Wiardgroup

> I'll do more than that; I'll show you.  If you go to the Photos 
> section, and click on the Mitchell folder, you will find a picture 
of 
> a vocoder I built in 1980. Although there are things I'd change 
> today, it will give you some idea of where I'm coming from.  This 
> folder and picture will be removed in a day or two to make room 
for 
> Wiard-related stuff.  So have at it, lads!  
> 
> johnm

No offense, but I must say that's not what I call an atractive 
musical instrument or device.  It's both boring and ugly, about the 
two most damning things I can say regarding a design (boring but 
attractive is fine, a black Steinway; ugly but interesting is fine, 
at least it makes me look--boring and ugly is just a waste).  The 
grey is reminiscent of a hospital or old school building--something 
that's in desperate need of a new paint job and a new scheme 
altogether.  The blue is listless, adding no vibrancy or energy to 
the piece, but just sitting there, innoffensively, ignorably.  The 
red lights are nice, but the overall symetric scheme of the grey 
around the jacks lessens their impact by making them a part of a 
uniform grid.  

I would suggest avoiding grey on the upper part, and instead using a 
rich blue, perhaps something darker and certainly something less 
washed-out.  Then, instead of a grid pattern where every block is 
filled, create negative space.  Have every other jack pair be 
outlined, or use an S-shape to join the first upper jack to the 
second lower jack and so on (perhaps in a symetrical pattern 
pointing towards the center).  Instead of having the red lights be 
seperated from the colored section, incorporate them to again break 
up the grid feeling and decrease top-bottom symettry as well as 
connecting the lights to the jacks, which would emphasize their 
function.  As for the bottom of the unit, I'd have this echo the 
top, but where the top focuses on up/down shapes perhaps rotate the 
S or the like to it's side.  

Actually, a dark red might be good--not too orange, but not blood 
red either.  I was at a harpsichord gallery today and they had a red-
on-black single manual that was quite stunning--not ostentatious, 
but a strong statement nonetheless.

Of course, if you like it, that's what matters, just if it was me...

JR "Bulldogge" Ross
& Snuffy, too:)