OT - just a tad excited

[Sebbi]

On thursday this baby will be mine:



I have never understood the joys of retail therapy but yesterday me and someone I met at a gig last week went to Denmark Street (the place to go if you're looking for any music gear and you're not looking for the stuff you can find on the high street [which caters for kids in bands and kids in big bands - not pros or serious ameteurs])!

We went into a shop that was filled to the brim with every instrument you could think of and bare in mind this includes a basement and second floor and each fairly big!

It was amazing!

We literally spent hours playing various synthesisers and keyboards and such, including (or should I say, especially, the stuff we knew I couldn't afford).

THERE WERE SO MANY FLASHING LIGHTS!!! There were a few synths we spend ages on WITHOUT ACTUALLY PLUGGING THEM IN rthe lights were so pretty. There also some vintage ones, including the one that R2D2's noises came from and a primitive promixity synth (basically, it's an ariel thingy - the closer you put your hand to it the higher it goes)!

The guy who was showing me around and myself tinkered with some of the synths and then the girl I went with sat down at an electric piano and played some crazily good stuff and I think made EVERYONE in the shop feel like rookies!

Anyways - after falling in love, going home and asking for loan from my parents I have never been so happy to be £300 in debt!

Much Love
Sebbi[/img]

[Zenon]

Welcome to the exciting world of electronic music!I hope you synthesize something good out of your new thingie.

[Sebbi]

I hope you synthesize something good out of your new thingie.

So do I

[RedRonin]

Just to betray my age that much more..................

My last experience with a synthesizer was an Arp Omni 2 back in the mid 70s.  Since I've not played any music since that time, I'd be curious in knowing more about the evolution of the device since that time.

[Ara]

Seb...

It's beautiful.

[Anonymous]

How exciting...and very pretty.

I can totally understand 'cos I'm getting a beeeaaauuutifuul blue electro-acoustic guitar this Yule. (I play bad, yet enthusiastic, guitar!)  

Well done you!  Enjoy!

X

[Zenon]

I hope you synthesize something good out of your new thingie.

So do I

just keep running it through your guitar pedals, microwave ovens, or home stereo, etc....  weirdness is next to godliness.

[Lark]

Congratulations Sebbi!

I do understand how excited you are.  That's just the way I felt after a finally dropped a bundle and bought a hand-crafted Irish harp last summer.  Having our own music is such a treasure.

-Lark-

[Sebbi]

(I play bad, yet enthusiastic, guitar!)

It's the best way I think!

And Red - you were wondering about how Synths have changed since the 70s.

I did some research into this for you, it's not particuarly extensive and is highly speculative (seeing as there's much more information about modern products rather than older ones) but I hope it'll satisfy your curiousity.

I think most of the technology developed back then and has since been perfected (or relatively speaking). For example, voices are now generally much richer and less obviously electronic sounding.

A key development since the 70s is connectivivty. You can link it up to your computer much more easily than before and use it, for example as a midi controller and indeed link a midi controller up to your synth.

The sequencer has since been developed and now is often integrated into many synths, and the same applies to the sampler. Both are technologies that have been much improved since their creation.

I suppose, with technology getting cheaper and more efficiant there have been improvements such as having greater polyphony, more oscillators etc.

I suppose the jist of this is that, in many areas, the spec will look pretty similar to what you were used to, it's just that the numbers are more impressive looking.

From there, I guess, it's mostly interface and digitalisation.

Unlike older synths, where the dials will directly affect the analog componants, the dials will now affect the computer and that will affect the analog componants.
    Some synths are even completely digital.

In terms of interface this means you get things like user assignable controls. Instead of having a dial that affects this, a dial that affects that etc etc, you just 2 or 3 dials that you can program to do what you like. On my synth you get dials x,y and z, and sliders and n and m all of which are user assigned.

That example was very specific but you can see that the technology to do that sort of thing is there.

Another key change in interface was the LED screen, which, I think was instrumental (no pun intended) in the user friendliness of the modern syntheser.

Oh yeah, and they have more FLASHING LIGHTS!!!

Much Love
Sebbi