I was extremely fortunate to get my hands on a Black and Gold Shared System Plus shortly before Christmas, so I thought I’d share some initial observations here.
First of all, it’s worth noting that this is my first real experience with modular. I’d been fiddling with an 0-coast for about a year and loved it, but I knew I was only getting a limited glimpse into the possibilities of modular and wanted to go all in.
Another note to add context to this: I like making all kinds of music. I play drums and guitar, I mess with my dear Elektron boxes, I’ve used Ableton my whole life, etc. etc. so with the Shared System I was really just looking to explore some more. No clear goals in mind, just trying to expand my horizons.
With all that said, a few thoughts:
Overall, this is just an incredible instrument. Extremely well thought out, every piece is of the highest quality, super interesting features and creative possibilities. 10/10 piece of gear
I’m glad I jumped into a complete system vs. building my own modular rig one bit at a time. I know some folks advocate for building slowly and mastering each piece before you add another, and I see a lot of merit in that, but for me it’s really helpful to understand how all of the parts connect in order to see how each functions individually. I may end up building my own rig someday after this and I’ll have a much better understanding of what the total instrument can be because I’ve had a chance to play this one.
I feel the same way about going with a complete system from a single manufacturer vs. combining lots of brands. Again, I know that part of the magic of modular is mixing/matching as you please, but I really love how all of the Make Noise pieces connect together and it helps me see what kinds of things I may want from another brand someday.
I really enjoy just patching aimlessly and seeing what I can come up with, sometimes deliberately trying to use up all my patch cables, but if I ever feel overwhelmed I just focus on one or two modules specifically and keep it simple. I think this approach is helpful for all kinds of gear; don’t let yourself get overwhelmed, and instead focus on finding smaller/simpler comfort zones so you can stay productive and keep your motivation up.
I’ve come to really love the nonsensical bloops and bleeps that come out of creating weird/complicated patches. It’s such a joy to make sounds/patterns that defy your own sense of what’s possible; truthfully, it’s probably more enjoyable for the creator than for an audience most of the time. But in any case, that’s an insight I’ve picked up. You might watch a video of someone patching on a modular and think it’s just a noisy mess, but if you make that same noisy mess yourself from scratch, you might feel like a wizard.
Not all of my patching experiments pass the “next day test.” I typically record all of my jams in Ableton as I go, and then I’ll listen to them again at some later date. Sometimes the stuff that felt absolutely genius in the moment sounds like trash later on; but hey it’s all part of the process.
It’s not all bloops and bleeps. The Shared System is capable of making beautiful melodic pieces as well, but I just tend to lean into the weirdness when I’m patching it because it’s such a playground for that. When I want to make beautiful melodic stuff I tend to reach for Digitone first.
There is sooooo damn much to learn on this thing and I know I’ve barely scratched the surface. I still pore over video tutorials, read and re-read manuals for each module, dig up old forum threads and such to try to keep learning, but I can’t help but feel like I’m at the base of an extremely tall mountain. Fortunately this mountain is a joy to climb so I’m just gonna keep pressing onward.
I hope some of these thoughts are useful to anyone out there considering jumping into modular or into the Shared System specifically. I’m happy to expound on any points or answer questions, and if anyone has suggestions/ideas/really anything to help me on my journey, I’m grateful to hear it.
DPO is wild. I really like the sound of it so sometimes I just use it as 2 separate voices with one of the regular waveform outputs. But the Final output seems to be where the real magic is so I’m working on getting a better handle on all of the wavefolding/shaping possibilities.
I kinda wish there was a way to use the first voice as an LFO without that modulation translating to the Final output (but still being able to use the Final mix section on the Final output) so that’s maybe my only gripe, cause in LFO mode it’s a super useful modulation source.
(or maybe there is a way to do this and that’s just another thing I need to learn)
Thanks for sharing and for the thoughtful write-up. I enjoyed it because I often wonder the same about a single manufacturer system vs. mixing and matching. Sometimes I think just going all in on one brand keeps you from becoming overwhelmed with choice (but I mean variety is the spice of life ya know? haha). I haven’t even started down the eurorack path yet, but have a few stand-alone banana jack synths…and I’m starting to really see the allure of patching. Always reminds me of the “1001” electronics kits from my childhood haha. Good stuff!
