The unique thing about modular synthesizers is that they’re always in an “unfinished” state. You can always add new modules to the system and create more complex patches. But motivation of composing can be easily shift from “What kind of sound do I want to create?” to “How complex can this system get?”
Sometimes, when I’m sitting in front of a bunch of modules patching them up, I sometimes get lost, because I want to use nearly all the modules to create a patch that has a lot of rich sounds.
That’s why modular synthesizers are worth reflecting on. They show the relationship between technology and the user, forcing the user to keep making choices between keep expanding the exist system or dig deeper into the modules I already own. What modular synthesizers really train might not be technical skills, but a kind of thinking. In a system with almost no physical limitations, how do we set limitations for ourselves? This kind of thinking doesn’t just apply to electronic music, it also works in other mediums such as doing audio-visual.
So, what modular synthesizers really teach is how to set boundaries for ourselves. Facing endless choices, we should learn when to stop and simplify the elements.
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