Innovation in music technology (was Re: New looping pedal--Line 6 DL-4 Delay Modeler.)

["L. Stafford" <r4c@winternet.com>]

These are things that open architechture software based synths excel at.
Currently, if you want to "roll your own" devices there are quite a few
exceedingly powerful options out there (Native Instrument's Reaktor, Kyma,
Creamware's SCOPE system, and many more)  With the availability of cheap,
general purpose DSP chips, I hope we will see more standalone hardware
systems which are programmable via computer software.  One thing that
hasn't been mentioned in this thread is that with massive flexibility comes
a certain necessary complexity and learning curve.  Your "average" consumer
of music gear is most likely not willing to devote a lot of time to
learning complex but powerful systems.  It seems to me the best approach is
something along the lines that Native Instruments has taken of providing
complexity in "layers" where you can string together prebuilt modules or if
you so desire can get at the "nuts and bolts" aspect of sound generation
and processing.

Lorren

At 03:57 AM 7/28/99 -0400, you wrote:
>
>Trouble is, you simply can't start from scratch with the units they sell
>today. I think that only one digital box on the market today (some 
>Eventide
>top-of-the-line-thing) let's you create your OWN ALGORITHMS to start with.
>The software is written with the average consumer in mind and is very
>limited in terms of individuality and inventiveness.
>
>Almost any guitarist could easily modify a stock Telecaster to suit his
>basic needs quite well without too much time/effort involved. Even amps 
>can
>be tuned and twisted. Ever tried to have a digital effect modified? It's
>still stone-age stuff we are dealing with here...
>
>Best, Andreas

L. Stafford
Richard For Cerebellum / A Most Happy Sound
http://www.winternet.com/~r4c