MODULO: The analog synth documentary

Рет қаралды 176,444

9 жыл бұрын

The story of early electronic instruments, and the nearly forgotten Canadian music pioneer who created the first synthesizers. As told through interviews with three modern-day modular synth musicians.
A musical documentary about modular synthesizers, and a tribute to Hugh Le Caine.
Shot and edited by me. Produced by Ryan Gibson.
MODULO screened at Resolution 2014, Sled Island Festival 2014, and was nominated for Best Director - Documentary at the Ottawa Independent Video Awards 2015.
Featuring:
Arturo Brisindi (AKA Hard Science)
Edmund Eagan
Mike McGrath (AKA Muff Wiggler)
Thanks to the CBC, Soshal, The Library and Archives Canada, The Science and Technology Museum, Artengine, CHUO, Weird Canada.
Listen to the CBC radio version produced by Ryan Gibson:
soundcloud.com/ryanpaulgibson/modulo-ottawas-synth-secret
Modulo was featured in issue 17.2 of the Canadian Electroacoustic Community journal, eContact:
econtact.ca/17_2/
Watch MODULO on Vimeo here:
vimeo.com/82193303

Пікірлер: 208

@modularsynthguy6694 Жыл бұрын

We miss you, Mike🎶🎶🎶

@reheller 4 жыл бұрын

... and it's three days later ... and it's still playing. Lovely

@electropocalypse5877 Жыл бұрын

I'm so elated to see that digital sound synthesis enthusiasts are going strong in Canada. Thanks for creating this fantastic documentary, it really inspired me to focus on learning though experimentation and discovery over theory and practice. It's a tough balance however it's reassuring and empowering to learn what people like Hugh Le Caine have accomplished. Thanks again and much love from Alberta. 🙂

@JagBetty 3 жыл бұрын

Julian Cope loves his mellotron.......great to see his daughter getting involved.😎👍

@RichardQuirkmusic 5 жыл бұрын

RIP Mike. We spoke a lot more back when we were beta testing the first Bugbrand modules but the other brief conversations we had since then were always as friendly and amusing and enlightening.

@ShaantanuShendeMusic 5 жыл бұрын

RIP Mike.. We will miss you. :(

@adrianstoness3903 5 жыл бұрын

these things should be on display at the music hall in calgary

@virgobro2025 5 жыл бұрын

A *a* documentary, not on the full history. Still dope to see, thinking of trying modular.

@alexbarn 3 жыл бұрын

Excellent film, thank you!

@TravisBoisvenue 3 жыл бұрын

Thanks for watching!

@The-LongRoad-Home 4 жыл бұрын

9:00 !!! Scary Haunting 🙌

@makerKID5 7 жыл бұрын

I really liked the format, who was the 1 person who had to go and dislike this? You should be ashamed.

@SkotWiedmann0 8 жыл бұрын

This is so wonderful! Thank you for documenting this amazing microcosm of creativity.

@Microtonal_Cats 5 жыл бұрын

Awesome. And RIP Mike.

@MacLamar 3 жыл бұрын

Great video. Wish it had been longer. 👍

@duncancumming5285 2 жыл бұрын

brilliant work, thank you!

@dharmamotion 5 жыл бұрын

R.I.P mike mcgrath

@pthomas36 6 жыл бұрын

Well THAT was an unexpected thrill. Thanks for making this. Just wonderful. I grew up in Ottawa and had a mad appreciation for early prog so of course this was really exciting.

@TravisBoisvenue 6 жыл бұрын

Thanks for watching! Glad you found it.

@druckaudio4935 5 жыл бұрын

Great video guys!!!

@slipknotboy555 7 жыл бұрын

This was so cool. He was a man way ahead of his time.

@otto609 7 жыл бұрын

Appreciate the work & history. Always good to give credit to the inventors. Thank you-

@porridgeandprunes 6 жыл бұрын

Love this video. Brings back memories. I built an analogue synth from a kit back in 1977. Love the intro and outro music.

