Oh Gawd! What a monster!
I'm not good at modulars as it is. When I look at that pic I can't begin to imagine doing it in real life.

Oh Gawd!

but can it do a bell sound?

Yeah, it can do a bell sound, but the tuning will drift if the humidity changes! Oooh, the realism!

Personally, I'm not sure what's being asked here. Most of the virtual modulars do exactly what the question poses: They give access to the tormented HOURS required to make a patch on something like the Big Moog. However, unlike the Big Moog, if you need another filter module or oscillator, you just call one up. Yeah, it can be inconvenient to patch the modules together in Reaktor or Sync or Tassman, but it was the same way with the old beasties. I used the old modulars, and I can directly compare that tedious experience with the tedium of the software modulars, and they rate about the same. Flexibilty in the software variety blows the hardware monsters away. You want stubby knobs for it? There's always the Doepfer controller (64 knobs. Buy lots of dry-erase markers).

I'm actually building a hardware modular this Summer. I'm doing it because I miss the smell of solder, and it's gonna look AWESOME on stage, but as with most software vs hardware decisions for me, it'll probably still be software in the studio. Nothing kills an inspiration like having to physically PATCH together a sound you want, then write down all the settings, and hope the damn thing doesn't sound completely different NEXT time you make the same connections!

Don't get me wrong, I love the old beasts, and I did find new inspiration from sounds I patched together, as I still do with the software variety, but given the choice, I'd take the virtual modular any day. Of course, the happy middle ground is the Nord Modular. You get the flexibility of the software modular with the freedom to take it onstage if you want, chock full of the patches you've toiled on. The "Micro" version fits in your pocket...

Ahhhh, the memories....why does that speeding-up sequence from the very end of ELP's "Karn Evil 9" keep going through my head as I look at the picture....

Yeah, but did Emerson MEAN for it to speed up, or did someone just open a window?

Scot: LOL!!

Actually, I remember reading a sad story about Keith's old modular (was a IIIC, wasn't it?) a few years back. Seems that during one of Emerson's more recent down-times in the early 90's (when his home had been living at his engineer's house, sleeping on the couch ), the old modular had been abandoned....and literally had been sitting out in someone's back-yard, exposed to the rain and wind and other elements....worn and rusted down to an empty shell.

Thankfully, several people took it upon themselves to restore it again. I remember reading that when they were finally finished, one of them left a voice-mail for one of the other guys letting him know they were done: the message was simply that wonderful sequence. The other guy said that we he heard it, he just went "We're back!!"

[ 29 June 2002, 14:43: Message edited by: Har ]

On a variation of what Scot said, Im hoping that Reaktor Session is going to be much more suitable for 'end users' when doing this sort of modular-type patching since it introduces a slightly higher-level of patching ie bweteen built ensembles.

That way you could, concievably, have a set of Roland modules, a set of Moog modules et.c. et.c. all as separate ensembles, and be able to patch them without having to get as 'structural' as is cureently the case with Reaktor...

Yep, Rabbyt, it's one of the coolest aspects of the software based modulars. Everyone who has Reaktor, SynC, Tassman, or even the Nord, has access to the enormous amount of free and inexpensive pre-built ensembles/synths out there. Really makes these a bargain. Think about it: For about twice the cost of a fixed signal path plug-in, you get a modular that becomes a whole new synth (usually with it's own presets) everytime you download a new patch. I've found this to be a real boon. Sometimes I want a new synth to lift me out of my doldrums or to relieve a creative famine, but I don't particularly feel like building one from scratch, or I don't have enough money to buy a new plug-in. A quick trip over to someplace like DASH to get a new SynC ensemble for a few bucks, and I have a new toy! Feeds the need in a hurry!

Of course, there was the time I decided to download the entire contents of the Nord User's FTP site. It took hours! Turned out there were over 23,000 patches in there!

I have the Creamware Modular 2 ( www.creamware.com ) and it has patching and most if not all of the features of the Moog (I got to play one at school!!! -> result is here is crazy tune with moog The sound between the Moog and CW is of course different, but it has the excellent patching facilities that you want, is powered by realtime dsp, and is less than $500US for the card and Modular. Don't get me wrong, I use VSTi's, and Reaktor has a good feature set, but the *sound* of Modular 2 is superior, IMHO. I don't quite know what I would do without it! [sorry, rant done!]

[ 29 June 2002, 16:13: Message edited by: algorhythm ]

oh yeah - the one I played at school had the analog sequencer on top - I have *never* seen a software recreation of one of those! anyone?

