Xpantastic!

At 10:42 AM +0000 8/25/08, Karl wrote:
>they all have
>>their customers. Why ? Answer: They >keep it small.
>
>Yes, but I bet they lose interest. Synthesis technology discontinued
>their kits. And is now having a subcontractor build the newer
>modules.

I believe a small bit of (gentle) correction is in order here. I have 
a number of completed MOTM modules, as well as a much larger pile of 
still unbuilt kits.

Yes, Paul discontinued the kits. However, that's not due to lack of 
interest. In fact, there is still a decent amount of friendly and 
good natured protest on the mailing list about that. However, the 
accurate story about the reason the kits were discontinued is that 
they were an unbelievably large amount of work to package and stock, 
especially considering that MOTM is Paul's second job and not his 
first one. Another factor is that now that there are no more kits to 
worry about packing (tens of thousand of resistors to be sorted and 
counted, thousands of knobs, hundreds of front panels to be kept in 
stock, etc.) Paul can do what he enjoys most and does best, which is 
designing synth circuits. This means that there will be more, and 
more varied, modules available in the future and an increasing rate 
of module production.

As to the subcontractor, that's because all the new modules are 
surface mount technology rather than through-hole technology. Them 
new parts is tiny, and they're much better assembled by computerized 
manufacturing lines. It's still analog, it's just really small. The 
benefit of this is that modules will now be able to be kept in stock 
at all times, be quicker to manufacture and possibly cost less over 
time.

You say that MOTM discontinued the kits like it's a bad thing while 
in actuality it was a business and life decision made so that Paul 
wouldn't have to spend the rest of his life sorting resistors into 
piles. You say subcontractors are building the modules like it's a 
bad thing while in actuality farming out some of the work means Paul 
can do the more fun and more interesting work of designing incredibly 
cool new modules. I mean really, were you mad at Paul when he had a 
manufacturer etch his circuit boards rather than having him do it 
himself in his basement?

No more kits = better and stronger MOTM and not that the company is 
in decline. That there are many modular makers means there's a large 
demand for "real" synths, even in today's climate of cheap and 
ubiquitous soft synths. It's a great time to be a modular synth 
enthusiast.

And besides, there are now more MOTM modules out in the world than 
there are Moog modules. It's hard to argue with that!


         Seth (MOTM fan) Elgart (who also owns an Xpander and two Matrix 6Rs)



http://www.edgetonerecords.com/elgart.html - new album
http://www.ilike.com/artist/Seth+Elgart - next album
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http://boxoftextures.blogspot.com/ - thoughts on music blog  <--New