Wiardgroup

I wish people would post something here.

Every time I check the list and there is no traffic, I think to myself:

"If they don't care, why should I?"

I am still debating ending Wiard after the current orders are complete.

What is the point of killing myself, if the user's can't even make the effort to post a comment 
or some music.

And as far as the stupid money goes, to quote Bob Dylan "Money can't buy back your youth 
when your old, a friend when your lonesome, or a heart that's grown cold".

If you don't understand that, I pray you never have to learn what it means.

some Wiard in here
http://homepage.mac.com/monkeyfinger/iMovieTheater21.html

basically what you're hearing is a NoiseRing


Grant i love the NR and JAG, and would like to one day, sooner or
later, have more of your grand gadgets

Hi Grant

I am not sure what you mean there has been heaps of action here over the 
last few days...

I have yet to buy a Wiard as I have been busy in Buchla and Serge 
territory...but a buddy of mine Matt in Tasmania has a Wiard on order 
and I was hoping it wasnt going to get me so excited I would order a 
system myself.......

Dont end it we all love you

Ross

>
>

Here is a link to my first* release (free stream):

http://aphoniarecordings.com/store/product_info.php?products_id=198

It makes use of the Noise Ring, my first Wiard product.  That module
is really opening my eyes to some synthesis possibilities.  I'm
excited to get my hands on more Wiard ASAP!  Grant, all yr hard work
is deeply appreciated

-timm
(Mood Organ)

* there is a sister EP released simultaneously:
http://aphoniarecordings.com/store/product_info.php?products_id=197

--- In wiardgroup@yahoogroups.com, "Grant Richter" <grichter@...> wrote:
>
> I wish people would post something here.
> 
> Every time I check the list and there is no traffic, I think to myself:
> 
> "If they don't care, why should I?"
> 
> I am still debating ending Wiard after the current orders are complete.
> 
> What is the point of killing myself, if the user's can't even make
the effort to post a comment 
> or some music.
> 
> And as far as the stupid money goes, to quote Bob Dylan "Money can't
buy back your youth 
> when your old, a friend when your lonesome, or a heart that's grown
cold".
> 
> If you don't understand that, I pray you never have to learn what it
means.
>

I might as well toss my two cents into the ring, anyone who knows me
knows don't cheap out on opinions, half baked and or otherwise.

This is how I see "it" no artist, designer, musician should suffer
unduly for their art. We all make sacrifices in order to make our art,
pay for our tools, have time to drink coffee. Grant is by no means the
property of Wiard users, just like any artist he knows where to draw
the line.

I have modular patchable synthesizers by Moog, ARP, EML, EMS, stuff by
many current designers, etc. I spend more time in front of my Wiard
which is made up of 8 300 modules, 5 1200 modules and one controller.
This should tell you something.

Is Wiard for everyone? No, and it shouldn't be. Here's is a point, you
are either wired for Wiard or you aren't. Some folks try and trade,
buy and sell and run their demo experiments testing filter sweeps and
stuff, some people play music. 

Is there enough rambling scat on this forum? Probably not but there
also are very few forums that are about electronic instruments that
have much content beyond trouble shooting and bitching. Not much to be
in trouble with here. You use a Wiard like clay, you sculpt and you
become a sculptor. Tech support isn't often needed.

I think that if Grant chose to limit his sales, up the prices, etc
there would be a bunch of us still waiting to see what's next and
sending Grant notes about some hair brained idea we may have talked
about. 

Grant likes to talk. Like many of the interesting thinker I have met,
Grant talks in 3D. Doc pointed out that a discussion about music can
easily lead somewhere else entirely. Grant is special but we sometimes
forget that despite the fact that we pay him for his art that he pays
way more.

If you understand this whole thing, please see a psychiatrist at once.

Well, with that sort of prompt, how can I not?

Warning, HUGE rambling message, just dumping out thoughts...long 
post, probably going no-where, fair warning folks....

I'll post a bunch of stuff Grant.  I'll post rambings on a bunch of 
topics.  This is somewhat of a sad message to read, and I am not sure 
what to say, but I'm just going to say some stuff anyway.

It's true that this group is quiet.  Hey, I'm a chatty person (as 
Grant can attest to from many phone calls), but for some reason I've 
always been really quiet here on this group.

