MOTM

> From: JWBarlow@...
> I like this idea a lot! Maybe the final design could be an amalgam of the
best
> parts everyone has submitted, and could be posted on a MOTM DIY page of
the
> SYNTH TECH web site (if Paul has the space). We could call it the Son Of
a
> Bitchin Sequencer (the SOB story)!

ROTFL....  but wouldn't that be SOBS?

> I'd still like to hear more about digital sequencers (pros and cons).
Larry?
> David? Anybody?
> John B.

Well, OK, I can say a little about digital sequencing, although a lot of
controversry exists in the subject which is not related to MOTM at all. 
But here goes.

# 1:
I have a hardware sequencer in my Korg T1 (my main 88 weighted board) I use
at home in my studio.  Sometimes I sit and play whatever comes out as I
like to write music.  Whenever that critical mass of inspiration and
ability meet I occasionally find myself playing something I want to save
for later development.  Bingo!  Turn on digital sequencer, ignor everything
like timing, measures, channel number, etc, and just play.  Later, I can
capture that inspriation when I want to get serious about arrangement and
refinement.

# 2 :
My ability as a player has always been good enough to play in a variety of
cover bands over the years and to actually have people pay considerable
sums of money to hear the same (translate considerable to mean at least a
fin a night for me).  However, I did discover that if I intended to use my
musical abilities to provide substanance for myself and family, we would
somehow have to adjust our living standard to somewhere around the 50% of
poverty level.  So, I use a sequencer when I have those difficult passages
to commit to recording that stretch past where my ability leaves off.  I
play it the best I can and then use the editing features of the sequencer
to "fix" my mistakes.

Cons:  You have to be careful to resist the temptation to "over-fix"
anything.  Drums tend to sound like machines when every tick is exactly on
the beat or PPQ place where it belongs. Music is not perfect and should
never be mechanically altered to be so.  However, sequencers can be great
composition tools if not abused.  People like me who tend to be
"perfectionists" have to slap themselves to keep from doing the wrong
things with them.

OK, now I will shut up and let's here more cool analog sequencer stories.