Well it's been nearly two months since I asked the original question of whether the Dark Energy would be a good way to ease into the world of modular synths, and the general consensus around here was to skip the DE and go right for a modular synth.
Well, I ended up listening to that advice and spent the last two months researching, planning, buying and building my first modular synth. I've gotta say I am really quite happy with the results, I am having a blast
. It's really the shot of inspiration I had been looking for. The research and decision making was not easy, and at a few points along the way I wished I had just bought the DE already, but I'm glad I stuck it out and got what I got. It's dope!
Some pics so far:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/tranzfuse/ ... 061967547/
Synth includes: Monorocket Mission6 case, ES-1, Malekko Uncle Oscillator, Synthesis Technology e350, Bubblesound SEM20 filter, Make Noise QMMG, Make Noise Maths, Malekko Output.
I started small (but that didn't mean cheap) and plan to learn these modules pretty well before expanding. I am interfacing the modular with Ableton via a plugin suite called Silent Way, developed by Expert Sleepers. The plugin suite is really quite awesome and takes the place of a lot of what would be basic utility type modules. The Step LFO plugin is really quite cool. It took a while and some trial and error to get going with the plugin, but now I'm there and having a blast with it all.
Anyway, I just wanted to follow up and let everyone know what I ended up doing, and that I'm quite happy with the direction I chose after your gentle persuasion.
Cheers,
Adam