> My approach is exporatory. What I
> seek to capture and document is the patches and general methods I discover
> to create sounds I find interesting.
Well, that certainly makes sense. I may have a tendency to under-document
what I do. If I find a new method on the MOTM--some specific configuration
of filters or whatever--I'm more likely to just tell myself "I'll remember
this" than I am to write it down. I'm not saying that this is a good thing,
but it's just my nature. It's not uncommon for my girlfriend to poke her
head into my studio and ask "are you recording this?" to which I almost
inevitably answer "uh, no..."
> I don't have specific ideas starting
> out, but only general ones about what might be interesting. I don't
> consider this lack of specific ideas to be a problem.
Oh, that's definitely not a problem.
> I expect that each time I go back to a patch it will be a little different,
> and that is okay. It will be fresh. It's actually what I want. I am not
> trying to "realize" an idea by composing, or to be capable of reproducing
> anything with precision. I am more interested in exploring what the
> synthesizer can do and playing with that.
I think you and I actually agree fundamentally, but you are just more
organized than I. :-)
> I
> could ramble on about my influences, but it wouldn't be hard to guess that
> one of them is John Cage. It was his mode of performance that most
> impressed me when I had the good fortune to see him perform live.
Cage was an interesting fellow. Sadly I never had the opportunity to see him
perform, but I have read some of his writings.
I used to be obsessive about the patches in my MIDI synths. I'd make sure
that they were backed up in some sort of patch-librarian software, for fear
that I'd either accidentally delete them or that the backup batteries in my
synths would fail.
Years later, I've seen more computers fail than backup batteries fail, and
I've lost more patches because of bugs in SoundDiver than any other reason.
I look at the MOTM as an exercise in not being obsessive about backing up my
patches. However, I do rather like the idea of using a digital camera to
photograph patches...
--Adam