[sdiy] Moogey jitter

[Suit & Tie Guy]

On Apr 21, 2006, at 3:30 AM, Paul Maddox wrote:
> I've no wish to start a flame war, I just wanted to know, is it the 
> goal of most Synth DIY ers to copy the minimoog? Personally I want to 
> do stuff that hasn't been done before, take synths in new directions, 
> explore the world of sonic possabilities that lie beyond a sawtooth 
> VCO and 24dB Lowpass filter.

in the 1970s, Hammond explored a world of tonality removed from 
mechanical banks of imperfect sine wave oscillators, and Electro-Music 
explored Leslie technology which incorporated solid-state electronics, 
multi-channel arrays, and rotating speaker enclosures fed with a 
"mercury fluid link." (a free STG CD to anyone who can pinpoint that 
media SF reference).

none of the hammonds or leslies developed along those lines have become 
classics. in fact, they are only worth parts. you hope and pray when 
you go to pick one up for free that it has a two-speed motor stack in 
it because at least then your time will not be totally uncompensated. 
or perhaps that the primary driver is an 8-ohm CTS that you can sell to 
someone with an Ampeg B-15 who wants to replace that Eminence that 
someone put in as a replacement. or that it has an Ace-designed drum 
machine unit.

but, synths are different than hammonds. there _is_ a whole world 
outside of the "moog sound" (which i feel is not the Minimoog at all 
but the sixties modulars which many significant 'moog sound' records 
were cut with) which has plenty worthwhile to explore (infinitely more 
than a Hammond Concorde) but just as Laurens Hammond was the first to 
make an electronic organ yet his design persists as being a pervasive 
and lasting quality sound and interface Bob Moog (and Herb and the 
gang) was the first to make a keyboard-controlled one-volt-per-octave 
modular synthesiser with keyboard-scaled lowpass filter cutoff point 
etc ... which has established itself as an equally worthwhile and 
important combination of interface and sound as a 3-series Hammond with 
classic horn/rotor Leslie speaker.

so yes on one hand it is kind of silly that people explore this idea. 
and if it's not "silly", then it is at least derivative instead of 
exploratory.

but on the other hand it is totally understandable. there is a reason 
for the persistence of that "sound".
---
Suit & Tie Guy
www.suitandtieguy.com