Wiardgroup

Just as I was saddling up my pinto to ride into the sunset, you HAD 
to go ahead and post that review.

Haven't read the book, but couldn't agree with the reviewer more. 
Outside of the fact that his style is even more bilious than my own, 
*jai pence,* the man is outright inspired. In a single post, he has 
summed up my feeling about the electronic medium and the 
academic "composeurs" (John Cage springs to mind) who have long taken 
refuge in it. Had Grant offered this sooner, you guys would have been 
spared a lot of suffering.  :-)

John L. wrote:

>For some samples of superlative Electro-Acoustic music, check out 
the snippets of Rick Petersen's works at the following location:
http://www.wavemakers-synth.com/wm_music.html. These get kudos from 
many visitors to my web site.<

Anybody who hasn't heard these pieces should unplug his Wogglebug(TM) 
right now and hightail it to John's excellent site for a listen. I 
consider these to be the best synth demos on the net. 

Grant wrote:

>Electronic music equipment designers have created a box of
paints so enormous that you can't lift the lid anymore.<

This is another good one. Somebody needs to write a Book of 
Richterian Quotations.

Hmmmmm... Could "Grant's Paintbox" become the next "Schrodinger's 
Cat?"  :-)

There is nothing so limiting as "infinite possibilities."  When you 
think about it, infinity is as good as zero.  That's a big reason I 
have always preferred analog synths to digital synths. The 
limitations they impose give you a framework in which to work. It's 
like poetry. Forms such as sonnets, sestinas and haiku free the 
writer by forcing him to conform to the metrical expectations of the 
reader.  "Blank verse," on the other hand, is simply a paragraph 
arranged in an amusing way (is it any wonder that the worst poetry 
invariably falls into this ubiquitous category?). 

It is prudence to remember that great painters need only a few colors 
to create masterpieces. They have no need of crayons marked "flesh 
tone." So it is with analog synths. Bells, whistles and gewgaws only 
clutter up the paintbox. The greatest freedom lies in limitation.

johnm