Re: Music/Transhumanist art

James Rogers (jamesr@best.com)
Wed, 11 Dec 1996 18:04:46 -0800


At 11:07 PM 12/11/96 +0100, you wrote:
>----------
>> From: James Rogers
>>
>> I don't know if you could do the same with a $1500 budget,
>
>you can.

You're right. It just wouldn't be as convenient or easy.

>> I don't generally consider Ace of
>> Base to be quality music anyway (from a musical standpoint).
>
>agreed... i were talking about a good investment.

An absurdly good investment. Right place, right time...

>> My style was greatly affected by my mood at the moment, and I have tried
>> almost every style at one time or another, but in general I stayed in 4
>genres:
>>
>not to far from my taste. If you have been into the "cyber" thing (i'm a
>bit afrid to say the c-word these days :-) ) maybe you will like my graphic

It used to be a good word. The university I attended used to have a major
called "cybernetics" under the school of engineering. Too much use by media
idiots skewed the semantics.

>novel:
>http://194.182.38.101/m&k/gallery/maxmcorp/GNov/main.htm

I checked out the novel. Pretty righteous! Just out of curiousity, what
did you do to create it?

>> I suspect my minimum requirements for equipment
>> are somewhat higher than they need to be
>
>I to have been thruu expensive studio setups, and have found out that i
>don't really need it anymore. A kebord, a sampler and a computer is all
>thats neede. In a wery short time affordable soundcards will take over it
>all. (I read once in "Keyboard" magazine that the amount of money spend on
>music instruments worldwide was less than whats spend in a big US Mart.)

The one thing I really hate about soundcards (even good ones) is the damn
generic synth sounds they put on those things. GM is a great idea for
consumer audio, but kind of poor for musical purposes. I have been kind of
disappointed by the trend towards do-it-all workstations. They do
everything but are good at nothing. I'm usually happy with a sampler or two
and maybe an analog synth or a Wavestation. One thing I did notice is that
no matter how much equipment you have, you usually only really use a couple
items.

The audio quality on soundcards is getting better, though. I have a Turtle
Beach soundcard and it puts out an impressively clean signal for a consumer
component. It is cleaner than many of the synths that I bought 5 years ago.

I think that soundcards will take over the low end, and may creep into the
mid-range, but I doubt they will impact many people in the mid to high-end
range. Soundcards are simply too consumer oriented and people who can
afford to spend the money will probably forego the soundcard for a good
dedicated device.
And not too many studios would want to be wired with 1/8" jacks either. ;-)

>> Its not what you have, but what you do with what you have.
>
>I know what you mean, but it's not quite right. There's a lot of "buts" to
>that remark.

True. But I know of people who are doing a lot more while having little
than people who have a lot. If everyone took advantage of what they already
have, then we might need some additional qualifiers.

And of course, the point is to do something with what you have so that you
can have even more.

-James Rogers
jamesr@best.com