VAZ Modular

Wow! I don't know how perfection can become more perfect but with the addition of several new modules, what was already an extraordinary synth experience just went a notch higher and the VazMod just keeps getting better. I don't know Vaz's creator, Martin Fay, but I picture this peripatetic figure scurrying around a work room trying to implement all the new ideas that spring from his fevered brow as new ones erupt. I VERY seldom review but after spending 30 minutes with the new version, I gotta rhapsodize.

The Vaz Mod can -simply- do about anything and do it incredibly well. The filters are non-pareil - and at this point, there are several different filters to choose from. To my ears, Vaz can convincingly whisper molten silk or rend space with dirty,rasping screams that give famed hardware components a run for their money.

There are several oscillators, including sine(FM), stock, granular, wavetable (that can load samples), and the newest, curiously morphing Cosmo oscillators - don't know quite what they do yet. Modules include waveshapers. inverters. scalers. Several different LFO shapes, etc. etc. Just about everything can patch and modulate everything else and create either amazing emulations or -as in my case- sounds that have not been heard by Earthlings before. One can also have as many modules as your CPU will allow. I'm not even covering the sequencer and arp possibilities.

Don't be afraid! Although I've owned Vaz products for most of my synthesis career, I finally decided to make a stand and start learning modular synthesis in an effort to stop being quite so dependent upon the kindness of strange sound designers. What Vaz offers is a fall through the rabbit-hole of almost complete freedom. I was totally intimidated (for years) but after making the decision to learn, I can't go back. I now realize that -once the system is grasped (and -to my surprise after procrastinating in fear for so long- it really did not cause me to break much of a sweat), Vaz modular methodology is really quite simple and common-sensical. And a blast. What makes it hard and fascinating is that the choices are infinite.


I would love to see a completed tutorial - although I'm more than happy for Martin to continue bringing new modules to life rather than write the final chapters. I would also love to see more presets by sound designers that utilize the new modules. OTOH, Vaz can open patches from old versions and from the Vaz2010...so there are many many patches to get one up and going and creating masterpieces.

It's the road less taken, y'all. I truly love and can rhapsodize about the other synths I have (including the Reaktor Sessions and Tera) but for me, Vaz is a truly amazing and accessible journey deep into the world of the modular and it does not cost thousands of dollars and expansive knowledge of voltage and ohms to get me there. If you can't tell, I HIGHLY recommend it if you are serious about synthesis.Read Review