Which are toys and which are tools?

[tetsuneko]

Oh noes, have you been reading Gearslutz too much again?

It's all bollocks and cock-measuring contests. Do whatever it takes to get the results. Other people are always wrong

[GeckoYamori]

I find all this stuff fascinating from a psychological point of view. It's usually authority figures like celebrities who are the determining factor in what is classified as high quality and classic gear, while stuff that is accessible by the unwashed masses becomes devalued. Especially when it comes to synthesizers and samples I don't think there is any correlation with inherent qualities in the gear. A funny thought experiment would be taking SimSynth or TS404 from FL and give them to Jarre or Pink Floyd in the 70's, while having Prophet or Arp 2500 bundled with early versions of FL.

[kritikon]

It's all about how many flashing lights you have. The more you have, the more serious a tool it is. Blue lights look damn fine, but unfortunately indicate toyness. Green/red is the obvious sign of toolness. Which makes PC stuff all toys - unless you have a psychedelic screensaver flashing madness at the same time, in which case it becomes the ubertool. Surprisingly, those Kaossilator thingies were meant to be toys, but are probably one of the greatest underrated tools ever released.


Bendiness is the other giveaway. Hammers are tools. Bash things with them, that's how you know it's a tool. Rubber hammers are toys. Women reinforce that to me all the time. "Call that a tool?" presented with screeches of laughter show that the bendy half inch in the middle obviously makes it a toy.

[thecontrolcentre]

Toys or tools? Who gives a f$#k ... My favorite instrument is a plastic "practise" keyboard that you blow into. Make some music ...

[DJ Warmonger]

The line is blurred, however I cna add my two cents to it:

- Tools were designed to allow the very bets musical results and flexibility if you know how to use them.
- Toys were designed to look fancy and easy-to-use, but won't necessarily give you high-end results.

Some of the plugins are ridiculous. I remember finding here at KVR equalizer which has frequency response drawn as Bezier curves. Which may look cool at glance, but is absurd in terms of signal processing.

[The_Hidden_Goose]

Anything could be either. Depends on the context.

If I had a vibrator and used it as a bat to play mini-baseball with friends and a ping-pong ball, then I'd call it a toy.

If I used it as a massage device to ease my cramping thigh after all that ping-pong batting mayhem, then I'd call it a tool.

I could do both within the same hour.

I could do other things with it, but I'd call that something else and I probably wouldn't invite my friends.

[ontol]

[cryophonik]

I don't know, but I've been using SoundToys in Pro Tools...was that wrong of me?

[osiris]

I guess mine are all toys since I never make a dime from any music I do. Does that make me a tool?

[foosnark]

Fallen angel head crashes dead
Out of control lost memories staircase twists
Darker rooms lit with left out toys
After playing men changes toys into tools
Twisted playthings on the staircase fools
Whose weapons represents the killing game
Who taught the killing game?

[fese]

...
Other people are always wrong

Oh, wow, this is so my motto, too! Or rather: I am always right. I can't help it, it's in my genes...

[Sendy]

If I had a vibrator...

That didn't go where I was expecting it to.

[ariston]

They're all toys. And there's only one Tool:

[vurt]

If I had a vibrator...

That didn't go where I was expecting it to.

[Flandersh]

From a philosophical point of view I understand toy in relation to art and tool in relation to science. This imply that products with the mean of being part of the creative process toward a work of art would be toys, wherease products with the mean of following scientifical standards/recommendations (like the ITU-R BS.1770 or the equal-tempered scale) would be tools.