Dave Smith Instruments SYNTHESIZERS

Scott,

I do not have any direct experience with the new polyevolvers with the 
potentiometer option, however I would imagine it would be much more user 
friendly for you than your kurzweil - to some degree. There is not a lot of menu 
diving on the polyevolver however there is some. For example, all of the main 
envelope, filter, oscillator, and vca controls would have fixed range pots. 
However, you would still need to be familiar with the ordering of the 
"destination list" for the third envelope (this has a free mod slot associated 
with it). I think the LFO controls are still endless encoders though, so you 
could be spinning those forever. The thing that would make the LFO section a 
little difficult, and this also applies for the delay's time parameters, is that 
the frequencey selection is in ascending order followed by clock divisions. So 
not only would you have to have the "destination list" memorized, you would also 
have to have the frequency/time/clock divisions memorized as well. Things would 
become a little tricky with the general modulation section (the modulation 
routings), the parameter section (where you set things like envelope shape, 
oscillator slop, and trigger modes), the sequencer section, and of course the 
global, program, and combo setting menus. Not only will those sections all have 
endless encoders, you will also need to memorize menu sequences for each of 
them.

With that said, I want to state that none of the menus are all that deep though, 
most are only one page. The only real exceptions would be the global, program, & 
combo menus. There is almost a one knob or button control for each parameter. 
For example, there is a knob for each envelope, lfo, filter, vca, oscillator, 
delay, feedback, and sequencer function. Also, there is a dedicated control for 
modulation destination for the third envelope and each of the lfo's. There is 
also a source, destination, and value knob for each parameter in the general 
modulation section - you just have to be familiar with the ordering of each list 
for each of the modulation source and destination functions (this also includes 
the envelope & lfo as mentioned above).

Overall I don't think the polyevolver will provide as much of a challenge as the 
kurzweil, however, it won't necessarily be a cakewalk either. 


As far as the polyevolver and ambient music production goes. Well, they go hand 
in hand. If you could manage to wrap your head around some of the endless 
encoders, some of the weird parameter listings (like lfo & delay frequency, 
glide controls, pre-post high pass filter modes, and the pre-post external input 
volume level) I think you would be rewarded with beautiful evolving soundscapes. 


I hope I've managed to help you along in your journey....

Take care,
Jim




________________________________
From: Scott Lawlor <sklawlor@...>
To: DSI_Evolver@yahoogroups.com
Sent: Wed, June 30, 2010 8:46:56 AM
Subject: [DSI Synths] introduction

  
Hello.
 
I'm thinking about getting one of these poly  evolver keyboards.
 
I currently have a kurzweil pc3 but since I'm  blind, the menus are a bit much 
for me to memorize and since they roll over and  there's no actual zero point, I 
figured that the evolver might be a good  fit.
 
I like to feel the control as I work and with all  these knobs and switches, I'm 
hoping this synth will be much more accessible for  me.
 
I'd like to play more ambient electronic music and  the people at sweetwater 
feel that this might be a good fit for me.
 
My inspirations for space and ambient music include  people like Tangerine 
Dream, Steve Roach, Robert Rich, Free System Projekt, Jonn  Serrie, Radio 
Massacre International and others.
 
I was using the sound tower software with the pc3  and I could go through the 
default sounds and presets but that was about  it.  I don't know how useable 
this software is for someone who is  blind.
 
There isn't anywhere locally for me to get my hands  on this thing to check it 
out but I've heard some of the sounds listening to  various YouTube videos and 
it sounds impressive.
 
I just wanted to write to say hi and I hope to  learn a lot about this unit and 
gain some tips and tricks along the  way.
 
Thanks for reading.
 
Scott