MOTM

Contrary to Kenneth's personal tastes, there have been a LOT of 'quality' 
synth records by the MOTM folks. Now, they are not 100% MOTM, or all modular 
(well, 1 is!) but as far as being a 'synth' CD, I thinks these qualify. If 
I've left someone out, let me know :)

Dave Fulton/Gil Reeves "The Range", Hypnos 2007. I play this ALL THE TIME. 
It's just wonderful.
Web: http://www.myspace.com/thefultonreavesproject
Buy:
http://www.hypnos.com/mm5/merchant.mvc?Screen=PROD&Store_Code=HOS&Product_Code=hyby0707&Category_Code=

Robert Rich: "Electric Ladder", "Bestiary" (required for all MOTM fans), 
"Music from Atlas Dei", "Illumination", "Outpost", Lithosphere", "Echoes of 
Small Things", etc etc etc
www.robertrich.com

David Scott Stone "Plays the Modular Synthesizer" is all MOTM (WARNING: 
possible BugMusic content)
Web: http://myspace.com/sirdsssound
Buy: http://www.postpresentmedium.com/home.php? records=ppmrecords

David Wright/Not Breathing Records "The Black Old Pueblo", "Laquarto & 
Perky" (WARNING: about as far removed from Tomita/Carlos/etc as humanly 
possible)
Web/Buy: www.notbreathing.com

Now, a much-hyped new synth CD is Amin Bhatia's "Virtuality", with a 
'Bolero' that has like 68 *different* synths, each section of the music is a 
timeline of synth history (ie we start with a Theremin and end up with a 
Kurzweil sampler). But after 3 passes through this thing (not the song, the 
whole CD) I can only give it 1 out of 5 stars. It's a shame, because his 
only other CD is "Interstellar Suite" which is like the first "Synergy" CD, 
it's all done on like a MiniMoog, 2 SEMs and a few effects. THAT CD is a 
5/5.

Paul S.

I'm thinking when he said:

"I have to point out again that nobody has put out any quality synth 
album, and maybe no synth album at all based on a Moog modular in 
close to 3 decades now."

He was refering to albums done with actual Moog modulars, not the 
Moog lookin' modern modulars like MOTM, DOTCOM, etc. etc! ;-)  
Right???


--- In motm@yahoogroups.com, "Paul Schreiber" <synth1@...> wrote:
>
> Contrary to Kenneth's personal tastes, there have been a LOT 
of 'quality' 
> synth records by the MOTM folks. Now, they are not 100% MOTM, or 
all modular 
> (well, 1 is!) but as far as being a 'synth' CD, I thinks these 
qualify. If 
> I've left someone out, let me know :)
> 
> Dave Fulton/Gil Reeves "The Range", Hypnos 2007. I play this ALL 
THE TIME. 
> It's just wonderful.
> Web: http://www.myspace.com/thefultonreavesproject
> Buy:
> http://www.hypnos.com/mm5/merchant.mvc?
Screen=PROD&Store_Code=HOS&Product_Code=hyby0707&Category_Code=
> 
> Robert Rich: "Electric Ladder", "Bestiary" (required for all MOTM 
fans), 
> "Music from Atlas Dei", "Illumination", "Outpost", 
Lithosphere", "Echoes of 
> Small Things", etc etc etc
> www.robertrich.com
> 
> David Scott Stone "Plays the Modular Synthesizer" is all MOTM 
(WARNING: 
> possible BugMusic content)
> Web: http://myspace.com/sirdsssound
> Buy: http://www.postpresentmedium.com/home.php? records=ppmrecords
> 
> David Wright/Not Breathing Records "The Black Old 
Pueblo", "Laquarto & 
> Perky" (WARNING: about as far removed from Tomita/Carlos/etc as 
humanly 
> possible)
> Web/Buy: www.notbreathing.com
> 
> Now, a much-hyped new synth CD is Amin Bhatia's "Virtuality", with 
a 
> 'Bolero' that has like 68 *different* synths, each section of the 
music is a 
> timeline of synth history (ie we start with a Theremin and end up 
with a 
> Kurzweil sampler). But after 3 passes through this thing (not the 
song, the 
> whole CD) I can only give it 1 out of 5 stars. It's a shame, 
because his 
> only other CD is "Interstellar Suite" which is like the 
first "Synergy" CD, 
> it's all done on like a MiniMoog, 2 SEMs and a few effects. THAT CD 
is a 

> 5/5.
> 
> Paul S.
>

John Rice writes:
>>He was refering to albums done with actual Moog modulars, not the Moog
lookin' modern modulars like MOTM, DOTCOM, etc. etc! ;-)  Right???<<

Right.  It was the Moog modular that was the topic there.  Lot's of people
spending big money on them, yet they're never heard.

