Doepfer

Hello Dieter,
      I guess this means you're back from your vacation.  Hope it was  
a good one.  I just wanted to post some thoughts on why, for me, the  
mono keyboard seems a better route at this point in time.  It's not  
only the money that I would have to spend to get a good poly setup.   
But boy, it must cost, say, minimum 10000 US to get something viable  
going at, say, the five-voice level.  It's also the sheer complexity  
of all the patchworking.  I like to keep my setup relatively simple.   
They say you can never have too many modules.  But I like to work  
relatively small for the "old-fashioned" modular-type setup.  I'm  
thinking a double G6 setup is about as complex as I would like to  
get.  But I am not very "live" oriented.  I like to let multitracking  
do the work of the poly mode; no need to provide one module of each  
of the main types for every voice.   I had a smallish modular Emu  
back in the day.  They came out with a poly keyboard around the time  
I bought my system in 1978.  I lusted after this machine, sure, but  
how did they tame that beast over at the Chicago School of the Art  
Institute, one that I saw but never played, with its dimensions of  
about 44 by 60 inches?  A colleague of mine lamented the amount of  
time it took to set up one patch on that thing.  I do find thd the  
modular mode the best for my needs, which tend in the direction of  
atonal nonmelodic with a lot of "nonstandard" rhythmic patterning.   
But it does tend to be cumbersome in the time department.

David Westling
Chciago IL

David,

you find my comments written inline

Best wishes
Dieter Doepfer

> Hello Dieter,
> I guess this means you're back from your vacation. Hope it was
> a good one.

Yes. Thank you. I'm already back for more than one week. It seems that there
occured some problems during my vacation with my Yahoo account because of my
email autoresponder. The account has been terminated (in the meantime it's
working again) and some of my messages to the group disappeared or had a
very long delay (the message you answer to has been sent by me on April 06,
2007). I'll probably re-send copies of my other messages if they do not
appear during the next few days.

> I just wanted to post some thoughts on why, for me, the
> mono keyboard seems a better route at this point in time. It's not
> only the money that I would have to spend to get a good poly setup.
> But boy, it must cost, say, minimum 10000 US to get something viable
> going at, say, the five-voice level. It's also the sheer complexity
> of all the patchworking. I like to keep my setup relatively simple.
> They say you can never have too many modules. But I like to work
> relatively small for the "old-fashioned" modular-type setup. I'm
> thinking a double G6 setup is about as complex as I would like to
> get. But I am not very "live" oriented.

I'll probably generate some contradictions .....
But to speak the truth I cannot see an advantage of the TKB in the studio
situation over a "normal" keyboard. From my point of view the main advantage
(if there is one) is in a live situation where the audiance can see you play
on that metal plates instead of a normal black/white moving keyboard.

> I like to let multitracking
> do the work of the poly mode; no need to provide one module of each
> of the main types for every voice. I had a smallish modular Emu
> back in the day. They came out with a poly keyboard around the time
> I bought my system in 1978. I lusted after this machine, sure, but
> how did they tame that beast over at the Chicago School of the Art
> Institute, one that I saw but never played, with its dimensions of
> about 44 by 60 inches? A colleague of mine lamented the amount of
> time it took to set up one patch on that thing. I do find thd the
> modular mode the best for my needs, which tend in the direction of
> atonal nonmelodic with a lot of "nonstandard" rhythmic patterning.
> But it does tend to be cumbersome in the time department.
>
> David Westling
> Chciago IL

Hi all,
I'm very interested in the TKB and I have a very different point of
view from yours, Dieter, on the use I could do of this keyboard.

> I'll probably generate some contradictions .....
> But to speak the truth I cannot see an advantage of the TKB in the
studio
> situation over a "normal" keyboard. From my point of view the main
advantage
> (if there is one) is in a live situation where the audiance can see
you play
> on that metal plates instead of a normal black/white moving keyboard.

First thing i thought when i saw a picture of the TKB was "That thing
looks so fun !"; i haven't tried it yet but i'm sure it will really be
a pleasure to play on this kind of keyboard. To touch is "easier" than
to press in my opinion, and a normal keyboard is more a tool to me
than a music instrument (i'm not a pianist). I will probably have more
feelings and sensations playing on TKB, the kind of feelings you can
have with a good piano or Ondes Martenot or glassharmonica or any
'classical music' instrument. The other aspect that i find interseting
is that the TKB is perfectly silent, that can be cool for live studio
recordings or simply to play at home at a low sound volume.

That's true that the touch keyboard looks good and can be kinda
'attractive' for the audiance in a concert, but i think i would prefer
a normal one since i'm not (yet) completely familiar with the TKB and
for live use, i'd rather need a 'tool' to run the modular than an
instrument i'd have to be focused on.

That's my point of view on the TKB and i think it's very important to
keep in mind that an electronic instrument is a musical instrument and
 there must be a kind of magic relationship between it and the
musician. Since Theremin and the Ondes Martenot, controlers have a big
part to play in this magic.

