Wiardgroup

Hi Gino,
an insightful response...
i have to confess that , while realizing the reality of deadlines and
writers-block, i envy the smidgin of glamour in getting paid to pile
up analog modules and describe them!

--- In wiardgroup@yahoogroups.com, "Robair, Gino" <grobair@...> wrote:

> 
> One last thing, based on what the good Doctor said below:
> > Call me old-fashioned, but
> > speaking for myself, i get tired of being spoofed month after month by
> > sexy panels in these mags only to discover that they're screenshots of
> > software. 
> 
> 
> The topics that EM (and SOS for that matter) cover are wide ranging:
> recording and mixing application stories (How-To articles); product
roundups
> of everything from mics and preamps to monitors and MIDI control
surfaces;
> So for me, the fun of this job is focusing the review spotlight on the
> boutique items, whether it's a stand-alone tube filer, freeware
softsynth,
> or quirky stompbox.


it hasn't escaped my notice that EM has begun to place software
screenshots against a colored background , while actual nuts&bolts
hardware is pasted-up directly on the page's whitespace. That
subliminal cue  is certainly a step in the right direction. And
further i have to admit that the 'hardware-esque' UI (especially if
it's retro) is very much the fashion with the software makers..... the
gear-press certainly didn't invent this trend. Thus i can't pin this
marketing ruse on the messenger! 
More to the point though, you needn't pay too much heed to my
perspective...
 because for one, i'm no longer EM's target demographic.
 and perhaps more importantly, because i'm merely nostalgic.
(not only am i OLD, but i'm an Ingmar Bergman-style Cancer...) My rig
is, for the most part, complete and purchased. In the 80's i tore
through the pages of EM hoping to find a sneak-peek at the Oberheim
Xpander or the T-10 or to find a second opinion about whether those
ADAT things really did work. That's all history now and my remark
alludes as much to my own personal nostalgia for that erstwhile
toy-lust as to EM's scope of coverage.

i cannot resist pointing out what a huge chuckle i got out of seeing
Ken's 'cat-girl' panel in the sidebar, looking more like a soft-porn
anime screenshot than ACTUAL software does!!!
but it was hardware!!!!!!
(ok! ok! it's a GEEK-irony but i find it funny 'cause i'm a geek)
Bravo Ken! maybe anime will be the next big thing in software skins!


> 
> Re DIY: I've been pushing for renewed coverage of DIY projects, but far
> fewer people do it these days than back when Craig started EM, or
when John
> S. ran Polyphony. Consequently, the editorial space (page count) is
> allocated elsewhere.
> 

and....
DIY is expensive, IT used to save money, especially when gear was
repairable or modifiable at a component level  but the only real
motivation that can justify the expense nowadays is the desire for
something that the manufacturers won't build for you.

> However, I am going through our old DIY sections and plan to put up
some of
> them in pdf format on our Web site. For example, I have a nice one
by Thomas
> Henry about filling blank panels with useful, space saving modules 

That Thomas Henry article is THE chestnut!
i have that yellowed original in my "basic-recipes" folder... the
schmitt-trigger is something i build almost once a month.

i agree that most of the archive is too dated to be relevant, now but
there are some updated modern chips like the AD-2164  quad VCA that
might have broad appeal even to novice DIYers  

Grant is an advocate of SMT surf-board construction for prototyping
perhaps readers might be interested to learn that SMT construction
does not necessarily TOTALLY lock them out of DIY.
(just don't Sneeze before the solder sets!)
;'>

best,
-doc

PS: Grant w/MEME is playing with the ZomZoms tonight in Madison ... if
anybody's withing driving distance!