Well, thank you, But of course one of the great things about the “VCV ecosystem” is that there are all kinds of different people here with all kinds of backgrounds and skills. You see that in the music, and you see it in the plugins. Some devs are good at screen design, some are DSP experts, etc…
Anyway, so some people (like me) are very fortunate that they have good paying day jobs (and don’t mind “working for the man”) so it makes sense to do this as a hobby. But you have to admire people who are trying to “go for it” and make a living from plugins, VST, etc…
“Donating to people is good. Another very common way to support VCV is to buy things, especially things from VCV…”
Yeah,I totally agree. I’ll definitely be buying VCV Chords.It seems like a great module,and looks fantastic,too.Actually,I really like the clean,white/gold visuals of VCV Rack,on the whole,though I do love the look of many of the black [Vult etc.] modules,and some of the brightly coloured ones,too [especially if the bright parts are highlights [Like Mutable Instrumunts].
Anyway,I think we’d need to be mad not to support VCV by buying modules when we can.How else could it continue to flourish.Oh,Spectra,and Parametra look great,too,don’t they.Look great in both senses,I mean.
And yeah I do admire the devs who do this full-time.I’m a big fan of,for instance, Urs,of u-he fame,Richard from Synapse,and quite a few others,especially if they allow reselling of stuff I’ve bought,or who sell great stuff very cheaply.
I think there’s room for all. It’s just so refreshing to hear your motivations,in such an often cynical world.
Personally,I’m a bit limited cash-wise,but I hope to sell some of my VSTs,and give some money to VCV,and the devs,both buying modules that I really like,and making some donations.I’d love to be able to design,or create,but lack of skill/knowledge,and lack of health pretty much preclude that happening.
Hi Steve,That’s great to hear. I think,though,like Squinky,you’re a little too modest.
I think you’re responsible for the design of all of the MindMeld modules,if I’m not mistaken,and they all look great. The EqMaster,and the AuxSpanders look especially great,with the colourful highlights.
Anyway,it’s absolutely fantastic to hear you speak of the joyful and liberating experience,as you just did. Thank you so much. And,of course working creatively with a great partner really is something special.
@CountModula, Thank you Count.It’s an honour. Love your name.Love your logo.Love your style.The modules ain’t bad,either .
Seriously,though,what an amazing collection.I just wish I knew how to use half of them.Honestly.I hope I’ll learn,in time.Your manuals are among the best I’ve seen,and if I were more familiar with how all of this works,in general,I could make much better use of the materials [and,therefore,the modules].
I think I’ll try picking a module that really appeals,for whatever reason,and try messing around with it,at the same time as reading the manual.Who knows what I might stumble upon. Thanks,again.
most people here recommend starting with as few modules as possible. Usually start with the Fundamentals and only add to your palette when you have a compelling reason to. I don’t know if that’s good advice, but I’l buy it!
That’s certainly good advice for your first few days I’d say. Once you want to start following along with tutorials from Omri etc though, you’ll find you need to install a lot of plugins to do it. With over 2000 modules available things can quickly start to feel overwhelming…
At that point my advice would to look at modules as tools that do specific jobs. There may be over 2000 modules but the list of jobs they do is a lot shorter - the category tags in the module browser can really help with this. Decide what tools you need and pick a module or two of each tool type and get really familiar with those.
Take the tool type “Sample and Hold” for example. In my module browser I have 51 modules tagged with that - but just two of them cover 99% of my needs. For me that’s the Bogaudio S&H and SHEight from Mockba - ymmv.
This principle holds true for pretty much every tool type. I may have over 2000 modules in the browser but I probably only regularly use about 5% of that number - around 100 modules. Once you know what tools you need, and what your favourite modules are for doing those jobs, things become much clearer.
Hahaha… That’s more like it. I like a bit of wit,and a good pun is right up there.
But it’s also what I plan.Who could resist those beautiful Audible Intruments,especially where they are free,and Palette seems like an improvement on what I thought likely to be one of my main oscillators.Same thing,exactly,applies to Grayscale’s Supercell.
Yeah,I’ve heard that a few times. All I can say is that it May be good advice,but I’d go out of my mind trying to follow it.I’ve watched many hours of Omri’s fantastic tutorials,and plan on downloading his patches,and deconstructing,and trying to learn,and play with them,focusing on one especially appealing part at a time.
You’ve got to take into account how your own brain works,as well as what you have the most useful information on.In my case,I’ve been extremely inspired by the sounds that I’ve heard from Plaits/Palette,Clouds/Supercell and many of the other Audible Instruments,as well as Hora’s Detour,your own Chebyshev and Prism’s Rainbow.Also Vult and Lindenberg filters and more.
Also,I wouldn’t even try without good reverb and delay,except for Pure learning purposes,and even then I’d probably use a little reverb.
Sequencers and arps [and quantizers] are another area where there are many that appeal to me,as well as being very intuitive,at least once I watched some good instruction on them.
That last point is the key,to me,at least. I haven’t found very much in the way of really good video on the Fundamental modules,though Omri has a few,which I will follow through for a couple of hours,but as far as a compelling reason to go beyond that [very limited range],I already have that - the very strong desire to use modules that sound fantastic,not just good enough.
I hope I don’t sound argumentative,and I really do value your opinions and advice,not to mention your willingness to help,in the first place [as well as your excellent modules].
Thanks,Steve.I know you were replying to Squinky,but it fits me well,especially about following along with tutorials.
The advice on using the Tags is a great tip,even moreso when thinking in terms of tools,as you suggest.Great tips for any beginner.
