Modular synthesis (the eurorack format in particular) has been something I’ve been intrigued by for a few years. I remember first finding out about its existence through a soundcloud song’s cover photo, someone’s modular set up. I vividly recall being struck by how chaotic and alien it looked to me. It was as if someone had taken the controls to a rocket ship and plonked it onto their desk at home. For a few years I put off learning about eurorack due to how complicated it looked and my own low self esteem on teaching myself, not to mention the hefty price tags that are attached to the case and modules. The past couple months however I’ve finally pushed myself to dive into the vast world of modular.

Starting off:

As you can expect, finding useful and accurate resources to start learning about an activity you don’t have much prior knowledge about can seem like an unclimbable mountain. Luckily I had made friends with a lady in my hometown who runs modular workshops for beginners so she had some handy materials to start me off.

To start with I decided to watch a couple youtube video series to get myself accustomed to the terminology and some of the less obvious modules and what they can do. From there I decided to download vcv rack, a eurorack simulator, where I then put the knowledge I just learnt into practice. I found it much harder than I anticipated but as is the case with most things the more I tinkered and played around with patching different modules to each other, the more it started becoming clearer in my mind. It was around this time I decided to buy some hardware, a Moog DFAM was my choice as I wanted to be able to create analogue percussive elements as well as it being semi modular allowing me to experiment with patching and rewiring something physical.

In the Future:

I aim to start planning my first eurorack system using the website www.modulargrid.net and also look at buying a case. One thing I’m not looking forward to is spending all my future money on modules as eurorack is akin to gambling with the amount of money you can blow on it in my mind. I’m also planning to learn how to use Pure Data, an open source visual programming language that shares a lot in common with modular synthesis.