Modular synthesis EXPLAINED
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- Опубліковано 1 січ 2020
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Musicians are just wave wizards
Tbh
I believe the term is "air-benders"
More like sound benders
@@theflatjourneyshow4885 Sound is just air being bent
@@theflatjourneyshow4885 Sound is W I G G L Y A I R
Please do more of these. This was insanely educational.
yess
Great Idea. Do a educational section.
This was some high IQ shit man. As much as his regular videos give inspiration to have passion towards music, the explanatory style of this video almost makes me want to learn more / put time into something like music production.
tl;dr Couldn't agree more
i prefered if he just made a simple subtractive synth in reaktor blocks or vcv rack or voltage modular.
Yes, yes, yes! :D
So synth modules are like guitar pedals for electronic producers: you can’t stop buying the goddamn things
YOU JUST CANT.
Untrue.
Well, yes and no at the same time, because modules trigger the sound by themselves and the guitar must be picked/strummed/tapped/whatever in order to get the sound but in the end yeah, every new module "feels" like a new guitar pedal :D
Exactly
I'll start calling my pedalboard a modular sound processor
I've been a metal musician most of my life and I never got why people are into synths.... now I want a wall like this myself
Do it man, I’m new to this myself, and even if you don’t use it in music, it just seems like a fun (albeit, insanely expensive) toy to play with haha.
There's a lot of Synth music crossovers with Black Metal, Can't think of a band right this second, but I know there are channels that do Synthwave BM remixes of MGLA and Burzum. But bands themselves as well, I'll reply when I figure a few out
That’s because you’re a consumer
Its always the metal fans that get into synths hahah (not every synth guy is a metal guy but almost every metal guy will show interests in synths). Before getting to know synthwave, darksynth and such i also listened to metal quite a bit. Electronic music can be even more badass, raw and brutal than metal if done correctly.
Its mind boggling when a song with no lyrics, only electronic sounds makes me feel more emotions than an expirienced singer vigorously speaking a language i understand. You know a real master made the song if you feel it, makes you appreciate their work.
I reccomend that you listen to tainted empire by perturbator, great song, really metal. One of the best from that great, agressive and a little bit edgy album.
Another thing: modular synthesis is expensive as hell
If you’re willing to learn how to solder, there’s a ton of great DIY modules that are way cheaper. But... yes.
(But VCVRack is dope)
kinetik make it yourself and save a ton of money ;) I did a (very simple) modular in a week (MiaW) for less than 100$. Of course a modular is ever expanding and I will just continue to make modules and sooner or later I guess it will become expensive.... :)
VCV Rack is free :)
I'll Modulargrid.com set up what you would want, save up on a modular case, whatever it may be, and then invest on the modules itself. Patients, afterwards you can just buy other modules. Expensive when you think about it on the short run, but less if you start small and look at it on the long run.
8Bit1989 thanks a lot man!
I'm glad you're making modular more accessible for people. I already had a decent grasp on how it works, but now it feels really solidified in my head.
THIS.
I feel the exact same way.
same here
Agreed!
the pricepoint for even a single module makes modular extremely inaccessible to people with an average income
I'm going through a electronics engineering degree and seeing all these concepts I learned and studied being applied to music is really something else. Music is indeed maths. Thank you for making this.
“maths”
-deadmau5
Good luck with your degree :)
When music becomes a hard core synth...
More like maths is music, and the whole universe is music. It's not the functions that create music, functions are abstract representations that represent how to recreate a real thing (music).
And maths is a module
I'd like to see a "more practical" demo, like, you making an entire song or something
He says at the end there would be a separate video that focuses on his full setup. Perhaps a fuller demonstration will happen there.
generally you don't get into modular synths for their practically but rather for inspiration, chaos sorcery , and dickin' around with the occasional useful (production wise) creations. Adult toys.
To make full song like this takes 5 years
@@drsoftee no it doesn't.
He dose that in this video :) ua-cam.com/video/tDFX_hDcPAo/v-deo.html
I love the clear contrast between Andrew's immaculate modular synth and Look Mum No Computers mess
Immaculate modular is an oxymoron.
