What misconceptions about your synths drive you nuts?

danialad · Post by **danialad** » Fri Mar 07, 2008 7:47 am

wow where to start?

okay... the ion is amazing. i got it for $400 used,
and it does everything i ask it to.
is it great at being a VA? i dont know!
but is it great at creating pleasurable noises? F'N YES!
i cant believe how torn the reviews are for this thing.

but really. i'm a little more sick of this stuff:

1. "seventeen" year olds downloading fruityloops
only using presets, claiming they now "program".

2. "seventeen" year olds buying a microkorg/micron
only using presets, claiming they now "play keys".

3. when they^ upload one stupid song to myspace,
and then have the nerve to ask me to "collab, dude?"

4. gear freaks who have thousands invested in amazing gear...
but dont do shite with any of it... where's the recordings?

5. just because it cost you a fortune, doesn't make you amazing.

6. "i know how to read music, play nine instruments, and
am in four bands... i'm SO better than you at everything music related!"

7. "you're stupid because you dont use ableton live"
"ableton live is amazing because it can blahblahblah..."
(i'm perfectly content with cakewalk... still. thank you.)

i could go on forever! eeesh.

edit: oh oh!! i almost forgot the funniest thing!
i've met SO many people who think an "analog synth"
means it automatically has tons of knobs and switches!

tyrannosaurus mark · Post by **tyrannosaurus mark** » Fri Mar 07, 2008 8:06 am

danialad wrote: 4. gear freaks who have thousands invested in amazing gear...
but dont do shite with any of it... where's the recordings?

5. just because it cost you a fortune, doesn't make you amazing.

But it does mean you have awesome gear!

I don't think that everyone who buys synths nessisarily wants to make recordings with them, or even music - but I don't really see that as something wrong or any kind of misconception

danialad · Post by **danialad** » Fri Mar 07, 2008 8:46 am

tyrannosaurus mark wrote: I don't think that everyone who buys synths nessisarily wants to make recordings with them, or even music - but I don't really see that as something wrong or any kind of misconception

true.. true.. it's just something that drives me nuts.

i mean. it's similar to something like spending a small fortune collecting film cameras, lenses, darkroom supplies, film, etc just to have it sit there and never take pictures, or get creative in the darkroom, or even if you did those... to never show any of your work to anyone. it's just silly!

i just hope these people (like most of the ones with pictures in the top corner of this forum) are the ones to make NEW synths in the near future, because they've bought up every OTHER synth already!

i think i only meant the first part of my post (about the ion) to be in tune with the topic of the original post and "misconceptions". the rest was just going with the direction things have gone after that... general rant. oops.

Syn303 · Post by **Syn303** » Fri Mar 07, 2008 11:40 am

danialad wrote:4. gear freaks who have thousands invested in amazing gear...
but dont do shite with any of it... where's the recordings?

5. just because it cost you a fortune, doesn't make you amazing.

Another aspect is that you can have lots of gear and still sound shite. Of course it's not the gear's fault - it's your own because they fail to use it properly - you only get out what you put in.

I have heard some so-called musicians who sound like a 5-year old repeatedly banging away on toy drums!

Shleed · Post by **Shleed** » Fri Mar 07, 2008 12:47 pm

Another misconception: People think synths have to be used for musical purposes, not just as toys for sound exploration.

Syn303 · Post by **Syn303** » Fri Mar 07, 2008 1:34 pm

It depends on how you explore your sounds, i love to experiment too, and when i do, I bring out the Revox B77 and the tape loops. Modular synthesis and another fine example of sound exploration. Give me a VCS3 or a Synthi-A(ks) then i'm sure i could go a lot further in sound experimentation.

kaffekick · Post by **kaffekick** » Fri Mar 07, 2008 1:36 pm

danialad wrote: but really. i'm a little more sick of this stuff:

1. "seventeen" year olds downloading fruityloops
only using presets, claiming they now "program".

2. "seventeen" year olds buying a microkorg/micron
only using presets, claiming they now "play keys".

Yeah, "trance kids" are horrible. But I rather see them using bought hardware than downloading cracked software.

danialad wrote:4. gear freaks who have thousands invested in amazing gear...
but dont do shite with any of it... where's the recordings?

