FLOW | A modular should never feel like work. 

“The enemy of art is the absence of (financial or physical) limitations.” -Orson Welles (film director) My creative synthesis journey is returning to my first career as an aircraft autopilot (analog computers of the 60’s & 70’s that are still extremely commonly used today) technician; speaking in voltages comes naturally to me. Creatively, the above quote is very dear to me. First I used VCV Rack, then Moog Matriarch (east-coast modular), then what can fit into a 4MS Pod60 (60HP x 27mm) case (westish-coast modular). My permanent (drilled spanner screws) westish-coast instrument is Plaits, Tides, LP40, SHTH, Beads, and Poly 2. Both control and audio can be interacted with a DigiTone. I use your educational videos as a genesis of creativity in my sonic narrative pastime. Thank you so much for your efforts! The Enemy of Art Is the Absence of Limitations - Quote Investigator

Thanks for going through your creative process! And don’t forget that your system has all sorts of complex envelope options beyond just attack/decay. You can combine the outside channels of Maths with other voltages like the envelope follower in the Erbe-Verb, any output from the wogglebug, and/or the DPO oscillator in LFO mode and get the sum/difference. You also got attack/hold/decay when sending a gate to the slew input of Maths. I think you can even make envelopes in the optomix as well.

That is Great Robert! I love how is sounding at 9:45. Is like a theremin. Weird and beautiful 😃

I love the way your videos work. They all are a blast of fun, knowledge, relaxation... You're great :)

Nice video thanks - reall yinteresting for those of starting out on modular.

Cine, .. not boring .. good chat about this topic "writing with voltage" .. :) Yeah, .. patience with something as complex as this has become, is pretty important.

Super-inspiring as always!

Thank you so much for focusing on what to do with a modular instead of what to buy. We've had wonderful little miniature conversations about what modular can accomplish, but watching this has me excited to actually start saving pennies and assemble a little 84HP groovebox for myself. Not sure if what I have picked is a good idea, but at least it's confirmed an idea now; and focusing on the idea of flow seems like a great place to start.

Lots of great advice- helpful in my ‘stepping away from song structure’ phase. I’m only now learning what my system is really missing (a Maths and a couple good filters) and this will be one I return to. In a sense it’s departing from what potential viewers want- or what I think potential viewers want, which is probably a different thing altogether!

I’m loving the alpha effect on your arm .. very cool; it really works

Great advice. Anytime I feel like a patch has become work, I immediately pull it apart and start fresh. "It's almost like learning to write with voltage..." I like that!

Phantastic, thanks a lot, your advices are really helpful! It would be good to see more of your patches from scratch.

Your Videos are very inspiring. Love your channel, many thanks. 😃👍🙏

Armed n dangerous. What? A human made this? you are a great help in maintaining motivation, gas aside, your Tony rack is grrrrreat. Pilots lit, now if i can just focus the jet…

Great tips, encouraging to get in the so-called flow. I still feel like "a little work" beforehand can open doors: I like to set up my oscillators with the same tuning and also my tempo with related clocks before I start. Then I'll prepare (multi)tracking in my DAW of choice and start the recording. So after this preparation which takes almost no time, I get "into the zone". Afterwars, IF I'm still interested in making a track, I have good source-material to arrange. I even do a series of new patches by keeping timing/pitch-settings. Afterwards there is so many material, which can be combined easily like a beautiful patchwork. To me this is quite important, as I sometimes feel the sudden urge to go on with what I have and I noticed that breaking the flow in the middle of something, I am at risk of losing my inspiration quite quickly.

thank *YOU* i have never heard a patch like this. it's pure.....can't find another word for it. thanks for all the education....in layman terms especially. some of your educational words i will keep as interesting quotes. i will watch this video multiple times to learn.

Many wise words in this one ☝️

Recording a good patch on your phone is a great tip.

great patch

Man!! Awesome 01:33 ..its just turn me into a paraller cosmologion

i like the inclusion of the "bullshit" stage. it's an important aspect of patching imo lol

Ah "Bullshit mode" my old friend, we meet again. Great vid!!!

spot on Robert

A modular is your own perfect custom instrument, like any fine instrument it should be an extension of yourself.

Cool video

10:30 well said! Currently I'm creating a modular with 'left overs'* for my daughter to play with. So much fun with just a small setup... Makes you think what potential is in 'the main modular' 🤔 *) had to buy an envelope generator and headphone output. It's a pretty nice 104hp skiff including a Varigate 4+, Polygogo, stereo filter and 2HP Verb ... 🤣

2:57 Is this music? I think it is. Great result as always and insightful teaching. And indeed, no sequencers is a smart step. I removed/replaced the sequencers from my shared system and it really pushed me into interesting places.

Learn though the bullshit…remember it’s all voltage - wise advice. Great video of the raw process and explanations👍🏻

Cool, thats what modular is for (synths in general imo) - although i often find myself thinking about how much money and time i spent for this.

Robert you have the gift of Sonic manipulations,experimental projects and vast experience of all your modules, interactions between them, although always something new pops up, I hope you will get plenty of offers for film, TV, Theatre Score commissions which might bring Deadlines, Syncronisations into workflow, maybe pressures that it becomes just WORK , where without such pressures it is pure JOY, not an easy choice but I’m sure all of would like that opportunity or NOT Inspiring Stream🆒🎶🎶🎶🎶🎶🌟🌟🌟

Great as always Robert! Sort of a couple of random questions: are you using the ENSOC much these days? Telharmonic? And I think you don’t have an Easel Command…any thoughts on that instrument?

Afraid I already have to much modules. Maybe sellin stuff helps or forcing myself to stick to one of my mantis cases - also time is a big issue for me

Great content-what do you mean by "beacons would help?"

nor should it sound labored. .. .. .. had to say it.