[sdiy] Modular - sound or song

[Seb Francis]

Scott wrote:
> So, in the VCO discussion someone mentioned when they want to do something complex, they ditch the modular for a software synth.  That just blew my mind.  
> BUT.. then I started thinking, I guess we are going for different things.  I can do bizarre things w/ my modular that a programmer writing a soft synth would probably never even think of!  But, obviously a soft synth has more standards, like more various VCO's and filters, etc.
>
>   

Well maybe I don't have a big enough modular system (is there such a 
thing as 'big enough' :)
But I do stand by what I say that the diversity of timbres available to 
me within a soft synth is much more than what I can make with my 
modular.  I guess with a big enough modular + enough patch cords + 
enough time to set the patch up, one could probably replicate almost 
anything, but from a practical point of view ....

> So what that takes me to..   do you use your modular as a sound generation device, like a normal synth, that you play w/ a keyboard or sequencer, or do you use your modular as a semi-random song creation machine?
>   

So I guess I should qualify my comments by describing how I use my 
hardware and software synths .... everything tends to be played in over 
MIDI, or drawn into the (computer based) sequencer.  I don't do 
semi-random, chaos type patches with my modular.  I like to create 
sounds and sequence them as I want them.  I rarely, if ever, even use 
arpegiators or similar features in my synths.

I don't want it to sound like I'm saying one thing's right, one thing's 
wrong - I was just sharing my recent (happy) feelings about using some 
of the newer soft-synths (and I've never really been this satisfied 
before with the various digital synthesizers that I've owned or tried 
over the years).

Seb