SynthModules

> Suddenly it occurred to me that the PSIM would be good for all kinds
> of scales....  couldn't we, for all intents and purposes, assign any
> arbitrary scale here?  I mean, map any set of values against any
> other set....  polyphonically?!?

Heck, yeah!

Versatile scaling and quantizing is why I once wrote that only a PSIM could
interface an ARP (1V/Oct), an MS-20 (linear VCOs), an EML (1.2V/Oct) and a
Synthi (0.5V/Octave?) together so they'd all play in tune with each other.


> excited about that possibility....  a quantizing Shift register in
> some exotic scale... the other PSIM with polyphonic quanting to that
> same scale.... with that whole idea of one input plays unisons while
> another plays scale-tone chords w/voltage controlled inversions....

Cool. I like that the "idea of one input plays unisons while another plays
scale-tone chords" has become a recurring theme. :-)


> And to think I could have all that in a multi program and just
> switch programs to some wild and crazy modulation source, polyphonic
> glide, or even a spare ADSR......  This module was a God-inspired
> stroke of genius, whether anyone realizes that or not.

The PSIM can do things that I always wanted (Cycling74's) Max to do, but Max
never had access to analog I/O (as far as I knew).


> Does anyone else have the feeling that this could actually DEFINE A
> NEW KIND OF MUSIC, or drastically change the way we make music?

As a devoted Psimian (the P is silent ;-) I hate to say no, but I think the
answer is "No." I say this mainly because there are hardly any new ideas! I
am pretty sure that concepts like "algorithmic harmony generators" have all
been tried.

But the PSIM is exciting because the cool tools have been released from the
laboratories and placed into the hands of the teeming masses (well, at least
a small group of analog nuts). It's like when personal computers were first
introduced. Although it might not be conceptually new, having access to this
power is totally new for most of us.


> In a way, it's like a modular within a modular...  It makes me feel
> like I have a Buchla 300 system or something  [:-)

Like I said, nothing is *really* new.


> These PSIMs are the most exciting thing in my entire modular
> synth....

Now, why would you say that? Because it's a voltage controlled quantizer,
scaler, logic module, sample & hold, LFO, Envelope Generator, Andrew's Dream
Sequencer, and more, all in one? ;-)

--
john <--(still deprived of synth-playing & PSIM-programming time due to huge
project at work, but it's almost finished!)


P.S. Why isn't Brice going to make any more PSIMs?