@@HenricWallmark Good point. But then early moog modulars where played mainly with keys. It just shows that a clever musician doesn't care. As the saying goes, "Use what is useful, and leave the rest". I personally think that modular is great for sound design, not necessarily as an all, be all workstation.
Using Synth Punk’s voiceover for this vid is either very bold or a proper roast of him. You did it with style Tim. Whichever way, there is music in those electrons and wires.
There's a guy who lives near me who spends his time taking apart and putting back together his cars. From what I can tell, he doesn't much like driving or going anywhere in his cars. Same thing is true of many modular folk... and also guitar folk, people into fishing, DIY, golf, and most other things. It's primarily about stuff; actually, the activity the stuff is supposedly meant to enable you to do is really just the reason to get the stuff. And that's OK. It's just doing things for different reasons.
This is a fascinating insight that I've never considered, but it's often true. I love the techniques behind high end cooking, but when I just need to whip something up I'm annoyed and often can't be bothered. I think this is why some people never learn to like cooking. You have to be into the thing itself for it's own sake, not just the payoff. The perfect day fishing is not the same as the perfect day preparing to fish. If you love both sides of an endeavor then you've found the golden ticket. It's a very zen way of looking at things, and I think it probably inspired that book about motorcycle maintenance.
I sold all of my 90's studio to buy motorcycles and ride them with my dad who then died of cancer (we did lots of riding though) i then sold my bikes and made a new studio. He always said "ride fast because its fun, but always enjoy the journey as much as the destination" doing 250kmh through the deserts near broken hill is a thing i will cherish. Australia is BIG. Ps, cheers tim, you are awesome...👍
I've learned the same thing about myself. I always assumed that building and engineering a eurorack system would be very tedious while the music-making would be very enjoyable, but I discovered that it's the other way around for me. I absolutely love soldering and testing modules, but trying to make music feels like a chore. The wannabe musician in me was disappointed in this realization, but on the other hand it was awesome to uncover the things I really do enjoy.
Synthpunk just left the group 😁 If life gives you lemons, you make lemonade… And THIS is perhaps the greatest ever example. Beautiful work, Tim! BEAUTIFUL!!!!! Love and light from Khao Lak, Thailand 🇹🇭 ❤️☀️🏖🌴🥥🐘
Speaking as a musician for the last 50+ years, and having messed about with a variety of synths, guitars etc. during that time, I think the new modular kit (and the fantastic prices for which it is now available) is fabulous and there to be used bt everyone - musicians and non-musicians alike! And let's not forget that if a non-musician gets the modular bug, then through their efforts they will be come a musician! Win, Win :) Fantastic video, as always Tim - keep 'em coming :)
Modular is complex, messy (all those cables!) and difficult for live performance. But, as an intermediate (at best) level musician, I love it! Awesome sounds on this tribute to your friend!
Perfect reaction video! 😂 I love your content and the way you produce your video’s. Comprehensive and thorough reviews accompanied by your own signature sound. Keep them coming!
I pay zero attention to the crusty boy who shan't be named, and I don't recognize his voice, but I could just sense it was him and the comments confirmed, lol. I love that modular has returned, it's an important aspect of our roots as a musical culture, and just like I'm glad to know there are still acoustic guitars, I'm happy to know there are still modular synthesizers.
I’m a “non musician” modular player….happy accidents and noodling until something tuneful comes my way is my workflow lol. I have no clue about scales, rests, quaver, semi quavers octaves (other than its sounds higher or lower) but I somehow manage to produce some tunes that sound pleasant to my ears. Sharing these on RU-vid is my way of encouraging others like me who feel overwhelmed by the complexity of modular to give it a go. At the end of the day who cares what others think, it you enjoy to make bleeps and bloops or are in the Hans Zimmerman end of the spectrum its all about self satisfaction and sharing. On that note…great track Tim, also enjoy watching your output :)
I’ll never forget all the times I saw Deadmau5 sitting in front of a massive modular system and literally only used Serum. Kids , if you’re just starting out , you really don’t need all this shit.
TBH I started semi-modular and it gave me a decent appreciation for drone work, a genre I never would have heard of if it weren’t for modular. And even after discovering DAWs, it’s just much more entertaining for me to wrestle weird sounds out of weird gear than it is to use the same three plugins everyone always uses.
I’ve not been the biggest fan of Mr Shoebridge but I despise SP and the bullying I saw a year or so ago. The bloke is really really odd. Beyond antisocial. I guess that’s why he feels at home in his basement making videos with the sole intention being to mock and hurt a RU-vid community in the weird hope that people will somehow be drawn to him and he will become a part of the community he mocks. It’s like some perverse reverse psychology “treat em mean to keep ‘em keen”… only with middle aged men and synthesisers. However, Mr Shoebridge, I hope this video stays up. You’ve done a great job. Happy Christmas all… except synth pink. I hope Santa knocks a coffee over your setup which will give at least one of your inane rants just cause. ✌️
@@craigmoran893 Maybe, but the one from the sample insults people who make music with modular systems as being unmusical and that's a wrong blanket statement and I think Tim proves the opposite because he's a really good musician.
