Doepfer modular synthesis

[Marc JX8P]

I've always found modular synthesizers endlessley fascinating and since a year or so I have a Doepfer A100 system which has gradually grown with additional modules to expand my options. Anyway - here's the current state:

On top: Doepfer Dark Energy, a stand alone semi-modular synth. Basically VCO, VCF and VCA in a compact package with two LFO's and an EG. Even without repatching it's very versatile but having patch points makes it double the fun! It also has a MIDI in and CV outs for gate and frequency so it makes it a great interface as well to get MIDI information to my A100.

The A100 currently  has these modules:
On top:
- Slew limiters (think slide effect when applied to note frequencies)
- VCO (simultaneous output of saw, square/pulse, triangle and sine)
- Frequency divider (half a frequency to get more bass to the original sound)
- Noise (also has a random voltage output)
- Mixer
- Oberheim XP style filter (multiple modes)
- Moog style ladder filter (multiple modes)
- Dual ring mod (think Dalek voice!)
Bottom
- Clock division/Clock sequencer modules: you can use these to generate simple on/off sequences
- Quad ADSR: really fun module; not only is it four seperate EG's, but the seperate stages of an envelope can be used to trigger other stuff or even itself - basically you can turn an env into a very flexible LFO!
- Multiples: so you can patch one cable into multiple destinations.
- Dual sample and hold: turn something like the random signal from the noise generator into a stepped random signal that can be used to create  random note sequences or random stepped filter sequences.
- VCA
- Small-jack to big jack multiples: I use these since most audio cables use big jack connectors and I got tired of using adaptor connectors.

[Oren]

Oh, that is so deliciously technical!

[Marc JX8P]

And it's actually more intuitive than you'd think - in a way, I think this is how guitarists approach getting the right tone and fx - by putting fx pedals in between the sound source and choosing which amplifyer and such. You start with a blank slate and you start patching in extra modules and other stuff and suddenly you find you're veering into a whole other cool direction!

[SLD Music]

That just looks... endlessly fun...

And an enormous potential time waster.  I fear if I had one, I wouldn't actually get a whole lot of actual music made.    I'd be constantly "What if I did this"--ing through hours and hours of patching and experiementation.