6 жыл бұрын

Thank you! Such fascinating looking machines by some genius I haven't heard before.

@stephentippet1606 6 жыл бұрын

Wonderful short film. Now I want more !

@JimPriest 6 жыл бұрын

Would be wonderful to see this stuff working again on display in a museum where people could spin knobs and hear the results.

@brucebaldy 4 жыл бұрын

great documentary

@henrico6973 7 жыл бұрын

this is amazing

@terrypussypower 4 жыл бұрын

0:08 - 0:13 For a few seconds this sounded like the intro to “Rhapsody In Blue”!

@filltherobot8822 6 жыл бұрын

Amazing History ! Very Cool Thanks

@JaseLovesDub 7 жыл бұрын

Excellent.

@rheslip20 6 жыл бұрын

The Sackbut !!! I saw a synth called the Sackbut demonstrated at the Museum of Science and Technology in Ottawa around 1976 during a seminar about electronic music. I don't really remember much about the synth or who demonstrated it but I do remember the whole keyboard moved side to side which allowed you to modulate the pitch. The musician commented that he had gotten very used to it and found himself trying to bend notes on the keyboard when he played piano. Funny that I remember those details after 40 years. I was a real synth nerd back then and I guess it made a big impression on me!

@SenfSenferson 4 жыл бұрын

funny because continuum and expresive E are releasing the osmose Synth wich does this for each key individualy... Great time to be alive for keyboardists

@daikuone 8 жыл бұрын

Can't help but feel sad that these machines are tucked away in a warehouse, and not lent out for current electronic musicians to document and create sounds on them that can be enjoyed now. I would think Mr. Le Caine would appreciate that as well.

@EaselCat 7 жыл бұрын

This needs to be longer :)

@virgobro2025 5 жыл бұрын

Its better to be in a museum. Fucko, there's better stuff out there now

@MicaelAzevedo 4 жыл бұрын

@@virgobro2025 its not about having better or worst. Its about creativity!! And inspiration of course :p

@jimmythevoice8716 4 жыл бұрын

daikuone You guts are funny

@zaneaustin22 4 жыл бұрын

Virgo Bro fuck off, digital and analog are completely different thing each with their own benefits

@Shred_The_Weapon 7 жыл бұрын

Insanely fascinating to see a VCS3 next to the Voyager in the same studio.

@davidhrivnak 8 жыл бұрын

That intro piece is so good!

@henrybirdseye 7 жыл бұрын

That was fun! More please.

@JOHNG_TV 8 жыл бұрын

Great information

@themidireporter3357 2 жыл бұрын

Totally fascinating. I am currently studying music theory and just explored the world of modular synths

@MostlyPennyCat Жыл бұрын

I was taught Subtractive Synthesis on an EMS VCS3 at school in 1995. Good times.

@colourbasscolourbassweapon2135 Жыл бұрын

i know both

@colourbasscolourbassweapon2135 Жыл бұрын

@@MostlyPennyCat nice i know that synth

@ProdByThatGuyFace 7 жыл бұрын

INSANE!!!

@michaelbauers8800 6 жыл бұрын

Some synthesizers have modulation matrices, such as Prophet 12, and Prophet 08 ( now rev2). While this is not as flexible as a modular, it does have some advantages in terms of ease of use. I wanted a modular, but decided a Prophet 12 was more practical for me. Hugh is thankfully getting more exposure due to the internet. He was a pioneer in electronic music. I still need to listed to his music concrete stuff ( I have a mixed feeling towards music concrete, loving the idea, but often being bored by the execution.)

@bernii4515 5 жыл бұрын

thx for this update

@niyagentleman8143 5 жыл бұрын

perfect explanations ..clear proper..god bless you :)

@TravisBoisvenue 5 жыл бұрын

Thanks! All credit to our brilliant subjects.

@akairpg 7 жыл бұрын

very nice documentary! thank you

@TravisBoisvenue 7 жыл бұрын

Thanks for watching!

