If you’vehesitatedtotaketheplungeintomodular
synthesisduetoanassociationwithallthings
analogue, you’llbesurprisedtolearnthatthemodern
modular sceneofferssomedecidedlydigitaloptions.
While themodularrenaissancegotitsstartwithold-
school analoguesystemsfromthelikesofTechnosaurus
and AnalogueSolutions,it quicklybecamea hotbedof
exciting, experimentalsounddesignandcompositional
tools thankstothemaverickthird-partymanufacturersthat
adopted themostpopularnewformats,mostspecifically
the so-calledEuroracksystemsfirstpopularisedbyDoepfer.
CompaniessuchasMutableInstrumentsandTiptop
Audio aren’tcontentmerelytoclonethesubtractivesounds
of yore, providinguserswiththeoptiontoaddmore
modern techniquessuchasgranularsynthesisandsample
manipulationtotheirrigs.
Softwaredeveloperswerewellaheadofthepack,with
graphical modularpatchingenvironmentssuchasPureData,Max/MSP,andKymahavingsprungforthfromthe
verybleedingedgeofdigitalmusicresearchand
technology.Suchenvironmentshavemoreincommonwith
computerlanguagesthantheydograndad’soldMoog.
However,withmanyoriginatinginthehallowedhallsof
academia,theyareoftenaccompaniedbya rathersteep
learningcurve.
Mostmusicianssimplywanttogetinandgetgoing,and
havedemandeda friendlierenvironmentinwhichtomake
theirnoise.Forthatreason,productssuchasFathomCM
provideaninvitingmiddlegroundthatcombinesthe
accessibilityofa hardware-styleinterfacewiththedeeper
patchingpowerofa softwareenvironment.
Overthenextfewpages,we’regoingtoshowyouhow
youcanexploitthemoreadvanced– anddecidedlynon-
analogue– featuresofFathomCMtocreatesomeforward-
thinkingpatchesthatdrawonthemostexcitingmethodsof
digitalsoundcreation.In the second instalment in our
exploration of modern modular sound
design, we submerge ourselves in a sea
of zeroes and ones using Seaweed
Audio’s free synth...
Before we diveintothedigitaldepths,
let’s take a momenttogooverthe
basics of modulationinFathomCM,as
modulation will beplayinga majorrolein
our walkthroughs.Here’sFathomCMona
MIDI track in ourDAW.Wedraga
Waveforms moduleinfromtheAudio
Components on theleft,thenpatchit into
a Filter.1
AfteropeningtheWaveformseditor,
weclicktheVolumeknobtoselectit
asa targetformodulation.Thiscausesthe
AddModbuttoninthemiddle-rightto
becomehighlighted.Weclickonthis
buttontoassigna modulationsourcein
theModulationMatrixontheright,where
a Volumecomponenttheninvitesusto
SelectModulator.2
ClickingSelectModulatorbringsupa
menuandsubmenusofmodulation
sources.WeselectNewModulator, then
ADSR. Clickingthecheckboxsealsthe
connection.A tinyknobtotheleftofthe
ADSRcomponentallowsustodialinthe
amountofmodulation,whiletheXonthe
rightletsusdeterminethebehaviourof
thatmodulation.3
Step by step
- ArecapofFathomCM’smodulationsystem
digital modular synthesis with fathom cm / make music now <
July 2019 / COMPUTER MUSIC / 63