I guess the “problem” is when you don’t know what S&H,Bernoulli Gates,Sequential Switches etc.are even for,though I’m learning that kind of thing as I watch the videos.
When I spoke to CountModula,earlier in the thread,I mentioned not even knowing what some of his modules do,or would likely be used for.All of that just comes from me being a naturally curious person,and I don’t see me just messing around with too much stuff until I have a good,solid grasp of the modules I decide to focus on,out of the Many that are covered in the videos.There are far too many modules covered in Omri’s videos to learn all at once.
I plan to choose favourites,and focus on them.For instance,as well as those I mentioned above,the Turing machine seems like something to get familiar with early on,and Omri has 6 videos about it.However,I prefer Marbles,but I think there is enough similarity between the two,and what they are used for,that,as well as the tutorial that he has on Marbles itself,the half-a-dozen that there are for the TM should have a lot of carry-over.
Hopefully,at least. Thanks again for the tips and advice.
Well, there is no right answer to that question, it sounds like you will do well in your journey.
Assuming you stick around here you will soon know too much about my obsession with quality, but atm I just wanted to give my pitch for the Fundamental modules, as you might be suggesting they aren’t of exceptional quality (or I might be misinterpreting again – doesn’t really matter.). They are actually of remarkably quality, although by design they don’t have a lot of “character”.
I have spent a lot of time analyzing other’s plugins and can certainly say the Fundamentals are excellent. They never exhibit any unintended audio distortion, they don’t use up too much of your CPU power, they behave themselves when fed any input, they don’t crash.
So, by all means use modules that are more fun, have sounds that you like, etc… But if you find yourself wanting to do something basic the Fundamentals will not disappoint.
Thanks,that,at least,sounds hopeful.Certainly,I’ve already been having great fun,just watching/listeing,and learning.
Yeah,I wasn’t very happy with how I worded that,but I’m aleady practically writing a book,and didn’t want to go even further.Earlier,I think I said something to the effect that I’d never come across anything like VCV,and I don’t doubt the quality of the Rack modules.As I said,too,they really look great as well.I also meant what I said about some of the commercial VCV modules.Actually,they all look great,and I’m sure your right about how well behaved they all are.You’re certainly in a position to know,far better than me.
I think your use of that word “character” hits the nail on the head,too. I’m no spring chicken,and have loved real analogue since my youth.I never did hear anything great about the DX7,or the M1 [and I tried them both,as well as then hearing them everywhere],compared to Arp,Oberheim,Moog and Sequential. In fact VCV is the first platform where I’ve heard FM [synthesis,like FM OP,and others] really shine.
I think it might be because there are so many types of synthesis here,and readily available,that FM can be used where it really shines,which is pretty narrow,imo,and other types used alongside,where they shine.What a fantastic set-up it all is.Amazing,and without needing a mortgage for a big hardware rack.
I’ve always loved “character”,both analogue,and digital.I loved the breathy D-50 sounds,as well,for instance,but,to be honest,I find the sounds of the VCV/Audible/Vult/Hora/Squinky/Lindenberg modules,and more,to be probably,almost certainly,the most amazing array of spectacular sounding synthesis I’ve ever encountered.And the fact that it’s all either free,or very affordable,is simply incredible.
All in all,I think that just about perfectly sums it all up.
Hi,Paul, Thanks so much for the video. I never even saw a Voyetra “in the flesh”,just occaissional photos. I’m no synth guru,and wouldn’t claim to be. I also didn’t mention EMS,or various others.Honestly,I also nearly forgot to include ARP,and I almost bought an Odyssey,and would have except they’d just gone under,literaly months before,and I didn’t dare risk it breaking,and being unfixable.
Anyway,as I said,no guru,or anything like it.In the '80s I was just a young piano-player guy,who loved rock and electronica [esp. Tangerine Dream and Vangelis],and watched in horror,and dismay,as these Legendary American synth manufacturers were being crushed by the Japanese companies.
To be honest,I could hardly believe it.It always seemed to me that the new [then] digital synths had no real power to their sound.[I thought the Casio CZs sounded,more or less,as good as the DX7,or maybe better,at around a quarter of the price]. The British music/audio tech magazines agreed.
I’m from Scotland,and the same thing had happened to the British motorcycle industry,the previous decade. I don’t mean it spitefully,but I was delighted when Ensoniq appeared on the scene,and for a decade or so,beat them at their own game. Better products,at equal,or lower prices,I mean. They didn’t put them out of business,and that’s fine with me. [Roland and Korg didn’t half make some great synths,but I don’t include the “mighty” M1,as it is/was often called,among them].
Thanks again for the video,and the info.I’d no idea that Squinky was a legend,going back to then.Very nice to know.
thanks for posting those, @rickglasser! I had never seen those Voyetra-8 videos before. They actually give a pretty good representation of that it sounded like. btw, I can’t take much credit for the sound, my boss did a huge majority of the analog circuit design. He was a real no-compromise guy. If it weren’t for him I’m sure we would have given up on trying to fit a high-end analog polysynth into a rack mount case, among many other crazy things we did.
I do know about the speed programmer. I contacted him maybe 8 years ago. btw, our own @dlphillips still uses Sequencer Plus running in a dos box in Linux.
Obviously there is a lot of info on this topic if you search here. Just want to mention what you probably already know - you don’t wan’t a super low end GPU for rack. It does use openGL for all rendering, and will stress the very worst GPUs. I always say a mid-range current video card is more than enough for VCV, but that’s rather off the cuff.
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