Have you been annoyed hearing dismissals like “every video I’ve ever seen of $2k+ modular has some crap like this playing endlessly” or “modular music is just a bunch of bleeps and bloops”? I’d hear stuff like this come out of the mouths of people I respected. I was frustrated, thinking that my music might be written off because of the instrument I chose. Over time, I realized these critical ideas stemmed from ignorance and a misunderstanding of what modular synthesizers, and the music they help create, are capable of.
In this article, I’m going to explore the concept of “modular music” and argue that it doesn’t actually exist. And that’s perfectly fine.
What Is Modular Music?
For many people, “modular music” means: a bunch of weird noise and boring looping sequences. They picture someone hunched over a tangle of wires, endlessly tweaking knobs to produce morse code teletype sounds or goofy UFO wobbling sine waves that could belong in a 1950s sci-fi flick.
I’ve heard all the criticisms of modular synths over the years. Most of them boil down to these five points:
- Bleeps and bloops: People assume modular synths are only good for random noises or abstract sketches.
- Unfinished and amateur: Synthesists stumble onto a cool-sounding patch and share it online, leading others to mistake it for a finished piece instead of the experiment or sketch it actually is.
- Overly repetitive: A modular user playing a short, repeating sequence while doing filter sweeps might not seem interesting to casual viewers.
- Gear-focused, not results-focused: Many demos are just showcasing a module’s features, not making an engaging piece of music.
- A hobbyist’s toy: Modular synth users are often seen as gear nerds who tinker aimlessly without producing finished work.
You know what? They’re kind of right, but they’re also dead wrong. There is a glut of modular synth content online that has been demo-like: knob-turning experiments and sound sketches. Casual viewers do not realize these videos are meant to share ideas. It’s a lot like a guitarist showing off a cool new chord progression or a pianist demonstrating a tricky arpeggio. They aren’t meant to be finished products; they’re musical doodles.
The Trouble With “Modular Music”
The biggest misconception is that modular synthesis is a genre. It’s not. Modular synths are instruments, and lumping them into one “type” of music makes no sense.
Listen up: saying “modular music” is like saying “guitar music.” It’s ridiculous. To one person, “guitar music” might evoke images of shredding rock solos. To another, it might mean intricate classical fingerpicking. The same phrase conjures wildly different associations depending on who you ask.
Similarly, calling something “piano music” might make one person think of Chopin’s Nocturnes, while someone else pictures Straight, No Chaser by Thelonious Monk. The instrument doesn’t define the music, it’s just a tool the artist uses to express themselves. Modular synths work the same way.
So, What Are Modular Synths Really Used For?
Let’s clear something up: modular synthesists are making music across almost every genre imaginable. Here’s just a small sample:
- Ambient soundscapes
- Experimental noise
- EDM and IDM
- Jazz
- Dubstep
- Reggaeton
- Synthwave
- Heavy metal
- Modular hip-hop (modbap)
- House
- Drum and bass
- Electro
- Krautrock
- Berlin school
- Industrial
- Folktronica
And that’s just scratching the surface.
Saying “modular music” is as meaningless as saying “guitar music.” It doesn’t tell you anything about the genre or the style. What modular synths actually offer is endless versatility, they’re tools for crafting music in any style the artist chooses.
Reality Check: Modular Synths Are Niche
Part of the reason modular synthesis gets lumped together is because it’s a niche within a niche. The “unpatched” or “regular” humans don’t know what a modular synth is. So how can we really expect anyone to think modular synth can make more than noise. The amount of people that do is so much smaller than you think. Let’s put it into perspective:
- The global synthesizer market was valued at approximately $1.2 billion in 2023
- Let’s say 10% of that is modular synths, or $120 million.
- If the average modular user spends $1,500, that means there are approximately 80,000 modular synth users globally.
- Now compare that to the world’s population of 8 billion. That’s just 0.001% of humanity.
Figuring out that number without spending $5000 on a Market Research report is not something I plan to do. But I can infer some loose numbers from publicly available data. “The global synthesizer market was valued at approximately $1.2 billion in 2023” (https://dataintelo.com/report/synthesizer-market).
Synthesizer prices vary widely, with entry-level models typically ranging from $300 to $500, mid-tier models priced around $1,000 to $2,000, and high-end models exceeding $5,000. The median price in this range ($300 to $5,000) is $2,650, but that number feels too high because far fewer users invest in ultra-expensive synthesizers. I feel like a good midpoint to balance out higher sales for lower prices would average out to $1500 per user.
$1,200,000,000 ÷ $1,500 = 800,000 synth users globally.
Let’s say modular synth users make up 10% of the market (an absurdly generous estimate):
$1,200,000,000 × 10% = $120,000,000 (modular market share).
If we assume the average spend per modular user is $3,500:
$120,000,000 ÷ $3,500 = 34,286 modular synth users globally.
$3500/year feels a bit high becuase it is not really including more casual modular synth users who might only buy a Mother 32. Let’s adjust for a more realistic scenario where modular users spend a similar amount ot regular synth users, $1,500 on average:
$120,000,000 ÷ $1,500 = 80,000 modular synth users globally.
Modular Synth Users as a Percentage of Global Population
The global population in 2023 is approximately 8 billion. Using the high estimate of 80,000 modular synth users:
80,000 ÷ 8,000,000,000 = 0.001% (1 in 100,000 people).
With roughly 35,000-80,000 users worldwide, It’s no wonder misconceptions abound. We are in our own little bubble, practically alone, and speaking a language no one but us understands, Couple this with early modular content being dominated by demos and experiments. It is show and tell for the people in the bubble. It is natural for people outside to make assumptions based on what they see.Accordion content.
But things are changing. Today, you’re just as likely to see polished performances and complete compositions showcasing the depth of what modular synths can create.
A quick #modularsynth search on Instagram yielded these results:
https://www.instagram.com/p/C5ETIqDM5w8/
https://www.instagram.com/p/C9PNhGfgeb3/
https://www.instagram.com/p/C9h_U-JgZ8D/
Why “Modular Music” Doesn’t Exist
Here’s the bottom line: modular synthesizers don’t define the music. They’re instruments, not genres.
A modular synth can be used to create pulsating techno, dreamy synthwave, glitchy IDM, or lush ambient pads. The results depend entirely on the person turning the knobs.
Modular synthesis is a medium for expression, not a classification. The next time you hear someone dismiss modular synths as just “bleeps and bloops,” remind them of this: It’s not about the tool, it’s about what you do with it.
Modular music doesn’t exist, and that’s okay. Like guitars, pianos, or any other instrument, modular synthesizers are tools for creating music in all its infinite variety.
So let’s drop the stereotypes and celebrate the creativity that modular synths enable. Because at the end of the day, it’s not about the gear, it’s about the art.