@Its_Avalon 8 жыл бұрын

This is so awesome!!! Thanks for making this

@TravisBoisvenue 8 жыл бұрын

+OfficialDJAvalon Thanks for watching!

@Fluminense7 7 жыл бұрын

Hi Travis. I'm looking for some abstract electronic composers. Any suggestions? thank you

@SRDhain 7 жыл бұрын

This is fascinating! It's enough to get me to visit Canada again (it's been a while), just to check some of this stuff out! Well shot & edited, Travis. Thank you for sharing 👍

@TravisBoisvenue 7 жыл бұрын

Appreciate it. Thanks for watching!

@ogasi1798 8 жыл бұрын

Cool little movie Nice one

@andrewbird8624 4 жыл бұрын

Thankyou for making this!! And without a robot voiceover. Real people and cool interviews. :)

@NathanChisholm041 4 жыл бұрын

Robot voice? I would of thought it appropriate for this documentary..

@andrewbird8624 4 жыл бұрын

@@NathanChisholm041 haha not for more than a few minutes. There have been a couple great docs that were unfortunately unlistenable 2 hours of speech synthesis. This one is just awesome - a lot of fantastic work.

@stevenrempel 6 жыл бұрын

niiiIIIIIIICE

@sigh_gremlin 4 жыл бұрын

great videoC:!

@TravisBoisvenue 4 жыл бұрын

Thanks for watching!

@davidreidy5750 3 жыл бұрын

That second guy isn't from our own solar system.

@juergenbranz 8 жыл бұрын

dope! more! :)

@mollyoko 7 жыл бұрын

Inspirational

@ChrizzBeatz Жыл бұрын

great vid

@bigjoescientist 8 жыл бұрын

Very interesting... so happy to have stumbled upon this. Can't believe just 411 views!

@Crystal-wd5to 7 жыл бұрын

awesome :)

@loslosbaby 4 жыл бұрын

The aluminum foil of the Le Caine piece, above the keyboard, is a capacitor...doubtless used for tuning, by sliding around the top piece-of-machine-crapology-what-the-hell thing :)

@filter4now 3 жыл бұрын

I wish they could have recorded every note of the "telharmonium" - all they know is that it sounded "pure and crisp". Unfortunately no tubes or any electronic way to cut records, about all you could do in 1897 is wind a coil. Last one was dismantled in 1962 - if it still worked, why didn't someone wind a match transformer and tape it? Would be so cool to hear

@sn1000k Жыл бұрын

I agree!

@experceptus 7 жыл бұрын

This is wonderful. I had no idea how far back this goes. You should consider getting a Kickstarter campaign going so a longer version of this can be done. I think the mod synth community would contribute. Even better, get enough money together to put some of these back in to commission and used by artists. I'd pay to see that.

@penroseconjecture5318 5 жыл бұрын

Lance Smith it’s been done already. I think you can find it on Netflix called “I Dream of Wires” it’s an incredibly well done documentary over 2 hours long.

@manuelgonzales6483 2 жыл бұрын

Unbelievable 😮😵🎉🎈🎊

@gorillaau 7 жыл бұрын

Sounds still going two days later.. ghost in the machine. It could still be going when you are no longer here. An eery thought really.

@midinerd 6 жыл бұрын

The electricity grid is always on. So its not that weird at all.

@horowizard 6 жыл бұрын

Why not? It's what I would expect if I never had turned it off.

@RonSafreed 5 жыл бұрын

Ghost In The Machine, was that an album the English rock group, The Police made back in 1984? "We are spirits in the material world?

@charlesbarry9229 8 жыл бұрын

check out Pretty Lights! He has started touring with live analog synthesis and his most recent album was all live sampled with professional musicians and PL on an analog synth

@JohnLRice 7 жыл бұрын

Cool! How did I not see this until now????!

@MODUS_OP 6 жыл бұрын

Just discovered it today! Pretty cool so far. :cloud:

@cityz3n 4 жыл бұрын

Today! In quarantine days!

