how long did it took you to get creative with modular?

[Stomper]

Hi,

I own a g1. i got it for the purpose to get creative sounds and not be limited by pre wired sub/fm synths.
i believe in learning by doing but i cant get my head outside the box and always end up with something i could have done with any other synth.

how long did it took you to get creative after you got your first modular system?
would you recommand to force myself using unique modules?


Regards,
Stomper.

[iPassenger]

A couple of similar tips for coming up with new ways of doing things are:

1. Just mess about, don't even try to achieve a given sound or anything else, just literally muck about and make some stupid noises/patterns etc, then try and tame it into something useable (or don't).. Your weird start point will end up pushing you in non-traditional synth zones.

2. Do something you know that won't work, or shouldn't sound good and then do other stuff to make it work or sound good. Similar to above really.

Quite often I start out trying to make bloody awful sounds and end up working it back into something that I end up using.

Certainly though the more familiar you are with it, the easier it will be to be creative.

[jksuperstar]

At the top of the G2 forum --
http://electro-music.com/forum/forum-63.html

You will see several sticky threads that point to various tutorials people have made for many types of synthesis. Some are freely available, some you pay for. Some were written for the original Nord Modular. All have something to teach!

Maybe then, you could expand the size of the box you are thinking within?[/right]

[Uncle Krunkus]

A method I often use when dealing with a complex piece of equipment that has many different options is to get out some dice. The 10 and 20 sided ones used for role playing games are great.
I'm not saying you should settle for something which is completely random, rather just use them to create an interesting start position.
For example,
Which module will I use now? (roll dice)
How could I incorporate it into this patch? (roll dice)
Where should the settings be? (roll dice)
You'll be doing things you wouldn't have thought of in a matter of seconds.

Some of the best stuff I've done has been initiated by a random choice, and then tweaked, or forged, into something else. Inspiration can come from anywhere. "Fixing" a really "bad" random choice actually hones your critical composition skills.

[Stomper]

lol uncle.
im gonna try that and along with passenger advice.
hopefully something new will come up in the primitive brain of mine.

@jksuperstar, i have the wizoo guide (and manual) so knowing theoraticly what each module does is not the issue. it the old fashion substractive workflow im used to.

[jksuperstar]

Sure, but then there's Chet's Physical Modeling tutorial, which is a group of methods of synthesis that are typically completely different from subtractive. Roland Kuit's tutorial ($$) is made for the G2, but includes ideas developed on several other soft synths as well, so it's more a synthesis tutorial. And it goes into all kinds of sequencing techniques as well (which help your sounds become more dynamic and evolving). Rob's Tutorial I think is good to show the various directions you can go with the modulars: from subtractive, to additive, VOSIM, FM, and beyond.

[egw]

Try out the patch mutator in the editor.

[Antimon]

I got creatively inspired from minute one with my NM maybe six years ago, and I still manage to find new things to do on it (though it's the G2 nowadays). It's crazy! There's nothing I can compare it too as a creative tool.

Maybe I benefit from not having that much experience with subtractive synthesis before I got the NM. What I find easy with the NM, as opposed to basically any other synth I've tried (including a proper modular!), is modulation. So, try to do a patch where everything modulates everything else, pack modules into it until the memory can't take any more. Let the modulation go up into audio-rate. Tweak different knobs and hear what happens.

Maybe try leaving out the filters, patch and modulate until you ears can't bear the harshness, and then maybe throw on a filter just before going to the audio outs. Modulate the filter's pitch with some audio mix from a random position in the patch. Modulate, modulate, modulate!

/Stefan

[egw]

I took me about 15 minutes to get creative with the NM, but several years before I was making the kinds of patches I wanted. Mostly because I didn't know what patches I wanted at first. Some people learn that by experimentation; I learned it by playing with other musicians enough that I began to understand what would work in the group context, especially for live improvisation.

[kkissinger]

In the early days, it was the lack of equipment that caused one to be creative.

I find that as I ponder the huge number of functions (whether on my Aries modular or my K2600) that I can go into option shock which actually shuts down my creativity.

One thing to try is to use feedback in novel ways.

For example, with a VCO -- connect the VCO's output to it's own FM, PWM, or sync input. You can chain them, too... VCO1 modulates VCO2... VCO2 modulates VCO1. This example demonstrates that with only two modules, one can tweak and patch for hours.

Another approach is to think of every module as a mixer -- that is, you put signals into it, the module combines them, and you get an output.

For example, mix a few signals together with your mixer module -- then replace the mixer module with something else -- a filter, a ring modulator, a divider, etc. Plug audio frequency signals into Control inputs and vice versa.

Don't forget to try processing/mangling your control voltages, too.