By the way, why not building an 'Ondes Martenot like' CV keyboard
(that can slightly move from left to right creating vibrato) ? 

(Sorry for bad english !)
Max.

--- In Doepfer_a100@yahoogroups.com, "damaged_meat" <francois.maxime@...> wrote:
>
> Hi all,
> I'm very interested in the TKB and I have a very different point of
> view from yours, Dieter, on the use I could do of this keyboard.
> 
> > I'll probably generate some contradictions .....
> > But to speak the truth I cannot see an advantage of the TKB in the
> studio
> > situation over a "normal" keyboard. From my point of view the main
> advantage
> > (if there is one) is in a live situation where the audiance can see
> you play
> > on that metal plates instead of a normal black/white moving keyboard.
> 
> First thing i thought when i saw a picture of the TKB was "That thing
> looks so fun !"; i haven't tried it yet but i'm sure it will really be
> a pleasure to play on this kind of keyboard. To touch is "easier" than
> to press in my opinion, and a normal keyboard is more a tool to me
> than a music instrument (i'm not a pianist). I will probably have more
> feelings and sensations playing on TKB, the kind of feelings you can
> have with a good piano or Ondes Martenot or glassharmonica or any
> 'classical music' instrument. The other aspect that i find interseting
> is that the TKB is perfectly silent, that can be cool for live studio
> recordings or simply to play at home at a low sound volume.
> 
> That's true that the touch keyboard looks good and can be kinda
> 'attractive' for the audiance in a concert, but i think i would prefer
> a normal one since i'm not (yet) completely familiar with the TKB and
> for live use, i'd rather need a 'tool' to run the modular than an
> instrument i'd have to be focused on.
> 
> That's my point of view on the TKB and i think it's very important to
> keep in mind that an electronic instrument is a musical instrument and
>  there must be a kind of magic relationship between it and the
> musician. Since Theremin and the Ondes Martenot, controlers have a big
> part to play in this magic.
> 
> By the way, why not building an 'Ondes Martenot like' CV keyboard
> (that can slightly move from left to right creating vibrato) ? 
> 
> (Sorry for bad english !)
> Max.
>

I agree, I have played the synthi AKS and EH minisynthesizer, both with
monophonic touchkeys, and love the feel. You know exactly when the
tone starts, right on the touch. With a regular keyboard I am less accurate,
but i am not a keyboardplayer. And Mono is fine.

Bonsoir Maxime, hello Dieter,

I'd like to confirm what Maxime wrote. A new kind of of input tool or 
interface gives you new access to music. I found this when I started 
playing sometimes cembalo or church organ after six years of playing 
classic piano. Its the reason why I have now four different drum 
machines, because they all have a different interfaces how to enter the 
rythm. And I finally had this experience with the ribbon controller, 
which became a real relevant instrument in my home studio (and as 
astonishing fact: I don't use it that much live, though this was my 
first intension).

Florian


damaged_meat wrote:

> Hi all,
> I'm very interested in the TKB and I have a very different point of
> view from yours, Dieter, on the use I could do of this keyboard.
> 
> 
>>I'll probably generate some contradictions .....
>>But to speak the truth I cannot see an advantage of the TKB in the
> 
> studio
> 
>>situation over a "normal" keyboard. From my point of view the main
> 
> advantage
> 
>>(if there is one) is in a live situation where the audiance can see
> 
> you play
> 
>>on that metal plates instead of a normal black/white moving keyboard.
> 
> 
> First thing i thought when i saw a picture of the TKB was "That thing
> looks so fun !"; i haven't tried it yet but i'm sure it will really be
> a pleasure to play on this kind of keyboard. To touch is "easier" than
> to press in my opinion, and a normal keyboard is more a tool to me
> than a music instrument (i'm not a pianist). I will probably have more
> feelings and sensations playing on TKB, the kind of feelings you can
> have with a good piano or Ondes Martenot or glassharmonica or any
> 'classical music' instrument. The other aspect that i find interseting
> is that the TKB is perfectly silent, that can be cool for live studio
> recordings or simply to play at home at a low sound volume.
> 
> That's true that the touch keyboard looks good and can be kinda
> 'attractive' for the audiance in a concert, but i think i would prefer
> a normal one since i'm not (yet) completely familiar with the TKB and
> for live use, i'd rather need a 'tool' to run the modular than an
> instrument i'd have to be focused on.
> 
> That's my point of view on the TKB and i think it's very important to
> keep in mind that an electronic instrument is a musical instrument and
>  there must be a kind of magic relationship between it and the
> musician. Since Theremin and the Ondes Martenot, controlers have a big
> part to play in this magic.
> 
> By the way, why not building an 'Ondes Martenot like' CV keyboard
> (that can slightly move from left to right creating vibrato) ? 
> 
> (Sorry for bad english !)