Instruments vs Eurorack!
Modular systems can be more than just self-contained boxes of bleeps. Rob Redman hooks up guitars, keyboards, found sounds and more
One of the joys of playing modular synths is the freedom of choice. Yes, you can be affected by choice paralysis, or have your wallet emptied by the need for the latest release from your favourite developer, but the positives utterly outweigh those things. Being able to create an instrument that fits your needs and tastes exactly is a wonderful thing. You may love the versatility of a wavetable oscillator, but how about combining that with creamy Moog filters? You might feel held back by your lack of playing chops; so get yourself a sequencer or a chain of modules that let you create generative melodies. There’s no wrong answer when it comes to making music, or what instruments you choose to use.
In fact you can even blur the boundaries of what’s conventionally termed an ‘instrument’. Look at some of the modules already out there that walk on the wild side. Instruo’s Scion, for example, takes biological signals and turns them into musically useful voltages. There are more on the way too. The subMatrix Beet Tweek is a particularly promising Kickstarter module featuring a force feedback haptic controller, allowing musicians more tactile interaction with electronic music.
There is, however, something to be said for combining the wonder of your modular system with input from a few more traditional instruments. There’s nothing quite like the sound of an acoustic guitar, cello or a clarinet, for example, so how could you go about introducing their particular timbres into your synthesized music?
Over the next few pages we’ll share some of our methods for making various instruments interact with one another. Let’s strip the
concepts of external signal processing back to basics and explore everything from direct signal manipulation to pre-recorded samples, in an attempt to open up a few possibilities.
Don’t worry if you don’t play a ‘traditional’ instrument. Many of these possibilities don’t require virtuoso performance abilities, but open the flood gates to found sounds and experimentation. That said, if you are a killer guitarist we’ll share some tips that might just enable you to see your modular gear in a new light.
It’s time to power up that modular and grab hold of your guitar, kalimba or whatever else you have lying around. Let’s discover some new tools and techniques to expand your next musical venture.