[sdiy] Modular - sound or song

[Richard Wentk]

On 9 Apr 2009, at 04:46, nicolas wrote:

>
> I think the biggest distinction between digital and analogue,  
> hardware and software is in the playability.  A modular is slow to  
> patch, hard to expand, but once set up every parameter is available  
> right there for realtime tweaking.  On the other hand those tweaks  
> can be difficult to automate, so it has to be played by a human.

The only reason those tweaks are difficult to automate is *tradition*  
and - arguably - cost.

There's no good practical reason why an analog modular couldn't be  
built with total recall and dynamic memory.

It wouldn't be cheap, but when people are willing to spend $20,000 to  
$40,000 on some clapped out relic of the sixties which barely works  
without constant attention, cost isn't the issue.

> Digital synths tend to be quicker to patch, but usually only a  
> subset of parameters can be tweaked in realtime as knobs tend to be  
> overloaded with multiple functions.  On the other hand the playing  
> of the instrument and the tweaking of the knobs can be recorded,  
> played back and generally automated as much as you like.

Not quite. With digital it's up to you to build the interface. It's  
not a given. There's no reason parameters can't be grouped  
intelligently under a single control, automated, or made responsive  
to context.

> This difference in how they are played is the crux for me rather  
> than the sound capabilities.

The difference for me is that analog uses very simple modules  
connected in very simple ways. That's why it has the *illusion* of  
ease of use - it doesn't do much, so it's easy to understand, and you  
can keep one knob per parameter because there aren't many parameters.

Digital is much more open. In fact it's almost completely open, and  
the challenge is more about thinking about sound, synthesis and  
processing in an imaginative and creative way.

What digital has lacked so far is tactile control. But that's about  
to change:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vHvH-nWH3QM&

It's not all that expensive or difficult to DIY something like this.  
The hardware is fairly cheap - probably $200-$300 or so, plus a  
projector - and there's a software toolkit for the UI parsing.

It's a messy job with some sawing, gluing and hammering, but it's not  
in any way outside the scope of what's possible at home.

Richard