Why so little respect for the synthetic "instruments" we're creating?

[classic]

Somedays it seems like we're not allowed to dislike anything.

Sure you are allowed.
Just disgussing your meanings is a waste of time for others.
Why disgussing it. It is just a meaning, and it is ok you having it:)

[FotoxBr]

Nothing sounds dated. It is us who are dated.

[recursive one]

When people have problem with certain type of instruments/sounds then it's... theirs and only theirs problem.

Just to clarify, as the likely* author of the original quote I don't have a "problem" with any type of instruments/sounds. My only concern is that the type of instruments/sounds I have very little interest in has become so mainstream that it influences the products that are put into market - the synths, the soundsets, etc - way too much (in my opinion).

Anyways, it's not that I'm lacking synths that serve my own needs and make me happy, and now there is Massive X which looks dangerously close to my "dream synth", so all good.

*EDIT: yeah, found it in the B.I.T. thread, it was mine

[Saffran]

Some people still think the Saxophone is an abomination...

It sure is!
But i belong to the group that doesn't feel a need to tell others about that.

[Halonmusic]

The person who wrote that must be a dub step fanboi. I lothe dub step

[Aloysius]

synthetic "instruments"

vibrators, everywhere.

[Pictus]

https://youtu.be/FLGxWPtgodo

[vurt]

synthetic "instruments"

vibrators, everywhere.

you fool! i said "we're doing a musical called one summer, can you do the costumes?"
clearly you weren't listening properly

[Aloysius]

i said "we're doing a musical called one kinky summer of xxx, can you do the costumes?"

[BONES]

I totaly understand the sentiment of the OP.
I'm not really a rock fan and I have never understood why people have no problem that every song is with the same guitars but if you use the same synth sound twice you might get the reaction: hey, you used that sound already.

That's a very easy thing to address. Changing your guitar sound between songs is not a simple thing to accomplish but making a new sound for every part in every song is somewhat trivial and has been for 30-odd years. Therefore, people have no expectation of guitars sounding different in every song, whereas it's easy to see someone using the same synth sounds all the time as lazy or not very good at what they are doing.

Like when you listen to the Stones:
Song1 : hey they use guitars
Song2 : Ok, same instruments
Song3: hey guitars again
Song4: guitars: this must be a rock band
Song5: yeah, you guessed it. Same guitars again.

It's not like most electronic genres aren't just as bad, worse even - acid basslines, hoovers, unison pluck arpeggios, funky drummer, etc., etc., etc. Then there are entire dance genres where every song is played at exactly the same tempo. To me that is way more boring than using the same instruments/sounds.

And even though "Dominator" is like 30 years old, if you made a song with the hoover sound, people might probably go: "hey, it's the same thing again"??

Dominator? By Killing Joke? It doesn't have a hoover sound in it.

And we shouldn’t forget that there was a big difference between American synth sounds and British/European synth sounds in the eighties.

I don't think there was. We were all using the same gear. There has always been a big difference between the sound of American pop/rock and British pop/rock but that was never down to the synths.

Some people don't understand that someone else may like retro sound and may want to make this music for their own pleasure

So why share it with the rest of us? When I do music for myself it is exactly that - for my personal gratification. You'll never hear it and neither will anyone else (except maybe my neighbours). As soon as you put something out there you have to accept that it will be judged by everyone who listens to it. Some will like it, many won't. If you can't take the critical with the complementary, then don't put it out there.

[kelvyn]

Oops! @Bones
Didn’t make myself clear... The Americans in the eighties had generally a more cleaner less edgy sound than the Brits... and then came the industrial synth sound from bands like Ministry and later NIN. But mostly synths were used in pop in 80’s America.
Of course there were people like Jan Hammer and the fusion guys but the sounds were still generally bright clean synth sounds in comparison to what was coming from across the pond.

[pixel85]

Some people don't understand that someone else may like retro sound and may want to make this music for their own pleasure

So why share it with the rest of us?

They share it so people who also like retro sound can listen to it?

As soon as you put something out there you have to accept that it will be judged by everyone who listens to it. Some will like it, many won't. If you can't take the critical with the complementary, then don't put it out there.

Yes of course. But we have (well most of us) free will and if you're not prisoner tortured by special agencies then you can simply ignore/not listen to music that you don't like.
It's ok to criticize but it's different thing when someone play a victim like the music they don't like is forced on them. Acting like 'this type of music/sound shouldn't be allowed, burn at the stake everyone who make it just because I don't like it' is not the same as critique. Even worst when someone focus on things that s/he don't like more than on enjoyable stuff - on the long run it's probably a good patch to depression or other (often ignored) mental issues.
I hope you can see now that I delimit these two behaviors and I'm absolutely up for healthy criticism.

[Kwurqx]

Nothing new though....with the art comes the critic.

Since it's a subjective matter, it will be a neverending "discussion". Therefore critisizing is best left to the critics, while we enjoy the benefits.

Almost all new instruments had some acceptance problems. From the very many invented, only a few made it to "mainstream". Mainstream acoustic instruments (in the west...) like the piano, guitar and violin also had their struggles in design and acceptance. And what we remember from history is seldom representative for the time concerned.

The struggle for general acceptance for electronic instruments and electronic music has been going on for more then a 100 years allready.

[sjm]

Remember how all those songs in the ‘80s had saxophone solos. I didn’t think of it as a trend at the time - just what goes into a song. Guitar, drums, bass, and saxophone. But now when you hear a song with a saxophone solo, it sounds so dated.

+1

Also, synthwave sounds a lot more like late 80s/early 90s game music (16 bit) to me than what was popular in the charts. That porta synth sound that essentially defines the genre could be found in most of the games and was also extremely popular in the demo scene. It's not what comes to my mind as defining the sound of 80s pop. That's the aforementioned sax solo, gated snares and electric toms coupled with brass synth patches and everything awash with too much digital reverb...

Which isn't really on topic, I know.

[Dirtgrain]

Changing your guitar sound between songs is not a simple thing to accomplish . . .

It's easy. Still, Chuck Berry often didn't. His music is great.

. . . it's easy to see someone using the same synth sounds all the time as lazy or not very good at what they are doing.

Is it only the synth nerds who notice such a thing?