One way to create more complex waveforms (and therefore, harmonics) than traditionally supplied by oscillators is to use one oscillator to modulate the frequency of another. In this article I’ll describe how to set up an “FM” (frequency modulation) patch, and include a movie from my Learn Modular Synthesis course that demonstrates the “exponential” flavor of FM.
I intended to visit the remaining modular manufacturers on my last half day at the show and cover all of their new releases, and fell woefully short – that’s a testament of how many manufacturers and new modules there are these days. Fortunately, there are others who report specs and prices; I’m going to focus more on my own impressions and reactions to some of the new and recently released modules I did get demos of.
One of the primary reasons to make the move from pre-configured synthesizers to patchable modular synthesis is the ability to create your own instrument – be it to pick and choose your favorite flavors of synth building blocks, to expand it in ways you prefer, or to explore new signal paths and configurations. A common question is: Where do you start? Keeping in mind there’s no single right answer (and very few wrong ones), here are a few different approaches and their potential trade-offs.