Wiardgroup

As in the movie:"My dinner with Andre'" 
This email has no point and rambles with despicable impunity all over
the place…

It begins… 

Stretch….(yawn!)
Golly! what a beautiful morning...
What a fine day to veer off topic!

(oh RIGHT! Doc…. Like you were ever ON topic!!!)
;'>

thank you Gary, for some very insightful comments about Grant's modus
operandi… i want to put your specific and well-focused comments into a
broader context, so broad in fact that my own comments will become
dissipated, and silly...


>By the
>time that I decided to order, there, he was besieged with well over a
>year of orders.  What resulted was a very gloomy and sullen Grant -
>imprisoned by our "love".  There were no options - just go downstairs
>and build modules.  I truly believe that repearing (sic ...repeating)
 this situation is
>something that GR will avoid at all costs.

And the successful execution of this maneuver requires the discipline
of a Trappist monk, the infinite vision of a Buddhist monk , and the
artistry & inspiration of Thelonius Monk….
A tall order for anyone but especially tall for a clever but
cantankerous kid from Racine with few connections and no subsidies
from a family, day job or trust fund. 
 Grant is an artist who works in EWB and solder. 
What percentage of the designs offered by his `competitors' are new
analog modules?  and how many are old wine new bottles? Before y'all
ignite your flamethrowers please note the following:

-work out your comparison of new-to-`good old' designs as a ratio or
percentage of products on offer
-i deeply respect the makers whose gifts are for updating and tweaking
the proven chestnuts of the past. Their designs are brilliantly
EVOLUTIONARY and i mean the 'brilliantly'. I disparage them not one
bit here. I merely sing the praises of a different drummer

But i insist that one consider the story that is told by the designs
Grant chooses to release. How many other makers would have even TRIED
to explain to the world at large (much less a cadre of prog-rock
organists in their declining years) what a wogglebug is, or a
noise-ring, or a JAG.... How many of them would have had enough
commitment to their individual vision to commit (repeated!) financial
suicide and invest in commercial production models of these chimeras.
And …. Yes….. how many of the other makers would make such stupid
business decisions. 
In business, success is numbers---MBA's love numbers. EE's get their
rocks off on numbers too.
 But in Art, success is not so easily measured ….. or compensated.



>I think that that is why Grant has continued to build 300 Series
>modules as individual custom orders - he wants freedom and flexibility
>in his life to do things that are important to him as well as create
>and manufacture synthesizer modules.  That essentially means spreading
>out his 300 Series stuff over time - and turning down offers from time
>to time so that he can be normal....

and from where i sit, `normal' for Grant is more than a little bit
Quixotic. 
i'm attracted to his designs because they suit my music. i make no
money with my music either. i spent my apprenticeship studying Gould
and Jarret's articulations, the orchestrating mastery of Ravel, Gentle
Giant and Sousa, Lester Young's tone, and exactly where Charlie Watts
and Duck Dunn put their pockets. i'll be damned if i'm gonna squander
the lessons of that lifelong love affair by playing in a touring band
for Celine Dion, (or even a real musician) just to claim
`professional' status….. and get paid.

Grant is the same way. He's the archetypal stubborn visionary
enforcing his own poverty. He simply cannot pander. God knows! We've
tried... 
;'>
(to any of you who care i want to say FROM EXPERIENCE that that
Milwaukee lad can WIRE UP A   H E L L U V A  LADDER FILTER…. Boy
howdy!!!!)

but he doesn't want to and if he's gonna have to do a bunch of shit he
doesn't wanna do, he might as well go back into steady, gray,
industrial controls (with Celine Dion on the elevator speaker) and get
paid

>I personally have discussed several things with Grant, but these
>projects are on hold until "brighter days" appear, when he has more
>time, or I have more money to make my projects more attractive.  So, I
>am specking out of experience - a happy Grant is a creative Grant.
>Obligating him to the point where he can't ride his Vespa around town
>for kicks ultimately does no one any good.

IMHO, the lesson of Wiard for Grant was (in addition to `don't start
an analog module business') the balance it takes to make Grant Richter
happy. That lesson is very hard won and Grant learned the terrible
truth of please-all, please-none. I believe he's just hitting his
stride now. He can ill afford to say no to any client but he's learned
that he must do so or he'll soon have to say no to ALL of them. He's
said no to me and i even said 'pretty please!.... now THAT's commitment)
;'>

He's not a factory, and he's not consumer friendly, and he's SURE not
a production house for the `brilliant ideas' of us in the peanut
gallery (here's a hint guys! Go buy your OWN soldering iron…. Learn
the WHOLE road with own feet first before you dare to ask someone else
to walk it for you) only then will that quote for a `little mod' seem
justified.

i'll admit i'm a Grant fan. He fascinates me. He did many things i
lacked the commitment to do myself and he's failed at things i've
never dared to try. i've spent a few years trying to get inside his
head and tap a wire in his strange and wonderful perspective, To a
degree i've succeeded and it seems to me that FROM HIS PERSPECTIVE ,
he does pretty well. He makes designs he loves with minimum
soul-draining compromises. He does this with integrity. He admits to
his own fuck-ups and pays the price for them with almost painful
honesty and no public whining,…. and he revels in our delight with his
gadgets with almost childlike glee. He loves to get our feedback. It's
like a grandparent receiving photos of their grandkids out in the
world. (even mug shots from JAIL!)  

(what a ramble! Why would ANYONE read this!
ha ha haaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa

i LOVE the internet!)

and now for something completely different

one of Grant's customers (i won't embarrass him by naming names or
numbers) sends him a little money every week …. Cash…. In an envelope
, against ALL precepts of Postal good common sense!!! Like clockwork …
every Monday an envelope with cash arrives. Their agreement is that
Grant should send one unit of whatever product he produces next, once
the accrued balance has reached the advertised price. 
It's simple show of faith. An orange left on a roadside shrine. The
gestures we make as customers influence Grant at least as much as any
paypal orders.

Thanks for raising the issue of the PERSON behind the blue celtic
scrollwork curtain. 

(and thanks to you dear reader for your remarkable attention to this
goofy screed)

-doc