
ModularGrid - pmoriarty
https://www.modulargrid.net/
======
nat
A little weird to see it here, but ModularGrid is the best thing to happen to
the modular synth community since transistors.

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amelius
Why not take a more flexible approach, and use a computer instead?

~~~
tibbon
UI, immediacy, chaos/entropy, and compatibility/flexibility.

The UI of a modular is great. There is (generally, a few digital modules have
menus/modes) only one function per knob/button/jack. Everything is pretty
obvious as to its function. The workflow _feels_ creative, in a way that
programming CSound or MAX/MSP never did to me. I sit at a computer ~8+ hours a
day coding as-is, do I really want to do that for my instrument? I generally
just set ProTools to start recording, and then turn off my monitor and ignore
the computer.

Immediacy of modular synths is amazing. The sound you have now _is_ now, once
you unpatch or turn knobs you aren't getting it back. Even if you take photos,
you're unlikely to get it back again. That's part of the great part. It isn't
a preset that you're using. You're using something that you put together. For
live performance, this adds a really neat aspect of danger. Is there really
much danger (aside from a system crash) of hitting 'play' in Ableton? No. But
the modular can do all sorts of stupid things, which leads me to my next
point.

The chaos and entropy in these systems is great. Sometimes you use patch cords
that are too long and get some crosstalk/resistance that you weren't
accounting for. Sometimes there's noise. Sometimes things skip and don't play
in 4/4 as you were expecting (I had a weird clocking issue/ghost in the
machine last week, that caused it to basically make its own drum fills...
without any unit dedicated to that). For creativity, this is like a drug. The
sound you're making will almost certainly not be the sound anyone else is
using- period. That's pretty damn cool.

Flexibility/compatibility. Voltage is voltage. If you don't care about
tracking pitches to a 12-tone scale, then there are practically no limits to
what units will work together. A modular from the 70's can patch in with my
current eurorack, and also my Minimoog Voyager- your software from 1970's
probably doesn't work great with your iPad. My modular has stuff from around a
dozen makers, and I have another dozen guitar pedals, mini synths, and such
that also can deal with control voltage stuff. I can make little Arduino toys
trivially that will work with it as well. I don't have to deal with different
plugin formats, outdated systems (Protools TDM anyone?), inter-system issues,
etc. It just works and that's pretty amazing.

Of course, I do have a computer hooked up to my recording gear, but it rarely
gets used until I really have the idea ready to go. I'm thinking of getting an
8-track tape machine so I can remove the computer entirely.

~~~
max-a
What genre do you produce? Mind sharing some works?

~~~
tibbon
[https://soundcloud.com/tibbon/sets/eurorack-
modular](https://soundcloud.com/tibbon/sets/eurorack-modular)

Mostly just weird noisy stuff. I gravitate toward industrial things, and I'm
working on a grand album slowly.

