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4. Moog Modular basics with Arturia’s Modular V

1 Though many modular synthesiser systems have been influenced by Moog’s designs, few follow them to the letter. For example, most modern modular systems eschew Moog’s two-part oscillator arrangement, which uses a driver to control the oscillators themselves. We’re going to take a look at how this works using one of the few software modulars to stay true to Moog’s designs, Arturia’s Modular V. Let’s fire it up. 2 We’re going to start with a blank slate. We’ll choose the Blank_synth preset from among the various templates in the browser. As you can see, the system has now been swept clear of patch cables. There are a few default connections behind the scenes, as denoted by the redencircled plugs stuck in the inputs of a couple of the Envelope modules. This indicates that the keyboard is already capable of triggering those modules. 3 No other signals are being routed, so there’s no sound. Click and drag on either side of the interface to scroll up and down the cabinet to see what’s on offer. Find the Oscillator modules in the lowerleft. Below them, you’ll see the mixer. Click/drag on the first Oscillator’s pulse wave jack to drag a cable from there to the left-most Mixer input. 4 Next, drag a cable from the second Oscillator’s sawtooth output to the second mixer input and click the red button between them. These oscillators are being controlled by the Driver module to their left. There’s one Driver for every three Oscillator modules. Let’s now drag a cable from the first mixer output over to the VCA In of the leftmost Envelope/VCA module in the same cabinet row. 5 You should now be able to hear both Oscillators playing through the VCA. The VCA is being shaped by the ADSR Envelope that resides in the same module (note that not all of the Envelope modules have VCAs). Try increasing the Attack and Release knob values so that the sound fades in and out again. Note that, unlike some ADSRs, the Sustain knob is at the bottom of these modules. 6 Finally, let’s look to the Driver module controlling our two oscillators. As you can see, there’s a large Frequency knob. Play and hold a note while giving it a twirl. You’ll hear the change in pitch is followed by both oscillators. If you want to change the pitch of a single oscillator, you can do so using that Oscillator’s Frequency knob.