[sdiy] Modular - sound or song

[David G. Dixon]

Yes, Aaron, it's all about the interface.  Put a computer behind a big ol'
metal panel covered with knobs, switches and blinking lights, and I'd be
happy as a clam, and probably none the wiser (unless it was running on
Windows -- then, I think I'd know something was amiss...)

However, let's not overlook the fun of actually designing and building
circuits, laying out and assembling panels, and finally getting to play our
creation.  I doubt that programming a microcontroller provides the same kind
of thrill.
 
For me, analog vs digital synth is like a '57 Chevy vs a 2008 Toyota.
Obviously, the Toyota is a far superior automobile, but no teenage kid is
going to spend countless happy hours underneath one with a wrench, covered
in grease!

I, for one, find the virtual limitlessness of all things digital kind of
demoralizing.  If you have the whole world of possibility at your
fingertips, why even bother?  I don't believe that endless possibility
sparks creativity, but rather stifles it.  It's the same reason why CGI has
nearly ruined movies.

 
> 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
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