revok
New Member
Posts: 5
|
Post by revok on May 23, 2023 6:48:09 GMT
Hi!
I love big fat dark drones, tweaking the knobs live and record it, self oscillating, drenched in reverb, in a mix between radigue and sunn o))). (I like playing with feedbacks too).
Atm my setup consist in a few pedals (carcosa, tresonator, ditto), nts1, Kastle, dude and a matrix mixer. Recording dawless with a tascam. I'm getting tired of how "messy" and bulky everything is, I spend a lot of time replugging everything and take a lot of space. My goal is to scale down in a single all-in-one unit that can still be versatile for drones and not a one trick pony (fx included).
I've found in the 2nd hand market the AE Modular Starter Rack 2 (panels are a little beat up from the photos I've seen, but still, it's less than half the original price).
Now, I have no experience with modular, but if there's a reason I moved away from soft synths is because I love the feel of the raw analog sounds.
I know it's apple and oranges here, but I'm torn between getting the Starter Rack2 (and ordering a Multi FX), or grab a Hydrasynth (less versatile than a modular, but maybe quicker to work with?). Considering that I just wanna do evolving drone sounds, what whould you suggest me? Are there any other added value to one system or another?
Bonus question: if the consensus is on the AE Modular should I get also the DronX and Drone38 too or the SR2 will be enough to allow me to drone? and, any courses to suggest to learn it?
Thank y'all!
|
|
|
|
Post by pt3r on May 23, 2023 7:04:34 GMT
My very biased answer; get the starter rack2 and the Multi FX and you will be drone heaven. This comes from a self declared drones/sc(r)apes lover. "Hello my name is pt3r and I love drone." I have recorded a few drone pieces with the AE modular  . Best musical investment ever made, apart from investing time in studying music theory. |
|
revok
New Member
Posts: 5
|
Post by revok on May 23, 2023 11:04:23 GMT
My very biased answer; get the starter rack2 and the Multi FX and you will be drone heaven. This comes from a self declared drones/sc(r)apes lover. "Hello my name is pt3r and I love drone." I have recorded a few drone pieces with the AE modular . Best musical investment ever made, apart from investing time in studying music theory. Cool, do you have any specific "AEModular-centric" albums on bandcamp to check out? Did you record anything using just the modular setup without other gear? Also, the SR2 they are selling has this setup attached (is this the older SR2?) do you think I would need any upgrade to do? (I just see that a few modules like VCO and LFO are 2 instead of a single 2VCO / 2LFO) and Step 10 instead of Seq8. Thanks! Attachments:
|
|
|
|
Post by pt3r on May 23, 2023 11:25:41 GMT
Anything from the past 2 years is AE modular centric, sometimes with some additional external drum sample sequencing from a polyend tracker or the 1010 blackbox, all the other sounds come out of the AE modular, one takes no multitracking.
|
|
|
|
Post by pt3r on May 23, 2023 11:37:07 GMT
My very biased answer; get the starter rack2 and the Multi FX and you will be drone heaven. This comes from a self declared drones/sc(r)apes lover. "Hello my name is pt3r and I love drone." I have recorded a few drone pieces with the AE modular . Best musical investment ever made, apart from investing time in studying music theory. Cool, do you have any specific "AEModular-centric" albums on bandcamp to check out? Did you record anything using just the modular setup without other gear? Also, the SR2 they are selling has this setup attached (is this the older SR2?) do you think I would need any upgrade to do? (I just see that a few modules like VCO and LFO are 2 instead of a single 2VCO / 2LFO) and Step 10 instead of Seq8. Thanks! This is indeed a first generation SR2 rack. The Envelope modules and the STEP10 have been discontinued in favour of more powerful modules. |
|
|
|
Post by keurslagerkurt on May 23, 2023 17:16:14 GMT
As you are pointing towards 'turning knobs' and 'gritty analog' sounds, i think AE Modular will very much fill your needs. However, I do not have a Hydrasynth (nor have I played one), so I cannot make the comparison to that synth for you. AE was first conceived as a sort of ambient/drone noise box, and although it has evolved to be able to do truely anything, I can still feel that raw droning power in the rack everytime I play it  I think, as you mention Sunn, pt3r 's drone tracks will be right up your alley and give you a good idea of what's possible. IIRC his earliest AE tracks are made with just the starter rack as well, so should give you a good idea of what's possible. IMO he's pretty much the dark drone godfather of the forum here  As you have the Kastle synths, you probably have a bit of patching experience, but I still think (just my two cents), that its best to start with just the starter rack. You can always order more modules later. But personally, too much new modules at once does not work inspiring, but rather paralyzing. Part of the modular vibe is that you'll always have to find inventive way to do stuff, and it makes your understanding & appreciation of the modules deeper & leads to interesting results! |
|
|
|
Post by pt3r on May 23, 2023 19:51:38 GMT
Yes I remember wen I started with the starter rack that I really went module by module in patches to figure out what is possible and how to combine modules etc. Immediately creating that super self playing patch with lots of atmospherics takes a while, especially if you still need to figure out what every module does and how you can abuse it to do the things you want. But that is the whole fun of (AE) modular; a sonic quest with lots of surprises and head scratching along the way. Since this is a real modular as in not a semi modular you really need to patch cables before it will make any sound.
|
|
|
|
Post by loopier on May 24, 2023 7:16:15 GMT
I agree on what has been said but I'd like to throw some thoughts on the Hydrasynth, since not much has been said (this being an AEM forum after all). ... a Hydrasynth (less versatile than a modular, ... I own both, and I must say I disagree on this. It may not be made out of physical modules, but it is a modular synth, although digital. IMHO versatility it's one of its strengths. It may not be multi timbral (unless you get the big -- and expensive -- one), but it has a huge amount of possibilities and it's very quick to navigate, there's no menu diving, patching is done by hitting pairs of buttons; it's faster than patching cables  -- on the other hand: who needs speed? --. Macro controls can be created really really easily. And the keyboard is just amazingly expressive. That being said, if you love tweaking knobs and re-patching cables, AE is a great system. I guess it depends on your preferences. My take is that it's an interface choice between cables or pressing buttons (they both have knobs), and also your approach to synthesis. AEM is great for subrtactive. In Hydrasynth you can definitely do subtractive but it's digital and presented as a wavetable synth, although it can also do amazing FM, etc.. Different approach with different results.
My two cents are:
- AE to me is like and adventure into ephemeral sound scapes without base camps. In Hydrasynth you can always store your patch in a preset and get back to it. - If you like cables, go for AE. - Although AE is small, I'm still to find a comfortable way of carrying it around without unpatching, so it has ended up sitting on my desk. - AE can be multi-timbral, but it's monophonic. Hydrasynth is mono-timbral but polyphonic (patching wizardy can kinda work around this, but it's definitely mono-timbral synth). - I only own the AE Multi-fx module and I'm sorry to say that I don't like it much. Hydrasynth fx sound much better to me (and you get a chain of 4 of them), although I've heard better. But, since you already own pedals, you could patch them to your AEM and problem solved. - I've built my own crappy modules for AEM and they work. That was actually the main reason I got into AEM in the first place. It's an awesome system for modular DIY.
Hope that helps.
Cheers. |
|
. Best musical investment ever made, apart from investing time in studying music theory.
I think, as you mention Sunn, 
-- on the other hand: who needs speed? --. Macro controls can be created really really easily. And the keyboard is just amazingly expressive.