Ha, ha, looks like we three got the same thinking here and thanks a lot Lugia for starting the initial part of the document!
-- GarfieldModular
TBH, tho...it's sort of hard to keep motivated to work on it, mainly because I know that it'll be rather long. And this kicks in the TL;DR response from the exact crowd that 100% needs to "R" it, regardless of how "L" it is.
Which is effing stupid and irresponsible, really. Probably too effing stupid and irresponsible to even be all that concerned about when you're trying to be helpful and let people know that they're in the process of making critical errors, some of which can theoretically cost a couple of grand to fix. So there's times where, yes, I do care about seeing users make the most of getting into modular synthesis with a minimum of hassles. But then, there's also plenty of instances where I'll just look at a post and go "nooooooo..." when seeing some build that really could only be improved upon by fire/tannerite/catapult-into-brick-wall. Worse still, you'll try and point out to those people that, um, hey...you really can't have a synthesizer that doesn't have basic things like VCAs, mixers, etc...and they promptly try and end-run everything you're putting forward as build-saving advice by trying to change up the fancy stuff when all that's really necessary is a few hundred $$ of basic/utility modules at the expense of removing one or two costly space-gobblers.
Now, I love ModularGrid. It's an amazing resource. And it surely could benefit from hosting a primer text on how to do a proper modular build. But while working on this, I keep having this nagging doubt about the real worth of the effort. Because it's not merely new users that are part of this issue, but I think you can also add to that quite a bit of the retailers of the modules. Note that I'm NOT pointing at any of the respected modular dealers, but instead at the MI crowd...Sweetwater, GC, Thomann et al...that sell this stuff on a large scale with absolutely NO acumen on how to build one of these systems. Their attitude is "you got money? we got stuff!" and if someone creates an utterly foobar build on their sayso, they benefit later on when said user comes back to "fix" what's wrong with the build that...had there been proper advice...they shouldn't have ever built in the first place. Yes, yes, I know the old adage of "The customer is always right"...except that when the customer is WRONG and is about to blow wads of ca$h, then someone needs to step up and let them know this. Profit-driven MI firms just don't do this, from my experience, or even know how to...in fact, the first time I went to our local GC when it opened a few years back, one of the salesforce asked me what kind of music I did. I answered that I worked a lot with electroacoustic media, studied composition in Germany w/ Stockhausen, etc...and this dolt thought I was talking about acoustic guitars with electronics added, to say nothing of not knowing who the hell Stockhausen was. Natcherly, this store's most sophisticated synth at that time was a MicroKorg...a decade-plus-old design that doesn't reflect much of anything that's going on in synths now, and tbh, the place really hasn't improved any since. Another instance happened at Sweetwater a few years ago, trying to explain why they just might want to carry things like multiples, attenuators, and other such utility modules even though they're 1) not as expensive, ergo Sweetwater would make less on them while they take up the same space in the warehouse and 2) they don't look as cool. Mind you, I think Sweetwater finally had enough knowledgable users calling them out on this that they DID clue up a bit and add these things, but even with that, how many people on their sales force know how to configure a basic modular synth? Probably only a handful.
So, with THESE sorts of people out there working to make sure that future modular users get BENT OVER for their bucks instead of getting BANG for their bucks, and those future users being all too willing to accept advice from people who get a check each week for whatever sales they can wrangle instead of expertise under their belts, coming up with a comprehensive beginner's manual sometimes feels like a fool's errand. I want to do this, mainly because MG is such an excellent resource that it needs its own in-house primer, something authoritative to go alongside their authoritative information on modules. But part of me just wonders "is there a point to all this typing?" if so many people have been conditioned into that TL;DR mentality, often to the point that not even rudimentary research has been done before setting out on this technically-complex and usually-expensive path.