pronomen-28329 I Dream Of Wires is an independent documentary about the history, demise and resurgence of the modular synthesizer. It features interviews with modular musicians, inventors and enthusiasts, including Trent Reznor (Nine Inch Nails), Gary Numan, Vince Clarke (Erasure), Morton Subotnick, Chris Carter (Throbbing Gristle), Daniel Miller, Carl Craig, Flood, Cevin Key (Skinny Puppy), James Holden, Factory Floor, Legowelt, Clark, John Foxx and Bernie Krause and more. I enjoyed this documentary a lot.

Gordon P. Smith I stayed up late last night and finally watched this documentary on Netflix, an awesome look at the history of the modular synthesizer. I loved the focus on the academic origins of the modular, the East Coast (Moog, commercial) vs. West Coast (Buchla, artistic) philosophies, and the recent resurgence of modular thanks to EuroRack. I felt that a couple of things were lacking: 1) A mention of Bebe and Louis Barron's groundbreaking 1956 Forbidden Planet soundtrack, for which they created their own electronic circuits that completely avoided the use of oscillators, as part of their own school of thought, years before Buchla and Moog: "The circuit is a wild, living thing that should never be tamed. Oscillators tame the circuit and take the life and breath out of the sound." (I'm paraphrasing from a Keyboard interview) 2) They briefly mentioned softsynths, in a negative way, but completely failed to cover virtual analog hardware, as pioneered in the Nord Lead. The Nord was responsible for bringing KNOBS back to synthesizers, after the love affair with all-digital synths faded, but it was done using digital technology that faithfully reproduced analog components, with the added benefits of lower cost, higher polyphony and more control and modulation possibilities. The Nord Modular, especially its G2X version, is in my opinion the most programmable, playable and reliable synth ever made. Contrary to what they say about softsynths (this is a hardware-based softsynth), I frequently get lost for hours in programming and playing the G2X, it's immersive and endlessly fascinating, with a gorgeous sound and unlimited identities. It's the only instrument I play onstage.

Phillip MJ Bacon For one involved in this endeavour from the beginning; I am surprised to say the least how one sided this film is. Sure there are a few Brits, new kids on the block giving their six penny worth... but nothing of the HUGE contribution we made. The work of the Radiophonic workshop at the BBC founded in 1958, the contributors of which are legendary, so forgive me for mentioning the more famous ones the late Daphne Oram & Delia Derbyshire, co creator of probably the first commercially successful piece of Electronica; The Dr Who theme. The Musys studio in the 60's founded by father & daughter team the Zinovieff's; who later helped form EMS. They in turn built many innovate synths, large and small for the European market and kick started German interest, but barely got a mention. These were our hero's and quite independent of the rumblings the other side of the pond.We were aware of Moog , but more his filter, a variation of which EMS had already developed. So much so that a friend owned the Moog rights outright in the UK until recently, when Don Buchla also came into public consciousness. There was no internet then and American music was not very popular, yet they failed to mention those that were; Phillip Glass, Terry Reilly, not to mention Tontos Expanding Headband. The US analogue synth industry crashed and burned in the early Eighties with the use of digital, in part trying to overcome Moogs filter patent and stability/tuning issues. Then there was the influx of cheap Japanese gear, only notable for FM synthesis and the work of an American inventor. Fast forward to the notion that American company reintroduced the modular synth in 98, which Doepfer and British company Analogue Systems were doing in Eurorack format from the early nineties. The truth is out there... but at least good because analogue is back!

M Nissley Tedious and awful. Almost unwatchably boring. A bunch of old guys relishing the old days with very little to say. Visually it is 1.5 hours of still pictures of knobs, wires, and racks of electronic equipment cut with 70 year old men talking. The whole idea is how great synthesizers are and how they impacted modern music, but no modern music is played or featured, They did not or could not buy the rights to any music to make this doc prove its point. A dull, goofy, bleepy, blurpy interstitial series of synth sounds accompanies the entire thing, but when they talk about a use of the synth, they never play the actual popular music or any kind of example. This is one of the absolute worst documentaries I have ever seen, and I came into it with an appreciation and interest in the subject. This should have been shelved and never released for lack of purpose and lack of the proper resources to pull off the project. I was in shock at how incredibly dull this was.