Share your AE Modular Story

Oh, just wait...once you figure out that you can cram something the size of a Dotcom Studio 110 down to a couple of foldup cases that would fit into a gym bag, you're going to lose it totally!

Here's my story.

I bought my first synth back in 1988 - a Roland Alpha Juno 1, which I still have and love. From there I ended up (thanks to the recession at the time) going back to college to learn audio engineering. Got to play around with some truly great equipment, and not only that but in Manchester at the very time rave was in it's prime! Great times.

I became disabled about 25 years ago, and gradually my left hand side has got weaker and more erratic. I can't work and am housebound (Mostly bedbound to be frank). In recent years I'd still dabbled with messing around with synths, using the magic of Ebay over the years I've picked up an Akai S3000 sampler, a couple of cheap Yamaha SQ sequencers, A Novation Xiosynth (nice but an AWFUL layout, unreadable display and labelling), and a few other bits of stuff like Behringer FX and Alesis mixers.

But it's really been a golden age in the last few years for me, with limited income but lots of time. So, I've picked up an Arturia Minibrute 2S (as I wanted to dip my toes into trying a semi-modular - you can tell how well that affected me for the reason that I am here!), then a Microfreak, and an Elektron Model:samples to replace the dated old drum machines I had.

The Minibrute pushed me into wanting to go modular, and when I heard of the AE modular, I couldn't wait. That was right up my street, and I've not been disappointed. In fact, that in turn has pushed me into buying a couple of Arduinos and getting off my backside to dig into that more.

And my setup largely consists of this - all sat on or around me in bed, for convenience:

Minibrute next to the AE modular to make patching between them easier.
Microfreak as both additional synth and a simple keyboard controller (gotta love that capacitive keyboard for expression).
Trigger outputs of the TRIQ164 sent to the Elektron Model:Samples (or just the Samples running along on it's own with it's clock controlling the AEM).
When writing or experimenting, I have a Yamaha QY doing the multitrack sequencing (just for ease of use, as I vastly prefer using physical equipment than PC software).
Eventually if I do anything worthwhile, I can then record it to DAW.

I also have a couple of Volcas and Teenage Operator POs which I mostly use for embellishing as and when (the PO 12 is great for adding percussion to the Elektron Sample's rhythm).

And that's about it. I'm rather lazy, so this is what works for me as it's small enough to sit in bed using this all, and I don't have to move around to get to it all.

I tend to venture into electronic dance and pop more.

It was not a decision to move away from larger formats because of price. It was because soooooo many eurorack companies cram way too much into their modules making them cluttered, and to me, annoying. The thing I really like about Synthesizers.com systems is that their modules 90% of the time are a single function module. A filter is a filter. A VCA is a VCA, etc....

Enter Tangible Waves! I love the fact that not only do the modules feel and sound killer, but each module is what it says it is and nothing more. Also the aesthetics really connect to me because I love the old school work flow of system and the sound of course is just amazing.

I think you're gonna love your investment!!

Hello everyone, really pleased to meet you online.  You appear to have a wonderful forum and community here and I look forward to getting to know you all over the coming months.

I received a forum welcome email by a moderator which suggested I drop my story here so I will do so and make it as brief as possible.

My first exposure to synthesizers was when my late father took me to 'Carlsboro Sound' in Nottingham (UK) around 1985.  They had a basement into which they had crammed as many synthesizers as they could.  I can still remember the dim lighting and glowing LED displays.  Yamaha DX's, and a CX5m spring to mind as does the seemingly 'huge' LCD display of a Kawai K5m.  About 12 months later as things were going well for the family I was lucky to receive a Roland HS60 to accompany my ongoing piano lessons which sat atop my existing Viscount VS20 organ.

I played throughout school, saved up for my own D50 in 1989 as a result of teaching piano locally and eventually went to University to study music and photography on a degree course which gave me exposure to plenty of studio equipment which including a Tascam 24 track setup.  My first student loan was pretty much blown on a pair of decks and much record buying ensued.  I left University in 1995 and through the 25 years that have passed many synthesizers and samplers have been through my ownership.  It's only over the past few years however that I have had time to get back to spending afternoons programming and indulging my love of manipulating sounds and getting my playing technique back in order.

I've been so familiar with synths over the years and have seen them develop that the 'analog v digital v softsynth' debates really mean very little to me - it's all there as a tool to make music and so many of us, me included at times, get too caught up in what makes the music rather than the audio itself, be that patches or full compositions.  I have a great Native Instruments/Ableton system here at home in London, based around Maschine, Komplete, Arturia V collection and a Casio digital piano as master keyboard.  I still own several analogs including a Bit One, a Siel Cruise, a couple of Rolands and some older effects units which sometimes get a look in but I have to confess I do find the Native Instruments environment very polished and it suits the way my mind works.  We live in a London flat so I cannot have my keyboards taking up too much room which has caused me to focus on the instruments that matter.