@inezj.2860 5 жыл бұрын

It's a kind of magic :)

@adamploof3528 8 жыл бұрын

That was great! Well shot and edited. Awesome to hear about these Canadian musicians(/synth nerds). I hadn't known anything about Hugh Le Caine before this and I'm glad that I now do. I wonder if that tape loop instrument that they were checking out towards the end of the film is what he used to record Dripsody with. Thanks for making and sharing this.

@TravisBoisvenue 8 жыл бұрын

+Adam Ploof Thanks for watching! Nice theory about the tape loop instrument and Dripsody.

@josephdonati3273 7 жыл бұрын

8:00 .... You sunk my battleship!!!

@bensharp4164 7 жыл бұрын

It would be great to see some HQ stills, I can't find anything online. It would be cool to do a pastiche of the serial sound generator on a euro panel in honour of Hugh Le Caine. Thanks for the documentary.

@ashermil 3 жыл бұрын

Focus, goddammit!

@Sonmz Жыл бұрын

RIP, Mike McGrath

@RPS3000 7 жыл бұрын

that ems is so great ,waht ppl think about the cloney or the vostok?

@riamiwovideos 6 жыл бұрын

cool :)

@lauprellim 5 жыл бұрын

Wonderful video! Wish the lens stayed a little more in focus?

@Rhythmicons 7 жыл бұрын

Muffwiggler's Daughter is going to be a monster synthesist.

@armweak13 7 жыл бұрын

Rhythmicons, or she'll flee from it at top speed when she realizes the level of nerdom it comes with.

@Rhythmicons 7 жыл бұрын

armweak13 She will be Lady #14 in the entire worldwide community.

@TravisBoisvenue 7 жыл бұрын

Hopefully not.

@slipknotboy555 7 жыл бұрын

Rhythmicons I think there may be more ladies into synths than it appears at first glance, which is definitely a good thing. Guys do outnumber them, that's true, but thankfully, I don't think it's as bad as one might imagine.

@Rhythmicons 7 жыл бұрын

slipknotboy555 It's definitely a demographic that needs to be improved.

@phattieg 7 жыл бұрын

Digital is nice, but I miss analog technology so much. I mean not with just music equipment, but telephone equipment, audio equipment in general. I always felt like it had a much better sound to it.

@modularben7421 6 жыл бұрын

I use both and love my Elektrons as they combine the best of both worlds analog and digital with plenty of knobs and switches

@Corpu5 Жыл бұрын

03:55 wow 😍♥

@RCAvhstape 6 жыл бұрын

17:15 I saw that rocket engine on the shelf and was wondering if that was part of the instrument lol

@ThePacratz 7 жыл бұрын

Did LaCaine come up with the concept of voltage control or was it Bob Moog?

@synthdocs6240 7 жыл бұрын

do you know which osc he's using at 3:19, when he says "coolest oscillator around?"

@neandrewthal 6 жыл бұрын

Definitely. I can hear it morphing and if you look where his hand is when he says it, then look at that spot when they give a better shot of the system you will see it there.

@modularben7421 6 жыл бұрын

Don't discount presets for live performances they are quite useful!

@markg0410 6 жыл бұрын

9:34 - Is it me or does that melody playing in the background sound a lot like "The Soul That Creates" by Skinny Puppy?.

@mattlovell4213 4 жыл бұрын

14:12 I have the same sticker above my bedroom door and one on my gun safe

@the.secret.transmission 2 жыл бұрын

Millions of people, all over the world, playing with knobs.

@JSprayaEntertainment 4 жыл бұрын

wish people would learn and talk about feedback loops

@JSprayaEntertainment 4 жыл бұрын

kzfaq.info/get/bejne/ft9xa5app7eah3k.html

@edgeeffect 7 жыл бұрын

Christ on a bike... the focus on the camera... the aperture must have been like 40 feet across!

@TravisBoisvenue 7 жыл бұрын

Haha! Whoops.

@NullStaticVoid 7 жыл бұрын

yeah, just because the lens goes to f1.4 doesn't mean you need to.

