Reminder: it is still about the player not the gear ....

KBD_TRACKER · Post by **KBD_TRACKER** » Sun Apr 27, 2014 9:14 am

Here there is no SH101 or voyager or prophet 8 or analog keys synth .....
just a casio, some chords and some coke can FX

GuyaGuy · Post by **GuyaGuy** » Sun Apr 27, 2014 4:38 pm

Also: it's not about the notes but rather how often you repeat them.

J/K. Love me some SM3. That was pretty cool.

Post by **Stab Frenzy** » Mon Apr 28, 2014 4:12 am

That's not about the player or the gear. Neither is anything but ordinary in that video, you just like the song.

KBD_TRACKER · Post by **KBD_TRACKER** » Mon Apr 28, 2014 12:56 pm

Stab Frenzy wrote:That's not about the player or the gear. Neither is anything but ordinary in that video, you just like the song.

since you appear so very enthused by this video i decided to post this one too

:

the point of my OP was that while very recently in this forum the new elektron A4 box collected 18 pages of comments and over 10,000 views, or the roland new stuff collected 43 pages of comments with over 18,000 views or the ms20 mini collected 75 pages with over 26,000 views, etc... i feel it is a reasonable issue for us all to recall that remarkable results can (still) and (always) be achieved with minimal or even subminimal setups. all that is needed are a bit of talent and above all dedication.

(btw, these videos do reflect my own personal "tropism", but other and different examples should be easy to find).

i understand that in a forum devoted to "classic" and state of the art synth gear, this subject might be construed as sort of blasphemous or disturbing or provocating, but i believe it is not only true but also liberating (and not just to those with limited financial resources).

zoomtheline · Post by **zoomtheline** » Mon Apr 28, 2014 1:14 pm

I don't want to offend as I am a "live and let live", "horses for courses" kind of guy but your example did not show your point at all, In fact It made it harder to see your point. Bland, bland, bland, generic blandness! obviously not my cup of tea hehe

I think you're right though, that gear is not the be all and end all and it's what you do with whatever gear is the thing that grabs the listener 90% of the time. But then I think nearly all of us would know that in here to a degree so it's kind of a nonthread. Maybe not, I dunno.

I'd be interested in more examples though.

Post by **Cumulus** » Mon Apr 28, 2014 2:20 pm

I haven't watched either video yet,

I don't need to to know that the basic point of the Op is correct,

I have seen guys show up with total c**p gear and still make some great music.

Having said that, I also acknowledge that having better gear can make you a better player, but only if your current set up limits you in some wayside a guitar that won't stay in tune or a synth that only plays one note at a time,

Kenneth · Post by **Kenneth** » Mon Apr 28, 2014 3:01 pm

Well, this site is called Vintage Synth Explorer. That is what it is for. Exploring vintage synths. That being said, I agree with you, as I am sure most users of this forum do, but when we want to talk gear, where else are we going to go?

ninja6485 · Post by **ninja6485** » Mon Apr 28, 2014 3:41 pm

KBD_TRACKER wrote: i feel it is a reasonable issue for us all to recall that remarkable results can (still) and (always) be achieved with minimal or even subminimal setups. all that is needed are a bit of talent and above all dedication.(btw, these videos do reflect my own personal "tropism", but other and different examples should be easy to find).i understand that in a forum devoted to "classic" and state of the art synth gear, this subject might be construed as sort of blasphemous or disturbing or provocating, but i believe it is not only true but also liberating (and not just to those with limited financial resources).

I was going to go with annoying, unnecessary and opinionated, personally. People in other countries make better music with instruments they built themselves out of trash. As awesome as it is, valuing the player's contribution is only one value among many; not the dominant value for all forms of synth based music, and there is still the regressive tendency toward fetishism inherent in treating that value as the dominant value most aptly displayed by the triteness of virtuosity in isolation.

commodorejohn · Post by **commodorejohn** » Mon Apr 28, 2014 4:51 pm

I get the impression that some people here think that actual instruments are an unnecessary distraction to the process of creating Pure Music of the Mind freed from the corruption of material things. Maybe eventually they'll develop "conceptual music," where the music is freed from the constraints of actually being music at all, and celebrated conceptual musicians will hobnob with rich twits at the Tate, showing off their conceptual music installations consisting of a toilet with a dead cat in it and a pile of new socks.

