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Magical stuff. There are software versions available for free, usable in VCV Rack which is also free. I've been playing with it on and off for the last year. It

Magical stuff. There are software versions available for free, usable in VCV Rack which is also free. I've been playing with it on and off for the last year. It blows my mind that 1) someone would just give this stuff away 2) more people aren't jumping on the bandwagon of physically based modular synths. These things can make some of the most pleasant musical sounds I've ever heard. Check out the YouTube channels "Lightbath" or "ann annie" for examples. Sadly, Émilie Gillet (the person behind Mutable Instruments) recently announced that she's stopping development of new modules, because being a known person who's visibly trans is just too much, and she's looking for the next niche to disappear in.

H1Supreme 7y ago
> more people aren't jumping on the bandwagon of physically based modular synths. I've been building a (eurorack) modular modular for a little over 10 years now. It's seriously blown up in subsequent years. After not buying anything for 5 years or so, I just recently started my second case. The amount of modules available has probably doubled since then. I suspect some of the barrier to entry is the price. Especially when you have a lot of options in the $500 and under monosynth category. But, once you eclipse that initial hurdle, the sky's the limit.
- louthy 7y ago
  Modular is seriously addictive, my setup [1] has probably plateaued for now, but I reckon it'll probably still grown from here. What I love about the modular world (as a producer and someone who loves sound design aspect) is the fact that it's very much a cottage industry, and some suitably ambitious individual can build a quirky new module and get it out into the world in a way that would be much harder if they were building a full synth (or something of similar complexity). I think the ecosystem in general is much more willing to try stuff out too. Most modules aren't that expensive, although collectively they do become that, but most hold their value pretty well, so it's pretty easy to cycle modules in and out of the case to keep things interesting [1] https://www.dropbox.com/s/duibbqzcgucussy/mod.jpg?dl=0 https://www.dropbox.com/s/duibbqzcgucussy/mod.jpg?dl=0
  - bjelkeman-again 7y ago
    That is a lot of synt
- arvinsim 7y ago
  As someone who is just starting out on synths on the software side, I think the barrier of entry is more on how to operate this things. The amount of things a layman needs to learn is mind blowing.
6581 7y ago
> more people aren't jumping on the bandwagon of physically based modular synths. It’s expensive, takes a lot of space and does nothing that you can’t do in software. The UI/UX of hardware modules might be better, but that’s a trade-off I’ve personally grown to accept.
- InitialLastName 7y ago
  > does nothing that you can’t do in software I can't turn knobs on my computer, and the blinking LEDs are underwhelming.
  - kennywinker 7y ago
    I love modular, so don’t take this as an attack - but a $50 midi controller has a lot of knobs you can turn :)
    - squarefoot 7y ago
      Agreed, although a midi controller by its generic nature does have to adapt to very different hardware, so that for example the knobs, switches etc. placement doesn't reflect functionally the hardware it is connected to, which sometimes would help immensely to ease the operators work. I wish there was a controller made of pluggable micro modules, that is, say 2x2 cm modules receptacles that could host a potentiometer, a pushbutton, a few leds, a sensor pad etc. where no matter where the module is placed, it will link to the backplane processor getting its identification number and function, then the user can move them around to replicate the functional arrangement of an instrument panel to make programming much easier. It's more or less the same idea I'd like to develop for computer keyboards, where pluggable keys (pots, haptic transducers and sensors etc.) could be moved around still keeping their programmed function. With todays technology it wouldn't be so hard to develop; very likely the most expensive part would be the plugs/receptacles hardware rather than their digital hardware or firmware.
      - karlding 7y ago
        This already exists in some form. There's a Waterloo start-up that spun out of a Fourth Year Design Project, Palette [0]. Their main sell was integrations into various creative tools (ex. Adobe Creative Suite, Ableton). They recently rebranded as Monogram [1][2] after announcing new hardware. [0] https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/cchu/palette-a-freeform-interface-that-controls-any-sof https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/cchu/palette-a-freeform... [1] https://fstoppers.com/gear/palette-gear-announces-new-hardware-rebranding-monogram-407023 https://fstoppers.com/gear/palette-gear-announces-new-hardwa... [2] https://monogramcc.com/ https://monogramcc.com/
blhack 7y ago
It’s because they’re so expensive. Luckily though, behringer recently announced a bunch of amazing modules for very cheap (which is basically their MO, and why they are going to end up eating most of the industry)
- rch 7y ago
  For what it's worth, Behringer's penchant for cloning bespoke hardware that is still available from the creators is generating some negative sentiment* which is broadly affecting their reputation. [*] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=22253785 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=22253785
  - AndrewUnmuted 7y ago
    Behringer already has the reputation of selling very inconsistent and unreliable hardware, some of which are truly amazing values, but most are true heaps of garbage. This won’t bode well for Behringer in the professional and prosumer markets perhaps, but guitar center is going to eat their euro rack modules up. They’ll look great on the demo shelf. They’ll replace them regularly as they start exhibiting problems on the demo floor. It’ll work out just fine for them.
    - jacquesm 7y ago
      That's not exclusive to Beheringer in the bargain department. Even so-called quality brand has issues when on display in the stores. Nord for instance has a super good reputation but their products are in fact quite fragile. I've seen more than one broken on display model. And that stuff isn't cheap at all. Things I've seen: virtual drawbars breaking on their organ model, keyboard issues (dead notes, inconsistent volume, knobs missing / broken off. Otoh; brands like Yamaha and Korg seem to hold up quite well at in-store displays. Even so, most electronic music gear sold in quantity isn't nearly the quality of stuff aimed at the touring musician, and for the price it really couldn't be.
  - TheOtherHobbes 7y ago
    Behringer are anti-Veblens, which annoys people who believe that technology should be an expensive and exclusive wealth signal. In reality cloning - if not outright theft of designs and ideas - has been rife in the synthesizer industry since the earliest days. Some Eurorack modules are more or less literal clones of "famous" designs. The only difference is the graphics. So cloning is not exclusively a Behringer issue. Generally, most of the big name synthesizer companies are lagging far behind the Eurorack market for innovation. Behringer are taking advantage of this by filling that niche. Given that they also produce original products - like the Wing and the X32 mixers - I expect they'll produce some original synth designs when they've exhausted the clone market. But synth players are not particularly adventurous, and nostalgia sells, so the clone market is where most of the money is for now.
_def 7y ago
It's not a simple "giveaway". It's a contribution to society
spritecranberry 7y ago
His name is Olivier.
tomphoolery 7y ago
That kinda makes sense as to why she's open-sourced all the software.
- joemi 7y ago
  Mutable Instruments stuff has been open source long before her coming out as trans. I think they might actually have been open source from the beginning, or thereabouts? (The company originally started by selling DIY kits, IIRC.) Usually (at least with recent modules) she waits to release it openly until after the first production batch of modules has sold.
mitjak 7y ago
tech is such a double-edged sword for trans folks. i feel like it both affords opportunity to be recognized for skills but also carries a very heavy potential cost of rejection and ignorance from peers.
- rhizome 7y ago
  It's probably fine in the research phase, but when the tech is productized/commercialized, then it takes off, and then the money starts rolling in, the niche starts attracting social conservatives.
ryan-allen 7y ago
Came here to plug VCV rack! That is so sad about Emilie, she's a genius and has produced some wonderful stuff. Her physical modules on the second hand market are hard to come by and command a high price, they are so renowned.