Why?  It really *is* quiet here.  And in so many other synth forums 
online, Wiard products are held up as the holy grail of inspired 
synthesizer design (a designation I humbly agree with).  There are 
hundreds of posts at other forums talking about Wiard, discussing 
modules, ideas etc.  But right here, where, as we know it really 
MATTERS, people are quiet. 

This group is really valuable to me.  Going through the archives I 
have learned so much, not just about Wiard modules, but about coming 
to the synth with new strategies.  I have re-read some of the posts 
countless times, literally.  I read a lot of stuff here.  It's clear 
this group was once more active than it is nowadays.

But sure enough, I hardly ever post.  Again, why?  It's hard to 
really put my finger on it - and surely  I cannot speak for any other 
members here.  But I'll tell you something....

This place is kinda scary ;)

Ok, not really in a bad way, but bear with me - for myself, a pretty 
chatty, outgoing person, this group is sort of like church.  hush-
hush!  there is a sort of muted respect here.

for one thing, as soon as I first joined this group a few years ago 
when I was ordering some 1200 series modules, I was so very very 
green about using modular synths (and I still feel like a babe in the 
woods, but I have come a long way.....), and it was immediately 
obvious to me the very high level of skill, intelligence, and even 
wit on this group.  There were/are a handful of regular posters who 
seem to know both Grant personally, and the modules inside and out.

So, coming into an environment like this, and knowing full well that 
the greatly-respected Mr. Richter presides over this group and gets 
an email of anything I say here....

well, no-one wants to seem like a dumbass, so sometimes we just stay 
quiet :)

I have to say I really love the idea of talking to Grant on the 
phone, and the fact that he tries to have a real chat with the people 
who purchase his modules is just such an appealing thing to me.  I 
can tell that it means something deep to him, knowing that the stuff 
he is building is going to people who really appreciate and value 
it.  I *WANT* to buy an instrument from a craftsman who *WANTS* to 
know it is going into loving hands.  This aspect of how Grant runs 
his business is really appealing to me.

But, let's look at this - imagine you are a newbie.  You know that 
you are going to have to phone Grant and talk to him if you want to 
get into some Wiard equipment.  You are worried about posting some 
really stupid question to the group, worried that Grant may not take 
you seriously when you call....  Ok, I am just imagining things here, 
and of course our hypothetical newbie here does not have the benefit 
of knowing what a kind and understanding and incredibly fair person 
Grant is.  They have to talk to him to start figuring that out.

So the picture I'm painting, it's not a good one or a bad one, but I 
wonder if it says something about why this group is quiter than 
others.  Does this make any sense? Have I just had too many Guinness 
tonight?   Perhaps I should not be typing this message.  Regardless, 
I will not be afraid to call Grant in the morning ;)  And I shouldn't 
be afraid to post here.

But out of the very small number of posts I have made here, I think 
only one ever got a reply (discussion about estimating current 
draw....).  So there's the symptom as well of what Grant points out - 
if no-one cares, no-one posts, people post elsewhere.

I *DO* think people care though.  Very much.  At risk of horribly 
embarrasing the humble Mr. Richter, I believe that he is the modern 
day Bob Moog or Don Buchla.  I think many many years from now Grant's 
instruments will be widely regarded as the high-water mark in 
creative analog synthesizer design.  What a horriffic tragedy if this 
productive and unique career was to be brought to a premature end by 
a misunderstanding?  A large, appreciative community, for some reason 
not expressing their interest in Grant's own house.

I do think the "Grant's own house" effect is part of what makes it 
somewhat quiet here.  I can tell you that I am always on my best 
behaviour here in this group!  I don't think it's fear, and it's 
certainly not dislike - I really think the quiet just may be coming 
from a massive respect for Grant and his work... because a lot of 
people ARE talking about this stuff elsewhere.

Anyway, wow I am flogging that one to death aren't I?   Grant has 
said to post something, post anything.  I wonder if anyone is still 
with me at this point?  I most certainly am rambling.  If there's 
blame to place, I feel it goes to Mr. Arth.  Guinness.  At this hour 
on a saturday?  Really I do.  Not that I condone that behaviour mind 
you...