@@warpigs330 Immaculate meaning neat and tidy, and modular meaning composed of many modules? I'm not sure it is an oxymoron. Unless you're just joking that all modular synths are a mess in which case I agree lol. Sorry btw, my OCD can't let a potential misunderstanding lie :')
It only looks immaculate because nothing is plugged in.
Yeah me too, quite a contrast. LMNC is a crazy, all over the place, bonkers (in a good way) kinda guy.Thankfully there's plenty of room in the synth community for the neat and tidy and the 'let-it-all hang out' guys, lots to learn from both and long may it continue!
They both do same job though 😂
So happy to see you using this huge audience you have to expose them to Modular Synthesis. It's the most fun way to interact with electronic music in my opinion, and one of the easiest ways to blow lots and lots of money :)
Oh my dog, papa yam here!!!
Btw yammie, I own a 125 cc bike, am I one of your kind?
*I push to 110 kmph Max*
your a little lost lol
never thought seeing you here haha
@@shaypatrickcormac4670 *115* downhill
@@SuperNicola123456789 haha 😁😂
You need to write a book about modular synthesis called "Everything Is Waves"
The thing I love about modular, other than the sheer amount of customization it offers, is that it’s so incredibly easy to make interesting sounds, whether it be crispy FM lead synths, Gurgly growling acid basses, soft airy pads, or something completely random and unstructured that serves no real musical purpose. And simple and seemingly insignificant actions can lead to entirely different sonic spaces. Turning a single knob, pressing a single button, flipping a single switch, making a single new connection, loading a single file, everything has the potential to take you to places you never thought possible. Places you never knew even existed. Places you never knew you would like. Places that nothing else can really come close to. And there’s no real limit to the places it can take you. Plus if a module breaks it doesn’t kill the whole thing.
Your modular synth setup looks like a space ship control panel.
Read my mind XD
this aged so well omg
@@silentblackcat_ yes
Like old school star trek
Imagine making a legit beat on that setup. Using a thousand patch cables. Getting it nailed down on the ol' 4 track, putting all your patch cables away...
*And then loosing the recording*
Virulent I'd always take hi res pictures of my synths tho when I'm fine with the setup
Andrew geeking out about modular synthesizers is genuinely my number one favorite type of video on his channel. I am always down for more synth videos.
Here from that pink oyster mushroom vid
ayyyy
gg
Gang
Samee
word
"Going around, doing whatever" is probably the best definition of fluctuating random ever made. Awesome!
Hahah put it in the textbooks!
So, what's the answer to the meaning of life, the universe, and everything?
Andrew: ^
look at the enveloppe generator : rise & fall
Modular! 😆
two plus two is *four* minus two is *two* quick maffs
42
Jakub Kučera everyday man on the block
GO BLEEPS
An award goes to andrew for filming those modules beautifully ❤🎛
The information, the way this was edited, you could teach me anything and i'd love it
This is something I feel many of us have been waiting on. Your way of explaining complex terms makes it seems so reachable and gives me an understanding I could not reach from other tutorials. Thankyou.
Right? I love music, but I don't know the first thing about the technical details behind it, or how producers make it - it's all a bunch of magic to me. But after this I can quite confidently say I understand some of the concepts behind music and producing music now, and a little of how it all works. All in a 17 minute video.
@@Nightstick24 very cool
"Everything is waves... can really mess with your head..." let's talk about light Andrew!
oh god no. Regret that class
One benefit of learning modular is it helps you understand so much about electronic signals. Probably why there is so much diy.
There are some modules that uses lightwaves to control voltage. Also that's exactly how radio works (but light frequency is too low to see it)
no difference 👋🏻🎱👄🎱🤚🏻
add audio engineering knowledge and a healthy dose of tesla era aether science and you will eventually come very close to a "theory of everything" worldview based on field theories, waves, frequencies, resonance and denial of the cult of atomism.
You have my vote for more ridiculously long videos.
I hope the next sequels to this video comes soon. Just go over the modules one by one, and how they interact with each other.
2 take always from this:
1. Everything is waves
2. Just pay attention to the smoothness.
In all seriousness, really brilliant vid Andrew. More in this series please. I think I actually understood it.