H1Supreme 7y ago

> more people aren't jumping on the bandwagon of physically based modular synths. I've been building a (eurorack) modular modular for a little over 10 years now. It's seriously blown up in subsequent years. After not buying anything for 5 years or so, I just recently started my second case. The amount of modules available has probably doubled since then. I suspect some of the barrier to entry is the price. Especially when you have a lot of options in the $500 and under monosynth category. But, once you eclipse that initial hurdle, the sky's the limit.

louthy 7y ago
Modular is seriously addictive, my setup [1] has probably plateaued for now, but I reckon it'll probably still grown from here. What I love about the modular world (as a producer and someone who loves sound design aspect) is the fact that it's very much a cottage industry, and some suitably ambitious individual can build a quirky new module and get it out into the world in a way that would be much harder if they were building a full synth (or something of similar complexity). I think the ecosystem in general is much more willing to try stuff out too. Most modules aren't that expensive, although collectively they do become that, but most hold their value pretty well, so it's pretty easy to cycle modules in and out of the case to keep things interesting [1] https://www.dropbox.com/s/duibbqzcgucussy/mod.jpg?dl=0 https://www.dropbox.com/s/duibbqzcgucussy/mod.jpg?dl=0
- bjelkeman-again 7y ago
  That is a lot of synt
arvinsim 7y ago
As someone who is just starting out on synths on the software side, I think the barrier of entry is more on how to operate this things. The amount of things a layman needs to learn is mind blowing.

6581 7y ago

> more people aren't jumping on the bandwagon of physically based modular synths. It’s expensive, takes a lot of space and does nothing that you can’t do in software. The UI/UX of hardware modules might be better, but that’s a trade-off I’ve personally grown to accept.

