functionality vs sound ....

[KBD_TRACKER]

Suppose you landed on a deserted island with some solar panels and some active speakers. and you had a choice between an alesis micron and a moog, say little phatty.

Those two have very little in common: the micron is feature -laden (polyphony, multitimbrality, 2 sequencers, massive modulation matrix, many filters emulated, tons of LFOs and oscillators, drum sounds, etc.), BUT it has that VA sound ....
On the other hand, the little phatty has much much fewer functions, BUT it has that Moog analog sound (and filter) ...
Let's also assume that these 2 are comparable in durability for "deserted island usage" (so that the choice lays only on functionality vs sound).

Which one would you choose, knowing that it will end up being you sole instrument for many years on this deserted island ???

[cornutt]

I'd go with the Little Phatty, but I'm not a big fan of VAs in general. If the choices were between the Little Phatty and, say, a V-Synth, the answer might be different.

[sam]

I would always choose the sound over anything.

[meatballfulton]

Between a Micron and Little Phatty I'd be in serious trouble

[tomorrowstops]

Well, you're stuck on a deserted island, so you don't have to worry about pleasing/impressing the rest of the world, so forget the Moog legacy (and the boring blandness its turned into) and go with the more fun device....

Oh wait, you can do that in the real world too....

[griffin avid]

Seems like a very simple choice for me. I'd be using whatever had the widest range of sounds to complete a full song.
I'd take the micron (not that I've ever owned one) since I should be able to make full pieces of music. I think doing solos would get tired after a while no matter how sweet the singular patch.....


Now maybe a piano ....would be different....or any ROMpler.......
And you know the piano joke about building a raft...

[KevBKeys]

On a desert island I would take the Micron over ANY monosynth. My music is mostly song based, so polyphony is pretty much essential for me.

If you take polyphony out of the equation, then I'd probably go with sound over features (I might even take a nice Rhodes over a synth given the choice ).

[Percivale]

Desert Island Scenario - get Poly over Mono.

[Black Tomorrow]

LP hands down. There's still enough functionality, and despite not being strictly knob per function, it's still easy to navigate.

If you had said Ion or LP, that would be different. Funstionality vs. sound is a big factor to consider, but so is user interface.

[Cybercardinal]

Lately I've come to realise how much I like a few notes with a (rather) simple patch on a great sounding instrument with good FX. (But then again lately I 've been listening to a lot of early 80's stuff).

I think many would pick sound. Isn't that part of the explanation why prices on vintage synths has skyrocketed?

[Hugo76]

I'd definately go for the Micron - more features and functionality to keep me occupied

[griffin avid]

I think many would pick sound....

It's a skewed question, but not slanted enough for a truly A ORRRRRR B type choice.
The Micron doesn't sound bad so it's not like there's some HUUUGGGEEEEE disparity between the two.

Even if you went chip tune verse total-bad-azz-synthie-beast, there'd be some that prefer the chippy tone....

I have a Moog Voyager and as much as I love it, I'd rather have my KORG Kaossilator Pro with me if I had to only have 1 piece to make music with.

[Hugo76]

I think many would pick sound....

It's a skewed question, but not slanted enough for a truly A ORRRRRR B type choice.
The Micron doesn't sound bad so it's not like there's some HUUUGGGEEEEE disparity between the two.

Even if you went chip tune verse total-bad-azz-synthie-beast, there'd be some that prefer the chippy tone....

I have a Moog Voyager and as much as I love it, I'd rather have my KORG Kaossilator Pro with me if I had to only have 1 piece to make music with.

Very good points, and exactly what I'm thinking. I'd rather have a Yamaha rm1x on the island, than a Little Phatty

[Psy_Free]

I'd probably pick the Micron not only for the functionality/sound palette but because I'd rather have a poly than a mono to wile away the years of isolation (leads & bass would get a bit stale after a while).

[Bitexion]

I'd always pick poly over monosynth. I like playing chords. Not just "phat basslines and screamy leads".
And if you're all alone on this island anyway, there will be no hipsters to show off your phat moog lines to anyway who could say "whoaaa that's so anaaaaaaaalogue duude luuuv it can't beat it"