Wanna get into modular, but I'm poor.

[Inconuucl]

I think the why of modular gets shortchanged a lot when people think about it compared to the Ooooooh Shiny aspect.

I like modular because I hate Renoise too much but still want to MODULATE ALL THE THINGS.

[BitchPudding]

, I want something that can do synthy stuff on its own, and also mangle samples for sound design. Im not sure if those would both be doable out of the same unit but thats the goal.

As far as the sample mangling I would love to be able to feed my guitar into it and have it just make the thing super glitchy for recording weird parts.

Jokes aside, I do want a mac book. Probably my next big credit card purchase once thats paid off.

[D.o.S.]

Not a joke, fwiw

[popvulture]

I thought you hated Macs?

[popvulture]

But yep the oooooh shiny effect is very real.

I also just find the whole world pretty daunting—as a noob, there's so much stuff out there to pull you in a million directions. That's why I liked the 0-Coast a lot; you can do a ton of stuff with it, and frankly it could very much be all you need if you don't have OCD collector turd impulses like I do

[actual]

Gotta remember them continents/international taxes.

Oops, forgot about the Atlantic.

That's fucked tho, I'm so used to it being the other way around.

I think the why of modular gets shortchanged a lot when people think about it compared to the Ooooooh Shiny aspect.

I like modular because I hate Renoise too much but still want to MODULATE ALL THE THINGS.

Renoise is awesome, was my DAW for years before switching to Ableton. However, now that I use Ableton, I can't imagine using Renoise again.


Also Macs are gross.

[D.o.S.]

I thought you hated Macs?

I'm not a huge OS fan but for "one piece of kit that is great for what BP wants to do" a MacBook is a hard contender to beat.

[Inconuucl]

Gotta remember them continents/international taxes.

Oops, forgot about the Atlantic.

That's fucked tho, I'm so used to it being the other way around.

I think the why of modular gets shortchanged a lot when people think about it compared to the Ooooooh Shiny aspect.

I like modular because I hate Renoise too much but still want to MODULATE ALL THE THINGS.

Renoise is awesome, was my DAW for years before switching to Ableton. However, now that I use Ableton, I can't imagine using Renoise again.


Also Macs are gross.

Renoise is awesome once you learn how to use it, then you just type away an IDM song like it was nothing. I just can't get behind the interface.

[actual]

[coldbrightsunlight]

I have and am redesigning a eurorack system that does synthy things and also processes and samples in fun ways but I agree with DoS that if that's purely your intention from a functional standpoint you're best off with a computer! Some people have suggested cool looking computer based software that can do modular style things (never tried any because wrist problems mean I have to limit my computer use a lot).

a physical modular system is much more about workflow because fundamentally they can't do much that a computer can't (arguably can be easier for using physical controllers or ins/outs buuut those things can both be done in a computer easily let's be honest).

I think the suggestions of software or a semi-modular are good ideas if you want to get into it. Easier than slowly buying a system one bit at a time and not even being able to plug the first few modules in because they don't do a lot on their own!

[$harkToootth]

As far as the sample mangling I would love to be able to feed my guitar into it and have it just make the thing super glitchy for recording weird parts.

YO YO BOI!!! Have you considered a Microgranny? It's a small glitchy sampler and not very expensive. The BASTL TYME may be up your alley as well (when it comes out).
I feed shit into an older secondhand MPC 500 and just do one shots through some of my pedals (confession: I bought that particular one because 1. Cheap 2. TOBACCO had one back in Dandelion Gum era BLACK MOTH )

Also, for this purpose, you don't need a whole lot of modules. On the expensive end MakeNoise Phonogene/Morphagene and/or a Industrial Music Electronics Tyme Serfari MK ][ plus some modulators would do the trick. On the less expensive end Noise Reap has an ISD sampler and really cheap utility modules (when I say cheap I mean comparatively speaking of course).

Index For Further Reading:
MakeNoise Morphagene - http://www.makenoisemusic.com/modules/morphagene
Industrial Music Electronics Tyme Serfari MK ][ - http://www.industrialmusicelectronics.com/products/7
NOISE REAP Products - http://noisereap.com/product-category/assembled/

[BitchPudding]

I thought you hated Macs?

I'm not a huge OS fan but for "one piece of kit that is great for what BP wants to do" a MacBook is a hard contender to beat.

Truth. Definitely the "ooh shiny effect" gets me. I do like my toys, as evidenced by all the unused pedals I have lying around.

I downloaded and opened up VCVrack and played with that for a bit. Very daunting. Think I'll mess with that before I dive into the modular world. I wanna understand this stuff before I just so buying crap.

A simple macbook is in my future for sure. Jonny Greenwood uses stuuf like Max/MSP to make patches to run his guitar into, and thats something I wanna experiment with as well.

[popvulture]

Make sure to sign up for an account with VCV, because you can then download some additional module models (blurblsdjlsdjfls) of some cool brands like Mutable and Befaco.

Plus there are a couple of tutorials specifically on VCV on Youtube, definitely helped me get started in figuring how it all works. The cool thing is that it's exactly like real modular.

[kbit]

I researched modular for a few months before I bought a single thing. I spent a lot of time figuring out what modules are out there, what the different formats we're, reading manuals for info, watching Make Noise videos (even if you don't like their modules they have a lot of good info in their videos). I'd highly recommend doing a bunch of research and playing with software to really know if you wanna get into it, because the investment to make a system is real.

[chrisdermo]

I want something that can do synthy stuff on its own, and also mangle samples for sound design. Im not sure if those would both be doable out of the same unit but thats the goal..

Have you checked out the organelle? If you're not against learning max/msp you may as well learn pure data, super powerful for pretty much anything audio and it will do very nice synth sounds as well as all manner of processing especially glitchy things. I have no idea if it will actually record samples and store them though?

I would also strongly recommend a Kastl, it's the cheapest fast track to non-keyboard synthesis, and will be able to interface with any other pieces you may buy in the future. Going this route with smaller cheaper devices that can clock each other can yield some seriously amazing results, especially when combined with signal splitters and a large pedal collection!