return of the clones
2007-06-05 by jonesalley
After reading with interest the points behind the clone debates over the
last couple of days, what really strikes me is the comments about Memotrons and
Mellotrons and DX-7's share a lot of ground. The problem with the
DX-7 is the cryptic nature of the programming. If an
instrument requires that amount of effort to learn how to use and is actually
counterintuitive to the already-established lexicon of sound generation, it
eventually drives away users who will be attracted to something that provides
similar sonic power with more ease of use. Korg tried to make the Yamaha
FM technology more familiar to people who already knew analog programming with a
fair amount of success, but FM was already declining. No matter how
powerful the actual synth engine may be, if it utterly lacks user-friendliness,
it will be surpassed. A lot of the qualities of the Mellotron that make it
such a powerful instrument could also as easily be described as liabilities by
people who didn't find that it satisfied their quest for the right
vibration. I can't stand transistor combo organs, some people swear by
them. I have long had a taste for odd instruments, and my approach to any
instrument is looking for what it is capable of more than what it isn't.
Obviously, along the way you find the weaknesses of the instrument and
eventually if too many of them pile up, you have to make the personal call as to
whether or not you find it musically useful to you. Like I said, I can't
stand transistor combo organs, but it's because they are incapable of making the
vibrations in the air that speak with the voice I want to use no matter how
skillfully I might use them.
