Re: What it means to build vs. play...

[dcoffin@taunton.com]

<<
>I think it's better to think of Reaktor like one would think of a modular
>synth, not like buildling a Stratocaster from scratch.

I compare it to cars.

There are some people who build their cars entirely from scratch. (snip) >>

The car/guitar analogy is very apt...at least it matches my relationship
with either, except that since I can afford to customize my guitar more
easily than my car (and actually want to), I did so....and once I got it
right, I lost interest in having any other guitars (which I think puts me
in a very obvious minority among guitarists!).

But when it comes to the gear I plug my guitar cable into, I think the
analogy breaks down almost completely. I can't think of many serious guitar
players of my acquaintance who aren't both gear-heads and home-studio
owners---or planning to be---on some level, even if reluctantly. And if
Cubase is just a virtual studio, Reaktor is simply a virtual effects rack,
plus instruments.  Sure, the hard-core Reaktorite is a bona-fide instrument
or processor maker, and needs some serious DSP smarts to be so, but these
folks are the equivalent, population-wise within the Reaktor community, of
the diy- and custom-car guys---except that most of them actually seem to be
active performing musicians, too. (And what are the numbers like when you
compare EDP owners to everybody else who's got a simple loopable delay
stomper, DL-4, or even an RC-20 in their kit bag, I wonder?)

But surely it doesn't even matter if you're a plug-and-play person or a
gimme-that-wrench guy, or a bit of both. The simple fact is that software
instruments, effects and studio tools are gaining on their hardware
predecessors...Obvious, no? There will always be a need for both, but even
the distinction is going away! This whole argument sounds like a
silent-movie star explaining that the talkies are a passing fad...

I look forward to the day when Kim and Matthias announce that, along with
version whatever of the EDP software, they're debuting (in collaboration,
perhaps, with cycling74?? Native Instruments? Propellerheads? Plogue?
Tassman? SynthEdit? AudioMulch? Waves?...it just goes on....) a totally
fresh, brand-new plug-in looping tool within a cross-platform, extensible,
modular DSP environment. Who else would you rather have doing this?
Somebody will...
dc