Gear Trends: The Explosion of Eurorack

Date:2020/2/13 15:39:28 Hits:

If you’re even slightly interested in synthesizers, you’ve probably noticed the massive rise in popularity of the Eurorack modular synthesizer format (and if you’re not familiar with it, check out our Eurorack Buying Guide). In an age of wireless convenience and multifunction portable devices, it’s not immediately obvious how a hardware platform that requires numerous patch cables could become so desirable. Let’s take a look at what Eurorack has to offer and why it’s much more than a passing musical trend.

Eurorack makes YOU the synth designer
With a traditional fixed-architecture synth, it simply is what it is. While many synthesizers allow some customization of the signal path, you’re basically limited by the synth designer’s vision. With Eurorack, you decide how your signal is going to flow, and you can reconfigure that signal flow in real time by repatching your modules. And as your creative needs grow and change, you’ll be able to add new modules accordingly instead of buying an entirely new synthesizer.

It’s a natural direction to go as you learn more about synthesis
Sweetwater’s own in-house synthesizer expert, Daniel Fisher, once gave this writer a great piece of advice about the best way to learn about synthesis and sound design. To paraphrase, he said, “pick one synthesizer, learn every function inside and out, and you’ll be able to find your way around the vast majority of synths out there.” The point being, there’s a lot to learn about how filters and oscillators behave, how to use LFOs and envelopes effectively, and so on — the basics of synthesis.

And once you have a solid grasp on the fundamentals, it’s natural to start thinking beyond the limitations of the synths you’ve been working with. You start to wish you could combine LFOs for more complex modulations or have an oscillator generate multiple waveforms simultaneously. Maybe you’d like the option to remove the VCA from the signal path to easily create drones. Or perhaps you’d like to explore the creative possibilities of sequencing your sequencer with another sequencer. In other words, as you become more fluent in synthesis and sound design, you’ll likely want to begin exploring techniques that fixed-architecture synths simply cannot provide.

It’s a natural progression from popular software environments
Many electronic music producers got their start in an open-ended software environment like Native Instruments Reaktor or Propellerhead Reason. While completely software-based, these are basically modular environments that encourage creative combinations of different elements. The recent explosion in Eurorack popularity could in part be a reflection of this generation’s musical progression, looking for hardware solutions that offer the same open-ended flexibility as the software platforms they paid their dues with. That’s not to say that hardware synths are a complete replacement for software, just that the Eurorack modular format offers much more flexibility than many other hardware synths.

Eurorack is limited only by your creativity
No two Eurorack rigs are alike, and there’s always another way to patch things together. And Eurorack isn’t just for synthesis, either — you could even design a full Eurorack case full of effects to create a syncable multi-effects processor for your studio. In other words, Eurorack’s surge in popularity is largely due to the creative potential it offers. It’s a format that’s here to stay, and more manufacturers pop up every year to create innovative new modules. If synthesis and sound design are a regular part of your musical routine, you owe it to yourself to consider creating a Eurorack rig to your exact specifications.

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