I probably am but still - from what I’ve seen, excluding performance setups, starting with a clean slate seems to be the norm. Not that there’s anything wrong with having a permanent patch.
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Ok, let me rephrase it.
If you’re using a DFAM, with normalled connections, you can piss about with patch cables all you like and still have a workable signal flow.
On a modular system, a lot of the cables are going to be used to create the same sort of signal path that is normalled on the DFAM, so won’t be mucked about with too much during a performance or whatever, at least not as much as ones going to and from mod sources/destinations.
You might be starting from scratch every time, but there’s a lot of connections that are fairly “standard” in terms of setting up a signal flow, many of which remain in place for the duration of a patch.
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There’s an easy solution for this problem.
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There is no self, and with modular there is no synth.
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I don’t really like it either, but I don’t like a lot of things.
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My experience is nothing like that and I honestly can’t think of a standard patch that would stay for long in my system. My modules drastically change roles between patches. I don’t even think of them as having roles rather than being bundles of functionality that can be used in any way I want.
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It’s almost like modular can be whatever the user chooses to make it…
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I think the main issue is that, as much as we don’t want to admit it, we constantly buy into the marketing/promotion aspect of these machines. Because working music theory, ruminating for weeks for a simple mixing solution, creating coherent pieces to work your way into a signature sound all take hard and boring work. Whereas a single shiny module or box is exciting, you can exhibit it online or talk about it for weeks.
In this sense, modular is the easiest way you can deceive yourself in this regard. A single module is never enough so you have to be missing a module produced by a small east European company that you have never heard of. Then you find yourself buying more and creating a power plant in your basement, while you have spent years not developing your music making skills. This is the fault of the modular as much as one’s becoming fat is the fault of McDonald’s.
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responding to the OP’s original post… This doesn’t sound like blips and bloops to me 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fwz21tv4KY8&t=116s&ab_channel=ScapRenderingScapRendering
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I agree with what you’re saying. I have a few semi-modular bits of gear only.
I’ve thought about dabbling much further and it does appeal to me but I realised fairly quickly that I prefer things to be a bit more efficient and what I got from using VCV Rack a fair bit is that as I was saving pre-defined and connected modules to then expand upon those, I was actually defining something I’d call semi-modular as starting points. Hence the reason for getting some of the gear I did get. If I’d not been so bothered about having to start from scratch every time I probably would have gone full in on separate modules.
I can understand the mad lads (and ladies) patching from scratch every time but as has already been said there are standard ways to connect things up just to get a sound out of it that you have to do and I find that laborious, fiddly and pretty annoying. All that aside the possibilities are huge and fascinating.
I get why going modular is associated with blip bloop and never ending ambient jams but that’s narrow minded. It’s clear you can do so much more if you’ve got the time and money to invest in it. Personally I don’t have either which is why if I want to create something that might be more ‘unique’ I’ll use VCV Rack. In my opinion it sounds excellent too.
So… modular is well worth bothering with - it just depends what suits you in the way you create.
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the overall gear focus and youtube/instagram etc have turned a lot of things into ‘show and tell’. the focus is on the individual and socialization and isn’t on the actual music. this isn’t limited to modular obviously… and there are people who do gear reviews and walk throughs etc who are being really generous w/their time and knowledge showing users how a thing works or what it sounds like etc…
but a large part of gear media from random people is just socialization and cringe humble brags… but also there are people who are making tracks and releasing stuff and the gear presence in their various feeds is a form of promotion for the work they do actually making tracks. and some people make A LOT of tracks.
it’s easy to be cynical about all of it and throw every gear/modular dork under the bus and label them as collectors but if you look passed those people you’ll find actual musicians who use the gear as tools to an end… people w/actual goals as artists… making tracks and using all the things in their studio as tools.
learning modules (or any gear) and getting them to behave in a way the user wants is also often very “hard and boring work.” same for making max patches or figuring out how to do something interesting/original/real time w/hardware or an ipad or whatever… the learning curve for all of it is different but there is a learning curve and getting to a place where the user is any good at any of it… good enough for other people to pay attention… takes time and practice and to the outside observer is also boring work.
