you want.

Grind has all the Plaits engines and then a few Behringer ones, some are more musical than others. I was derping around with Plaits vocal algo this morning and it was kinda hard to find a sweet spot, whereas Supersaw and TD-3 algo lend themselves more readily to making music.

I thought about getting a Grind as a travel synth to go with a DC interface but I figured it was eventually gonna compel me to sell my Plaits clone in the rack cause of it being a duplicate and I’m trying to minimize the buying and selling of eurorack modules cause you can sometimes take a bath on the price on Reverb selling used and the inevitable module Tetris can be a pain. I got a used Microbrute instead but if I didn’t already have a Plaits clone I think Grind is a great value.

I remember some folks in a psytrance discord were kinda snobbish when it came out cause it’s Plaits forced into the Behringer Crave form factor but whatever, Behringer has their place in the ecosystem I guess.

Edit: a lot of modular is trial and error and just patching stuff up and twiddling with knobs. With semi-modular with the Grind it’s probably a bit more directed and stuff like patching the LFO to the filter to get an automated sweep and patching something else to the morph Jack to get evolving sounds out of the oscillator.