[sdiy] presets on a modular

[Don Tillman]

   > From: "Paul Maddox" <P.Maddox at signal.QinetiQ.com>
   > Date: Fri, 12 Nov 2004 11:08:17 -0000
   > 
   > I struggle with this.
   > How many 'real musical' instruments have multiple sounds?
   > A piano, err no, A flute, err no, maybe a violin, err no...

It's not the best example, but yeah... A piano has a soft pedal, which
implements an alternate softer sound by moving the hammers closer to
the strings.  And the middle pedal, which does different things on
different piano models.  Some pianos have been built with a material
that can be moved between the hammers and the strings for an alternate
sound.

Harpsichords have multiple manuals, stops, and dampers.  Vibraphones
have a switch for the motor.

A violin has presets to the extent that it can be played arco
("bowed"), pizzicatto, or with a bridge mute, or with the back side of
the bow, or some alternate bowing techniques, or some alternate
tuning.

Flutes are easy enough to carry around that most flute players just
swap between flutes.  Same with harmonicas.  The lesson here is that
when the musical instrument is sufficiently small, it's much easier to
carry multiples than to build up a preset switching system.

   > > Consider what other Musical Instruments do for presets; guitars,
   > 
   > guitars don't have presets?

Guitars have presets in the way they select between pickups for
different sounds, between preset volume levels, between pickup mixes,
and between tone control settings.  Compare the electrical design of
the Gibson Les Paul to the Fender Stratocaster and the Fender
Jaguar/Jazzmaster in this regard.  Or the stereo wiring on
Rickenbacker guitars.

Part of the design of guitar electronics is how to get from a good
chording ("rhythm") sound to a good soloing ("lead") sound without
losing a beat, or how you balance pickup mixing capablity with the
ability to easily get from one sound to another.

Guitar stomp boxes basically work like presets.

And old older guitar amplifiers had presets in the form of reverb and
tremelo footswtiches, later amps had channel switching, and more
modern guitar amps have more exotic switching features.

Yes, you can learn a lot from guitar players.  :-)

   > > organs,

   > organs have 'ranges' that you can add/remove, again, no presets.
   > You can't have a 'Big juicy organ' button that turns on all the stops, you

Organs have stops, drawbars, the preset keys on the lower octave of a
Hammond B3, etc.

Leslie speakers have a switch to select between stopped, a low speed
and a high speed.  And it turns out the transitions between these
presets were more musically profound that the sounds themselves.  What
can we learn from that?

   > > other keyboards, etc.
   > 
   > define keyboard.

Clavinet, Mellotron, etc.

  -- Don

-- 
Don Tillman
Palo Alto, California
don at till.com
http://www.till.com