RE: Guitar synth..take it (or leave it ) for what it is

["Mats Eriksson (ECS)" <Mats.Eriksson@ecs.ericsson.se>]

The major gripe with guitar-synth and "drum synths", are the
triggering speed which is lame if it goes through any MIDI. Any drummer I 
know says
they have to learn to play the latency time or lag time. When you, after a 
while, turn
back to regular drums, you don't have to adjust. Same with guitarists.

Any guitar synth player I ve heard sounds like a medium (or poorly) 
talented keyboard player with
just pads and soundtracks, and, the odd trumpet sounds, i e SLOW ATTACK 
sounds. 

Gate/Voltage drums triggering are the best (fastest) so far. MIDI ought to 
be replaced by now.
Hitting a pad, or striking a string, the sound have to come off right on, 
not 5 ms late,
not 5 ms early, but dead on. That's the problem with all Pitch-to-MIDI 
conversion today.

/mats

-----Original Message-----
From: Alan Barnard [mailto:alan@kiene.com]
Sent: Monday, February 14, 2000 7:36 PM
To: Loopers-Delight@annihilist.com
Subject: RE: Guitar synth..take it (or leave it ) for what it is


Hi Guys,

I don't purport to know anything about guitar synthesizers, but I thought 
my
perspective might be of interest in regards to this thread. I am a
drummer/percussionist who has played traditional drum kit and percussion in
a variety of styles for over 25 years. Approximately two years ago I gave 
up
these traditional instruments for a Zendrum. It has taken two years of
concerted effort to develop a viable technique for this new instrument. It
has been a very interesting process. I pretty much had to re-learn my chops
from the ground up - tapping on a Zendrum is nothing like cracking a 
rimshot
with the butt of a 2B stick or stomping on a DW pedal.  Yet in giving this
up, I've gained access to a virtually infinite array of sounds and textures
and discovered looping in the process! And I must say that I've had a
helluva lot of fun in the process. For years digital drummers have been
screaming for a "rubber pad" drumkit that feels and sounds like "real"
drums. Somehow it seems like they're missing the point completely. These 
are
new instruments with their own advantages and disadvantages. The magic lies
in taking full advantage and overcoming the obstacles...

Just my humble opinion...

Best regards,   Alan.
________________________________
Alan Barnard
Digital Drummer/Percussionist
e-drums@pacbell.net
http://www.kiene.com/epercussion

> -----Original Message-----
> From: George Van Wagner [mailto:vanwag@earthlink.net]
> Sent: Monday, February 14, 2000 9:23 AM
> To: Loopers-Delight@annihilist.com
> Subject: Re: Guitar synth..take it (or leave it ) for what it is
>
>
> Gotta agree with Kim here, given that the ideal MIDI guitar control
> would be one that feels and behaves like a guitar, but give MIDI output.
> After all, keyboard players don't have to relearn how to play the
> instrument just to play synths, and neither should guitar players.
>