5. just because it cost you a fortune, doesn't make you amazing.

I don't think that owning amazing synths comes with the demand to make recordings with them

I mean you can have tons of gear and just play with it. It's fun and if you have a thing for synths and the cash - then why not?
Still, just having a lot of amazing gear and never use it is just stupid.
I mean it's their money and all. But I can't help to wonder why...
For showoffs? Michael Leicher anyone?

What I think is sad are folks out there who owns rare pieces of gear and don't share the sounds and mysteries with the rest of us nerds. I'm thinking about gear such as the things Jarre used; RMI Harmonic Synthesizer, RMI Keyboard Computer and EKO Computerhythm.
I know that if I had the money to buy one of these I would share it.
It doesn't have to be a big thing - a website with some photos, a story and a couple of mp3:s would be amazing.

BritSynths · Post by **BritSynths** » Fri Mar 07, 2008 1:40 pm

1. Digital synths sound cold and thin compared to analogue

2. It's old, it's analogue, it must be worth a fortune

3. All TB-303 emulations don't sound as good as the real thing

4. All virtual analogues don't sound like real analogues

D-Collector · Post by **D-Collector** » Fri Mar 07, 2008 2:34 pm

1. Roland LA synths are hard to program.
(Quite the opposite in my opinion, and I'm no genius!)

2. The presets are bad, therefore the synth must be bad.

3. Every synth older than 15 years old is a cult synth.
(Cult is a bold adjective too many sellers dare to place on their instrument)

pricklyrobot · Post by **pricklyrobot** » Fri Mar 07, 2008 3:48 pm

danialad wrote:1. "seventeen" year olds downloading fruityloops
only using presets, claiming they now "program".

2. "seventeen" year olds buying a microkorg/micron...

People repeatedly using quotation marks for no apparent reason is also mildly irritating. Or are these virtual seventeen-year-olds who are vexing you?

Post by **Solderman** » Fri Mar 07, 2008 5:32 pm

danialad wrote:gear freaks who have thousands invested in amazing gear... but dont do shite with any of it... where's the recordings?

This statement itself is potentially a misconception. The amazing gear takes up enough space in any typical household that you either are using it or end up putting it in storage, I would think. The real issue more likely, is the intent of ownership.
It got me thinking though, "What kind of recordings?" Not everyone who can play music is skilled at mixing, mastering and the like, or don't have the time to do it proper.
In my case, I play my gear for recreation and record the bits that I like. But they are often only for me and no one else. If I wanted to share them, that would be a personal breach, since alot of it is taylored to my own tastes. Does that still fall within ill intent of the use of gear currently in great demand but scant supply? I refuse to feel any guilt for owning something that another person of greater talent could be more prolific with. This is mostly due to the nearly self-evident observation that a person of great talent and ambition will make great music with whatever they can get their hands on.

Martin P268 · Post by **Martin P268** » Fri Mar 07, 2008 5:36 pm

4. gear freaks who have thousands invested in amazing gear...
but dont do shite with any of it... where's the recordings?

I save myself nerves and only care what synths I have and what I do with them. Besides, perhaps some people who keep from recording anything with their synths do so, because they play them live every time instead

Post by **cornutt** » Fri Mar 07, 2008 6:20 pm

pricklyrobot wrote:People repeatedly using quotation marks for no apparent reason is also mildly irritating. Or are these virtual seventeen-year-olds who are vexing you?

I took it to mean that the "seventeen" year olds were really more like 13...

MrFrodo · Post by **MrFrodo** » Fri Mar 07, 2008 6:59 pm

This is my own misconception, recently brought to light: I really did believe that the Korg 05rw was a direct descendent of the 01W series. I only went by what I heard, and the module has a similar soundset to the 01W FD. This was before I knew where to read about the X3.

Shleed · Post by **Shleed** » Fri Mar 07, 2008 7:13 pm

Some more:

- Using FL Studio instantly makes you s**t at music
- Can't use synths to make drums
- The more torrented VSTs you have, the bigger your p***s grows
- Synths are dumb, circuit bent casios rule! (actual quote from a casiocunt)
- Adding wood panels makes the synth sound better/warmer
- Moog modulars had vacuum tubes