So I've been reading this subreddit for a few years at work to pass the time, and quite frequently when someone asks the question "I'm new to synths what software should I try?" or some other "How do I try synths for cheap?" style question, folks are pretty quick to recommend VCV Rack. I get the idea, at least in concept, that modular will force someone to understand the basics of subtractive synthesis, but on the other hand I find it hard to believe that this isn't clearly one of the worst ways to go about it.
VCV Rack, from the perspective of simply trying to make basic subtractive patches (basses, leads, mono pads, etc) has one of the worst beginner UI's that I could think of, and explaining to someone that they need to attenuate the signal of their envelope to modulate their filter seems like a needlessly complex process. Especially when tools like Vital (similarly very free) offer beginners with a much simpler, and more visually cohesive, framework to understand the signal path and synthesis. Adding an envelope to something in Vital, or Serum, or Pigments, or Surge is a simple single step process, and giving beginners the tools that get them to modulation the fastest seems like the best route to get them to wrap their heads around why they'd even want to use an envelope or an LFO.
It just seems like a really strange way to try and introduce someone to this hobby, and seems like it probably would just end in someone banging their head against an interface that was never designed with someone like them in mind. So why recommend it over simpler, and probably more effective, free tools.
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