<HTML><BODY style="word-wrap: break-word; -khtml-nbsp-mode: space; -khtml-line-break: after-white-space; "><BR><DIV><DIV>On Apr 14, 2006, at 6:04 PM, Charles Bisaillon wrote:</DIV><BR class="Apple-interchange-newline"><BLOCKQUOTE type="cite"><P style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px"><FONT face="Helvetica" size="3" style="font: 12.0px Helvetica">The problem with soft synths though is that there isn't a single decent</FONT></P> <P style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px"><FONT face="Helvetica" size="3" style="font: 12.0px Helvetica">controller out there to be able to have real fun with them.<SPAN class="Apple-converted-space"> </SPAN></FONT></P> </BLOCKQUOTE></DIV><BR><DIV>That certainly depends on your definition of "fun". Some people's definition includes "making hit records", "scoring major motion pictures and television programs", and "playing live on major tours in front of thousands and thousands of people". So I'd say, yeah, they are having a lot of fun with soft synths. My personal definition of fun includes getting music made on the computer -- that's a LOT of fun for me. Soft synths put me square in the middle of that kind of fun faster than all my old analog stuff (and digital hardware) ever did.</DIV><DIV><BR class="khtml-block-placeholder"></DIV><DIV>Putting it another way: I own a lot of samplers. Akai S6000, S5000, S3000xl, S2000, Roland S760 and S750, Kurzweil K2500, two Sequential Prophet 2002's, and even a few others. Since I got the MOTU Mach Five software sampler, I haven't used a single one of them. It replaced them all, sounds just as good, consolidates my huge mass of sample CD's and personal samples into one easy to access library -- and it is totally integrated into my primary recording environment (MOTU Digital Performer). When I load my song, all the samples, instrument setups and related effects automatically load with it. I cannot begin to express how much this has improved my life and my creative output. BTW, this soft sampler also cost me less than 0.25% (!!!) of the combined initial cost of all those samplers. It, and software like it, unfortunately, has also completely destroyed the resale value of my expensive samplers, which is probably why I simply hang onto them at this point.</DIV><DIV><BR class="khtml-block-placeholder"></DIV><DIV>Admittedly, I don't make "electronic" music. per se. More often than not, I'm playing piano, Rhodes, Hammond, strings, brass, bass, drums, and those kinds of standard sounds. I do own a Minimoog, two MKS-80's, a Moog Source, a Prophet 600, an EX-8000, three Pro Ones, three SEM's, an SH-101, and two ARP Axxes. They're lots of fun to play with and to admire, but they don't really help me make music -- in fact, because of their finickyness and difficulty to set up and integrate into my system, they actually hinder the making of music. I do know what sounds good and what doesn't, and I get all the great synth textures I need out of several modern ROMplers and from my Roland JP-8080, all of which are awesome. I fully expect these digital hardware pieces to gradually disappear from my setup over the next few years, too. My story (and attitude) may be anathema to the Analog Heaven crowd, but is certainly not unique among professional musicians. Indeed, it is people like me whose desires and needs are driving the marketing and R&D decisions of the major manufacturers -- like it or not.</DIV><DIV><BR class="khtml-block-placeholder"></DIV><DIV>Fortunately, if you don't like it, you can always fight back with your soldering iron!</DIV><DIV><BR class="khtml-block-placeholder"></DIV><DIV><BR class="khtml-block-placeholder"></DIV></BODY></HTML>