[sdiy] presets on a modular

[Richard Wentk]

At 17:42 17/11/2004 +0100, jbv wrote:


>Harry,
>
>Sorry but I totally disagree with that.
>You seem to be confusing the listening audience
>with the audio & music professionals.
>
>Indeed, professionals don't really want / need new
>gear. Only if it can help them catch a larger part of
>the audience (read : sell more CDs).

It depends on the professionals. For every 'name' in the industry there are 
hundreds of support people who do sound design, synth programming and 
keyboard playing duties, in variable proportions. A lot of them *do* want 
new gear, if it gives them some kind of an edge.

There's also a big professional sound design market. They don't make music 
as such, but they do work with sound, and they're always looking for new toys.

>OTOH the listening audience (music fans in short) are much
>more openminded that one could think...

There isn't one listening audience, there are lots of them. Percentage 
wise, pop-buying teen girls are in a big majority. And adventurous 
listeners are in a small minority. Even on a small scene like the EM scene, 
people who want soundalike music along the lines of Jarre, Vangelis and TD, 
are a lot easier to find than people who will go out on a limb for 
something completely new and difficult.

I think there are three kinds of listeners - people who don't get music at 
all, people who think it's interesting and entertaining, and people who 
totally do get it and for whom it ends up playing a huge part in their 
lives. If you're in that last group, perceptions of the first two groups 
make no sense to you. And vice versa, of course.

But it's also a social thing. Sometimes innovation is in, sometimes it's 
not. Right now it's not.

>Remember the hype around "musique concrete" and
>"electro-acoustical" music in the 50's and 60's ?
>And the hype around (many forms) of synth music in the
>70's and 80's ? IMHO the listening audience doesn't care
>if it's played with a flute or a synth or a bizgotron, as long
>as it's new, hip and catchy...

Again, it depends on the audience. There is a small but significant 
electroacoustic scene, but there are probably only a few thousand people 
worldwide who make and listen to it. If that number were on the far side of 
10k, I'd very surprised.

Richard