Paul S. writes:
>>Contrary to Kenneth's personal tastes, there have been a LOT of
'quality'synth records by the MOTM folks. Now, they are not 100% MOTM, or
all modular (well, 1 is!) but as far as being a 'synth' CD, I thinks these
qualify.<<

These days, "synth CD's" usually means sampled drums, rompler or sampler pad
sounds, maybe some real acoustic instruments or guitar thrown in, and the
analog synth use is quite often basic, as such, many don't even qualify as
synth CDs or more specifically, analog synth CDs.  In addition to that, when
it comes to musical substance and great composition, that's where most
really fail.  Many sound improvised on the spot or they're just going
through the motions.  Every piece sounds similar to all the others, and
sometimes every CD sounds like all the others, as there is little
imagination or variety, quite often beating the same sounds to death over an
entire CD (ie. Bestiary and other of his stuff).  They may be quality in
regards to good sound recording and engineering, but are usually lacking in
one of more of all the other areas.  What they should keep in mind is if
their music doesn't hold up if it were to be played on acoustic instruments,
it's probably not going to be interesting on a synth either.  What's needed
is melody, counterpoint, theme development, and some complexity.  I've heard
enough go-nowhere, long sustaining pads, repetitive loops, atonal sounds,
and watered down J.M. Jarre impressions to last a lifetime.  There are some
exceptions now and then of course (and some of the Fulton stuff sounds
promissing), but as a whole, synth use today is not interesting and is a
pale shadow of what there was a few decades ago (and there wasn't a lot back
then).

>>It's a shame, because his only other CD is "Interstellar Suite" which is
like the first "Synergy" CD, it's all done on like a MiniMoog, 2 SEMs and a
few effects. THAT CD is a  5/5.<<

Actually it was his Roland Tape Contest entry that was just Minimoog plus
outboard gear.  That was impressive.  A good example of somebody who had the
complete package, meaning: he could compose professional sounding music, he
was a great musician, he was great at synthesis on a minimal amount of
equipment.  His "Interstellar Suite" CD though, he used Yamaha digital FM
synths, Roland DCO based stuff, and other stuff, giving it that digital
synth sound in much of it, which didn't sound as good as his earlier
Minimoog only version.

-Elhardt

"Perhaps the point of ever more powerful synthesizers and sequencers is to
allow each one of us to have our own orchestra and recording studio, so our
boring four-note melody, our three-note killer riff, our stonking bass line
and one-note hook can be recorded for posterity." -Brian Willis SOS Magazine

I might mention the work of a Japanese friend of mine I met while 
living in Japan in 1988.  Fumitaka Anzai is a film and TV composer who 
got into the business working for Roland soldering circuit boards, and 
won the Roland tape contest in the late 70s.  He went on to create a 
musical scores and has a number of albums available.  A couple of URLs:

http://www.anz123.com/
http://www.youtube.com/profile?user=btpro

  Anz ('anzu' is Japanese for 'apricot' thus his musical pen name of the 
80s 'apricot systematic') has an impressive studio, but perhaps most 
impressive is his ability to perform live.  He enjoys Carlos-style 
classical exercises using synthesizers, and has recorded a number of 
demo reels (see youtube URL).

Crow
/**/

The OldCrow:
>  I might mention the work of a Japanese friend of mine I met while living
in Japan in 1988.  Fumitaka Anzai is a film and TV composer who  got into
the business working for Roland soldering circuit boards, and won the Roland
tape contest in the late 70s.  He went on to create a musical scores and has
a number of albums available. <<

I'm know his name and know about his Roland contest win, but never heard it.
There wasn't much to hear of his at the various sites.   Most I'd been able
to hear on youtube or myspace was somewhat repetitive and consisted of
either samples or average synth sounds.  Being a film and TV composer means
he probably works mostly with samples, as one of his TV themes I heard would
indicate.

Chris Walcott:
>>i know this forum is not exactly the best place to give props to the
techno/electronic scene but there are a number of people out there who do
some pretty amazing stuff.  jack dangers come to mind.<<

I guess this was meant for the forum.  However, when I talk about musical
substance and advanced, colorful, and musical use of synths, techno or its
variants is the last thing that should be brought up as that's the
antithesis of everything I had mentioned.  A fast visit to lastfm to hear
Dangers of course confirmed this.  In all the 30 second samples there, I
heard very little synth use (mostly acoustic sounds and effects), and the
one where there was some, it was simple and cheesey as expected, not to
mention the lack of musical substance in all the pieces.  Perhaps there was
a misunderstanding of what's lacking in today's electronic music.

