Modular …out.

[Rarecomponentadsr]

Ive asked this before but it’s becoming an issue again and wonder if anyone can add any thoughts.

I’m realising I’m using three mixers during all of my patches.
That’s the standard CP3 mix of oscillation etc but from there and once thru the VCAs, I feed this, the final out thru a modified CP3 , this enables me to mix two or more patches together
ie …one patch using 904 #1 and the other using 904#2 along with the 911a or similar but basically mixing/blending two sounds together into a single patch.

But then the final audio mix then goes into my desk mixer before entering the Scarlet audio module.

I’m wondering if I’m over mixing ? I’m still unable to find where the final output comes from in a modular ….most say it’s the 902 but supposing, like I’ve just described there’s more than one audio patch signal in the modular ?

Is there a different way to route 2 or even 3 different audio signals from a modular , don’t forget at the end , this would be just one big patch in reality,

[analogmonster]

I'd say that is a kind of philosophical question.

Technically spoken there is NO final output interface at all in a modular. You can plug a VCO's output directly in an amplifier. There you are.
Most won't do that though. So next level is to plug a 902's output into the amplifier. Works fine.
Most won't do that though. The power of a modular synthesizer is patching obviously. So you implement parallel patches of VCOs, VCAs etc. which you have to mix somehow. So you add a CP3(A) to your patch. The output into the amplifier blah blah...

So you are right. Parallel patches can be considered as one single patch of course. But people need a defined interface at least in their imagination, and a lot of people (like me) consider a mixer as that interface.

When I built my System 55 I used my CP3A as "final destination" for a long time. I did not include a desk mixer. But later in the building process I developed a more "final" destination (in my opinion), the TOUT output module to have stereo line mixing and headphone capabilities "on board"(https://www.analog-monster.de/mmtout_en.html).

CP3(A)s are fine of course, but for me only that TOUT module completed and finalized my System 55. Any modular will always be an open system, and even today I sometimes use other final interfaces for my patches.

[Rarecomponentadsr]

Thanx Carsten for a good detailed reply.

It’s something that’s always niggled me and just about everything I’m used to has a dedicated output or so or speaker output etc….being able to pick and chose seems haphazard but as you say, that’s how it’s done with Modular’s.

Also thinking literally ‘out of the box’, , is a must with Modular’s regarding connections as you can soon fall into a standard set up for ease but using the modular as a proper musical instrument rather than sound effects box you are limiting yourself with patch design.
Also I tend to find that musical sound fixes are available in the PC DAW whereas in the 70’s 80’s it had to be done within the modular so the art of patching isn’t as fine as it used to be for me anyway.

But I sometimes think it might have been more interesting pre PC DAW and using tape and the sound you needed had to come from the synth itself .

[analogmonster]

Yes, you are right, today's technology makes a lot of things more easy. I'd say today as well as in the old days a lot of synthesizer players suffer and suffered from a limited amount of fantasy. I mostly use standard signal flows in my modulars with a dedicated end point to make my life more easy. The sound result and quality is predictable, I have my imagination and can create my desired result. This not bad, but limits possibilities of course.
Just an example: Once I "mispatched" one of my modulars and used a VCF after a VCA in a patch, which created a random and new filter response to the signal flow in the weaker signal amplitudes. The resulting sound was quite weird and new for me. And that shows the possibilities of modulars.
At the end it is a matter of taste. I personally don't like software synthesizers, I prefer the old analogue hardware with all the insecurities, side effects, little failures. It is more vivid in my opinion. I like to compare it with touching a face of a real human being instead of a clean, perfect mask.