@MDubzBeat 6 жыл бұрын

Love this documentary. It's clear, concise, and you cover all the fundamentals to understanding the world of modular. Can I pull some audio dialogue for constructing an Ableton kit?

@TravisBoisvenue 6 жыл бұрын

Thanks, appreciate it. I don't know what that means, but go for it!

@bobbychaos 10 ай бұрын

I wonder how many of these ended up at the National Music Centre in Calgary

@thomassynths 7 жыл бұрын

I must have missed it in the video, but what is the museum called and where is it located?

@TravisBoisvenue 7 жыл бұрын

The Canada Science and Technology Museum. It's currently being renovated, so I'm not sure if it's open. The archives featured in the documentary I believe can be toured by the public, if you get in touch and schedule in advance.

@coyoteserranoband 6 жыл бұрын

What is that pressure sensitive analog modular synth that Edmund Eagan has?????

@TravisBoisvenue 6 жыл бұрын

Totally custom! Sadly, I no longer remember any details about it.

@SkotWiedmann0 2 жыл бұрын

I designed and built it :)

@bobjames2906 5 жыл бұрын

those stand wobbles, making me nervous Bro..... 3:00 close to, or above 2000 clams..... wobble smash woops

@Hard_Science 5 жыл бұрын

Bah, they're fine ;)

@loomit100 6 жыл бұрын

What was the music at the start? And what synth was it done on?

@TravisBoisvenue 6 жыл бұрын

"Short Presentation of the 1948 Sackbut" by Hugh Le Caine

@SPAZZOID100 7 жыл бұрын

Polyphony please!!

@Alaska1925 6 жыл бұрын

Multi-track ;)

@tromdroid6087 6 жыл бұрын

James Reeno 'polyphony'? U mean... polyphony in mono going to a lonely tweeter. DESTROY A PAN heehee Human panning (AKA running back and forth the room with the tweeter :p ). Fk stereo ay. Mono all the wayyy. Huuummm or maybe I mean... GO MONOPHONIC FK POLLY :D

@SPAZZOID100 5 жыл бұрын

Trom Droid ?????

@ikers1966 6 жыл бұрын

What is the website mentioned around 4:33 please?

@TravisBoisvenue 6 жыл бұрын

Here it is: www.muffwiggler.com/forum/

@ikers1966 6 жыл бұрын

Merciii :)

@anthonydama4828 6 жыл бұрын

Does anyone know the name of the synth used at 7'45?

@gophercrow 6 жыл бұрын

Anthony Dama it is an EMS VCS3 en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/EMS_VCS_3

@kiickinballistics 4 жыл бұрын

Tip for you Anthony, when pointing to a specific time write it like this and it hyperlinks for users 7:45

@mariobajardi 8 жыл бұрын

Ciao a tutti 1:)

@rhampton1914 7 жыл бұрын

I WANNA BE A WIRE SOO I CAN PATCH FOREVER AND BE FREE

@adamploof3528 8 жыл бұрын

I also wanted to add that it's interesting to hear about pioneering artists like Hugh Le Caine receiving public support from their government. I'm not sure how things are up in Canada today, but in the US public funding for the arts has overall decreased by about 26% over the past 20 years (when adjusting for inflation)*. I think it's important to consider the consequences of arts funding policies on our culture. What would Hugh have done had he been forced to look for commercial support for his life's work? I'm not trying to be preachy here, just pointing out that his legacy is in some ways a legacy of Canada's arts policies at that time. * www.giarts.org/article/public-funding-arts-2014-update

@RonSafreed 5 жыл бұрын

Here in the states things like art & music has declined in schools.

@marcbrasse747 7 жыл бұрын

I am a very big Le Caine fan and would have loved to have joined you on that tour. However: Why where the only musically relevant bits in this whole video played by him already about 70 years ago? I think I know the reason: Knobfetishism in stead of musical inspiration. That seems to be the general state of electronic music today. No wonder the Electronic Sackbut never took of. One actually had to play that one.