WHY? (was Re: [sdiy] ... Simulating a Moog)

[jbv]

Just a few remarks...

What features does a synth need to get some success ?
Probably a combination of the following ones :

1- not too cheap, otherwise it'll be considered as a toy,
2- not too expensive, so that it can be afforded by
musicians other than K. Emerson & W. Carlos only,
3- follow the old "plug & play" rule, so that anyone
with a minimum of musical skills can make nice sounds
from built-in patches as soon as the gear is out of the box
without spending 2 weeks learning the manual,
4- learning curve not to steep, so that the most adventurous
users can start exploring all the possibilities,
5- a new palette of sounds & possibilities large enough so that
everybody doesn't get tired of it after 2 weeks,
6- a way to store & reproduce sounds you like and that you
obtained by tweaking the gear by yourself.

BTW needless to say that big modulars never met any of the
above conditions, except perhaps #5...
I have the feeling that DSP / software emulation of analog synths
have a great future (at least much greater than pure analog
hardware) because they meet almost all the above conditions.

I think the DX7 made it because it matched all these features.
Furthermore, R&D probably didn't cost too much, since
Chowning made a large part of it...

And after all, why Yamaha shouldn't try "to market their pricey
VL1 physical-modelling synth towards SAXOPHONISTS" ?
I remember several saxophonists in the 80's buying the Roland
Midi sax (don't remember the name right now) simply because
they were interested in giving their technical skills a new dimension.
So I don't see anything wrong in considering that sax players might
be interested in tweaking the physically modeled sound of a sax
while still using their sax skills...

Last but not least : emulating existing acoustic and / or electric
instruments is still the goal of many musicians / sound designers /
manufactors, just like photo-realism is still the main marketing goal
for 3D image synthesis, simply because no existing technique can
perfectly emulate real sounds yet.

JB