This is a cool resource, Ableton being quite respected and all, but I'm interested in making synths with analog electronics if you have any suggestions in that area. Look Mum No Computer and Music From Outerspace are both fantastic for that, but I'm always open to what other folks are doing in the analog space.
As much as I would love to have a huge modular rack in my house, I am happy with a blend of physical and digital stuff. My first purchase was an Arturia Microbrute, which is just excellent for learning basic, monophonic synthesis. It's a knob-per-function device so there's nothing better than just twisting knobs and stumbling onto an amazing sound.
I send that through a cheap echo-delay pedal, then a reverb pedal, so I have a lot of control over the dynamics of whatever sound I'm making. I tend to use the Brute for basslines but it's super versatile.
From there, it depends on what I'm trying to make or play with, but I've had a great time using the Brute as both sound and MIDI input to get some nice layered input. VSTs are totally preferential of course, but I have the Arturia Jupiter 8 VST for when I want to get REALLY deep into analog synths without spending $25k on a working physical model.
Otherwise, I also have an Arturia Beatstep Pro (I'm an Arturia fanboi for sure, but their stuff is affordable and fun) which I can control the Brute with via CV in case I want to have it play a loop while I twist some knobs. I also have a profile set up in Ableton that allows me to use all the Beatstep Pro knobs to control various knobs/sliders on the Jupiter 8 VST, which has opened me up for a lot of possibilities. Beyond that, the Brute has a "mod panel" which allows for some fun stuff like jumping the LFO to the sub bass knob - the Brute is monophonic but has an overtone generator you can tune anywhere from -8 to +5.
It sounds like modular or custom synthesis are what you are looking for, but for my level of skill/time/hobby it's nice to have a setup that can fit entirely on an old Yamaha keyboard :)