“Everything is waves” seems to be the conclusion of quantum physics as well.
Also realizing that making materials in 3D software using node editors is basically just modular materials.
Smashed like from the title alone. Been waiting for this one for a while. Thanks Andrew!
Thank you!
0:07 sequence from the rainmaker demo, absolutely beautiful piece!
thank you a lot!
1:40 I watched this part 4 times and took notes. That's a killer explanation. I'm still thinking about the idea of a "pattern of energy".
You're like that magician that tells the crowd how he does all his tricks.
I saw the symbol and I learned almost everything about modular synthesis. Thanks Andrew!
Thank you, Andrew, the fact that these crazy informative and super HQ videos are just out here free to watch for everyone blows my mind!! You are an inspiration
I learned more from you in 17 minutes and 5 seconds than I did doing an entire year of audio production classes/school. You are music!
Something important not mentioned in the video: that system behind Andrew is BONKERS, and you don't need anything near that big to make great stuff and have a lot of fun. Don't be scared by the crazy size! I have a little 84 hp case (about a 25th the size of Andrew's) and it can do all kinds of fun stuff. Going even smaller like 60 or even 40 hp is also totally reasonable, it just requires a little more planning of which modules you'll choose so you can build something cool in the space.
Knobs has a few videos about making smaller, more focused systems like this...
ua-cam.com/video/03HWSF1Mf28/v-deo.html
ua-cam.com/video/cgL4v2NfmhM/v-deo.html
Noah Giom I mean yeah his setup is huge and pretty incredible, but that’s not a single system you buy. It’s an arrangement of many smaller units. Focusing on the unit he used in this video is its own entity that you can purchase and have fun with on its own. Just don’t want people to get the wrong idea that his entire board of units is 1 single thing you buy.
Also VCV rack (an online modular vst with great capabilities) is free.
The patch in the beginning is absolutely BEAUTIFUL!!
Perfect! I really liked the relationship between technical examples and "musical" examples, and the notes on this sheet of paper are brilliant :) It's always nice seeing more modular related videos on your main channel. I said it once and I will say it again, one can really see how much you enjoy modular. Cheers!
I love the GJones transition at 3:34 ! Andrew I want you to know this was one of my favorite videos you've done. It was ridiculously engaging and had educational content. And though it won't reach every viewer, it's reaching the producers of tomorrow and that, is something very special. Never stop doing any of your videos if you can help it. I on behalf of humanity as a whole thank you for your continued pursuit of knowledge and ability to make it palatable for some of us.
Love seeing your name in my notifications. You almost always post right before my lunch break and it'a such a treat.
Andrew: “This is almost everything you need to know”
Also Andrew: Drops a ton of terms I’ve never heard before in the middle of the video
lmao
Could you PLEASE, please, please record an hour's worth of just this at 7:15? It's so beautiful and relaxing and I would love to just vibe out to it. Also can I use that audio to sample from? It's so pretty I really wanna make something with it.
I’ve never been so fascinated by the control of sound waves like this. Not only that but the fact that I was able to understand what you were explaining is also very fascinating and shocking. Thank you to exposing me to this and making it easy to understand :)
Thx for putting a link to vcv rack to the description. Modulars in real are somewhat expensive and vcv rack is a good alternative to look into the world of modular synthesis.
This makes me really want to buy your course, you explained this very well!
I took his course and I was thoroughly impressed with what I learned and what I created! 3 songs just like he promises, and friends think they are real bands / groups!
@@suzanne_atkinson Absolutely! Greetings from your peer PhargooMax :)
The course was great! Doesn't talk about modular but he's an incredible teacher
I've spent half an hour watching two of your brilliant tutorials and cleared up about 25 years worth of mystery. Andrew you're a superb musician but an absolute genius teacher.
You have answered questions that I didn't even finish formulating AND provided examples. Made a concept that I failed to grasp many times simply click. Anytime I hear that someone wants to get into electronic music production or just wants to start learning about sound, I'm just immediately sending them this video. Definitely a gem on this site.
"Everything is waves"
My guy, I've been going down this thought train months now. I think I've applied this to just about everything
Quantum physics, man.
