Re: [analogue-sequencer] Re: Paul's Octopus review in SOS
2007-02-22 by implode7@comcast.net
Great post....I'm currently struggling with the lack of a display, though I've only had it for a few days and am still getting acclimated. I've had some fun discussions with Gabriel about whether a display would detract from the experience or not - he's starting to convince me that maybe it won't in the long run. Right now it's a bit disorienting. I wanna see the numbers. Are you the Duncan who posts on the Genoqs site? If so, did you ever get your Zeit? I'd be curious as to your experiences with that.
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-------------- Original message ---------------------- From: "ferrograph632" <ferrograph@aol.com> > I'm afraid I'm partly responsible for taking up mr nagle's valuable > time with the octopus over the last few weeks; I suggested to it's > makers that he would be the best person to get it into SoS, & he was > as good as his word in giving the thing a good thrashing. > thing is, there are so many things changing within the octopus- a lot > like the p3, in the sense that extra functionality & operational > alterations are driven by a hard core of users... (hello tom!) > > paul's review will give people an idea of the experience of using the > thing, but not all of the current thinking was available to him in the > test machine. > > the main point that comes across is that the octopus lives or dies on > how well the user can manage without the comfort-factor of having > everything spelled out in a nice display. > paul, for one, may have found a display helpful. this is where he & I > differ; I can actually manage the octopus better without a display, > since I treat it as a physical instrument. I would find a display as > distracting on the octopus as on a fender precision bass. > > one typically arrives at a basic configuration, pre-populating the > pages with one's personal tweaks, & then it's down to the matter of > dropping notes in, either by pressing the excellent buttons or > recording a keyboard. it is a hugely tactile experience- there's no > getting away from that. it will strike people as being similar to the > mighty notron- in some ways, using it is similar, in that one uses > both hands & no display, & it becomes a physical experience. but it > goes so much deeper than the notron could hope to, & it's actually > built properly. I mean gerard & dave no offense, but the notron feels > cheap next to the octopus. I stopped using mine after it started to > disintegrate after maybe ten gigs. the octopus will outlive me. > > by way of a more local comparison, & even to try that is a stretch, > the p3 is a machine for considered data-entry, even when one is > designing patterns that morph or interact. the display is essential > simply because the control surface is so much more compact, & conceals > a far greater deal of complex functionality. the octopus is less > flexible in some areas, but somewhat more powerful in others. it is > slowly emerging (here at northern echo-south, anyway) that the two > complement each other... more on this after I've had more time to work > with them together. & tom will chip in too, I'm sure. > > & if you get bored listening to what it's playing, turn it down & > watch the lightshow! :-) > > duncan/r.m.i > > > [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]