Can a synth be unbearable, fearless, polluted & cultured

[Jexus]

[moving out]|

[Yoozer]

And they still do a lousy job compared to the old small mp3 snippet with a few presets .

Try this: make a bunch of small HTML tables with 4 blocks.

One is like:
Up = "colder", down = "warmer", left = "fatter", right = "thinner".

The other is like:
Up = "harsher", down = "smoother", left = "digital", right = "analog".

When you have a single synth - say the Poly61, let those words link to synths relative in the spectrum. So, click on colder and you get a JX3P, click on warmer and you get a Juno-60. If you landed on the Minimoog page, just disable the "warmer" and "fatter" links .

You'd make the actual exploration much more interesting .

Or just add tags as descriptions to synths with interlinking, so clicking on "hostile" would list the Prophecy and everything else that's also hostile (DX7? ).

[MrHope]

many of those terms are highly subjective so there would be little point in using them.

[Automatic Gainsay]

I started to read this thinking it futile, but I found that the words you've chosen for the synths I've used are very accurate!
I don't know if someone who had never had one would think so, though.

[gfriden]

many of those terms are highly subjective so there would be little point in using them.

Nothing subjective about them really. It's quite possible to use such words to describe certain qualities found in the sound of these synths. There's quite a lot written about this in a branch of analytical aesthetic philosophy called expression theory. Frankly, I think most of us understand the same thing by a sound being described as (for instance) 'brittle'. Check out the following books on the subject:

Sircello, Guy. Mind and Art: An Essay on the Varieties of Expression
Kivy, Peter. Sound and Sentiment: An Essay on the Musical Emotions
Tormey, Alan. The Concept of Expression

All are very interesting books for those of us who are interested in the more philosophcal aspects of musical sounds. Most of the terms used by Jexus above seem quite adequate for describing sound. The question is: are they used correctly? Sadly, I do not own any of the synths mentioned, so I can't tell. Interesting project though! 8)

[gfriden]

Actually, I do own one! (The Odyssey) I think your description quite apt!

[OriginalJambo]

I think it's definitely subjective.

For example I would describe the Juno-60 as powerful, lush and snappy but definitely not as unstable, deep or warm really. The PolySix is much warmer and unstable IMO.

I'd describe the DX7 as bright, funky, aggressive and metallic though!

[nadafarms]

synesthesia also synaesthesia n. A condition in which one type of stimulation evokes the sensation of another, as when the hearing of a sound.

Wait, is this synthesthesia?

[pricklyrobot]

If you haven't tried it already, I'd recommend attending art school. It's all about coming up with long, bullshit lists of subjective adjectives to describe, well, pretty much everything. And it can cost just as much, or more, than collecting vintage synths.

[Uncle Screwtape]

Although, as many have already said, the terms are subjective, I think it's a good concept. I believe there is a general agreement of most of the terms used, from the number who agree. I think it may have alot to do with one's programming at times, too.

I think certain sets of terms are probably the ones that can be described as more accurate, and less subjective. Maybe if the descriptors are offered in a "one or the other" format: dark/bright, cold/warm, thick/thin, etc.

I think it would be cool if it were in database form. You could go in and say I want a synth with a cold, sound and have it return the results. Or for ease of programming, you could have a chart and designate a 0 to 9 scale for each parameter: 0=dark, 9=bright.

I dunno, just thoughts.

[memo]

First we'd have to agree on definitions...

Cold: A narrow or thin sound, often with limited low/mids, and/or aliasing or digital artifacts.

Hybrid keyboards often have a cold tone to them due to their low bit waveforms.

Warm: Opposite of cold - a full sound that doesn't have dominating or unpleasant high frequencies, with no aliasing or digital artifacts.

The JD-990 pads are surprisingly warm, considering it's a digital synth.

Solid: A full spectrum sound that has no frequency gaps in the bass or mids, no phase cancellation.

A single analog oscillator often produces a more solid tone than dual or triple oscillators.

Queefy: A sound characterized by a loose or wobbly low-end, often the result of phase cancellation or digital processing.

Early Virtual Analogs have queefy bass.

Thick: A wide sound with with full frequency activity, often as a result of layering, and/or chorusing.

Unison produces thick sounds.

Thin: A narrow bandwidth sound, with little or no bass/mid activity.

The Juno 106 sounds thinner than the Juno 60, particularly when both have their chorus off.

Fat: The rare quality of being both thick and solid.

The Minimoog defines fat.



I only had time to post a few - but I think there are literally hundreds of terms we could define objectively.

[gfriden]

I agree with Memo here. There's absolutely nothing subjective at all about ascribing anthropomorphic qualities to synths and their sound. Just make a list of all the necessary and sufficient conditions for something to be, eg. harsh, and it should be quite possible to agree upon the correct or incorrect applications of these terms. I also agree that most studies of these phenomena that currently come out of the art schools is pretentious rubbish, but this does not mean that such terms could not be successfully defined. 8) It's a good idea, but a tough one to realise. Good Luck Jexus! I'd offer to help, but I have not got the time, nor the synths to do so.

[Synthazaiser]

I also thought this was going to be pretty lame when I first looked at it, but I found that a description like this is much more useful than specifications or even some little bit of sound clip. Also, very acurrate.

[OriginalJambo]

First we'd have to agree on definitions...

Cold: A narrow or thin sound, often with limited low/mids, and/or aliasing or digital artifacts.

Hybrid keyboards often have a cold tone to them due to their low bit waveforms.

Actually the ESQ-1 can do incredibility warm and powerful sounds in my eyes - I'm sure you'll agree if you've played with yours for a while.

Seems these opinions are always subjective.

[memo]

Hybrid keyboards often have a cold tone to them due to their low bit waveforms.

Actually the ESQ-1 can do incredibility warm and powerful sounds in my eyes - I'm sure you'll agree if you've played with yours for a while.

Seems these opinions are always subjective.

I think there's a word in my quote that you ignored. A word that allows for such exceptions.

Hint: It begins with "o" and ends in "ften".

Then again, I've worked with the ESQ-1 quite a bit, and I've been able to get reasonably warm sounds, certainly away from outright cold. But there is a certain warmth that it can't get to no matter how it's programmed - it can never get Polysix warm, for example.

I think that's a fairly objective analysis, since you could actually scope the signal and there would be aliased frequencies present in any hybrid.