InitialLastName 7y ago
> does nothing that you can’t do in software I can't turn knobs on my computer, and the blinking LEDs are underwhelming.
- kennywinker 7y ago
  I love modular, so don’t take this as an attack - but a $50 midi controller has a lot of knobs you can turn :)
  - squarefoot 7y ago
    Agreed, although a midi controller by its generic nature does have to adapt to very different hardware, so that for example the knobs, switches etc. placement doesn't reflect functionally the hardware it is connected to, which sometimes would help immensely to ease the operators work. I wish there was a controller made of pluggable micro modules, that is, say 2x2 cm modules receptacles that could host a potentiometer, a pushbutton, a few leds, a sensor pad etc. where no matter where the module is placed, it will link to the backplane processor getting its identification number and function, then the user can move them around to replicate the functional arrangement of an instrument panel to make programming much easier. It's more or less the same idea I'd like to develop for computer keyboards, where pluggable keys (pots, haptic transducers and sensors etc.) could be moved around still keeping their programmed function. With todays technology it wouldn't be so hard to develop; very likely the most expensive part would be the plugs/receptacles hardware rather than their digital hardware or firmware.
    - karlding 7y ago
      This already exists in some form. There's a Waterloo start-up that spun out of a Fourth Year Design Project, Palette [0]. Their main sell was integrations into various creative tools (ex. Adobe Creative Suite, Ableton). They recently rebranded as Monogram [1][2] after announcing new hardware. [0] https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/cchu/palette-a-freeform-interface-that-controls-any-sof https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/cchu/palette-a-freeform... [1] https://fstoppers.com/gear/palette-gear-announces-new-hardware-rebranding-monogram-407023 https://fstoppers.com/gear/palette-gear-announces-new-hardwa... [2] https://monogramcc.com/ https://monogramcc.com/

blhack 7y ago

It’s because they’re so expensive. Luckily though, behringer recently announced a bunch of amazing modules for very cheap (which is basically their MO, and why they are going to end up eating most of the industry)

rch 7y ago
For what it's worth, Behringer's penchant for cloning bespoke hardware that is still available from the creators is generating some negative sentiment* which is broadly affecting their reputation. [*] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=22253785 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=22253785
- AndrewUnmuted 7y ago
  Behringer already has the reputation of selling very inconsistent and unreliable hardware, some of which are truly amazing values, but most are true heaps of garbage. This won’t bode well for Behringer in the professional and prosumer markets perhaps, but guitar center is going to eat their euro rack modules up. They’ll look great on the demo shelf. They’ll replace them regularly as they start exhibiting problems on the demo floor. It’ll work out just fine for them.
  - jacquesm 7y ago
    That's not exclusive to Beheringer in the bargain department. Even so-called quality brand has issues when on display in the stores. Nord for instance has a super good reputation but their products are in fact quite fragile. I've seen more than one broken on display model. And that stuff isn't cheap at all. Things I've seen: virtual drawbars breaking on their organ model, keyboard issues (dead notes, inconsistent volume, knobs missing / broken off. Otoh; brands like Yamaha and Korg seem to hold up quite well at in-store displays. Even so, most electronic music gear sold in quantity isn't nearly the quality of stuff aimed at the touring musician, and for the price it really couldn't be.
- TheOtherHobbes 7y ago
  Behringer are anti-Veblens, which annoys people who believe that technology should be an expensive and exclusive wealth signal. In reality cloning - if not outright theft of designs and ideas - has been rife in the synthesizer industry since the earliest days. Some Eurorack modules are more or less literal clones of "famous" designs. The only difference is the graphics. So cloning is not exclusively a Behringer issue. Generally, most of the big name synthesizer companies are lagging far behind the Eurorack market for innovation. Behringer are taking advantage of this by filling that niche. Given that they also produce original products - like the Wing and the X32 mixers - I expect they'll produce some original synth designs when they've exhausted the clone market. But synth players are not particularly adventurous, and nostalgia sells, so the clone market is where most of the money is for now.

_def 7y ago

It's not a simple "giveaway". It's a contribution to society

spritecranberry 7y ago

His name is Olivier.

tomphoolery 7y ago

That kinda makes sense as to why she's open-sourced all the software.

joemi 7y ago
Mutable Instruments stuff has been open source long before her coming out as trans. I think they might actually have been open source from the beginning, or thereabouts? (The company originally started by selling DIY kits, IIRC.) Usually (at least with recent modules) she waits to release it openly until after the first production batch of modules has sold.

mitjak 7y ago

tech is such a double-edged sword for trans folks. i feel like it both affords opportunity to be recognized for skills but also carries a very heavy potential cost of rejection and ignorance from peers.

rhizome 7y ago
It's probably fine in the research phase, but when the tech is productized/commercialized, then it takes off, and then the money starts rolling in, the niche starts attracting social conservatives.

ryan-allen 7y ago

Came here to plug VCV rack! That is so sad about Emilie, she's a genius and has produced some wonderful stuff. Her physical modules on the second hand market are hard to come by and command a high price, they are so renowned.