[sdiy] Modular - sound or song

[Aaron Lanterman]

On Apr 9, 2009, at 12:41 AM, David G. Dixon wrote:

> I think you've nailed it!  Analogue is more spontaneous; fleeting,  
> even, andthus lends itself to improvisation, while digital demands  
> more planning, and thus lends itself to composition.  I think  
> digital is more "professional" in
> the sense that it offers the busy musical professional (and all that  
> connotes) the fastest and most efficient bang for his production  
> buck. Analogue is more of a toy, in the best sense of something  
> which invites and inspires play.

Don't get the interface and the internal circuitry mixed up. What you  
are responding to with analog is the typical interface vs. the typical  
interface of a digital synth.

You could program a DSP chip with say Antti's version of a Moog  
filter, put a dedicated knob for each function, audio ins and outs and  
everything, package it up as a module, and go to town. You could leave  
off MIDI and presets and LCD screens and all that.

Would it sound exactly like a "real" analog Moog ladder filter? Maybe  
not. Would it be awfully close, and interesting in it's own right? Sure.

Would it invite experimentation? Yes, just like every module.

See the Buchla 200e as a case in point. The internal circuitry - I've  
heard some of it goes analog to digital back to analog back to digital  
back to analog and all sorts of craziness. Buchla just seems to grab  
whatever is most convenient for the circuitry; he seems kind of  
agnostic on the overall analog vs. digital debate, and focuses on  
"analog" from the viewpoint of the interface.

- Aaron