[sdiy] MIDI isn't musical : Flame bait?

[DTK]

> MIDI definitely isn't musical. It makes roughly the same sounds that your
> modem does when you're signing on. I wouldn't want to listen to that all
day
> either.

Ok, can't help but laugh at that a little bit :)

> Needless to say, I think that it is entirely pointless to debate the
virtues
> of one hammer over another, when you are trying to describe the house
you've
> built. Can you make a viable argument that the method is more important
than
> the net result?

Hear, hear! MIDI is nothing but a tool... a means to an end. Some people
like
hand tools, some people like power tools.  Whatever :)

> That aside, I think the statement in and of itself is
> entirely ridiculous.

Not *entirely* ridiculous, if taken in context.  It really depends on what
type of music
you're trying  to compose.  MIDI does tend to take the "human touch" away
from most music...
 but some of us are into the heavily quantized, mechanical sound.  If you're
trying
to play what most people consider a "solo", then no, MIDI is not for you.

Basically, the statement that started this whole affair is based on one
person's
opinion of what is musical. I would be interested to see how opinions are
divided amongst
 the people on this list who have been involved in synths since before MIDI
came around,
and those (like myself) who are relatively new to the scene.

Me personally, I tried the whole multi track recorder thing when I was first
starting out, and it
was just to much BS for me. If one note in a section is off, you have to
re-record the whole
thing... and more often than not, I'd screw up something else. It was just
really frustrating to me.
With MIDI, I can go back and edit individual notes, timing, and so on.  I
just feel like it gives me
a level of control that's difficult (if not impossible) to acheive with the
mutlitrack method.  Not to
say that it's a perfect solution - far from it.  But for me, and my methods,
it works well enough, and
the hassle factor is greatly reduced.

Duane