re: GAIN STRUCTURE

[kkissinger@kevinkissinger.com]

Quoting Rick Walker <looppool@cruzio.com>:
>
> It is so fucking refreshing to read that someone admits to not
> understanding imepedance.
>
You can think of impedance as "a/c resistance".  (I know this is  
simplistic way to look at it.)

Since impedance applies to a/c current (and not d/c), the attenuation  
of a/c varies with the frequency.

For those of us who are not electronic experts, the way to look at it  
is that a high-impedance device doesn't hog as much power as a  
low-impedance device.

For example, if you have an amplifier that can drive a load as low as  
2ohms, you could connect one speaker with 2ohms impedance or connect  
(in parallel) four speakers of 8 ohms each without shorting out the  
amplifier.

The impedance becomes a factor when you split your signal with a  
y-adapter.  If the input devices are high-impedance, then you won't  
likely have a problem driving both devices from a single output.  If  
(for the sake of argument), the devices are low-impedance, then they  
may draw too much current from the output device.

One example of this would be to split a (analog) gate signal to  
multiple synthesizer modules.  If the gate is split to enough modules,  
then some of them will fail to "fire" due to the reduced gate signal.

Thus, you can alway go from a low impedance output to a high impedance  
input -- however the opposite (high to low) would be somewhat  
analagous to shorting out the output device (not enough load = too  
much current drain).

The closest analogy in everyday life would be to overload a circuit.   
For example, not a good idea to power an electric space heater from a  
car-battery inverter  (because the space heater demands more current  
than the inverter can handle at its output).
>
> I've never fully understood MIDI.   I am Solder-phobic,   have never
> fully understood signal flow as it effects
> gain structure and I can't program.
>
Ah, the sweet smell of solder.  :)
>
> I feel like such a dolt so much of the time.
>
I often feel that way -- and I remind myself that everyone, at one  
time or another, feels that way.
>
> It's nice to hear that someone else feels this way.
> I feel so less lonely because you admitted it, Mark.
>
As musicians and performers we put ourselves "on the line" all the  
time.  It is easy to feel vulnerable.  We risk some vulnerability in  
order to play music that communicates.  (Kind of hard to put this into  
words.)
>
> Thanks, Rick