Re: Understanding the EDP Manual

["Dennis Leas" <dennis@mdbs.com>]

(Caution: some ranting follows...)

> I recently finished reading my entire EDP manual and although I find it
> facinating what you can do with this thing, I feel I am more confused
> than ever.  First, there are so many options such as quantize=??, etc.
> . . .

Yes!  The EDP Manual and Upgrade Manual is confusing.  That's because this
box is really, really, really deep.

When I mentioned that it is really more like an instrument than a piece of
equipment, that's part of the implications.

Loop IV provides *so* much real-time control that it is overwhelming,
especially if you try to wrap your head around everything it can do.

I don't think *anybody* will ever master it completely, in the sense of
understanding and doing everything that can be done with it.  Just like a
real instrument.  And we should celebrate!

The amount of real-time control that it provides reminds me of playing a
real instrument.  Most real instruments seem to have a near-infinite number
of ways to control them.  I can get a seemingly endless variety of sounds
from my congas.  Each little thing that I do, which part of the head I hit
with which part of my hand and how hard and what angle and how long before 
I
lift my hand and meanwhile, what about my other hand?  Yet somebody else's
playing sounds completely different!  I've heard that the guitar can also 
be
quite expressive. :)

You can likewise interact with Loop IV a *huge* number of ways.  I think 
the
current EDP manuals are like the owner's manuals you get with stuff.  It
says what each button does but not how to use them.  Necessary but not
sufficient.

And I'm not deprecating the quality of the current manuals.  I think 
they're
quite good.

I keep expecting something like a "Mel Bay's EDP" book.  You open it up and
it has a picture of the EDP with lines and arrows and little descriptive
blurbs.  It starts with short exercises and somewhere in the middle is a
looper version of "Michael Rowed the Boat Ashore."  Then the back page has
some quick guide info.

But really, several kinds of "Making Music with Your EDP" books or guides
would be quite handy.  I'd expect some type of compact notation for button
presses and modes would help a lot, also.  If we had something like that
maybe we could all easily contribute ideas.

It's also clear to me that the EDP has exhausted it's seven-button
interface.  To fully realize it's potential, we need some type of new
control surface.  I'm not sure exactly what it would look like but 
something
with lots of visual indicators.  In the meantime, a good MIDI pedalboard
will do.


Dennis Leas
-------------------
dennis@mdbs.com