What else can I talk about?  Grant it does seem that you are 
frustrated and burned out.  I don't think it's fair that you should 
feel bad about trying to do something that you love so much.  It's 
not right that you should torture yourself for your art.  I can't 
tell you how to run your business (but I think you do a great job and 
should just follow your heart), and I can only say that whatever you 
end up doing, you will retain the support and admiration of a huge 
number of really cool people, and you have created a peerless legacy 
in the instruments you've given birth to.  However, it would be 
unfair and dishonest if I didn't say that I most desperately hope you 
find a way to balance enough Wiard to keep you happy alongside 
everything else in your life.  That you can arrange your affairs so 
that everything feels 'right'.  If you are burned out and frustrated 
right now, why not take some time away from Wiard, force yourself to 
not even think about it for a week or something like that.  Do other 
cool things.  Maybe you'll come back with a fresh perspective.

Whatever you do we love you to bits, and we possibly love your 
fascinating and beautiful instruments even more.  

Ok, and at risk of exposing my own massive level of synth-newbie-
ness, hey since Grant said 'anything', I'll post some of my bad music 
for you to torture your speakers with.

I do not have my 300 series modules yet, however I have quite a few 
1200 series modules.  This little recording is actually an experiment 
using 4 phases of a Mankato sine wave to modulate the animation 
inputs of an AFG oscillator.

However pretty much everything is running through some Borg II 
filters acting as gates, so there's quite a bit of Wiard plucky 
action happening, which hopefully makes this relevant.  There's a lot 
of Wiard going on in every patch I make.  

Other Wiard influnces in this recording would be the horiffic overuse 
of a Boogie LPF's (usually sweet) resonance.  Way way too much.  
That's one of many ways you can tell I'm a newb, I don't have the 
discipline to hold back on making the filter scream.  I get carried 
away :)  Whenever I play back a recording I'm shakng my head because 
it's WAY TOO MUCH filter resonance.  I gotta be more subtle about 
that, really.  You'll hear what I mean.  Oops!  Sorry.  The Boogie is 
by a LONG shot my favorite sounding filter of all time, EVER.  EVER.  
So thick and juicy and big sounding, mmmm.  Juicy.  BIG BASS.  Oh 
yeah, you'll know I'm manually adjusting the cutoff of that overused-
screeching, because you'll hear how out of time the adjustment is.  
the joys of one-shot live recording!

So yeah, compared to the stuff I'm used to hearing in this group, I'm 
a bit embarrassed to post this, but hey, like I said -  Dr. Guinness.

 (In my opinion this recording does have a few really cool parts 
though - listen around the middle where the AFG modulation becomes so 
fast that it begins sounding like an electric guitar....then when it 
slows down you can hear the different phases of the Mankato sine 
modulating the oscillator....)

http://www.muffwiggler.com/music/pluckythump.mp3 

(about 11mb)

I know this is a really long message already but if anyone wants the 
full details of the patch it is here - 

-----
Mobius sequencer v/Oct out to MiniWave w/Scale Quantizer. MiniWave 
out to AFG's v/Oct in. 

Mobius gate out to multi. Multi to EG1(1), EG1(2), Blacet Seq Switch 
Clock In. 

EG1(1) to Borg II 
EG1(2) to QuadMix VCA CV input #2 

Drum Stuff - 
--------------- 

Mobius Clock out to multi. Multi out to Dual Chime #1 Gate Input and 
Frequency Divider Input. 

Dual Chime #1 output to Mixer/Processor Input 1 

Manual Gate button to Freq Div Reset 

Freq Div /8 out to Dual Drum #1 Gate Input 
Freq Div /128 out to Blacet Seq Switch Input 1 

Blacet Seq Switch output to 8008 Bass Drum Gate Input 
8008 output to Mixer/Processor Input 2 

Dual Drum #1 output to Mixer/Processor Input 3 

Mixer Processor out to QuadMix VCA input 3 

----- 

Non-drum stuff - 

AFG Animated Pulse Output to Borg II Filter 
AFG Suboctave to Boogie Filter 

Boogie Filter 6db out to Quadmix VCA input 2 
Borg II Filter out to QuadMix VCA input 1 

QuadMix VCA output to recording console input 

Finally, 4 phases of Mankato into 4 AFG Waveform Animation inputs. 
Adjust Mankato by hand. 

