I lost interest with the I Care album. Recently I've been listening to SAW2 and while there's a great deal on there I would consider filler, there are moments that greatly interest me (tracks 13 and 17 are lovely). I have always wanted to find a similar ambient approach. Creating stuff that's simple yet unqiue. Then he got all dancey dancey and I switched off.
Revisiting that album inspired me to try some new ideas. I opened Pigments in the DAW and found that it wasn't really suitable. SAW2 was made decades ago without the kind of tech we have to do, even in spite of RJD's tech skills. Nowadays software like Pigments can do loads. It's a great program, but it's sound design capacity made it too 'easy'. The fact you can create any sound so easily made me feel like the art was being compromised. I don't own hardware, I just use emulations, and I have a few specific synth emulations (like Repro which I used instead).
Is it the case that many others feel the possibilities on offer these days take some of the magic away? Easy is perhaps the wrong word. But with so much potential at your fingertips, something is a bit lacking, perhaps in a contradictory way. I've no dea if RDJ uses softsynths himself these days, probably not. I don't care about the hardware, I'll never afford it. But I viw owning something like Repro as the same (or near enough) as owning an actual Prophet 5.
Funny old world. Pigments is great btw. Easy to use, has lots of options. But that may be my issue. YMMV
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