Guidance on modular synth hardware and setups.

[Driver]

Well hello, you lovely bunch of music lovers! I hope you have been rocking those sound waves every day!

I'm looking for some help and advice with regard to building a modular synth hardware setup and was looking for some tried and tested recommendations.
I have been looking into different types of multitrack mixers but I am unsure what would be a good route to go down. I am looking for something that would also work very well with most DAWS like Ableton Live and Logic Pro. Something not too bulky but also compatible, if I were to set up for recording bands and use multiple instruments as well as a couple of extra monitor outputs, wouldn't go a miss.

I currently have a few pieces of hardware that I am currently learning to use and I was looking at some others that could enable me to have more control over parameters in my DAW. I mainly use Ableton Live at the moment but I will likely be experimenting and collaborating with all sorts of musical inputs throughout my studies so the more in-depth detail I can pick up the better. I also need to create CV sample patches for my portfolio any link or information to help me build a better understanding of this area would be very much appreciated.

Current setup.

Akai APC25
Novation SL MK3
Roland TR8s
Behringer TD3
Behringer Crave
Korg Minilogue XD Module
Mackie Profx12V3 Mixer
Roland Quad Core USB Interface

I know there is already a wealth of information on this forum and I have already done quite a bit of digging over the months since stepping back into the cosmos. Since my degree started I currently don't have as much time to dig through pages of forums and I was hoping some of you great musical wizards would be able to spare a few moments for an aspiring musical nut and help shed some light and offer me some guidance on what to use, buy or avoid during this great journey.

Thank you all in advance for taking the time to stop by and help as well as to those who have already provided such wonderful inspiration over the months.

 

[Continuum]

A friend of mine has dropped about £25K on his modular so far and it's "not quite there yet" and he's not produced a single tune with it.
When we write together we play with the eurorack for a couple of hours and then knock something out on VSTs.
There's a moral here somewhere.

 

[Dendrite Time]

...he's not produced a single tune with it.

Uh-huh...

When we write together we play with the eurorack for a couple of hours and then knock something out on VSTis.

I think you answered your own question. All these twunts who wang on about their modular setups are just generating Instagram content.

I have walls full of the stuff and my main workhorse is a Roland System 8. Sometimes you just want to play some chords.

Recently I was working through my shortlist of names for my forthcoming album and had sort of settled on "Metroland". Great name for an album. Can't believe nobody thought of it before me.

Imagine my disappointment...

Lovely to see you btw. It's been ages.

 

[Dendrite Time]

Well hello, you lovely bunch of music lovers! I hope you have been rocking those sound waves every day!

I'm looking for some help and advice with regard to building a modular synth hardware setup and was looking for some tried and tested recommendations.
I have been looking into different types of multitrack mixers but I am unsure what would be a good route to go down. I am looking for something that would also work very well with most DAWS like Ableton Live and Logic Pro. Something not too bulky but also compatible, if I were to set up for recording bands and use multiple instruments as well as a couple of extra monitor outputs, wouldn't go a miss.

I currently have a few pieces of hardware that I am currently learning to use and I was looking at some others that could enable me to have more control over parameters in my DAW. I mainly use Ableton Live at the moment but I will likely be experimenting and collaborating with all sorts of musical inputs throughout my studies so the more in-depth detail I can pick up the better. I also need to create CV sample patches for my portfolio any link or information to help me build a better understanding of this area would be very much appreciated.

Current setup.

Akai APC25
Novation SL MK3
Roland TR8s
Behringer TD3
Behringer Crave
Korg Minilogue XD Module
Mackie Profx12V3 Mixer
Roland Quad Core USB Interface

I know there is already a wealth of information on this forum and I have already done quite a bit of digging over the months since stepping back into the cosmos. Since my degree started I currently don't have as much time to dig through pages of forums and I was hoping some of you great musical wizards would be able to spare a few moments for an aspiring musical nut and help shed some light and offer me some guidance on what to use, buy or avoid during this great journey.

Thank you all in advance for taking the time to stop by and help as well as to those who have already provided such wonderful inspiration over the months.

Oh, I'm sorry, I thought this was Continuum's thread. I missed your original post. My apologies.

My opinion, for what it's worth, is that if you are looking for an endless time~sucking distraction which occasionally throws up great sounds then by all means dive into the world of modular. They look great, the lights flash in a groovy way, and with all the patch leads spilling out the front it really gives the impression that you know what you are doing. Well boffiny.

I got my first Eurorack modular in 1999 and I have built it up to something gargantuan that fills half a room. I like it because I was born in the late '60s and it looks like synthesisers did when I was five.

That's the only reason.

if you have lots of free time, space, and no urgency to finish tunes then go for it, it's great fun.

 

[Biggins]

not sure if this is of interest. Psy production tutorials using VCV rack. From what i can see, it's a lot of forest style / FM leads and what not.

 

[Driver]

Thank you all for the input!

@Continuum
Yeah, I have figured out that will happen over here, too, after weeks of recording live sound and creating weird stuff. I will eventually get some form of a track together with any luck soon, and not just folders of sounds and unfinished projects!

@Dendrite Time
Wow, that Roland System 8 looks like a nice piece of kit! Yeah, those Patch Bay spaghetti lines look insane on a mass scale; maybe one day when space allows! I do love that whole modular rhythm feel. I would much rather that than sit inside DAWs trying to write music all day and clicking the mouse.

@Biggins

Ahh, VCV rack. Someone recently mentioned this to me, but I have yet to give it a go.

 

[whitedog]

FWIW, I use a Synthstrom Deluge as sampler/synths/sequencer and Access Virus Ti as main synth engine.
Nice and compact, and very powerful...

 

[Biggins]

if you do decide to give vcv rack a go, as a taster, check out the omri cohen you tube channel. Obvs vcv rack (os similar), isn't as satisfying as hardware but it's also not as expensive....good luck

 

[Continuum]

sort of settled on "Metroland". Great name for an album. Can't believe nobody thought of it before me.

Imagine my disappointment...

I was watching this John Betjeman documentary while I was stuck here in lockdown and it all sort of flowed from that. Great minds think alike I reckon.

Lovely to see you btw. It's been ages.

Likewise mate, how have you been? How's the fifth decade shaping up for you and the fam?

 

[Dendrite Time]

I was watching this John Betjeman documentary while I was stuck here in lockdown and it all sort of flowed from that. Great minds think alike I reckon.

One of my favourite films ever. John Betjeman is well hench. His interview with Philip Larkin is highly recommended.

Likewise mate, how have you been? How's the fifth decade shaping up for you and the fam?

Up and down. Nice people keep dying, shit ones continue to prosper.

Having a great life compared to most so shouldn't moan. But I will anyway.

 

[Continuum]

I will eventually get some form of a track together with any luck soon, and not just folders of sounds and unfinished projects!

Like Mister Dendrite says, it's a "endless time~sucking distraction" and anyone who makes actual tracks this way has my endless respect because I've seen how easy it is to disappear down the noodle hole and get nothing done. It is fun though.

Up and down. Nice people keep dying, shit ones continue to prosper.

Having a great life compared to most so shouldn't moan. But I will anyway.

That's the way it goes. A few losses recently that I could have done without but life's a piece of shit, when you look at it.