Here’s a case study for you - the M1 modular synth, built in Reaktor which is arguably a modular synth in itself. So why build a modular synth in a modular synth? Patch cables!

Yes, using Reaktor’s Multi Display, along with a lot of frighteningly clever programming, Herwig Krass has built what looks like a rack of hardware synth modules that you program by clicking connection  points between the modules right on the front panel of the GUI. Granted, they’re not physically modeled cables that flex and sway in a lifelike manner, but they do give you an immediate visual indication of how a patch is structured.

So is this a gimmicky ensemble whose only strong point is the cabled GUI? Not at all. Listen to some of the snapshots, especially the random snaps in bank 3 and the pseudo random snaps in bank 4 (did I mention it comes with 6 banks of snaps?). These are sounds I usually associate with hardware modular systems (cue sound of purists clucking their tongues that nothing can ever replace a hardware modular).

This is not an ensemble for old or underpowered systems. It takes a few extra seconds to load and eats a fair bit of CPU. Two near-effortless things you can do to reduce CPU consumption are to reduce the voice count from the default of 8, and turn off the nice sounding but processor hungry internal reverb module. Reducing the voice count, incidentally, also increases the volume of each voice.

An instrument this complex needs documentation and Herwig has provided it, in English and German PDF flavors. It’s not only a guide to this particular instrument, but an introduction to modular synthesis itself. Additionally, the first bank of snaps is devoted to simpler tutorial snapshots designed to illustrate a particular feature or concept. In the epilogue to the manual, Herwig says:

Dear Modular-infected user, I know that reading the tutorial is one of the most annoying duties of a software user. Some of what I’ve explained in these basic tutorials, might also seem trivial to some hardware users. But my aim was to make modular synthesis accessible for “green” users as well. The modular has reached a high level of complexity through the last years and cannot be grasped by just a quick look at the surface.

There’s certainly a lot going on beneath the surface of this ensemble, and I’ll be digging into it for some time to come.