sound character

[griffin avid]

If the universe is fair, then I hope that Aeon avatar is truthful and we have the rare bird of a beauty that is into synths.
I understand Robot Heroes has his own problems and that can't be helped.

Two people with such tender sensitivities...
I can only hope that the two of you get it together and have a child someday.

I would like to know what synthesizer you child will grow up to play.

[balma]

I was isolated from the rest of the music "producers" or synth players during several years. At least, 8 years of total, absolute isolation from any other person who played synths.


With a lot of enthusiasm, I learned synths, without having a single idea about the cliches, the veneration, the idolatry of certain models, differences between analog and digital synths.... and without english language, manuals were a big ?.

But I learned my few synths very, very well. I knew the function of each parameter on them, on a deep way. And most important of all, I used them at least 2-3 hours every single day during a lot of years.

WhenI made "contact", I realized I used my synths in a very different way than many, and developed a very different concept of what a synth is.

And, maybe due to my naive knowledge of these instruments, I found really stupid, a lot of ideas surrounding certain models of synthesizers
Honestly, I did not understand why people wanted their synths with wood side panels, I did not understand why people wanted to emulate the sound of a synth with other, and found no reason at all for replacing sampler synths with sample software on PCs, etc......

Please notice that the reason of why I found so much nonsense, was my previous isolation with other persons who performed the same activity: playing synths.

Now after sharing several years interchanging information with other musicians or synth players, I have a temporal point of view:

Knowing very well your instruments is all that matters. Empowering your imagination with them is all that matters.

And having a good time, and fun with them, was really important to me, instead finding a peculiar sound.


but now, after all these years, I found another peculiar way of thinking about synths:

It's a total waste of money to buy a "tone" synth if you're going to rewrite its tone.

I think that if you feel pleasure doing that, there is not a single reason to consider it a waste of money

[aeon]

If the universe is fair, then I hope that Aeon avatar is truthful and we have the rare bird of a beauty that is into synths.

It’s truly Lena Katina, and she sings over synths, but don’t think for a moment that is me.

As to the universe being fair, my sense is “the isness” transcends all such dualistic judgments. And regardless of whether it does or not, I’ve found living in the world a might bit easier and more pleasurable since ceasing to think about, or judge, the idea of the universe in that way.

YMMV.


cheers,
Ian

[tom Cadillac]

Being truely creative is a high spiritual practice in my opinion. It requires at the very least an unusual ability to concentrate and to listen. And the act of creating a truely fresh piece of music creates a unifying focus. Something that has forgoten the past and stands born into the moment - there's no room for division and duality when an awesome new song fills ones consciousness.

And processing original synth sounds can be a really integral part of the striving for something new enough to unify conciousness into the present tense.

[ninja6485]

I think it all boils down to artistic confidence. Confident musicians who can think for themselves rely less on proven sounds and synths that have a legacy. But you have to remember that there are a lot of uninspired people who gravitate towards good old sounds like those produced by the 303, MS20, 808, Juno 60, Voyager, etc. and you have to treat those two groups of people differently.

Confident musicians do not necessarily need a super top notch classic synth sound to kick a*s. As long as they have good equipment, they can create good stuff. Insecure musicians however use gear as a crutch. After all, it's easy to blame the gear if you are unhappy with the music that you make.

Take for example fashion... people who have really good, independent fashion sense do not need to wear stuff that says Prada or Gucci on it. However, uninspired people absolutely need to wear stuff with Prada and Gucci written all over it. The same thing applies to musicians. The more insecure you are, the more you need to replicate old, proven sounds. Like you said, "the most important thing is to sound like YOU". But that requires self-confidence.

pfff, i don't love my acid synths because i'm not confident and need to rely on tried and true method for aproval, h**l, no one from my real life that i show the music to or the instruments to knows what they are anyway. i like my 909 because i like my 909 - i like the look of it, i like the tactile enjoyment of playing, i like the smell of it, and the hum, and i like how it gives a "cloudy day" feal to what i play on it that i don't hear from samples, which i knew from listening to my favortite albums, but never knew was coming from the 909. half of the time i'm not even recording it.