people dick around with all kinds of gear… some people just aren’t serious about it and dicking around is all they want to do. modular or not modular has nothing to do w/it. also, not everyone wants to make tracks. some people just want to socialize with other gear nerds and make sounds and post them on line. there’s nothing wrong w/that. no one is making any of us watch their content.
on the flip side… there are many people who think conventional verse chorus verse structure for music is pretty boring and they’d rather experience a form of chaos or feedback etc. it’s worth considering that the thing a person holds dear as a form of music is something another person might find fucking tedious. and i’m not saying that’s what i think or one is better than the other… but holding a thing up as the pinnacle of creation and judging other people’s creations against that is a subjective thing and sure to find people who totally disagree. it’s the nature of art.
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Indeed!
Same with this masterpiece.
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Of course it is. But as the name implies, these are instruments. If you are only delving into the tools without focusing on the end-product or even the journey itself, it is easier to get lost in the world of gear, regardles of them being modular or not. You can always enjoy noodling around that aspect of music, there is nothing wrong with it. Personally I would much rather want to hear a nice guitar piece rather then the owner of the guitar talking about where it was made and how nice the frets or wood is. If you find yourself getting lost in options without making music, modular becomes a pit that you can easily fall in, especially when you don’t have enough money.
As far as I know, all of these artists are using modular exclusively or as part of their sound:
Nothing bleepy bloopy about any of this, some of it might even be art.
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seems like the OP is confusing a style of music: generative electronic music with the gear that makes it possible: Modular gear.
If generative music is made with mostly modular gear, it doesn’t mean modular gear can only be used for that, merely that it allows this style of music like some old drum machines or samplers initiated a whole new style of music.
Modular is a tool, nothing else.
Now, the machine/human interaction is a whole different story.
How one can sound different if one just plugs cables into holes? When comes the human personality into play then? seems to be your question but if you forget the generative genre, I guess the answer is easy: There are already different posts in here where you can clearly hear different music made with modular gear: the human behind it is what matters.
If you take the generative genre into account, you need to be educated enough in that genre to understand the key factor that differentiates each artists.
For me Ska songs are all the same but many people will disagree with me. The problem is not the style of music but the fact that I don’t really know it and can’t appreciate it.
Being able to create cool sounds with modular gear seems a lot of fun but only you can tell if you want to bother and how you could integrate it into your style of music. You could even define a new genre but like for the guitar or piano, you’ll have to be good and creative enough.
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yeah… i mean… i agree w/you and there’s plenty of people doing that on line or making tracks and not sharing any info about how the tracks were made…
i think the point is some people WANT to get lost in gear and they have no goal beyond that and are perfectly happy doing so as a hobby.
no one is saying that watching their content is mandatory. if it bothers you then don’t watch it. i don’t.
there is also actual music made/filmed and put on youtube made w/modulars or drum machines etc…
guitars and pedals and anything in music can be a pit that someone falls into… what i’m saying is it’s all the same pit. so, singling out modular over other gear as s potential pitfall isn’t accurate. people who fall into the pit were going to fall into it for one reason or another regardless of owning modular synths.
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There are a LOT of modular users using modular in a basic way, which raises the noise to signal level for sure, but hey it is their money and if they get enjoyment from it cool beans, maybe just don’t post every little noodle you happen across though.
Personally I think that if you are using high level modules you are missing half the fun, and a lot of the benefits of modular. By high level I mean modules which are complete sources on their own, with little in the way of modularity, for example dedicated drum modules - probably better of buying a decent drum machine IMHO. But then that is kind of the point, some people love those modules so they can add them to their system, all good.
You can kind of look at Elektron gear as modular without patchcords and without infinite expansion, and expense. 
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I’ve got a really small modular that I basically use as a great sounding synth voice with interesting modulation capabilities.
I’m not personally very interested in making the full modular blip blop stuff you’re referring to but even when using one in fairly limited contexts it’s a very fun and physical way to interface with an electronic instrument and makes you come across timbres or other ideas that you probably wouldn’t when using something else.
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I like modular because it helps me understand how to use Modular Grid to distract me from actually doing something about my own personal demons and the world’s.
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