That's the patch. Hold down the gate button to suppress the FreqDiv's 
counting, hit record, let go of gate button after a couple bars, fade 
in channels on QuadMix VCA, adjust Mankato by hand. That's what 
you're hearing. 

Oh yeah during the really psycho bit the Mankato was running full 
tilt, and I manually opened the frequency and resonance of the two 
Wiard filters, which were normally both right down (for LPG mode) 
during the rest of the recording. 

------------------------------------------

Grant, life's too short to do things that make you unhappy. 

And we think there's nothing on earth like Wiard instruments.  
Nothing.

Cheers & the best of best wishes,

Mike


--- In wiardgroup@yahoogroups.com, "Grant Richter" <grichter@...> 
wrote:
>
> I wish people would post something here.
> 
> Every time I check the list and there is no traffic, I think to 
myself:
> 
> "If they don't care, why should I?"
> 
> I am still debating ending Wiard after the current orders are 
complete.
> 
> What is the point of killing myself, if the user's can't even make 
the effort to post a comment 
> or some music.
> 
> And as far as the stupid money goes, to quote Bob Dylan "Money 
can't buy back your youth 
> when your old, a friend when your lonesome, or a heart that's grown 
cold".
> 
> If you don't understand that, I pray you never have to learn what 
it means.
>

Hi All
Long time lurker here
Oddly enough the conversations here have struck a real chord with me.
Before I make my point however I just want to make it clear I am not 
looking for sympathy
or a free ride or anything. I chose my way of life so thats the way 
it is.
Anyway :)
It is the collector version musician/artist debate that really gets 
me going.
I'm not saying people cant be both, but people who are at the low 
income (pff) 
end of the musician/artist thing have no chance of affording most of 
this stuff.
BUT, may well be exactly the kind of people who could/would get the 
most out of 
say a six module Wiard system.
Unfortunately the way "society" works is the guy who works 40 plus 
hours at
a job he hates can then afford the system. Does he still have the 
time or state 
of mind to make the most of it?
I chose to chuck in the day job so cannot afford the Wiard. Like I 
say, that is my choice
but I can understand why Grant tears his hair out.
Answers?
Nah I never said I had the answers :)
But I do care - very much
I'll go back to lurking now 
Me

I've been going through some heavy personal changes in my life, and my
internet time is a lot lower than it was.  Over the last 15 months I
lost both parents, one of my in-laws and an old and dear friend.  All
suddenly, and my father was actually killed by a motorist.  The main
knock-on effect of this is that I had to close my bike shop three
weeks ago.  It's been pretty tough, at times almost as much as a man
can bear, actually.

I have had to take on a day-job, as an electrical safety inspector -
good, worthwhile work w/a decent rate of pay compared to what I paid
myself for selling and fixing pedal cycles, but if I could, I'd trade
back in a minute.  The hours are long and it's not a lot of fun.  The
shop was MY space, my den.

Our plan is to sell the shop property, which has been left split
between myself and my sister, sell my house and try to get into a
slightly bigger place with no mortgage.  After that, I mean to work
part-time for the rest of my life.  I don't need or want a lot of
money and fuck "killing yourself to live", as Ozzy says on "Sabbath
Bloody Sabbath", (an awesome album.)  I may wind up with a music room
with straight walls, not a little attic, like I have now.

In these terrible times, spending some time just messing around with a
modular instrument like the Wiard is good mental therapy.  If I can
shake off the negative nostalgia feelings and get into sound sculpting
or patching up an interesting self-generating sequencer setup it takes
my mind off it all for a while.  I've been thinking a bit about
busting my music setup down to just the Wiard, the Chroma and a
sampler, actually.  One of the main reasons I want to go part-time is
to spend more time goofing off with synthesizers and electric guitars.
 From fun (goofing off) comes creativity, I've always found.

Grant, please be careful w/r/t what you do here!  I used to complain
about my business, the long hours, low (sometimes no) pay, feelings of
under-appreciation from my customer base, but in the end, letting go
of it was pure pain.  I would hate for you to feel that.  In addition,
on a purely selfish note, I am looking forward to whatever new pieces
you may decide to release, seeing as how I've enjoyed playing with the
stuff I have that you've designed.

Given the interesting group of people on this list, I guess it would
be cool to see some general discussion about arts, music, culture and
whatnot.  I'd probably still be useless, seeing as my main cultural
interest these days is American silent and pre-code films, Norma
Talmadge, Pola Negri, Corinne Griffith et al, very esoteric, but
still, I'm sure ppl would come up with something interesting.