Modular is new to me but I have been interested for some years and at 1am a few nights ago I stumbled across the AE Modular 1 on eBay.  The look caught my eye immediately as did the price.  It's only a month old and seemingly didn't suit the individual who originally bought it.  I read up just a little, liked what I heard, and clicked on BuyItNow - it turned up the very next day.  Now here I am getting to grips again with the basics though my years of exposure to analog synths means I am familiar with many of the terms and concepts.  My modular is going to be driven by my Arturia Beatstep and doubtless in a month or two I will graduate to a second case with a few extra modules therein.  It's a wonderfully designed system...Robert should be proud and I hope feels rewarded for all his hard work.  Some great compositions on here too which I hope to add to in a few months.

I regularly take holidays in Berlin (or did!) and end up in the dark bowels of clubs like Tresor or Berghain three or four times a year, so I think that gives some idea of the type of techno that I enjoy listening to, dancing to and writing.  I find Maschine really intuitive for this genre and look forward to spinning the AE into that world.  That said over the years I have seen all the classic acts - Jarre in 1988 and 1990, Tangerine Dream in 1991, Kraftwerk many times, and of course all the raves I could fit into the 1990s!  Musically I have a very broad outlook and enjoy classical orchestral concerts as much as I enjoy musicals and being thrown around at an Ice T Body Count gig.  Life is a little short to be too dismissive of different types of music.

Thanks for reading this far and I hope to speak with you more on the forum.

Best wishes

Paul

How did I get the Tangible Waves syndrome ?

I met modular synths in the early 70s (a long time ago in another galaxy).

In November 2016, I read this article about AE Modular :
www.gearnews.com/ae-modular-cheap-cheerful-modular-synthesis-tangible-waves/
The writer was a bit hard about construction and design, but I don't care about that; I found the design and the concept perfect.

In December 2016, I read this article about best modular synths of the year :
ask.audio/articles/best-of-2016-eurorack-modular-synths/ae-modular#article

But at that time I had other projects in mind and I forgot these articles.

In 2019, I worked on a project with a friend who own a "big" Eurorack system (very unreasonable in size - no way for moving it). It was a great pleasure for me in discovering again a modular system.



And now I am waiting my AEM system !

Later, I would present the evolution of my AEM in the form of a "roman-photo" (photo-novel ?).

Well, welcome to the electronic music rabbithole of modular! At least with AE, slobs like me can afford a ginormous system that would easily soar into the five-figure range in Eurorack. And the sonic results DO give Eurorack a run for its money!

ampersands Bleepy bloopy welcome!

Ah yes, I also have the WAVETABLES on order, which is very exciting. In the demonstration video i'm hearing some tones not far removed from the Twisted Electrons MegaFM, at a fraction of the price!

Bit late to post here - my system finally arrived a little while back and has been blowing me away for the last few weeks.

Here's the first patch I came up with after a bit of exploration:
www.facebook.com/itsvulc/videos/3924733057646732

Loving the AE format - big ups to Robert and the team for exceeding all expectations.

Hi, everyone! I'm Josh, and I play the ondes Martenot.

I have been interested getting into modular for a while. I built myself case with a set of rails in a few years ago, but I never managed to fill it with anything other than a power supply! I wrote off eurorack as 'not for me' for a few reasons. I ended up selling the case to a student from Oberlin that came over to me in the U.K. for some ondes Martenot lessons. All's well that ends well! 

Anyway, my AE Modular system arrived earlier this year. It started off life as a Starter Rack 2 with a KICK added. Since then I've added a quantiser and I have a SEQ16 and another 2LFO on the way. I really love my system, especially since getting the quantiser - that really opened up the AE Modular for me! 

I certainly have the next few steps planned, as far as expanding my system goes. I'm expecting to be getting another case in the next few months, the rate I'm going! 

I haven't yet used it in any of my recorded music, but it will find its way in there soon. I do post daily videos on my Instagram, mostly revolving around the ondes Martenot, but the AE Modular makes frequent appearances and often gets special attention from people. 

The spirit of the Tangible Waves is really admirable, and I really do think it's very good of Robert to make the playful and powerful environment of modular synthesis more readily available to people. I'm very excited to see this format expand and evolve!

Josh

I have been here since the beginning, but as a maker there was always something different. It all started with a few Korg machines. Then I built myself a xoxbox and as a relaxation I always played a little bit with it. Later I added the Mircobrute. Then the Eurorack started ... I was more in the mood for building than playing.

When I saw the AE system, I fell in love with it, because I build and solder many of them myself. Therefore I have a large system here, but I hardly have the time to do anything. To lower the hurdle, I just built everything into a battery powered case, so I can at least do a session here and there.