Modular system and the idea of "the social organism".
Whatīs the special wonder that surrounds a modular system? Whatīs the logical order of a Modular synthesizer system ?
As the word modular implies the system are made up with modules which can be changed or simply added to a basic system. Modular synthesizers also referring to an open Synthesizer system with voltage controlled modules interconnected with patch cords. The main advantage a modular system offers is flexibility. The output of just any module can be assigned to modulate some parameter of another moduleīs operation. This offers an enormous variety of interconnections, almost without restrictions. Only a small number of these potential interconnections will be accessible on a small hard-wired synthesizer.
A Modular system can also be described as a "social organism" with an agglomeration of cells and interstial fluids arranged in relation to one another not as an aggregate but as an integrated living whole. The system of relations by which these units are related is the organic structure. As the terms are here used the organism is not itself the structure; itīs a collection of units (cells, molecules or modules) arranged in a structure, i.e. in a set of relations. The structure is thus a set of relations between entities.
Modular systems is the idea of interacting wholes, believed to to be more than the mere sum of elementary particles.
A very recommendable comprehensive publication -available through Synthesizer Network- is Allen Stranges Electronic Music - System, Techniques and Controls.
Some
principles of Voltage Control
Interactive CV/Gate Basics
The concept of the voltage controlled synthesizer modules and related circuits was originated by Robert A. Moog. Any sound can be characterised by just three time dependent parameters, namely pitch, tone colour and volume, or to put in electronic terms, fundamental frequency, harmonic content and amplitude. If these three parameters can be precisely controlled for the duration of a particular sound then that sound can accurately be synthesised. In practice this is obviously limited to fairly simple "musical" and related sounds.
A synthesizer thus requires three basic circuit blocks: oscillators to generate sounds of the required pitch, filters to produce the required harmonic content, and amplifiers to
obtain the required amplitude. Since the three parameters may
vary during the existence of a particular sound there must be some means of rapidly
controlling the characteristics of these circuit blocks, which is where the concept of voltage control comes in. The pitch of a voltage
controlled oscillator (VCO) may be varied by changing the control voltage applied to it.
The cutoff-frequency of a voltage-controlled filter (VCF) may similarly be varied, as may
the gain of a voltage-controlled amplifier (VCA).
Read more in the patching technique and control section.