As an aside, I was trawling through the saved archive of my old Demon
internet account, and I saw that the first contact I had with Grant
and Darwin was in 1999!  Amazing how it passes.  Modular market seems
a little decadent to me ATM for various reasons, it certainly was
easier back then.

Anyway, enough from me for now. Sorry it's a bit disjointed.

On Sat, Dec 13, 2008 at 11:20 PM, amnesia <amni56@tpg.com.au> wrote:
> Hi Grant
>
> I am not sure what you mean there has been heaps of action here over the
> last few days...
>
> I have yet to buy a Wiard as I have been busy in Buchla and Serge
> territory...but a buddy of mine Matt in Tasmania has a Wiard on order
> and I was hoping it wasnt going to get me so excited I would order a
> system myself.......
>
> Dont end it we all love you
>
> Ross
>
>>
>>
>
>

I hear what Grant is saying loud an clear! :)

Muff is 100% right when he states many people are sheepish to post-
a) what they think are 'silly' or 'stupid' questions relative to the expertise of others
b) 'inferior' sound/music samples based on what is already out there

My group used to have many lively discussions with lots of people being "active participants" but as time goes on, it all seems very 1-sided (me announcing stuff) which *if* I *had* any hair left would be pulled out.

WHen I started almost 11 years ago (and I think Grant and I are roughly the same age) I was REALLY (almost an old man 'get-off-my-lawn' thing) a newbie about the....errrr...nature of how Internet forums operate in terms of:

a) people that don't have your product (and more importantly, have no intention of ever owning your product) still give long and often incorrect (technically at least) opinions of the product

b) people who are sincere but quite ignorant reading something said as a 'joke' or other intentionally snarky comment and thinking it's true (the old 'if it's on the Internet, it must be true!'). What comes to mind in my case is someone said something like "the touch of some MOTM pots are so light the knobs will move if you blow on them" and I literally had emails from people stating they were going to buy modules but no longer because this "knob thing" was "a real design flaw".

About 5 years ago, Rex raised all the Serge prices simply to reduce demand but I doubt that worked. I myself have raised prices at *least* 3 times (maybe as many as 5 times) and I'm still 100% bandwidth allocated :) Some increases are due to parts going up (can you say "Tyco is an evil empire..") but some were just "I'm tired of making $4/hour let's see if I can at least get $6/hr so I'm at Taco Bell standards".

The reality is: the market is very small compared to say...Boss guitar pedals (the owner of a small local brewery stated his dream was to 'sell in 1 year what Budweiser spills in 1 day').

I'm also detecting, as time goes on, a sort of overall impatient urgency in people that use Internet commerce. Everyone expects everybody to be like Amazon.com with next day ship and pretty UPS tracking forms (that are generated by a $3million SAP program). Initially, my customers were *VERY* forgiving about deliveries. Today...errrr...not so much. Like Grant, I will pick up the phone for most every new customer and explain just what they are getting in to :) 

Most of us are botique supplier that do this non-full time (the only true full-time people are Serge, Cynthia, Blacet and Doepfer. Nope, NOT Buchla, synthersizers.com or MOTM. Not even PAia [90% of that business was metal shop work unrelated to synthesizers]).

I personally have thought about "throwing in the towel" twice. Once, that towel was in my hand twirling overhead :) But, dammit, it's still *FUN* on most days.

Paul Schreiber

Grant,

On his lamentably offline creativesynth.com, Darwin Grosse
described some cool-sounding events that you guys played
together - ambient performances, sound effects for a
Hallowe'en party, and more.  He said that a lot of that
stuff was recorded; do you have any of it?

-- 
Yours,
Niall.
.. .  .   .    .     .       .           .             .                 .
Aleph Null.                             A Simple Insinuation Around Silence.
http://aleph-null.net
.. .. gpg public key - http://aleph-null.net/niall.gpg .. ..