Automatic Gainsay · Post by **Automatic Gainsay** » Mon Apr 28, 2014 5:08 pm

If it's not about the gear, and it is about the music, then I'm sure you would be equally comfortable creating music with a piano.

c-level · Post by **c-level** » Mon Apr 28, 2014 5:24 pm

commodorejohn wrote:I get the impression that some people here think that actual instruments are an unnecessary distraction to the process of creating Pure Music of the Mind freed from the corruption of material things. Maybe eventually they'll develop "conceptual music," where the music is freed from the constraints of actually being music at all, and celebrated conceptual musicians will hobnob with rich twits at the Tate, showing off their conceptual music installations consisting of a toilet with a dead cat in it and a pile of new socks.

not to discredit experimentation; but electronic music (and music making tools) to me have been the best way to actualize the music inside me, freed from the constraint of my (and others) technical proficiency. i know we all get GAS and a new piece of gear can help get the cogs moving, but ive seen enough on here that suggests that the lot of you only make music in bouts of fetishism. Desparate purchases that inspire for a day or two and then get resold for something with a better filter. the synth competitions are a great example, as ive seen many spend 3/4 of the month awaiting delivery of a new synth and 3 days to pump out some garbage with the filter res'ed all the way and the mod wheel routed to the kitchen sync.

but that brings me to another point in that do yall really thing spectrum is gonna lug a f**k vox contiental 'cross the pond just to play some sus4 chords (look it up) when a casio will do? its the player... only some the gear....

c-level · Post by **c-level** » Mon Apr 28, 2014 5:26 pm

also turn of the monitor, open the window, close your eyes and listen to this hauntingly beautiful album by spectrum that will stay with me for the rest of my days...

Post by **silikon** » Mon Apr 28, 2014 5:45 pm

c-level wrote:kitchen sync

...I'm still on the look out for one of those modules. Sadly, my euro system will not be complete without at least a pair.

In reality, it's a fine mixture of the artist and whatever medium he's using to create (and likely other factors). I'd probably modify your statement to say "it's not *ALL* about the gear nor player."

commodorejohn wrote:showing off their conceptual music installations consisting of a toilet with a dead cat in it and a pile of new socks.

Boy, you certainly know how to party.

KBD_TRACKER · Post by **KBD_TRACKER** » Mon Apr 28, 2014 6:37 pm

Automatic Gainsay wrote:If it's not about the gear, and it is about the music, then I'm sure you would be equally comfortable creating music with a piano.

slight correction: my point was not "it is not about the gear it is about the music".
please replace "music" with "player". i hope (and believe) you see the nuance ....

it is about using what you have and when you have it. to detour the instrument from its "normal intended marketed use", in fact to exploit all its possibilities, and above all to get to know the instrument as deeply as possible.
can this really happen when every 6 months manufacturers keep putting out gear with 150+ pages manuals ???

also regarding your piano comment: for the reasons stated above i would answer "yes" . imho one could say that all musical instruments have it in them to be some kind of synths ...

commodorejohn · Post by **commodorejohn** » Mon Apr 28, 2014 6:59 pm

c-level wrote:not to discredit experimentation; but electronic music (and music making tools) to me have been the best way to actualize the music inside me, freed from the constraint of my (and others) technical proficiency. i know we all get GAS and a new piece of gear can help get the cogs moving, but ive seen enough on here that suggests that the lot of you only make music in bouts of fetishism. Desparate purchases that inspire for a day or two and then get resold for something with a better filter. the synth competitions are a great example, as ive seen many spend 3/4 of the month awaiting delivery of a new synth and 3 days to pump out some garbage with the filter res'ed all the way and the mod wheel routed to the kitchen sync.

Wow, just go bagging on everybody who isn't you, there. I'm sure you're a special snowflake of Pure Art who's just bursting with True Music plucked from the very aether and handed down by the Muses themselves, who can't but weep for the fact that he has only one lifetime in which to get it all down, but you know what? For some of us mere mortals, inspiration comes and goes, and we have to content ourselves with striking while the iron is hot. Often a piece of gear can be a source of that inspiration. I don't see why we should feel any need to make apologies for that.

c-level wrote:but that brings me to another point in that do yall really thing spectrum is gonna lug a f**k vox contiental 'cross the pond just to play some sus4 chords (look it up) when a casio will do?

Do I care? What they choose to gig with is their own affair. But the fact that they're not wrong in their choosing to compromise quality for portability does not make a Casio as good as a Vox.

(Also, nice random condescending implication that us barbarian gear-lovers don't know what a suspended chord is. That was definitely necessary.)

Reminder: it is still about the player not the gear ....

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