With one notable exception (thanks for spoiling it Jay) I have been
overwhelmed by the positive results of the Aleatoric Duel. I was one of
the detractors before it started, but I have seen none of the system
bashing that I expected. Instead, the anonymous competition seems to
have fostered some respect for the respective creators, as every piece
had its strong points. John Mitchell's piece using Synthesizers.com was
my personal favorite, and it seemed to top the posted results as well.
How could an obvious nod to early Subotnick not be successful? I wasn't
for a minute fooled that this was a real Buchla, but guessed Blacet due
to the limited tonal characteristics in the filtering (Blacet has only
one filter, most other systems have multiple filter topologies). As it
turns, out I guessed right on a single filter but just because John
restricted himself to the Synthesizers.com state variable one.
I think the contest just proves what I stated before: the music is more
influenced by the talent of the composer than the capabilities or
limitations of the equipment.
It would have been nice to hear more systems. I guess MOTMers are just
an active bunch.
John Loffink
jloffink@...