[sdiy] modular synth "standards" (longwinded)

[Thomas Hudson]

Don Tillman wrote:
>
> Which suggests an interesting way to describe the design of a modular
> synth.  Imagine four catagories:
> 
>   Category 1. Test equipment and analog computers.  Modules perform
>   abstract math functions and were never designed to be musical
>   instruments.
> 
>   Category 2. General purpose modules with no preconceptions how
>   they'll be used.  A VCO could be used as either an audio VCO or an
>   LFO.  Control and signal voltages are indistinguishable.
> 
>   Category 3. Modular synth with modules designed for specific musical
>   applications.  Separate LFO and audio VCO functions.  A VCF would
>   include audio input mixers and control input mixers.
> 
>   Category 4. Effectively a collection of guitar stomp boxes.  Each
>   module performs an entire musical effect.
> 
> I like this.  It acknowledges folks who say "an analog computer is a
> synth" and folks who say "a collection of stomp boxes is a synth".
> 
Me too, and it brings up an interesting problem I sometimes have with
modular systems that gravitate towards 3 and 4. I want more low level
modules, because I want to use my modular to experiment with designs
for stompboxes. Somewhere in Category 1 or 2 is the concept of stompbox 
or music circuit building blocks. Obviously this is not optimum for
making music, as the history of modulars shows greater and greater
integration. Even though I love my triple resonant filter module w/
three bandpass filters and two LFOs in a single module, it somehow
violates my own (undiscovered until this thread) "philosophy."

Well, it doesn't actually violate it. It's just that perhaps I should
have another modular for this other activity. All the little building
blocks of every stompbox. Diode clippers, opamp overdrive, 
passive filtering, tubes, level detectors, envelope detectors, 
rectifiers, etc. Or maybe I should just get better at using a 
breadboard :-)

Thanks for this discussion though. I view my gear in a whole new light.

Tomy