-Elhardt

It's September 11th, and so I declare Jihad on Microsoft.  To my Muslim
brothers I give this coded message: "The eagle flies at night".  Soon the
great Satan will be gone.  Praise Alah (PBUH), death to Microsoft.

Where can we find your CD, Kenneth?
I tried to find it, but Google isn't coming up with anything.

Scott Deyo
The Bridechamber
contact@...
http://www.bridechamber.com
Jealous Edison Record Kompany
http://www.jealousedison.com

On Sep 11, 2008, at 9:56 AM, Kenneth Elhardt wrote:

> The OldCrow:
>  > I might mention the work of a Japanese friend of mine I met while 
> living
>  in Japan in 1988. Fumitaka Anzai is a film and TV composer who got 
> into
>  the business working for Roland soldering circuit boards, and won the 
> Roland
>  tape contest in the late 70s. He went on to create a musical scores 
> and has
>  a number of albums available. <<
>
>  I'm know his name and know about his Roland contest win, but never 
> heard it.
>  There wasn't much to hear of his at the various sites. Most I'd been 
> able
>  to hear on youtube or myspace was somewhat repetitive and consisted of
>  either samples or average synth sounds. Being a film and TV composer 
> means
>  he probably works mostly with samples, as one of his TV themes I 
> heard would
>  indicate.
>
>  Chris Walcott:
>  >>i know this forum is not exactly the best place to give props to the
>  techno/electronic scene but there are a number of people out there 
> who do
>  some pretty amazing stuff. jack dangers come to mind.<<
>
>  I guess this was meant for the forum. However, when I talk about 
> musical
>  substance and advanced, colorful, and musical use of synths, techno 
> or its
>  variants is the last thing that should be brought up as that's the
>  antithesis of everything I had mentioned. A fast visit to lastfm to 
> hear
>  Dangers of course confirmed this. In all the 30 second samples there, 
> I
>  heard very little synth use (mostly acoustic sounds and effects), and 
> the
>  one where there was some, it was simple and cheesey as expected, not 
> to
>  mention the lack of musical substance in all the pieces. Perhaps 
> there was
>  a misunderstanding of what's lacking in today's electronic music.
>
>  -Elhardt
>
>  It's September 11th, and so I declare Jihad on Microsoft. To my Muslim
>  brothers I give this coded message: "The eagle flies at night". Soon 
> the
>  great Satan will be gone. Praise Alah (PBUH), death to Microsoft.
>
>  
>

ouch.  well, to each his own i guess.

jack has an astonishing array of analog synths and *in my opinion* had
put out some very good work.  i think you'd need to dive in a bit
deeper than 30 second clips from lastfm.  so you don't like his music
- "the antithesis of everything" as you say   (which sounds kinda
bitter.)  music and art is a subjective form.  what i like you may
very well hate.  i don't come from the younger generation and
throughout my life i have strived to keep an open mind about all forms
of music and art, not just the stuff i grew up with.  like it or not,
the various forms or techno (and there are hundreds) are making more
use of synthesizers than anyone else.  true, a lot of it is not make
with analog rigs but there are artists out there that do.  in the end,
what comes out of my speakers is pure analog waveforms.  the question
is, does it move you?  if so, great, if not, so be it.

in my opinion, symphonic music made with synths does nothing for me.
if i want to hear symphonic music, i'll listen to an orchestra made of
of people playing real instruments.  recreating symphonic pieces with
a vast array of analog synths is interesting, but it's more of a lab
exercise or experiment to see how "real" you can make it.  for me
there's no heart.  what i appreciate in people playing real
instruments is how they play the piece.  how they put themselves into
the performance.

again, in my opinion, techno is one form that is taking synths and
using them in new and creative ways.  instead of trying to recreate a
traditional instrument, these artist are using them as they are and
coming up with new ways to use them.

- chris

On Thu, Sep 11, 2008 at 7:56 AM, Kenneth Elhardt
<elhardt@...> wrote:

> Chris Walcott:
>>>i know this forum is not exactly the best place to give props to the
> techno/electronic scene but there are a number of people out there who do
> some pretty amazing stuff. jack dangers come to mind.<<
>
> I guess this was meant for the forum. However, when I talk about musical
> substance and advanced, colorful, and musical use of synths, techno or its
> variants is the last thing that should be brought up as that's the
> antithesis of everything I had mentioned. A fast visit to lastfm to hear
> Dangers of course confirmed this. In all the 30 second samples there, I
> heard very little synth use (mostly acoustic sounds and effects), and the
> one where there was some, it was simple and cheesey as expected, not to
> mention the lack of musical substance in all the pieces. Perhaps there was
> a misunderstanding of what's lacking in today's electronic music.