[sdiy] Moogey jitter - the old times were the oldest.

[Tim Parkhurst]

On 4/26/06, karl dalen <dalenkarl at yahoo.se> wrote:
>
>
> --- Grant Richter <grichter at asapnet.net> skrev:
snip...
> > They don't really ever learn how to play well, like you would an
> > acoustic instrument.
> > People devote their whole lives to acoustic instruments.
> >
> > One reason is that synthesizers interfaces are still relatively crude.
> > Another is people view synthesizers as disposable technology and not
> > instruments.
> >
> > If you get a new toaster, you throw out your old toaster.
> > But if you get a Telecaster, you don't throw out your Stratocaster
> > (usually).
>
> So, how do we make the synthesiser (electronics) more stratocaster like
> so it becomes less disposable?
>
> Some cherry wooden sides do help a bit!
>
> KD
>

A few thoughts:
Instruments like guitars are relatively cheap and 'disposable' these
days. Despite this, the guitar has been with us for centuries and will
likely continue to be a viable musical instrument far into the future.
I think that, given enough time, the synthesizer will do something
similar. If you think about it, electronic muscial instruments are
fairly new, and we're still figuring out what we really want from
them. Now that's synthesizers in general. As far as the
'disposability' factor of any one given instrument, there are some
distinct advantages that older, accoustic instruments have:

1) They tend to not be so 'trendy.'

2) Their tone is largely influenced by the skill of the player. Skill
and patience are rewarded by a good sound.

3) They respond to different playing techniques. Give identical
guitars to Segovia and Van Halen, and even if they play the same
muscial piece, you'll get a wildly different range of tones.

4) They tend to have cherry wooden sides ;-)

We're sloooooooowly learning how to make electronic instruments more
responsive to technique, but as Grant said, this is still relatively
crude technology (especially with respect to interfaces).

In defense of 'disposable' electronic instruments, I think this is
partially a tribute to the range of possibilities available. I can
create a new and distinct instrument out of copper, plastic and
silicon MUCH easier than I can create a guitar or violin. My 'new and
distinct' instrument might just be a new combination of existing
circuits, but I've created something that never existed before. People
hear these new combinations and want to try them for themselves. The
range of possibilities is staggering, and pretty exciting. Yes, maybe
I'm only trying to make YAMMC (Yet Another MiniMoog Clone), but then I
figure out how to tweak it and add an LFO, or PWM, or... before you
know it, I've created something new.


Tim (YAMMC is a registered trademark of ServoCorp Industries LLC) Servo
--
"Imagination is more important than knowledge." - Albert Einstein