Hahah variety is definitely the spice of life and certainly one of the spiciest things about modular but I think in my mind I separate the issues of:
getting a handle on types of modules and how they all work together
learning about different manufacturers, pros/cons of different modules for different tasks, etc.
So jumping into the Shared System lets me learn a lot about #1 while I keep learning about #2. I think if you have a mastery of both it’s probably much more fulfilling to build your own rig with a mix and match style, but if you just want to get into patching and synthesis, a prebuilt rig seems like a solid option.
This is really a contemporary view IMO, since prior to eurorack most modulars on the market were single manufacturer systems. I think there are two aspects of “building your own instrument” with modular - selecting modules and patching. The second aspect is more interesting in my opinion! Plus mixed manufacturer systems look ugly 99% of the time.
Congratulations on joining the Shared System club. I bought mine used and switched it up a little, but the core is the same.
I have mine set up alongside my Machinedrum with a clock pulse running from one of the external outputs into Tempi to sync it up… but I also just end up using the SS solo a lot of the time. It’s enough of a mental workout for now to just work on patching — if anything I just work on a patch and then see how it fits with whatever other beats already I have lying around on the MD.
haha I’m no expert on the system for sure. and unfortunately I sold mine in favor of my Serge system. but I do have some thoughts for the OP…
for the DPO, I highly suggest watching the video from the esteemed James Cigler:
as far as “doesn’t sound great the next day” lol yeah welcome to modular! often part of this is that the LFO’s/pulses/etc are all in sync in just that magical way, but then you power it off and on again, and they’re not. so try and clock things that are core to the rhythm of the patch; use the Tempi or Rene or something predictable/repeatable. still… oftentimes you kinda know “yeah this’ll be tricky to work into something useful” but it’s still awesome. so then, it’s better just to sample it. the OT (or MDUW) is your friend.
one of the first struggles I had with it was getting it to start/stop when I started/stopped an accompanying sequencer. there’s a setting in Tempi where it’ll stop without the incoming pulse. and likewise, a similar setting within the mod settings of Rene. not sure if you care about this or not, but as far as syncing it with other sequencers, this helped me a lot.
did you know you can use Echophon as an oscillator?
your system is nothing without Maths. check out this cheat sheet of stuff you can do with it:
I’d also highly recommend following Make Noise on Instagram or Twitter or wherever you hang out. they post goodies and tips and tricks all the time, not just promotional items. it sounds like you’re already deep into their YT videos; also super helpful, if you have the time to digest it all! also every Thursday at 1:00 EST they do “office hours” where they’ll usually just grab a system and patch it, usually at the suggestion of the YT commenters saying “try this with that module into this one!” for a little while, you’ll probably see a lot of Strega content though.
oh also if you’re into the Autechre thing of basically sequencing/modulating reverb tails (they love doing that), Rene pulses/modulation into Erbe-Verb will get you there.
What I’ve always been curious about the SS is the “lack of” cyclical (LFO) modulation relative to its size: am I correct in thinking that are essentially 2 or 3 possible LFOs “only”? It comes off to me that the, for its size, the SS is geared more towards “one-shot” modulation (gates and randomness) than graceful movement. I know that the cv bus is great and MN is fantastic with attenuaters…still…
But I fully acknowledge I may be way out of my element.
I should be clear that this is no way meant to be a huge criticism of the SS. It seems like an absolutely joy (I have a Shared Synth skiff: dpo, opto, mod, Maths) I was just curious what people with a full SS thought…
There are many potential lfo’s there, but there are few elements dedicated to being only that.
Maths channels 1 and 4 can cycle.
There is a slewed output on the wogglebug that can be tamed in various ways to function as an lfo.
VCO A on the DPO has a lfo mode.
often part of this is that the LFO’s/pulses/etc are all in sync in just that magical way, but then you power it off and on again, and they’re not. so try and clock things that are core to the rhythm of the patch; use the Tempi or Rene or something predictable/repeatable. still… oftentimes you kinda know “yeah this’ll be tricky to work into something useful” but it’s still awesome. so then, it’s better just to sample it. the OT (or MDUW) is your friend.