[sdiy] poly?

[Grant Richter]

> Now for the fake solutions:
> 
> The cheapest way to turn a monophonic synth into some sort of polyphonic
> machine is the arpeggiator. Works nicely with chords, but is rather
> unusable for true polyphonic play.

My electronic music teacher (Dr. August Wagner) pointed out that echo
devices like the Echoplex allow you to achieve polyphony with a mono-synth
by layering in real time. It was one reason they were so popular to use with
early synths.

He also pointed out that electronic instruments are the only ones without
inherent acoustic ambience, which all acoustic instruments have. Hence
electronic reverb is practically an essential for imitative synthesis.

This was in response to my comment that using effects units with
synthesizers was "cheating". His response was that, not only was it not
"cheating", but imperative for the above reasons.

I know that is not what the original poster intended. But I thought they
were rather keen insights on his part (and for 1976). He died very young,
and I try to keep his memory alive in some small way.