Synthesizer Gear Porn ;-)

[Rarebird]

Some real gear porn in this video. My dream room.

[dropforge]

I’m so behind the curve here… let me know when you get rid of some stuff. As I said, all I own is a Yamaha electric piano and an MPK mini and a few guitars. I’ve watched just about every YouTube tutorial about the MPKmini and you can squeeze a lot out of them with the many VST’s available. But some are a bit complicated. The air hybrid III is my go to for ‘sounds’. I refuse to use beatmaker software. Most of it isn’t worth learning.

Nothing to get rid of here except a Danelectro 'Eisenhower Fuzz' pedal!

[dropforge]

Some real gear porn in this video. My dream room.

Dr. Mix-a-lot!

[Jimmy Giant]

That was a bit painful

[Nijinsky Hind]

Nothing to get rid of here except a Danelectro 'Eisenhower Fuzz' pedal!

HAHAHAHA!!!! lol! Just what I always wanted!

[dropforge]

[Rarebird]

Ordered a book on synthesizers https://bjooks.com/en-nl/collections...e-synthesizers looks pretty interesting and the have several other interesting books, including one on Roland, which I also put on my wishlist.
Alas UPS let me down. The book was supposed to arrive today and well, I was home at the time it should have come, but even though I was home, I still got the message, the package couldn't be delivered, because I wasn't home, which was bs. So I'm defenitly a bit disapointed, especially because the pick-up location is not really nearby. Next time I choose delivery by DHL, which at least has a pick-up point in the shopping centre I visit almost daily.

[battema]

Ah that's such a pain!! Shipping services really are terrible these days.

[Jimmy Giant]

That's one I haven't ordered. I have 2 versions of Mark Veil's Synth books, kinda looked a bit redundant.

What I did recently get, and have only paged through it, is Tom Rhea's tome Electronic Perspectives - Vintage Electronic Musical Instruments.
Holy cow, massive (and expensive). Covers the origins of electronic instruments. If you want a pretty hefty history lesson, I'd recommend this.

[Rarebird]

They also have a book on Moog coming, with a foreword by Geddy Lee

I have The art of electronic music, from Keyboard, compiled by Tom Darter.

[Rarebird]

Picked up the book and it looks very nice. Of cause I miss some synthesizers, like the Roland System 100. On the other hand, it has the Synton Syrinx, which is pretty interesting. Alas it came a bit to late on the market for me.

[markwoll]

More stuff

[Czyszy]

More stuff

Hahaha. Wow! This gizmo looks like a gimmick even from a mile away. B)

[battema]

More stuff

Nice! Koma does fun stuff...I have their Field Kit and used it to generate some fun electroacoustic rhythms circa Axiom & the Sigh.

I also used to have a fun little phone app that was somewhat similar, turning the screen into a playable touch surface...reminds me a bit of this Chromaplane.

[battema]

I came across this over the weekend and admit to being somewhat tempted: https://electra.one/

It isn't cheap and I suspect to really maximize the value I'd need to get familiar with Lua scripting. But it could be hugely helpful with some of my more "obtuse" gear like the Continuum which doesn't even have a physical volume button and often expects complex MIDI messages for certain tasks. On the other hand...summer vacation expenses be piling up

[Rarebird]

I came across this over the weekend and admit to being somewhat tempted: https://electra.one/

It isn't cheap and I suspect to really maximize the value I'd need to get familiar with Lua scripting. But it could be hugely helpful with some of my more "obtuse" gear like the Continuum which doesn't even have a physical volume button and often expects complex MIDI messages for certain tasks. On the other hand...summer vacation expenses be piling up

I have so many questions about this thing. Could it help me to store and edit sounds from my Waldorf Blofeld? Could I use it to load sounds in my Akai Z4 sampler? Now I use an old laptop with Windows XP, because there is no more recent driver for it. It looks interesting, but I still wonder what I can do with it.

[battema]

I have so many questions about this thing. Could it help me to store and edit sounds from my Waldorf Blofeld? Could I use it to load sounds in my Akai Z4 sampler? Now I use an old laptop with Windows XP, because there is no more recent driver for it. It looks interesting, but I still wonder what I can do with it.

I was reading some of the use cases in their forum as well as some of the FAQ information and it seems like there isn't much it CAN'T do....but it's definitely not the sort of device that will be immediately useful out of the box. It feels like the sort of device that will reward a lot of time and patience and practice as well as familiarity with Lua (or a willingness to GET familiar).

For example, apparently the Electra One is able to reverse-engineer SysEx messages in order to find particular parameters that aren't easily documented. That's a VERY cool trick and frankly something that will leave 95% of us scratching our head in actual practice

The "pro" argument I see for a device like this: for some older or more esoteric equipment (such as an original Yamaha DX7, or other mostly knob-free synths and ROMplers of the 80's, or a monster like the Continuum), it could absolutely unlock the ability to tweak and have a far more friendly UI with which to interact with the parameters.

The "con" argument is tied to that, because while it COULD do all those things, it could be months or even years before one has the practical experience and knowledge to make it WORK like that in reality.

My original background was software development so this isn't entirely out of the question, but even I'm not 100% convinced I want to dedicate time in my studio to writing/debugging code instead of playing

Or hey, maybe I can stay relevant and have ChatGPT or another AI prompt-based engine write a Lua script for me

[Plasmatopia]

Or hey, maybe I can stay relevant and have ChatGPT or another AI prompt-based engine write a Lua script for me

With your new title as "prompt engineer" it won't be entirely about being at the meeting on time.

