MOTM

> Brian Eno used to keep a few pieces of gear in the studio (I think he had a
> small Synthi machine that he particularly loved) that were BROKEN. He didn't
> even want to fix them; he said that gave them personality.
>
> Maybe that's a little extreme for some, but the point is important. Here's
> another example that you may cringe at, but makes the same point.
>
> I used to have a PAIA 1550 Strings & Thingz in my destitute youth. It was my
> first poly synth (I would pretend it was a Mellotron and my Korg MS10 a
> Minimoog...I had a good imagination...). I would write a lot of songs, and
> after a while I noticed a lot of them tended to be in the key of D minor. I
> figured my hands must just like D Minor.
>
> One day I was tweaking the chorus unit trimmers, and after that I realized
> that my songs didn't sound as good. And yet things in A-Flat Major sounded
> pretty sweet!
>
> The chorus unit was so nasty and off-balance (due either to design, limits
> of the SAD-1024 chips, or my own craftsmanship) that the two delay lines
> tended to couple and it flanged in such a way as to make the comb filter
> effect emphasize certain keys/scales! But the fact is that I just adapted my
> playing to it, and it had real character.
>
> When I got my first sampler, I thought it would be neat to sample the flat
> tone of the 1550 so that I would have that sound available, but that was a
> complete failure. The nasty choruser was the soul of that unit, such as it
> was.
>
> Now, someday, maybe virtual synths will be designed to "break down" and act
> more natural. In fact, maybe that will become a design feature to sell
> aftermarket repair jobs (wouldn't surprise me in a world where copy
> protection is king, where the end credits of every TV show are crammed with
> 4 simultaneous advertisements, and DVDs have commercials at the beginning
> that you are locked out of skipping even though you own them).
>
> With modulars, we don't have to worry about the "patch 36" syndrome! We give
> the machines personality whenever we patch them (and whenever we solder in a
> part backwards).
>
>  -----Original Message-----
> From:   ivancu@... [mailto:ivancu@...]
> Sent:   Tuesday, 21 November, 2000 10:44 AM
> To:     motm@egroups.com
> Subject:        Re: [motm] Virtual Everything
>
> Its kind of like the Honda or Yamaha Harley-clones; if you want a Harley,
> then BUY a Harley!  It seems like music technology has become battle of the
> poseurs.  I own obscure gear because I like the challenges, specifically
> because I DON'T want to be like everyone else in terms of gear.  Whether it
> is the MOTM, or JoMox, or SidStation, or some vintage piece of crap drum
> machine that is sitting in my basement, I like to dig up sounds that don't
> sound like every dance hit out there.  PLEASE lets not get back to the days
> when I used to listen to the radio and say "oh, that's a DX7, patch number
> 36."
>