synthesizer
We should try and preserve old machines, not just audio relics like synths, samplers, tape recorders etc but all machines, they are precious because they tell us as much about the times in which they were designed as any archaeological artifact could - these ideas structure our value system and thus our social system. It will never be economically viable to make many of them to the same standards again, audio equipment is such a good example of the predominate thinking of the time and whilst their value is appreciated there will always be people interested in them. We need...
There is a kind of ethics that must be employed when constructing sounds on a synthesizer, you can use the presets as a reference if the synth has them, in fact many people only ever use presets but the biggest challenge is to make up a sound from scratch. Presets are interesting though because they could be thought of as principles that were established at the time of manufacture and design but it must not be forgotten that these preset principles become dated after a while, although they can then undergo a revival at some further point in time if...
Each tape machine I use has a slightly differnt sound, mostly its imperceptible but sometimes there is a noticable quality of hiss and jingle that varies with the machine, generally the better the mchine the less the hiss but there is a tonal quality that cheaper machnes can have that is quite nice, so I use all kinds of tape machine from high end nakamichi to cheap philips data recorders.
Technorati tags: tape, synth
I like the old synths, each one to me is a kind of philosophical craft, an object that perfectly encapsulates the relationship between capability and 'cost' they were designed to be as useful as possible but at a certain price, so its interesting how their features and ideosynracies reflect this relationship. Modern do-it-all software emulations are great but they lack this historical attribute, i like these vintage mafchines for this reason and thus build up tracks around their limitations as well as their caperbilities.
Technorati tags: synth