the 909 is just a texture, just like a guitar. i wouldn't play heavy metal with a 909 and a 303, and wouldn't play acid trance on my guitar. what i play with it, i play with confidence. here's a thread of some original music, which i should update again soon:
http://www.vintagesynth.com/forum/viewt ... um#p599265
yes i use my 909 and 303, but i also use the bar above my shower, tea pots, tibetan instruments, water droplets, the sound of an old static gun, and all kinds of stuff. yea it's also not exactly acid trance, but it's what i felt like doing at the time, and i play it confidently! the point was not, Oh, i'm uninspired and need a crutch that everyone appreciates, the point it: here's the instrument that has a specific function in the genre of music i want to create that i love and want to use(think, i want a heavy metal guitar riff, so i play a distorted electric guitar). besides, if what you're writing is original and has meaning, you don't tend to move away from traditional sounding istruments, you are free to use traditional sounding instruments because what you're doing with them is original and it's not just a sound texture gimmick.

[RD9]

I think it all boils down to artistic confidence. Confident musicians who can think for themselves rely less on proven sounds and synths that have a legacy. But you have to remember that there are a lot of uninspired people who gravitate towards good old sounds like those produced by the 303, MS20, 808, Juno 60, Voyager, etc. and you have to treat those two groups of people differently.

Confident musicians do not necessarily need a super top notch classic synth sound to kick a*s. As long as they have good equipment, they can create good stuff. Insecure musicians however use gear as a crutch. After all, it's easy to blame the gear if you are unhappy with the music that you make.

Take for example fashion... people who have really good, independent fashion sense do not need to wear stuff that says Prada or Gucci on it. However, uninspired people absolutely need to wear stuff with Prada and Gucci written all over it. The same thing applies to musicians. The more insecure you are, the more you need to replicate old, proven sounds. Like you said, "the most important thing is to sound like YOU". But that requires self-confidence.

pfff, i don't love my acid synths because i'm not confident and need to rely on tried and true method for aproval, h**l, no one from my real life that i show the music to or the instruments to knows what they are anyway. i like my 909 because i like my 909 - i like the look of it, i like the tactile enjoyment of playing, i like the smell of it, and the hum, and i like how it gives a "cloudy day" feal to what i play on it that i don't hear from samples, which i knew from listening to my favortite albums, but never knew was coming from the 909. half of the time i'm not even recording it.

the 909 is just a texture, just like a guitar. i wouldn't play heavy metal with a 909 and a 303, and wouldn't play acid trance on my guitar. what i play with it, i play with confidence. here's a thread of some original music, which i should update again soon:
http://www.vintagesynth.com/forum/viewt ... um#p599265
yes i use my 909 and 303, but i also use the bar above my shower, tea pots, tibetan instruments, water droplets, the sound of an old static gun, and all kinds of stuff. yea it's also not exactly acid trance, but it's what i felt like doing at the time, and i play it confidently! the point was not, Oh, i'm uninspired and need a crutch that everyone appreciates, the point it: here's the instrument that has a specific function in the genre of music i want to create that i love and want to use(think, i want a heavy metal guitar riff, so i play a distorted electric guitar). besides, if what you're writing is original and has meaning, you don't tend to move away from traditional sounding istruments, you are free to use traditional sounding instruments because what you're doing with them is original and it's not just a sound texture gimmick.

I guess I kind of ruled out people who are happy with using traditional synthesized sounds and samples. Back in the day, tons of great music was written and performed with the same old sounds from pianos, harpsichords, guitars, violins, flutes, etc. for decades upon decades. That is, until the advent of synthetic sound generation. I suppose I am biased in feeling that synthetic sound creating devices such as synths should be more about trying to create new sounds all the time, but I suppose I should not be such a nazi about it.

[ninja6485]

ah - yea i see where you're comming from. i guess it just depends on what kind of music you're making at the time might be good to be a nazi.