OMFG!!!!!
Algorythm, that is an awesome track! Sounds like the stuff Beaver and Krause did in the late sixties/early seventies. Good stuff. More. Please.

Bloody Hell - looks like a telephone operator's switchboard(?).

Scot Solida quoth Of course, there was the time I decided to download the entire contents of the Nord User's FTP site. It took hours! Turned out there were over 23,000 patches in there!

Hehehe. I have the whole NI Reaktor library on CD (current as of about a month ago) Took me most of a fortnight to listen to them all and actually weed out some 'favourites' there was a chance I might use.

Tip : Get all of RachMiel's Monstruum ensemble series. Edging towards the LazyFish 'Reaktor ensemble as art' end, but bloody brilliant for effects, bizarre pads and atmospheres...

Taking it all in all, what peeps have said, fair enough. Reaktor (Tassman et al) offer too much - they give you patches under the panel - it's the patching over the panel I'd like to see in a VSTi.

The Creamware II and the Nord both do this nicely but you need a fixed pallete to work from which these old modulars give you. Consider the tonality of the Switched on Bach recording or even better Tonto's Expanding Head band. A more rigid set of options delivers a more rigid tonal pad from which to work but the patching gives you intense subtelty in expression and creativity - the exact opposite of say the Junox which takes the Moog idiom in the other direction.

Analog sequencers - well I have an original first-time purchased Yamaha CS30 which had exactly that an eight stage set of knobs for tuning the pitch of the oscillators with a keyboard adder on a sample and hold push button - only Yamaha ever implements sequencers with this feature but it enables you to track a sequence through chord changes. Very handy.

My ideal VSTi would be the componentry from the Model-E built up as shown in the photo with Reason style dangly leads. One day, who knows, one day. And polyphony

[ 29 June 2002, 19:53: Message edited by: HanafiH ]

I just had to jump on this one too...

The Moog Modular, the pup that I first learned on. God, just to have that in my studio would be something... an entire wall of blinking modules.

But not very realistic... as Scot mentioned... we tend to forget about the stuff like oscillator drift, the headaches of creating a patch and then writing it down - and it never sounding quite the same ever again!!! Both good and bad.

I have a Nord Modular - although only a micro. I love it. Also downloaded the 23,000 patches. There is a lot of duplication in there, I think. So it might only be something like 21,000 patches!!! LOL

I'm also looking forward to Reaktor Sessions. I think I will upgrade to that from Dynamo. Still debating about just getting Reaktor instead, but I'm trying to be realistic in wondering whether I would ever actually sit there and construct entire synths. That's why Sessions sounds good to me.

I was also considering looking into Tassman, although I'm quite happy with the Nord.

Might be fun to have a soft modular so that I can throw it on my notebook and be able to play with it anywhere.

There's also Vaz Modular.

I guess what I should really do is look into Dr. Sync. Can't beat that for the price, huh?

Okay, I'm way too chatty today.

HanafiH,
If you want the sound and patchability of a modular, why not either A) get one of the ones we've talked about, but limit yourself to one or two configurations, or b) Look into VirSyn Tera or the EXCELLENT LinPlug Delta III? These two won't give you the patch cables, but will give you modular patching capabilites and the fixed set of modules to patch. I've gotten sounds from the Delta that are on a par with any hardware modular I've played with, but are far beyound what a fixed signal path synth offers.

Liondream,
SynC is great, partly because it offers some of what makes Reaktor so nice, but sounds unique. Plus there is a great community of users out there. It doesn't have the user base (and thus as many available patches) of Reaktor, but there are still plenty of resources including our own Liqih, and, of course, DASH Synthesis. AND IT'S FIFTY BUCKS!!!

Hanafih quoth Taking it all in all, what peeps have said, fair enough. Reaktor (Tassman et al) offer too much - they give you patches under the panel - it's the patching over the panel I'd like to see in a VSTi.

Thats specifically why I brought up Reaktor Sessions; I'm hoping that you'd be able to load up a preset which was composed of, say, 30 Roland modules, and patch between them without knowing what was going on under the bonnet. If you want to be able to design/build new modules, you'd need the next full version of Reaktor (3.3) but Sessions lets you use pre-built ensembles in a patchable manner.

The Moog modular 55

I know you find a lot of emus done in Reaktor and such, but a good VSTi recreation of an old patch cord system is sorely absent. Another good candidate would be the Roland 100 modular system. I used one these in the early eighties - stubby little fader knobs and all.

The key ingredient is the patching facility.

what a beauty

ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh