First module: sound source suitable for ambient/drones?

Hi all,

As a newcomer to modular, I've seen many folks offer the same advice: start small, build up slowly as you discover what you need.

So I ask: if I have an empty case and can buy only one module to start with, and if my goal is (ultimately) to be able to have lots of modulation and play around with making ambient/drone/evolving sounds with lots of texture, what do you recommend as a starting sound source module? (Assume I have audio I/O for the case as well as a MIDI/CV interface.)

Ideally it'd be something I could start playing with by itself to start learning it and get some fun out of it before having to build up the rest of the signal path.

EDITED Jun 4th 2020, 02:14

Hmmm... Plaits, maybe? Has a wide variety of sounds suitable for drones and ambient with a built in LPG.

@farkas Thanks! I'm also learning about LPGs and I'm confused about how those would help with drones/ambient; based on my reading about what LPGs do, wouldn't they be useful for shorter sounds like plucks or percussion?

(To put it another way: I don't understand what role the LPG plays in Plaits.)

A low pass gate is from the "West Coast" synthesis style, and serves as sort of a combination filter and VCA. You can open the LPG in Plaits all the way, so drones are possible, or you can set the LPG to a short response (like a simple Decay envelope) for more percussive sounds if you want to send a gate/trigger to the Trig input. When you do this, both the amplitude and tone are affected with brighter frequencies more apparent at higher amplitudes, sort of like a filter opening in tandem with a VCA opening.
Plaits is cool because it combines this pseudo-filter/VCA behavior within the voice module itself so you aren't strictly limited to drones. It's fairly versatile with many different synthesis types and sounds, though with this being modular, nothing is all that fun without other modules. You will need something external to manipulate pitch: Keystep/Beatstep/SQ1/etc., so ultimately a single module in isolation still requires something else to operate.
A better solution to learn synthesis would be one of the more versatile semi-modular offerings like the Moog Mother 32 or Behringer Crave. They offer a single oscillator, filter, VCA, LFO, and sequencer in one patchable package that can be integrated later with a modular setup. To get much out of modular, one single module alone in a rack defeats the whole purpose of specialized modules, and is not really going to help you learn (or be very fun).
Have fun and good luck!

@farkas Thanks! That all makes sense to me. My ask here about a first module is not about learning synthesis, but about cost and just not knowing the specific modules. I have been putting together rack builds on this site but it was becoming too difficult to tell whether an overall build was going to work for my purposes. Instead I wanted help getting off on the right foot by choosing a first module so I can learn how others think about this. I definitely get it, multiple modules are going to be important, and longer term I hope to get more. But given that so many modules seem to be capable of so much that isn't obvious at first glance, I thought I'd ask for recommendations!

Try to think in terms of a complete system. If Plaits isn’t the right answer for your highly personalized complete system, then it’s also wrong as a first module.

That makes sense; what I'm trying to say here is that as a newcomer to modular -- that is, not knowing the specific modules' functions beyond what I have learned from other synthesizers -- it is just not possible for me to think about the whole system beyond the level of VCO/VCF/VCA/modulation sources if I'm trying to pick from a large collection of multi-function modules. If I were building a system out of just plain VCO/VCF/VCA components, then I absolutely could think about the whole system! But I'm not at all interested in building a system out of just those simple components because there are clearly much more interesting modules that can play multiple roles. Incidentally I had already been eyeing Plaits as my first module; I like the sounds it produces but the missing piece for me was that the LPG could be opened fully.

I've done a boatload of research for my personal preferences, and DivKid's and Mylar Melodies' videos on YouTube have been invaluable for helping me decide what would work best for my rack. The beauty of this whole thing becomes apparent when interactions happen. You might make a few mistakes on your way there, and your path might change. I've mentioned before that I only bought a few modules from my original plan due to my ongoing research. It's part of the fun, but can be very expensive for sure.
Check out this video for a module demo from DivKid that is incredible for droning ambient stuff:

The more videos you watch, the more you will be able to envision how different modules will interact to achieve the results you want.

@farkas Thank you!

I would say, if you want to drone you would need at least one sound source and one modulation. If you want to buy only one module, then I'd look for one that can do both simultaneously so as to modulate itself. You could get a complex oscillator: that's a single module made of at least two oscillators - and one of them would need to be able to get as slow as an LFO. For example, the Endorphin.es Furthrrr would be that. One of its oscillators goes into a wavefolder (which is a kind of waveshaper that makes mignificent purring drones) and the other can act as an LFO or a modulating VCO. That's the standard west-coast design and many other brands offer the equivalent: Verbos' Complex Oscillator, to name just one... Unfortunately, those modules are expensive (usually around $500) - they cost as much as two or three basic modules, which is essentially what they are, just bundled together and internally pre-patched.
Now you have other types of complex (read: multiple) oscillators than the west coast. More modern designs include Future Sound System's Recombination Engine, to name just one more - but they all have that high price tag in comon :-/

Just so you know my bias: I almost exclusively consider analog modules. My thinking is that for digital sound, I already have a computer. Not everybody agrees with me and that's fine. I've seen people do amazing things with all-digital racks. But now you see why my recommendation is different from @farkas 's one, which I respect nevertheless.

[EDIT: I now realize @farkas' recommendation is not that different: It is a complex oscillator after all. I had it mistaken for the same brand's quad wavetable)

EDITED Jun 4th 2020, 20:37

Thanks, @fredeke - that gives me more to think about!

Yeah, the Furthrrr Generator is amazing too. I don't enjoy making music on the computer so I have a fair mix of analog and digital stuff. Different strokes for different folks is the beauty of modular. Whatever you want to accomplish, there is something out there to help. Which again brings us back to the point of thinking in terms of what you, personally, want to accomplish overall, how you like to work, taking an educated guess, and diving in with the first piece(s) of your new system.
Let us know how it goes!

@farkas : hehe, I see you have a furthrrrr in your rack too ;-).

@jtdaugherty : In the west-coast complex oscillators, there's also Instruo's Cs-L. As I said, there are many, but this one deserves a mention too.

If I were to describe the respective sonic character of all I mentioned, I would say: The Furthrrrr sounds fat, the Verbos sounds electrical and the Cs-L sounds clean. Oh, MakeNoise makes one too I suppose, and I would generally describe their sound as "bouncy" ;-).

I also mentioned Future Sound System's Recombination thingy, but it's a completely different design so it doesn't compete in the exact same category. Anyway, from the demos I heard, I'd say the principle is great, but I find the resulting sound a tad dull for the price. (though I have a distortion from them, and that one is not dull at all)

EDITED Jun 4th 2020, 20:48

https://learningmodular.com/

I completely agree with every Farkas advice. But I do think Plaits stays the best choice to begin with, AND will remain in your rack as a swiss knife even if you get an E352, for example (I've got both).
Talking of drones, Telharmonic is a classic sound source too, and Clouds stays one of the best tools for creative ambient patches, bluring an arp for example...