Dear Norman,
>
> I've been going through some heavy personal changes in my life, and my
> internet time is a lot lower than it was.  Over the last 15 months I
> lost both parents, one of my in-laws and an old and dear friend.  All
> suddenly, and my father was actually killed by a motorist.  The main
> knock-on effect of this is that I had to close my bike shop three
> weeks ago.  It's been pretty tough, at times almost as much as a man
> can bear, actually.
> 

My deepest sympathy for your loss. I have also lost both parents and had 10 years to 
grieve. The last thing anyone in grief can stand to hear is any platitude.
But I will try to say something the tiny wisdom time has brought, and hope there is even 
the smallest comfort in it.

It is a a blessing to care so deeply for a person that you feel agony at their loss.
Some people will never love anyone or anything, and they live unaware in the true poverty.
The hidden gift you receive by surviving, is you get to meet the whole person, instead of 
the person they showed to you, you can begin to grasp all that they keep from you for your 
protection. And appreciate the cost they paid for it.

Sam from Sam & Dave said a "soul man" is a person of any race who has exhausted every 
internal strength and resource, but somehow picks them self up and goes on.

It is not not a club anyone could or would join by choice. But you know when you get 
there.

Each artist will be forced to face nearly as daunting a dilemma at some point in life, doubt 
will whisper "has all this devotion been only folly, can I even create any real value?". And 
again it will be painful and again you will be forced to make a fateful choice.

> Grant, please be careful w/r/t what you do here!  I used to complain
> about my business,

That was not a complain, it was a warning. The second stage of grief is anger, and my 
anger say's "Use it of lose it folks, there has never been a third option".

Wisdom comes from the slow painful extraction of innocence. And what innocence I have 
left will be husbanded VERY carefully.

I would suggest all of you do the same.

> Why?  It really *is* quiet here.  And in so many other synth forums 
> online, Wiard products are held up as the holy grail of inspired 
> synthesizer design (a designation I humbly agree with).  There are 
> hundreds of posts at other forums talking about Wiard, discussing 
> modules, ideas etc.  But right here, where, as we know it really 
> MATTERS, people are quiet. 
> 

The only groups I monitor are this one and Analog Heaven. The only time Wiard is 
mentioned on Analog Heaven, is to explain how to replace the BASIC functions, with 
cheaper modules. I have no problem with that, it's the truth.

Where ARE these news groups were Wiard is talked about? I'd like to read them, get some 
feedback for a change. I'd do it anonymously so they can insult me all they want. I'm sure I 
would learn something.

> This place is kinda scary ;)
> 

I was afraid this might happen.

I grew up with a bunch of amateur radio guys who were my Dad's buddies. In the Amateur 
Radio culture of the time, no one was looked down upon, because they were just starting. 
On the contrary, just the fact that you were interested and willing to try, got you respect 
and help.

As the song say's "Seldom was heard a discouraging word" Hamfests would have people 
from 8 to 80 and it was a a ball.

Pretty many people here have some amateur radio background, and the idea of "looking 
down" on someone because there are just starting, is totally foreign. Anti-american even.

The attitude here has always been more like "Welcome, brother, you have begun the 
adventure of a lifetime".

Early on we had some jerks who were so pathetic they tried to build themselves up by 
being stupid and making beginners feel ignorant. They have all left, the talk here is too 
sensible for their bullying horse shit tactics to work.

You shouldn't be embarrassed because you are just starting, you should be proud of 
yourself for have the courage and intelligence to give this odd pastime a try. And if you 
stick with it, you may end being the virtuoso that hasn't appeared yet.

> So, coming into an environment like this, and knowing full well that 
> the greatly-respected Mr. Richter presides over this group and gets 
> an email of anything I say here....

If I am respected for keeping my word, I will accept that, I worked my ass of so it was 
true.

Anything else is BS, I have waiting patiently for somebody to make ME look stupid by the 
brilliance of their innovation and originality. Then I'll buy modules from them. I'm still 
waiting, but it is my goal. Some designer please pick up the ball and run it out of sight. I'll 
have some Gatorade on the bench.

> But out of the very small number of posts I have made here, I think 
> only one ever got a reply (discussion about estimating current 
> draw....).  So there's the symptom as well of what Grant points out - 
> if no-one cares, no-one posts, people post elsewhere.

I was busy trying to do two years worth of work in one year. Didn't have time to chat, but I 
love to normally.

> I *DO* think people care though.  Very much.  At risk of horribly 
> embarrasing the humble Mr. Richter, I believe that he is the modern 
> day Bob Moog or Don Buchla. 

