Modular Synthesis vs Fixed Architecture

Q "...I read at your website that you didn't recommend the Nord Modular. I was actually going to buy one, or rather said I've had my thoughts on it. I've been thinking about a virus too (B or C, , but I feel a bit more determinded after reading your texts. But please, let me ask you what drives you into not recommending the Nord Modular? I'm very curious to know. Most swedish artists actually recommends it...."

 A Nord Modular

Q  "Would you recommend me buying an virus instead of a nord modular? I'm not familiar with modular synthesis yet, but hey.. with a lot of books and time consumption I suppose anything is possible... All the best and thanks for your work for the scene!"

If you have definitely decided to get yourself a hardware synth rather than using a MIDI controller, from the options that you mentioned and given your budget, then I would recommend that you get yourself a Virus B (or Virus Classic as it is the same thing...)

You could also go for a Virus C, a Nord 1 or 2. The knobs are great on both the Nord 1 + 2 and the Viruses both in terms of the quality of pots and the ergonomic feel of the physical knobs and they function really well as MIDI controllers

If you are looking to save some cash then don't discount the possibility of buying second hand. If you find a good second hand Virus B or C or Nord 1, 2 or 3, then you can save yourself quite a lot of cash, which you could then put towards that all important Dynaudio/Adam/Genelec/whatever pro monitoring system, or those two 19" flat panels monitors for your studio computer.

Access Virus C

Another nice unit to consider if you're pretty skint, is a Korg MS2000 or MS2000B. You can pick one of these units up pretty damn cheap second hand these days. The MS2000B has the vocoder mic attached, which may look a bit Top Of The Pops but is actually very useful because a) the vocoder sounds great b) you can easily experiment jamming along with your track by hitting notes and making noises into the mic. You can then sample off the results your track for further processing. It's always better to be able to experiment in real time in my view as it's much more intuitiveencourages experimentation and is faster too.

 Korg's MS2000

So, why not a Nord Modular? For the simple reason that you will spend hours, days, weeks of your time learning tweaking patches and fiddling about with synthesis techniques instead of writing music.

Once you have learned all about this stuff your music will not sound any better than if you had just got yourself a fixed architecture synth and learned about it that way. In addition I found that a large proportion if not most of the tens of thousands of patches created for the Nord Modular by users available online consist of just a basic synth architecture with one or two oscillator, one or two envelopes passed through a low pass filter. It will take you a long time just to load these up and sort out the decent ones.

Btw, I do speak from experience as I owned and used a Nord Modular for couple of years and used it for a number of the sounds on my Intergalactic album.

Though the Korgs lack the multi-timbrality of the Viri the MS2000's are also particulary good at creating randomly wicked loops and weird stuff to then sample off and into your track because of the onboard step sequencer.

Also multi-timbrality is not such a big deal these days what with multitrack audio sequencers.

The knobs and pots for controlling VSTs aren't as sturdy as the Nords and Viri but, send MIDI data just the same, are quite adequate and you can't really argue at that price. 

  The Nord Modular's Editing Software

In a fixed architecture synth like a Virus, Korg MS2000 or Nord Lead there's a universe of sound possibilities which when combined with a few software plugins, is pretty much infinite.

Another advantage of a fixed architecture synth is that everything is always controlled by the same knob. Unlike the Nord Modular where it changes per patch. Eeven if you try to standardize your knob layout, there are too few knobs to map all the important parameters that you want to tweak, so invariably you end up with compromises.

In my view, your working environment should be as intuitive as possible, so as to free you up to just create. It can really interrupt your creative flow if you have to stop and poke about to find out which knob controls which parameter as opposed to just instinctively grabbing the right knob for the job, which becomes a useful habit after becoming familiar with your fixed architecture synth.

If you decide that you really want to get into modular synthesis and that is your thing, then save yourself some money and download the demo for the excellent KarmaFX Modular synth. 

 KarmaFX's Modular Software Synth

It's an excellent piece of software and it has the advantage of total recall inside the sequencer and you are also not tied to what is effectively a large  keyboard shaped, hardware dongle   : Download KarmaFX Modular Synth at KVR

There, I have just saved you 600 euros : )

Now I don't deny that modular synthesis can be fun, but see how many tracks you actually finish compared to how much time you spend tweaking unnecessary parameters...

I imagine in your situation where you have another job(?) it is even more important to keep your eye on the ball and use your time efficiently...no?

Good luck with your music,

Billy Cosmosis

Cosmosis Music Webshop: http://cosmosis.bandcamp.com/