[Ardour-Users] Analog synths (was: Ardour-Users Digest, Vol 167, Issue 13)

[Will J Godfrey]

On Sun, 24 Dec 2017 21:05:44 -0500
Paul Davis <paul at linuxaudiosystems.com> wrote:

>On Sun, Dec 24, 2017 at 8:00 PM, Gordonjcp <gordonjcp at gjcp.net> wrote:
>
>> On Sat, Dec 23, 2017 at 12:59:58PM +0100, Ralf Mardorf wrote:  
>> > A friend of mine is a musician of that class, unfortunately I'm not
>> > that good. He's playing piano as well as drums. If you should be unable
>> > to notice the difference between a good drummer playing virtual drums
>> > and a real drum set e.g. from the 70s, you are simply missing musically
>> > skills. This applies to the sound provided by analog synth compared to
>> > digitally emulated analog synth as well. The more analog an instrument
>> > is, the easier it's for the musician to interact with the instrument,
>> > to become one with the instrument.  
>>
>> I don't see how you can meaningfully compare an acoustic instrument that
>> is so profoundly influenced by playing style like a drum, with a
>> synthesizer which is essentially a box with a switch, and when you press
>> the switch it goes "beep" in exactly the same way every time.
>>
>> You cannot tell the difference between an analogue and a digital synth
>> even in isolation, never mind in a mix.  There is no way to tell them
>> apart.
>>  
>
>​this is only true if you carefully pick the analog and the digital synth.
>
>for an alternative approach, and at this point a rather old one, consider
>the pairing of
>
>   (1) physical modelling synthesis
>   (2) high resolution (> 1kHz) multi-touch (semi-analog) control surfaces​
>
>
>​
>http://cdm.link/2008/12/intimate-control-multi-touch-new-models-and-what-2009-is-really-about/
>
>when you get to the end of the video, consider that the sound from brushing
>the "djembe head" isn't a sample, but a simple consequence of the model
>embodied inside the system.
>
>consider also, sadly, that this comes this time *NINE YEARS AGO* and we
>still do not have actual systems that are can do this in any immediately
>obvious way. most of the problem these days is the lack of deeply
>expressive physical models rather than the control systems (madrona labs
>makes them, and in some senses the linnstrument represents a similar level
>of responsiveness.)


Thanks for that Paul,

I remember it well, and for some time watched out for developments, but saw
nothing more :(

At the time, it also reminded me of a 1960s SciFi film and a segment where a
girl was playing a musical 'instrument' in exactly this manner.

-- 
It wasn't me! (Well actually, it probably was)

... the hard part is not dodging what life throws at you,
but trying to catch the good bits.