[sdiy] Radio Shack catalogs

[David G. Dixon]

> > (along with synthesizers -- flames actively invited...)
> 
> I wonder why that is... <snip>...

A few observations:

1) Again, reading Analog Days, I was struck by an anecdote reported in the
final chapter.  According to Yamaha, nearly every DX7 which was returned to
the company for repairs in the 1980s came back without a single
user-programmed patch on it.  Their owners were confining themselves
strictly to the factory-programmed patches.

2) When I was a kid, I can remember going to music stores and playing for
hours (when they'd let me) on Minimoogs, ARP Axxes, KORGs, Oberheim OB-Xs,
etc.  My memories of twiddling sliders on the Axxe are particularly fond.
Now I go to the music store, and all I see are machines with one little LCD
or LED display serving as a window into their little digital brains.  Far
from inviting experimentation, these machines actively discourage it!  It is
nearly impossible to get decent sounds out of most of these machines without
spending hours of facetime with the owner's manual.  Also, in my humble
opinion, the fact that one has no choice but to start from a (typically
awful) factory patch on an "analog emulating" machine is just horrible.  The
last time I went to the music store, I could hardly be bothered to plug any
of the damn keyboards in (and, of course, they don't make it easy to
actually play the merchandise, but that's a pet peeve for another day...).

3) Back to Analog Days again, it was pointed out there (and elsewhere) that
the monophonic analog synthesizer created the "keyboard hero" who could
finally stand toe to toe with the guitar heroes of the day.  However, once
keyboards went digital, polyphonic and preset, keyboard players faded into
the background again.  Now, one almost never hears a "keyboard solo" -- or a
guitar solo, for that matter.  In fact, I maintain that the digital
revolution has not only destroyed synthesizers, but has nearly destroyed
music in general, at least from the perspective of those of us who actually
care more about the guys standing behind the singer than the actual singer.