It's cool to be one of the first ones for once. Also, andrew, thanks for all the inspiration, without you, I wouldn't have reached where I am, making music on yt and animating music videos like I do. Thanks for being out there, supporting us.
Not only is this video incredibly informative and helpful, but it is absolutely gorgeous. Beautifully made!
I didnt really understand how modular worked untill this video because i had no idea what all the wires and holes were for, but now i see that its not just for changing the sound produced, but you can also use it to change the way a different function behaves.
I always feel more educated after watching ur vids
As a guitarist who is waiting for my ZOIA to arrive, the timing is impeccable. Thank you Good Sir!!!
This is a fantastic channel, Andrew! I have learned so much from you. Thanks much!
This was probably the best introductory video on this topic I've seen. Reducing things to the idea that this is electricity, not sound, and that it's all just up and down = the right way to do it. These things are often taken for granted. Something I usually add for people is the fact that pretty much all modules do the same thing -- manipulations of the up and the down. The most obvious, intended use of a module (ie. what's on the label) seems to work against people learning to use them creatively.
I've been waiting for this for so long! Thanks for this! I really hope that you do another Monthly course on Modular eventually, the first one was intense but I learned a ton from it :)
I think I would've liked to hear more how changing the wave shape changed the sound, especially when the triggering and inverting/offsetting stuff was happening, but otherwise, a very helpful intro. Thanks Andrew. :)
Really great video as always, very fun to watch with your clever and creative editing, as well as very well explained both through talking as well as visual demonstrations. And I also want to quickly point out how much I love that short and sweet jump into the science of it at 1:46 about how sound is produced in general and then interpreted by us. The slow and harsh noise build up as the science behind it gets a bit heavier is a very nice comedic touch. That short moment in the video shows that you really do enjoy learning about many things and really want to know not just why things are, but also how they are made in the first place, in this case with sound. Again, awesome video :)
I appreciate you and your work. Thank you so much for your hard work, your positivity and your Passion. Your are one of the best ambassadors of Edm production and more!
It’s ya boi, Andrew the modular synth plug. He get you hooked up quick
Andrew should do more of this educational stuff, he's great at simplifying seemingly complex concepts for idiots like me.
I really love this. It feels truly educational in a way that's different from many of your other videos. Great stuff, AH!
Hey man you explained things about synthesis that make me more confident about what I'm doing, you straight up smashed a lot of learning curves I had. It is 3 in the morning. Thank you so much for making this video I appreciate it a lot!!
4:00 and this is why andrew huang is simply the best.
I've always wanted to learn about modular synthesis. This video is incredible!
Absolutely in love with the way you explain complex concepts in relatively simple, accessible language!
You have a gift, my friend, of explaining complex things in an easy to understand way. Thank u!
judging by the samples you've shown in this video, the title could as well have been something like "journey to the microcosmos. the soundtrack tutorial"
Ye I love that music
I thank you for putting in the time to make this for us.
This video helped me to understand a lot more about modular and synths in general, I would love to see more of this!
This was a fantastic video Andrew! I would love it if this became a series of videos getting deeper into modular synthesis.
Wow, this is freaking amazing, I had no clue it was that simple!! I really want to play with one of these now...
Thanks for the video, your knowledge of the subject is incredible and to say your synth is impressive is an understatement! I saw a video by Emily Hopkins, who runs her harps through guitar effects, and she built a Modular synth and did a video on it and I knew I had found my next musical project.
I honestly keep coming back to this video, even much further into my modular/eurorack journey. It’s crazy watching this as a complete newb and being super confused and coming back a year plus later and thinking the video is relatively basic. That’s not shade either, that’s me realizing the Andrew and other folks like him have taught me a lot! Anyhow, Andrew, have you ever considered having either a video series or another channel just creating various patches? Some of your techniques are so gorgeous sounding, especially the digital rain type sounds you make. I’d personally love to see how you made that happen! I have some ideas but I still have a lot to learn myself. Thanks either way man!
I'm 7:52 minutes in and my mind has been completely blown out of this universe into something much greater. This one video will be one that I will be rewatching on set dates just to remember what it is I'm looking for in life. Period.
Pure greatness!
