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

["Bill Fox" <billfox@fast.net>]

-----Original Message-----
From: George Van Wagner <vanwag@earthlink.net>
To: Loopers-Delight@annihilist.com <Loopers-Delight@annihilist.com>
Date: Monday, February 14, 2000 12:23 PM
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.

I can't agree with this statement because even keyboard players must learn 
a
different playing technique for each class of sounds a synth makes.  Most
players ignore this and sound like keyboard players no matter what sound 
the
synth produces.  Each brass, woodwind, string, and percussion instrument 
has
its own set of characteristics to which a synthesist must adjust their
playing technique.  This becomes less obvious and perhaps less neccessary
for non-emulative sounds.  To ignore a (well programmed) synth patch's
characteristics vis a vis your playing technique is to miss out on its
individuality.  I do not recommend trying to play a saxophone sound from a
keyboard, MIDI guitar, or even a wind controller, not without understanding
a saxophone's idiosyncrasies.  And even then, without deep programming with
lots of hooks into real-time controls of many sound characteristics, you'll
fall short of the real McCoy.  Just my $0.02 worth.

Bill         billfox@fast.net            http://wdiyfm.org
============================================================
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