I have HUGE respect for these men. I am deeply indebted to them for making the hits and 
misses that I don't have to try. They can never imitated, they can never be replaced. I 
would never want to be anybody but me. I have tried to build on the work of these great 
men, because they deserve to have the subject they created continue beyond their own 
mortality.

I'll be happy to give all credit to them, and I stand by my own work. I would never want to 
reduce their glory, by stealing some for myself.

> I do think the "Grant's own house" effect is part of what makes it 
> somewhat quiet here.  I can tell you that I am always on my best 

I didn't start this group and I am not the moderator.
But if my presence is a salt pancake on the body politic, I'll unsub.

> Ok, and at risk of exposing my own massive level of synth-newbie-
> ness, hey since Grant said 'anything', I'll post some of my bad music 
> for you to torture your speakers with.
> 

I thought it was great! Do some more, who are you holding up as a standard, Autche, 
Wendy Carlos, Morton Subotnick? Cut yourself some slack, they were beginners too.

--- In wiardgroup@yahoogroups.com, Paul Schreiber <syntht@...> wrote:
>
> I hear what Grant is saying loud an clear! :)
> 

And just to clear something up here. Those same jerks I mention previously thought it 
would be funny to try and drive a wedge between myself, Paul and Bruce.

They tried to create a war over trivial design decisions, but it was really their that personal 
preferences were the ONLY way and any other idea was wrong, wrong, wrong.

They mis-quoted, took quotes out of context, made stuff up, lied and generally tried to 
create an antagonistic relationship between us.

I have never disrespect any other synth designer. Verbally or in print. Nor have I ever 
disrespected their design choices.

When the three of us were first starting, we all agreed that reliable delivery was the only 
way to establish the modular market as a safe place to do business. We have all kept our 
word to the letter.

This alone would earn Paul my undying respect, but he also originated the most popular 
mechanical format by a mile. So here is a Christmas toast to Paul, keep on keeping on, 
Bro.

Hi,  
just write to support Mr. Grant as he knows with crazy email and ungrammatical late night 
call.

also post one my last track with some woggling and borg  

http://share.ovi.com/media/sabasan.public/sabasan.10001

sorry for the delayed reply, I've been wanting to get back to Grant's 
comments here but have been really busy travelling for work (as is 
the norm....)
 
> The only groups I monitor are this one and Analog Heaven. The only 
time Wiard is 
> mentioned on Analog Heaven, is to explain how to replace the BASIC 
functions, with 
> cheaper modules. I have no problem with that, it's the truth.
> 
> Where ARE these news groups were Wiard is talked about? I'd like to 
read them, get some 
> feedback for a change. I'd do it anonymously so they can insult me 
all they want. I'm sure I 
> would learn something.

Well, there is www.modularsynth.net, http://www.electro-
music.com/forum/, Matrixsynth (more blog comments than email 
list/forum), and one other one I'm feel a little strange about 
bringing up, because it has never been promoted, and became a 'synth 
forum' quite by accident.... there was never supposed to be anything 
there, but something happened all by itself and oddly there is a very 
cool little community there, certainly the most active one I have 
seen in the whole online 'synth scene'.  www.muffwiggler.com/forum/  

I know you will find feedback on Wiard at all of these places - and I 
have never seen any that was NOT very positive and excited.  I also 
think you would be very much welcomed at all of these places - you 
mention going anonymously but I think all of the people at any of 
these spots would feel extremely lucky and gratefl to have you 
present. 


> As the song say's "Seldom was heard a discouraging word" Hamfests 
would have people 
> from 8 to 80 and it was a a ball.


The way it should be :)

> The attitude here has always been more like "Welcome, brother, you 
have begun the 
> adventure of a lifetime".

I love that - this is how I feel about Wiard, how I feel when I talk 
to Grant, and how I feel when I read the archives and information 
here at the Wiard Yahoo group.


> Early on we had some jerks who were so pathetic they tried to build 
themselves up by 
> being stupid and making beginners feel ignorant. They have all 
left, the talk here is too 
> sensible for their bullying horse shit tactics to work.


This is, after all, the Internet.  It's unavoidable.


> You shouldn't be embarrassed because you are just starting, you 
should be proud of 
> yourself for have the courage and intelligence to give this odd 
pastime a try. 