Life calls so I will watch the rest later. From the beginning of course.
Love
It’s a good thing modular is so expensive cause I would lose years of my life just screwing around if I could afford anything
Well... Or you will become producer. I guess Andrew do exactly this. I can't call it "lost".
@J Son He produces and publishes his albums. He is both producer and youtuber.
@J Son Really - he have almost 30 albums on Spotify.
@J Son I mean - what constitutes for you that someone can be called "producer"? He is one because he produces music. Same as Jazza is graphic artist. That they are also youtubers, and creates stuff mostly for their channels - doesn't change anything. It's like saying that Bob Ross was "TV persona" not "painter", lol.
Skullbonk you can make it yourself, then it is not as expensive. But then you spend the rest of your life soldering new modules for your modular.... :D that’s what I do nowadays. ;)
i wish you would make a video like that about ALL OF YOUR MODULES
Andrew, you are truly amazing. I'm new to this area and your videos are a tremendous help in assisting me to understand some of the basics. I love your studio. Keep up the great work my friend. You are a Major Talent : )
Excellent job on this! I play modular just about every day but sometimes even for someone like me it's good to bring it back to this simple way of viewing it. You should do a modular class like your recording class... maybe even break it up into two sections where experienced modular users can jump in on the second half if they want like "Day 7 - creating a generative patch" and skip "Day 1: Why do I need so many VCAs?" :D
this is my favorite video by you, and that's saying something
no one:
andrew: (inserts brain-melting synth montage)
It's been awesome seeing your Mod Synth collection grow over the years! It's huge now!
This. This is the best. Would love to see a series looking at more modular concepts in greater detail. This video makes a complicated topic a hell of a lot more accessible!
Andrew I want a clip of you from a POV camera of you turning on the modular
wait a minute, i just fell in love with modular synthesizers
Appreciate this even though i'm not looking to start with modular, but rather was looking for some basic knowledge about how a regular synth is constructed. This provided great insights to how a regular synth is constructed and how the voltage is working its way through the circuits. Valuable information in order to know what really happens when i turn a knob on a synth and get a better view of it in my head. Thank you!
I love going over the basics of synthesis again and again because there's always something new to pick up. Today I finally feel comfortable with the concept of a "function generator" after this video (it was more the name that freaked me out, not the concept itself)
Didn't even know what this was - still watched the full 20 mins and now I like modular synthesis... thank you lol
Synth is LIFE .... we need more VINTAGE Synth songs in 2020!!
Another great video Andrew! Looking forward to more modular synthesis series.
Thanks for this. Really easy to follow, even if you've never done any technical music before, ever. Super interesting to see everything so visually, it really helps me understand what's happening - love learning new things in an easy and visual way like this.
You mean it's all just a wave function?!
Mind bl0wn...!
Vsauce! Andrew here..
Always has been..
1:47 Miss me with that shepard risset glissando.
It's crazy to me that so many skills translate to music. I used to go to the place we call OTEC and I went here to learn Engineering and we we literally learn about this in electrical engineering. No music wise, but specifically we work with the oscillator.
Your videos are so cool to watch! Thanks for making the complicated stuff fun to learn
Andrew: This is everything you need to understand modular synthesis.
Drawing: /\ or ^
Me: It looks like a caret symbol. Hmm, in math the caret is used to denote exponents, called powers. The implication here is that modular synthesis is powerful, and that is all that is needed to understand it.
Andrew: This is a line that goes up and down, which I drew to represent things that go up and down.
Me: ... okay, that too.
omg ur smart
I thought it's bitwise multiplication, meaning that all values in their journey are getting some boolean transformations
I want to get into Modular so I can look like a mad musical scientist
Really happy to have you available to subscribe to!
Appreciate your Presentations & Methods!
Keep Shining!
Happy New Year
Dre!
I already know this will be the best video on UA-cam in 2020
Aye
You uploaded
Thanks
This is calling for a master class on this let the automated beats fly
.......when the light goes full-on blue...amazing. I could sit and watch that shot on a loop for longer than I care to admit.
ANDREW I GET IT NOW. I was always curious about how modular synths functioned on a basic level, and this makes so much more sense now. Thank you kind sir.