Well 'said' Tim. A very erudite and clear explanation demonstrating how it's not what you've got that counts but it is the way you use it. I mean, you don't need a sledgehammer to crack a nut... but it ain't half satisfying to wield your weapon of choice 🙂
As for me I sometimes watch the Synthpunk videos. They are entertainment, not more, not less. And yes, there were (and are) lots of valuable informations given by Tim Shoebridge´s fantastic videos. I don't agree to all of them (I found the Moog Subharmonicon a beautiful instrument) but I really like the way Tim Shoebridge is presenting his topics (it´s an English gentleman's style). The discussion of modular good or bad is like the discussion that a fountain pen is a real fountain pen when it´s a piston filler and cartridge pens are bad. But ... as in fountain pens ... the main thing is that it´s a good writer. And so with modular. The main thing that you are able to create your style of music or sound and that you are having fun with it. Regards to all who are fascinated by electronic music. Have fun, ce creative and explore your sonic dimensions.
I appreciate that Tim Shoebridge will actually spell out the drawbacks of the gear he is talking about. When I am thinking about getting something new, watching 18 videos of people making 30 seconds worth of a cool riff and explaining how they did it isn't very helpful. I do enjoy watching those, but it is the limitations of the gear that I am interested in knowing more about.
How to say Synth Punk is an Ass without saying he is an Ass.. Never heard of him until I read the comments so I had a peek at his channel and I see a very sad individual only capable of criticism towards others. The music you tube community can do well without people like that in my opinion Great and tasteful way of sticking 2 fingers up at him 💪
Thank you for your service. That fella is really just a toxic and negative person who thrives on controversy and would be ignored entirely if he wasn’t always being a contrarian.
The voice over ain't exactly wrong... Honestly, modular has some very important things in common with gambling. The notion that there's an infinity of great things to find while using it. It's literally addictive.
It’s funny you say that, I’ve been teetering on the edge of getting modular for a while, but haven’t because I’m fearful I’ll get too into it. Hahah. I now have a semi-modular synth. I guess that’s my gateway drug
@@scattermish As a modular owner who is aware of this aspect of it: Have a plan based on what you want to achieve with modular, make the minimum viable product for that and then stick with it. Reap the benefits of what you have and learn the power of being satisfied, rather than wanting more. There is always more to want, but always enough to be satisfied. Which do you prefer?
oh my i keep saying the same thing the whole idea of an "infinite exploration space" is a red herring. its not only in modular its in alot of music software and other stuff as well. like everyone in every community wants mseg on everything, user wavetables, more wavetables, all the routing etc. im saying that and i keep looking at and collecting software and hardware gear as well. but i fully agree with this that this idea that it gives you infinite options usually doesnt translate to infinite forms of musical expression. you can do the most types of sounds with most of the 'full' synths. there is something beautiful about creating your own cobbled together synth instrument and getting very familiar with it tho.
Guitar players are also addicted to the infinite. Different guitars. New pedals. New amps. New cabinets. New mics to mic the cabinets. New preamps for those mics. It never ends.
to anyone who thinks you cant possibly make good music with modular, you should check out the german liveact Ströme! They make "real" music with a wall of modules and it sounds amazing
Whether its a bunch of boxes with passive components or it's code running inside of a FPGA, its the same, whether you're talented enough to make music out of it is what truly differentiates the 2 extremes and everything else in-between. Cheers.
OK so I never listened, I was just reading the comments, I knew what it was hinting at then I had a listen, it was glorious as it was bad. The VO killed it for me, the music is brilliant but it's like bitter sweet, it needs to co-exist for it to have meaning as Tim intended. Now this is art. In Larry David's words *pretty good, prettay prettay prettay good*
In a way I agree with him. I am a hospital RN and grinchVid-19 brought me to VCV-Rack as a mental health wellness activity to make “brain.fm” inspired music to focus my brain while charting & relaxing/recharging. My OEM hardware Plaits/Rings/SHTH/Marbles/Beads is “a tool” I use daily with my hospital nursing.
Nice one, showing how modular can be integrated into a multitrack recording, some work gone into this one, both musically and visually and very good it is too. Im interested in if you set the DAW as master clock to keep all the modular aspects in sync? There are a FEW modular overdubs and manually syncing them would be quite difficult.
Reading the title I thought this was going more to the direction of "Modular is for non-musicians, as in people who do experimental or noise music etc. - normal musicians shouldn't bother with it". But no, I don't think that was the point of this video.
This was blissfully nice on a Saturday morning at11 AM 🙂 Lovely! I would love to have this without the voiceover - would make a perfect wakup sound or ring tone on my cellphone :-) And also - I am a programmer who occasionally venture into sound making (even tho I got piano lesson from the age 8 to 18 I would never consider me a musician) - and patching my modular is much like programming - I love it and I am finally been able to make sounds (not music) scapes I love. Tims videos are a great inspiration to me.