That is such a nice way to look at it.  And I really feel that way!  
Perhaps embarrassed is not the right word.  Perhaps 'humbled in the 
presence of great experience' is better.  But you are right, this 
reserved nature does not help!

> I was busy trying to do two years worth of work in one year. Didn't 
have time to chat, but I 
> love to normally.

I know you do :)  Me too!  It's OK, I didn't expect for a moment a 
response from you, I can only guess at how busy you are, but my guess 
has always been VERY BUSY
 
> I didn't start this group and I am not the moderator.
> But if my presence is a salt pancake on the body politic, I'll 
unsub.

I hope you didn't get that impression from my previous post!  That 
would be a tragedy - I *REALLY* do NOT think that is the case.  Most 
likely I explained myself poorly.  I mean simply to suggest that 
perhaps some people are a little more reserved in a 'company 
official' forum, than they are in some place that is not directly 
tied to a specific designer/company/etc.  I think one of the reasons 
my stupid little forum has taken off the way it has is that the guy 
who runs it says "hey I'm an idiot, be silly, share and have fun - 
just be nice to each other".  Perhaps it's not totally true that he's
an idiot, and perhaps some of this is by design, but the tongue-in-
cheek, lighthearted atmosphere is the opposite of anything 'official' 
and seems to set people at ease to relax and chat.  However, the 
community there really DID occur by accident so I cannot take credit 
for planning any of that proactively.


> I thought it was great! Do some more, who are you holding up as a 
standard, Autche, 
> Wendy Carlos, Morton Subotnick? Cut yourself some slack, they were 
beginners too.

You sir are far too kind. OK, Here's another one - this one actually, 
while a year or two old now, is one I am really proud of.  

I think this ties into the "unfair to music" debate 
going on in the other thread here at the moment 

(and to that debate I only want to add that the moment we label 
something we lose a lot of flexibility over what that thing can be 
and how we can understand it....).  

Anyway, this piece is not musical in the classical sense, not in any 
sense at all.  However personally I feel this recording is, to me, a 
great success.  

It was one of those rare times on the modular synth where I was able 
to go out and create the sound I had in my mind before patching.  
Usually the modular takes me on a journey - this time I had something 
very specific in mind before I powered on my synth, and I went ahead 
and realized it.  A really cool moment.  I cannot say it is exactly 
a 'sound' that I had in my head, moreso a feeling/mood/vibe 
that I was hoping to capture in the wires - and I feel that I got it, 
very precisely.  In my experience this happens rarely.

Some would say 'soundscape' or 'drone' but (and that really is an 
interesting debate!) but honestly as hard as I think about it, it 
really is music to me.  It what I wanted to express, exactly.  I hope 
some of you like it.

My M.O. on the modular (for complex personal reasons that I won't get 
into here) is to setup self-running things (I'm not really a keyboard 
player), and then record them in one pass, real-time.  No edits, 
etc.  That's what I do.

So what is this?  I don't recall everything that was going on.  
However two Wiard JAG's are being fed some things.  One is being fed 
a really slow sinewave from a VCO that is being FM'ed by a VCS 
module, as well as being fed the output of a MiniWave that is being 
clocked REALLY slowly.  The other JAG is being fed an LFO and a VCS.

A bunch of the outputs from the JAGs are going to different places - 
the CV ins of some VCAs, one or two is hitting a slew generator on 
the way to the VCA.  I believe the Attack and Decay CV Inputs of a 
couple of EG1 units are the targets of some of the JAG outputs.

The ouput of these bunch of VCAs is going to a mixer, the output of 
that is being slewed and then recorded.

The result is 4RG

http://www.muffwiggler.com/music/4rg.mp3


It's about 9.44mb.

Cheers everyone :)

> The result is 4RG
> 
> http://www.muffwiggler.com/music/4rg.mp3

Another outstanding piece! Very evocative.

There is a feeling of suspense, but not dread, more like awe.

Like watching the collapse of a glacier from a safe distance, but still near enough to 
appreciate the shear physical massiveness of the event.

I thoroughly enjoyed it. Thank you.

From: "Grant Richter"
Date: Wed, 24 Dec 2008 20:33:32 -0000
To: <wiardgroup@yahoogroups.com>
Subject: [wiardgroup] Re: Go ahead and post anything