THE MODULARIUM

THE MODULARIUM β€” GUIDE

By Simon Fletcher

What is a modular synth?

A modular synth is built from separate modules β€” oscillators, filters, amplifiers, envelopes β€” that do nothing on their own. You create sound by connecting them with cables. There is no fixed signal path; you decide how everything connects.

Jack types

Audio β€” sound signals CV β€” control voltage (pitch, filter, modulation) Gate β€” triggers (on/off pulses)

Click any two jacks (one output, one input) to create a cable β€” order doesn't matter. Click a cable to remove it.

You can patch multiple cables to the same input. The signals get summed together β€” just like hardware modular. Try patching the sequencer pitch and an LFO to the same VCO V/OCT input for vibrato on top of melody.

Modules

The basic signal chain

Most patches follow this pattern:

Sound source β†’ Processing β†’ Amplifier β†’ Effects β†’ Output
VCO OUT β†’ VCF IN (oscillator into filter)
VCF OUT β†’ VCA IN (filtered sound into amplifier)
VCA OUT β†’ DELAY IN (shaped sound into delay)
DELAY OUT β†’ MASTER IN (delayed sound to speakers)
SEQ GATE β†’ ENV GATE (sequencer triggers envelope)
ENV OUT β†’ VCA CV (envelope controls volume)
SEQ PITCH β†’ VCO V/OCT (sequencer controls pitch)

Example patches

Acid Bass β€” Resonant filter sweep

The envelope controls both the VCA and the filter. Short decay + high resonance = squelchy 303 sound.

SEQ CV β†’ VCO1 V/OCT
SEQ GATE β†’ ENV GATE
ENV OUT β†’ VCA1 CV
ENV OUT β†’ VCF CV (envelope sweeps filter too!)
VCO1 OUT β†’ VCF IN β†’ VCA1 IN β†’ MASTER IN

Try: VCF cutoff low (~300Hz), resonance high (~15), short decay, low sustain.

PWM Pad β€” Animated pulse wave

The LFO slowly modulates the pulse width, giving the sound a rich, shifting character.

CLOCK GATE β†’ ENV GATE
ENV OUT β†’ VCA1 CV + VCF CV
LFO OUT β†’ VCO2 PWM (LFO animates pulse width)
VCO2 OUT β†’ VCF IN β†’ VCA1 IN β†’ MASTER IN

Set VCO2 to PULSE, LFO rate ~0.4Hz, depth ~0.4, PW ~0.3.

Sample & Hold β€” Random bleeps

Noise is sampled on each clock tick to generate random pitch CV.

NOISE OUT β†’ RAND IN (signal to sample)
CLOCK GATE β†’ RAND TRIG (clock triggers sampling)
CLOCK GATE β†’ ENV GATE
RAND OUT β†’ VCO FM (random pitch)
ENV OUT β†’ VCA1 CV
VCO OUT β†’ VCF IN β†’ VCA1 IN β†’ MASTER IN

Set RAND to external clock, range ~800.

Dual VCA β€” Envelope-controlled modulation depth

VCA2 controls how much LFO reaches the filter, so the wobble fades in with the note.

LFO OUT β†’ VCA2 IN (LFO goes through VCA2)
ENV OUT β†’ VCA2 CV (envelope controls LFO amount)
VCA2 OUT β†’ VCF CV (shaped LFO modulates filter)

Without VCA2, the LFO is constant. With it, the modulation follows the envelope shape.

Tips

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