analog and digital

[steevio]

On that note, I'm aiming to be more of a producer of music and less of a consumer of music production equipment.

thats quite a strange thing to say.

unless you're a singer in an acoustic environment, you have no choice but to consume music production equipment,

normally called instruments.

i think most musicians would hate instruments that wont stay in tune, so i fully understand why they hated the early analogue synths.
things have changed. now they do stay in tune.

[Salomo]

its kind of weird any way to compete with tools that are so personal, any generalization would insult both parties. there are certainly scientifically grounded arguments that distinguish analog from digital, but in the end it's up to musical creativity combined with personal taste. you'll always be a consumer of music equipment, whatever you're making.

if one would be putting analog synths and modular away as a hype, couldn't be further from the truth. for one, when robert moog for instance introduced his babies there was no competition, and he was laughed at by the mainstream music industry. it survived many many synths, for a reason. also, one is free to ignore things and use what they like best.

also referring to something as a hype also insinuates all the talented, authentic musicians using them are sheep in the herd, which is bullshit. there is a reason things become popular, and the prize being a bit higher keeps it for serious musicians and prevents hypes. the influence is unimaginable and underestimated.

[nakoradiomies]

DX7 for gnarling filter sweeps and bubbling acidic tones

why not?

Because analog lends itself to those sounds a lot better, simple as that.

just put velocity for the right operator and portamento in fingered mode, you are jacking like nothing else

[widdly]

On that note, I'm aiming to be more of a producer of music and less of a consumer of music production equipment.

thats quite a strange thing to say.

unless you're a singer in an acoustic environment, you have no choice but to consume music production equipment,

Obviously! I said MORE producing LESS consuming. It's pretty easy to get into a cycle of constantly buying/trading/upgrading gear.

[AK]

I like the idea of experimenting with new gear, the more the merrier i say. I've been reluctant to buy anything more than 2 new bits of gear in the past due to the learning curves and instrument appreciation factors.

The gear i've used has played as much an important role as my own creativity itself. In fact for me, i'd go as far as saying the gear can actually give you inspiration and new creative approaches and it can be a trial and error approach to find a comfortable working set up. Obviously in terms of hardware, this potentially means trying out/buying/trading/borrowing different bits of kit.

Ok, now i have gear lust! I havent bought anything in a while but after i get the money from my house sale, im going to have to satisfy that craving. My set up needs a good revamp and i want to tailor it to my current musical tastes.

Here's a question, as i mentioned before, im quite into some fm sounds at the minute and was thinking of getting a dx7. But im wondering whether theres any point as seen as im using fm8? Am i likely to be disappointed?

[nakoradiomies]

the fm8 is great vst but i have found that my dx-21 sounds fatter and its way easier to program than the fm8

legowelt has good review and demos of dx-21 and dx-7

http://www.xs4all.nl/~awolfe/studiodx21.htm
http://www.xs4all.nl/%7Eawolfe/studiodx7.htm

[steevio]

It's pretty easy to get into a cycle of constantly buying/trading/upgrading gear.

i dont have a problem with it, its just a case of searching for whatever is right for you. i had some pretty bad gear when i started out, basically because i didnt have a clue what i was doing.
i've also had spells where i was just getting no inspiration from the gear i was using with a corresponding barren spell in my output, which was turned around by trading in the uninspiring gear for something better.

i know we all say that good musician should be capable of transcending all of this, but its only partly true.
Jimi Hendrix would undoubtedly have been an amazing musician whatever he played on, but it was a combination of his genius and his Fender Stratocaster, his Fuzzface distortion pedal, his Crybaby wahwah pedal, and Marshall amplifiers that propelled him into stardom.

[oblioblioblio]

How so?

Mainly a general feeling. You might be able to say that analogue is closer to the source, musically speaking. Digital is easy to get into layers and effects.

But maybe I'm just speculating.