You all are making me want to get back into modular and just sit around patching and enjoying myself.
But I always turn anything I love into a job, so it probably won’t happen and I will just focus on being productive 
But I think you are right, especially in the long term. When AI makes it virtually impossible to make a living producing music we will all have to just go back to making music for the enjoyment of it.
I’m sorry, but this is the “modular is dead” thread. Go over to Your Modulars for the positive stuff.
I totally agree with you, but I have been struggling with this a bit lately. I don’t care so much about “finished music” but I want to be able to draw solid conclusions from the explorations, and it often just feels like wandering around. Exploration is great, but I think I want to have more intent when making music, whether that is finished tracks or just jamming.
Right. We might dabble in Dunst and Hasslehof but keep your rose-colored glasses for that other thread…
(Kidding of course. Any discussion is good discussion. Except, possibly, if it’s NFT related.)
I don’t think I’ve come across a modular piece I like more than Ventian Snares’ Traditional Synthesizer Music album -
Traditional Synthesizer Music is a collection of songs created and performed live exclusively on the modular synthesizer by Aaron Funk. Each sound contained within was created purely with the modular synthesizer. No overdubbing or editing techniques were utilized in the recordings on Traditional Synthesizer Music. Each song was approached from the ground up and dismantled upon the completion of it’s recording. The goal was to develop songs with interchangeable structures and sub structures, yet musically pleasing motifs. Many techniques were incorporated to “humanize” or vary the rhythmic results within these sub structures. An exercise in constructing surprises, patches interrupting each other to create unforeseen progressions. Multiple takes were recorded for each song resulting in vastly different versions of each piece.
BTW I can’t quite believe this album is 7 years old now, I feel like I got it last year or something…
I feel more focused, smaller skiffs have become quite popular. Combine with one or two Grooveboxes and/or Sampler. Swap a module or two every now and then…
Software modular probaply plays a role and we certainly had an unreal demand bubble during Covid times.
My modular really tied the room together.
For me it’s by far the Mutant Bassdrum module from Hexinverter.
It’s so so good. The knock on it is perfect, exactly what I was looking for. The whole thing is a sweet spot, and the built in distortion is really amazing. It has separate outs for the clean and the distorted signal, and you can also run external signals through the distortion which is a huge plus.
I have no doubt their other kick module mutant bd9 is good as well. The mutant bassdrum is based on the 808 circuit but upgraded to higher quality components, while the BD9 is the same for the 909.
I get my brogues from Dunst and Hasselhof.
I hear those have sturdy uppers.
And the brogues ain’t bad either!
Try the fish……
Not getting out of modular, though I expect I have a fair amount in common with a lot of people whose systems are going up for sale now.
I got back into making music after 25 years off (save a couple of failed attempts along the way to not hate DAWs), bought a Mother 32 just before the pandemic hit (thanks Youtube), fell down the rabbithole just when there wasn’t much else to spend money on, and ended up with a fairly unfocused, only-marginally-purposeful collection of too many modules – though I will credit the meditative aspect of patching those modules with helping me stay sane through 2020.
So why is my rack not one of the ones up on Reverb?
One, over two years of being a hipster tourist, I learned what was for me, and what was not for me, and, to be honest, what the hell I was doing. The benefit of having too many modules is that you can carve one or two focused systems out of the wilderness of what you already have. So I did that, and I ended up with a couple of instruments (because One Big Rack is another trap I nearly fell into) that are quite useful for meditation, for inspiration, and for jamming, if not for shipping tracks (which, after a year of trying to do it, I think I’ve also figured out is not for me).
Two (and I probably did this backward, but, what the hell, there was a pandemic on so why not), what I learned playing with modular got me back into music more generally. I picked up a DT and DN a year on (and almost always play one or both together with one of the systems, unless the goal is full-on rings-into-beads meditation), and with the just-enough-music-and-rhythm-theory I even picked up the guitar again, and this time it made sense.
(Three, I live in Switzerland, which is too small a market to make selling stuff worth it. Maybe I would have gotten rid of most of this stuff earlier otherwise? But I’m really glad I didn’t.)
Well said. I learned to play saxophone in grammar school and I rmeber my music teacher telling my mom “Music is a great thing to have in your life. At some point in your child’s life they will use music as a relaxation tool”. He really wanted to sell that sax…But, he was right. All this stuff for me in just meditation/ mind cleaning. If I loose money, it’s cheaper than drugs or alcohol. If I’m enjoying what I’m doing, that’s what up. Recording and publishing is another conversation really.
I feel that way with everything I’ve added in gear after my Octatrack. 
I think modular is the best way to really learn synthesis. I used synths for ~25 years (though only as a hobbyist) before I got into modular and still learned a ton from the experience. I feel like I’m much better at using my normal synths to their full potential now. I can also empathize with wanting to go back to a world where you can save presets and sequences.
So my answer to “should I modular” is “definitely” for no other reason than the learning experience it provides. Selling it all in a few years does not indicate failure.
#2 quote of the day 
Word of the year. Kludge. Had to look it up. Kinda describes my life. “A kludge or kluge is a workaround or quick-and-dirty solution that is clumsy, inelegant, inefficient, difficult to extend and hard to maintain.”
Strong agree with this, I’ve learnt so much from researching/putting together/patching/playing my cases, and I’ve been able to apply all of this knowledge to fixed architecture synths and DAWs. For me every approach has clear benefits and weaknesses, in a fairly complementary way, so I keep them all in the mix.
It’s also fun to plug patch cables in.
Agreed. I learned more putting together my shitty rack and trying to figure out how to use veils than I did in the previous several years of making music.
This is a good plan.
I initially purchased a Pittsburgh Modular Structure EP-420 case, and later obtained two smaller Arturia RackBrute 6U cases. The present goal is to fill one of the rackbrute cases to complement an Arturia Minibrute 2S. I have several configuration plans developed, but have not pursued any of them yet.
I concur with those who talk about learning from modular systems. I’m a far better sound designer now because of modular. I love my Eurorack beast. It’s really a thinking person’s synthesis, which I love about it - and semi-modulars.
I got into it heavy about 8 years ago, bought all the “hot” Euro modules, learned to solder and built a number of nice modules, but then I took a couple years off from music. I’ll say I’ve been very surprised since coming back to music at the seeming lack of ingenuity of modules. Perhaps I entered at the golden age of Euro, but it just seems like most of the modules being released these days are rehashes of older concepts with different faceplates, inputs, outputs and knobs.
I do think that the chip issues being encountered has really stifled the community - especially by some of these smaller suppliers. I know I had to wait forever for one of the few remaining modules I wanted - a Rene MK 2, and wound up getting the MK 1 in the end. The loss of stalwarts such as Mutable Instruments, WMD and the like hurt as well.