Your "Ah-Hah" moment with modular

sloth713 · Post by **sloth713** » Wed Oct 22, 2014 1:36 am

When I got an oscilloscope (specifically an O'Tool). Connecting what you are hearing with what you are seeing makes learning and creating new patches so much easier and far more effective.

MrNovember · Post by **MrNovember** » Wed Oct 22, 2014 1:53 am

sloth713 wrote:When I got an oscilloscope (specifically an O'Tool). Connecting what you are hearing with what you are seeing makes learning and creating new patches so much easier and far more effective.

Yet another thing I never thought I'd ever be interested in owning, but I absolutely love demos and videos that show the waveform. Just having the visualization is amazing. Although, I'm not sure it's something I could really justify spending the money on right now

mr.chielos · Post by **mr.chielos** » Fri Oct 24, 2014 9:30 am

when I realized the only preset I need is a blank canvas and some imagination!

fac · Post by **fac** » Fri Oct 24, 2014 10:37 am

Whenever I check my bank account.... "A-Ha! So that's what those guys were warning me about."

eolianmollisol · Post by **eolianmollisol** » Fri Oct 24, 2014 1:37 pm

when I received my first mothership transmission and realized I didn't know jack

eole · Post by **eole** » Sat Oct 25, 2014 4:11 pm

fac wrote:Whenever I check my bank account.... "A-Ha! So that's what those guys were warning me about."

haha!

onurkalaycioglu · Post by **onurkalaycioglu** » Sat Oct 25, 2014 6:32 pm

When I got a voltage controlled polarizer.

dubonaire · Post by **dubonaire** » Mon Oct 27, 2014 5:57 pm

Dr. Sketch-n-Etch wrote:Around mid 2010, I had an "ah-hah" moment. I suddenly realized that modular synths were more fun to design and build than they were to play.

I'm really very glad you feel that way. I couldn't feel more differently. After I've spent a few hours patching, immersed in the sounds and the signal path, my head is filled with non-linguistic thoughts. It's a beautiful feeling for me.

carlosnyb · Post by **carlosnyb** » Mon Oct 27, 2014 7:07 pm

vactrol lpf with frequency modified by cv's going into a matrix mixer!

dkcg · Post by **dkcg** » Tue Oct 28, 2014 8:24 pm

MrNovember wrote:
sloth713 wrote:When I got an oscilloscope (specifically an O'Tool). Connecting what you are hearing with what you are seeing makes learning and creating new patches so much easier and far more effective.
Yet another thing I never thought I'd ever be interested in owning, but I absolutely love demos and videos that show the waveform. Just having the visualization is amazing. Although, I'm not sure it's something I could really justify spending the money on right now

Look on craigslist or something similar. I got a 100Mhz Hitachi dual channel scope with a bunch of test probes from a retired engineer for $100. Less than the price of most modules.

Vakancy of Disko · Post by **Vakancy of Disko** » Tue Oct 28, 2014 10:17 pm

I've had many, but I think one of the first is even with just one oscillator, one filter, one eg and one vca you can do incredible things.

Also sine waves are beautiful things

donkey for rent · Post by **donkey for rent** » Tue Oct 28, 2014 10:46 pm

ok...yer gonna laugh....
I recently swapped a clean Micromoog and Arp Axxe for a Synthesizers.com modular. Fully digging it. But it doesn't sound as clean and punchy as I would imagine and the tuning does not seem to scale.

So...as I am looking closely with my old eyes I notice that the voltage switch on the AC adapter has been set to 220V. I switch it to 115V and hear this horrendous BUZZZZZZ. after getting advice from a few engineers at work and carefully sticking my thumbs in places, I find that the transformer has one loose plate that is simply vibrating when the system is set to 115V. A dot of glue and the clouds part! No Buzz, uber thumpy wonderfullness and tuning stability up the wazzoo!

A good day.

Howling Terror · Post by **Howling Terror** » Thu Oct 30, 2014 4:15 pm

Too soon to say I've had the 'A-Ha!' moment as my first modules still smell new. Even though I'd done a fair bit of homework on modulars I'm simply blown away by the possibilities...and the addictiveness of patching. I've lost about 10 great sounding patches...didn't know what I was doing...didn't bother recording....I don't give a shit.

suboptimal · Post by **suboptimal** » Thu Oct 30, 2014 5:27 pm

The first time I turned it up really loud.

ETP · Post by **ETP** » Sat Nov 15, 2014 3:19 am

in earlier days i thought "is it necesary to pay 400 euros for a synth?". now i think "250 euro for one module, no problem"

eole · Post by **eole** » Sat Nov 15, 2014 7:31 am

exactly !

AAG · Post by **AAG** » Sat Nov 15, 2014 8:03 am

Several things, among which these are some of the more important ones:

- Realizing that S&H can be used for other things than randomness.
- Realizing that you don't need a dedicated sequencer module to do sequencing.
- Realizing that even though a modular synthesizer is a good instrument for improvisation, thorough study of the inner workings of modules and analog synthesis in general can be extremely rewarding. The ability to patch up a replacement for a module I don't have feels great, for example creating logic functions using VCAs. Starting a patch with a complex but clear goal in mind, and achieving it, feels great!

EarlJemmings · Post by **EarlJemmings** » Mon Nov 17, 2014 12:21 pm

suboptimal wrote:The first time I turned it up really loud.

Actually, this was a big one for me. I live in a basement apartment with a doctor above me, so no getting too loud. But when I played my first gig and heard it over the PA system

Tronman · Post by **Tronman** » Tue Nov 18, 2014 7:15 am

Aha!! I could have bought a new car!!

carlosnyb · Post by **carlosnyb** » Tue Nov 18, 2014 2:40 pm

Cars have very limited LFO's IMNSHO

Maeddlyn · Post by **Maeddlyn** » Tue Nov 18, 2014 3:42 pm

First time i nailed the water drop in cave effect through a delay.

still a favorite

unrecordings · Post by **unrecordings** » Fri Nov 21, 2014 3:19 pm

My aha (lightbulb) moment was about two weeks ago when i suddenly realised how to make drums sounds with filters and LPGs

My aha (evil laugh) moment was about ten minutes ago when i opened the box containing 6x 115cm lengths of ISEP Series II aluminium extrusion

For the uninitiated it's a means of making a really solid Eurorack style chassis for large format synths - that's enough for 77 more 1U modules

SubliminalSandwich · Post by **SubliminalSandwich** » Sat Nov 22, 2014 2:22 am

My most recent "A ha!" moment was powering up my French connection..

after looking at my 30U system I patched in about 3 modules and was blown away.

I don't look at the modules in the same way anymore.

david_r · Post by **david_r** » Sun Dec 14, 2014 2:06 pm

When I started probing my modular with my old Tektronix O scope. Knew I kept it around for a reason. I expect many more AH HA moments in the near future since I'm relatively new to eurorack.

DonKartofflo · Post by **DonKartofflo** » Tue Dec 16, 2014 12:50 am

the first patch where i stuffed every single hole of the modular.
now i know why people have these huge systems. the more you patch into each other, the more mindblowing it gets

MOD WIGGLER

MOD WIGGLER

Your "Ah-Hah" moment with modular