[sdiy] Taking a Step towards - - --((FUTURE-PREDICTIONS))-- - -

[jbv]

>
> > The fact remains, if you want to build this stuff yourself, it
> > will generally not be easy.
>
> why?
> no disrespect I find building and design digital circuitry MUCH easier than
> analogue.
> Whilst its not exactly advanced digital it does illustrate my point , the
> digital portion of the monowave was far easier for me than the analogue, it
> took me roughly a 1/4 of the time to make the digital portion
> (midi/Cpu/panel/Oscillators) as it did to make the analogue portion
> (VCF/EGs/VCA)
>

I'd like to add my 2 cts to this discussion about analog / digital / hybrid
design...

Another important aspect of the reluctance of some ppl towards DSP
development on gear such as the Chameleon is because of the rackable
size (AFAIR) of this thing...
I mean : in a modular context, such a piece of gear looks rather OT...
I know there are standalone analog (and even hybrid) synths in rack
size (Matrix 6, etc). But for true and innovative digital / hybrid
development in a modular context, a module (w/ front panel, etc)
would probably be more appealling to a larger audience...

As for development of "real & innovative hybrid modules", here's
an example of something I've had in mind for quite some time (and
will complete some day) : a hybrid granular polyphonic events
generator :

MIDI inputs                   DSP or uC            ----> analog polyphony
                             ---->  granular / clouds   ----> analog VC ctrl
signals
VC analog inputs           of events               ----> MIDI ouputs

this is not the ultimate example, but a rather good one for the point I'd
like to make (also several other features can be added) : I found that
cooking my own custom DSP emulation (rather than trying to find a
ready-made emulation / development board) , and hooking it to some
analog design, would allow me to complete my design much faster...
And last but not least, that same architecture could be used in several
other & different hybrid projects, even allowing some kind of
pipe-lining and parallel processing : up to 32 core designs could be
put in parallel to achieve quite an impressive computing power (for
granular or additive synthesis)... But don't worry, I haven't tried that
yet...    ;-)
And such a design could be finalized as a standalone rack, or an analog
synth module.
So, with a little bit of imagination and not much work, DIYers can put
together hybrid designs that could probably transcend the best of both
worlds...

As a conclusion, I'd like to say that IMHO the analog vs digital
discussion is meaningless : it only shows a blatant lack of imagination
for new designs, new tools, new musical horizons...
It also shows a kind of fetishism (or sterile adoration) to the analog
world in terms of respect of the works by analog pioneers (Moog & al),
but that approach is rather stupid, coz I'm sure that if the DSP techniques
had been available in the 60's & 70's when analog design was still in its
beginning, Moog & other synth designers would have certainly been
delighted to try to associate them with analog techniques...

JB