Archive of the former Yahoo!Groups mailing list: MOTM
Subject: Layouts
From: mbedtom@...
Date: 2002-04-16
Each of us make noises that please us. There is no "wrong" style of noises that we make. But I don't think that 74 minutes of white noise would do much for me, musically. To me, the "sea of knobs" arrangement of modules is akin to 74 minutes of white noise. Hasn't anybody thought of using some carefully placed blank panels to help group like-things together or breakup that sea of knobs? Must every inch of the synth front be laden with knobs, jacks, wires, and LEDs? You WILL outgrow your present synth cabinet within the next 3 years. Accept the inevitable and start another cabinet now. Add some blank panels to the layout! Buy all you want - Paul will make more. A painting is not always universally appealing if there are a million dots of bright colors stretching from corner to corner. What's the matter with a little, plain white showing through? Blank panels = the magic white of paintings. Try it! (This will probably be unpopular as I've seen posts that indicate that empty panel space is "wasteful". I guess I'm the only one that has bought blank panels from Paul for the purpose of breaking up my layout.)
What is the user interface to our synth? Is it the knobs, jacks and patch cables? Is it a mouse and a screen displaying a Sonar or other sequencer window? Is it a piano-looking keyboard with a glowing LCD connected to a MID-CV? Is it a joystick or an AirSynth? Is it a linear slider? Is it a guitar with a MIDI interface? The answer is "yes" and "no". That is because we each have our own personal take on what music is to us and the "best" way for each to express those ideas and those feelings. There can be no one best answer to the issue of layout as there is no one best kind of music. Each has its place and its fans. But the layouts we choose reflect the anticipated efficiency of producing the delightful noises we like best. The MOTM format and layout is not "best" from my perspective. But, I think Paul has done a remarkable job of coming up with something that is workable for just about everyone. The current layout is probably not "best" for anyone. But it works. I think it is wonderful that we have decent quality building blocks to make anything of our choosing. If our layout doesn't work, I think WE must assume a significant part of the responsibility for that failure. After all, WE put the modules in the order of our choosing. It would be wonderful if Paul had a Santa Claus machine that could stamp out modules to order. But I think that is a little too far off in the future. For me, I am quite content to let Paul continue on with the framework that now exists. The limitations can mostly be overcome by some creative arrangement and the use of blank panels. Unless you shell out really big bucks for custom, I can think of no other device, appliance, apparatus, or instrument that offers the creative flexibility of a MOTM synth. On my fridge for example, I'd be happy if the damned ice maker would work for more than 6 friggin' months! It only has two user controls and they don't work.
Cheers!
Tom Farrand