A long time ago I had some beginner level experience with BASIC, Pascal, RPG, and COBOL. More recently I've done a couple of simple things with Python. I feel zero shame in leaning on ChatGPT at this point, lol.

[battema]

With your new title as "prompt engineer" it won't be entirely about being at the meeting on time.

A long time ago I had some beginner level experience with BASIC, Pascal, RPG, and COBOL. More recently I've done a couple of simple things with Python. I feel zero shame in leaning on ChatGPT at this point, lol.

Oh snap, AI humor

Python is a very very very very rare instance (1 of 2!) where I can say I was into something before it was cool I started in Python in the 90's and still use it heavily when I need to throw my dev hat on.

We've done some trials with code generation at my day job with mixed results. There's also this uncomfortable reminder of what a gullible breed we can be at times https://www.theregister.com/2024/03/...ware_packages/

I have no experience with Lua, but I'm sure the backing in coding and development would help with the learning curve. Still...I kind of like leaving that stuff in the day job and not the music fun. But we'll see, I'm still mulling it over!

[Rarebird]

Oh snap, AI humor

Python is a very very very very rare instance (1 of 2!) where I can say I was into something before it was cool I started in Python in the 90's and still use it heavily when I need to throw my dev hat on.

We've done some trials with code generation at my day job with mixed results. There's also this uncomfortable reminder of what a gullible breed we can be at times https://www.theregister.com/2024/03/...ware_packages/

I have no experience with Lua, but I'm sure the backing in coding and development would help with the learning curve. Still...I kind of like leaving that stuff in the day job and not the music fun. But we'll see, I'm still mulling it over!

As long as my old Window XP laptop functions, I'm not sure I need it. And if I first have to learn programming, before being able to use this in my advance and without knowing if I'm able to make it do what I want it to do, It's a though decision. I prefer spending my money on something I know I can use.

[Plasmatopia]

Oh snap, AI humor

Python is a very very very very rare instance (1 of 2!) where I can say I was into something before it was cool I started in Python in the 90's and still use it heavily when I need to throw my dev hat on.

We've done some trials with code generation at my day job with mixed results. There's also this uncomfortable reminder of what a gullible breed we can be at times https://www.theregister.com/2024/03/...ware_packages/

I have no experience with Lua, but I'm sure the backing in coding and development would help with the learning curve. Still...I kind of like leaving that stuff in the day job and not the music fun. But we'll see, I'm still mulling it over!

I'm thinking most functions you'd want to do with that device others will also want to do. So there will probably be lots of example code readily available which would only require minor tweaks to fit your situation.

I'll check that article out and share it with a couple coworkers who are developing software.

[battema]

As long as my old Window XP laptop functions, I'm not sure I need it. And if I first have to learn programming, before being able to use this in my advance and without knowing if I'm able to make it do what I want it to do, It's a though decision. I prefer spending my money on something I know I can use.

Yeah, I'm honestly leaning towards passing for now but waiting to see if the user community grows. For example...if the pre-built preset library were to grow and cover most of my use cases, that would help because it would mean I wouldn't necessarily need to write everything myself from scratch.

Someone in one of my FB groups for the EaganMatrix has one and has been experimenting with it, so I may let them be the proverbial guinea pigs and figure out if it's worth the expense or not!

[battema]

Good news for Renate and maybe others who might be interested... per this, the ETA is October 2024

https://www.sweetwater.com/store/det...og-synthesizer

[Rarebird]

Good news for Renate and maybe others who might be interested... per this, the ETA is October 2024

https://www.sweetwater.com/store/det...og-synthesizer

I'm still interested. Have it on my wishlist.
Currently mainly busy adding some synthesizerbooks to my collection. Also because vat on books will be going up.
After Buying Synth gems 1 https://bjooks.com/products/synth-ge...e-synthesizers
I've ordered:
Inspire the music - 50 years of Roland history https://bjooks.com/products/inspire-...roland-history
Patch & Tweak with Korg https://bjooks.com/collections/our-b...weak-with-korg
There is no such thing as to many books on synthesizers for me.
They also have a ARP Odysee clone, but I prefer the Roland-clone, if only for old times sake. (My dream synth and well, my first synth was a Roland and I still have it. Dorothea Raukes from Streetmark used the whole System 100. You can see it in the booklet of Skyracer)
If I buy it, I also have to order a new keyboardstand and a seperate stand for my mixer. Hope they don't deliver it at the pick-up point, like they did with the book I ordered. Picking up a book is one thing, but 2 stands and a synthesizer are a bit to much to transport by bike, or public transport.

[Rarebird]

Reading Inspire the music - 50 years of Roland history and it still is an interesting read. They have made a lot of different stuff, but I discovered one thing that might be of interest for some synth enthousiasts here. Stuff from the Roland Cloud can be bought and even be uploaded in their System synthesizers. Not really for me, even though they have the System 100 as VST for sale.

I'm looking forward for the book on the MiniMoog https://bjooks.com/en-nl/products/the-minimoog-book
I thought it was about Moog in general, but it is even more dedicated to one synthesizer.

Something like the book on Roland would be nice too. There are some other synth manufacturars, which would deserve such a book, like Clavia, Moog, ARP, Oberheim...